True Image 8.0 and Drive defraggers

I just purchased True Image 8.0 and I am curious about something....

Once I makes a full image backup I can make subsequent incremental backups of only what changed. My question is this.......

I also use Raxco's PerfectDisk to defrag my hard drive and this product has special functionality that moves that Users/data from one locaton to another on the hard disk. If the data has been moved around on the hard drive, will True Image be alble to perform an incremental backup?

Thanks,

 

I'v e seen discussions involving TI and defragmenting and the resulting huge incremental images. Supposedly defragging makes the incremantals almost as big as Whole images. I use perfect disc as well and like it. I suppose you're talking about "smart placement". I defrag right before making full images weekly but next week I'm going to try an incremental and see what the size difference is. You might search wilders for TI and defragging. There have been several discussions about it. I probably wasn't any help thought I'd chime in.

 

You are correct that I was referring to PerfectDisk's "smart placement" technology where files are moved around during the defragging process. I was guessing that there might be an issue with an incremental restore working after a defrag has occurred. If the image says that XYZ file is located in this physical disk location and the file is now located in a different physical location doesn't one run the risk of corrupting not only the file you are trying to restore but also other files as well? Maybe someone can help explain this?

 

Hi,

No problem with restoring after a defrag as the TI imaging/restore process is "sector" rather than "file" based. As feddup says, the only issue is that, if you carry out a defrag between incremental imagages, the resultant image file will be almost the same size as the original full image. The reason for this is that TI takes a thumbprint of the used sectors and only archives those that have changed since the previous image. Carry out a defrag and that thumbprint changes dramatically.

Regards

 

Hello wchull,

Thank you for choosing Acronis True Image (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

There cannot be any problems with image creation/restoration after you defrag the disk. Just to make it absolutely sure I can recommend that you do not defrag the disk at the same time when the image is being created.

However, in your case it would be better to create full images every time because the size of the incremental image will be almost the same as of the full one but the full image in contrast to the incremental doesn't depend on any other files.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

Menorcaman,

So let me rephrase.....

Basically what I'm hearing is that if a perform a defrag, TI can successfully create an incremental image of the hard drive but the image will probably be as large as the baseline image so it may not be worth it to create an incremental backup if you defrag frequently, correct?

 

Hello wchull,

You are absolutely right. Furthermore, the incremental is likely to be of almost the same size as the full image.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

WHAT ?

Did I understand correctly, that when I defrag my harddrive (using the normal Windows Defragger) the incremental images will be as big as a full image ??

 

Hello MartinH,

Thank you for choosing Acronis True Image (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

Yes, you are right. If you defrag your disk between full and incremental image creation the incremental image is likely to be of almost the same size as the full one.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

Hmm...
I usually don't install and deinstall programs. Normally when I have installed programs they stay on my drive until the next system crash (with 500 Gbytes you can afford this )
Then I normally don't need to defrag my hard-drive, do I ?

 

2. Anyway, is it good to make only one full image and then only incrementals?

 

Hello MartinH,

You may create one full image and then create incrementals only but sooner or later these images will take too much space. It is recommended that you create a set of images: one full and some incrementals. It is quite common to create a full back up weekly and incrementals on other days.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

o.k., but I have also another question:
Is the "Secure Zone" also invisible for virusses?
If there is a virus that wants to delete all of my partitions, can it see also the hidden secure zone?

 

Hello MartinH,

No, Acronis Secure Zone is invisible for viruses and any other software. The only thing that can affect your images stored in Acronis Secure Zone is your hard disk failure.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

To make this simple, defrag and do a full backups. Do incrementals until the number that would have to be restored to bring the system up-to-date is larger that you like. (For me, that's a maximum of 2 or 3 incrementals, but some people do a lot more.) Do not defrag during this time.

When you want to defrag, do so and then make another full backup and start the incrementals over.

It's easy!