Solved Is this the right forum?

grasmith

Member
I want to ask a question on the subject of HDD image b/ups (Paragon Drive Backup 9 Pro) and the size of the images produced.

Please note: the question is not about the Paragon Software but rather image size Vs disk content.

Is this the right forum, or should I go elsewhere?
 

My Computer

As long as you are running Windows Vista this is the right forum. It is the wrong section however; this thread should really be under software but I wouldn't worry about that too much, if the admins or moderators think it should be moved it will be moved.

Now specifically what is your question?

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" Apple MacBook LCD Screen + 22" HannsG DVI LCD + 21.5" Samsung USB Lapfit Monitor LD220
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 + 1920x1080 + 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SATA Internal 2.5" 500GB (305GB HFS+, 195GB NTFS)
    External USB 3.5" 1TB (HFS+)
    Case
    Aluminium Unibody
    Keyboard
    Apple Late 2009 Wireless Keyboard (US)
    Mouse
    Apple Magic Mouse
    Internet Speed
    6.33Mb/s up. 0.36Mb/s down.
    Other Info
    Harman Kardon Soundsticks II Speakers
Hi Osholt.

Thankyou for your reply.

What follows could be a bit long-winded.

During the ownership of my laptop (2yrs), I have not defragged, culled temp internet folders, or attempted to clean out the regisry. During this period I have, on a weekly basis, imaged the HDD giving an image size of approx 62GB (actual usable C drive space being 141GB).

As a result of a recent post, I had a look at CCleaner and a defrag prog called My Defrag. CCleaner produced huge lists of Registry issues and Temp Internet files (this being in the order 6GB!!).

So, biting the proverbial bullet, I saved current registry, did image backup, culled the registry, killed all the temp internet file, consolidated free space/defragged and rebooted. Lo and behold, everything still working.

At this point I did another HDD image b/up which produced an image file of approx 38GB. At last I have reached the underlying reason for my question: given the above, is it reasonable for the image size to have been reduced from 62GB to 38GB, due entirely to the operations as described above, or has something gone wrong.

Gasp.
 

My Computer

I'm no expert at this sort of thing but you'd be amazed how much junk can accumulate on your PC (mainly from various cashes).

This sounds acceptable, unless you have lots of videos etc. on your PC.

I wouldn't worry about this too much. 38GB sounds fine for a Vista PC with not too much media on it.

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" Apple MacBook LCD Screen + 22" HannsG DVI LCD + 21.5" Samsung USB Lapfit Monitor LD220
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 + 1920x1080 + 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SATA Internal 2.5" 500GB (305GB HFS+, 195GB NTFS)
    External USB 3.5" 1TB (HFS+)
    Case
    Aluminium Unibody
    Keyboard
    Apple Late 2009 Wireless Keyboard (US)
    Mouse
    Apple Magic Mouse
    Internet Speed
    6.33Mb/s up. 0.36Mb/s down.
    Other Info
    Harman Kardon Soundsticks II Speakers
Thanks for that, Oli.

It just seemed such a huge reduction in image size. Now I come to think of it, when I looked at the disk usage map in MyDefrag prior to implementing the above described operations, data distribution was spread out across much of the available disk space. So, presumably consolidation of disk space/defrag released a considerable amount of usuable disk space, thus reducing the image file size.

Of course, the trick would be to restore the image to disk! I have had to do this 3 times in the past after the OS has been wrecked. Not this time, just for an experiment!!

Grasmith
 

My Computer

Good idea, just don't forget to backu... oh wait ;)

Oli
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook, 5,1
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz
    Memory
    4GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 9400m
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3" Apple MacBook LCD Screen + 22" HannsG DVI LCD + 21.5" Samsung USB Lapfit Monitor LD220
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800 + 1920x1080 + 1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    SATA Internal 2.5" 500GB (305GB HFS+, 195GB NTFS)
    External USB 3.5" 1TB (HFS+)
    Case
    Aluminium Unibody
    Keyboard
    Apple Late 2009 Wireless Keyboard (US)
    Mouse
    Apple Magic Mouse
    Internet Speed
    6.33Mb/s up. 0.36Mb/s down.
    Other Info
    Harman Kardon Soundsticks II Speakers
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