Different size One Time Backup

Archive
1

I am using about 40 Gb of 240 Gb of my C drive.

 

I saved a complete backup with Ghost One Time Backup one month ago. It took about 6 minutes (including verify) and the final size of the Ghost file was 20 Gb. I have saved a Ghost image before and they also ended around 20 Gb.

 

Today I saved a complete backup using One Time Backup again and today the final size is only 14 Gb and it only took 4 minutes.

 

I had hoped there was a detailed log file but the log file only mentions that my C drive was copied.

 

Since I am still using 40 Gb of 240 Gb on my C drive, I find it very weird that the Ghost image should suddenly drop from 20 to 14 Gb.

 

Any ideas would be welcome.

 

2

I am using about 40 Gb of 240 Gb of my C drive.

 

I saved a complete backup with Ghost One Time Backup one month ago. It took about 6 minutes (including verify) and the final size of the Ghost file was 20 Gb. I have saved a Ghost image before and they also ended around 20 Gb.

 

Today I saved a complete backup using One Time Backup again and today the final size is only 14 Gb and it only took 4 minutes.

 

I had hoped there was a detailed log file but the log file only mentions that my C drive was copied.

 

Since I am still using 40 Gb of 240 Gb on my C drive, I find it very weird that the Ghost image should suddenly drop from 20 to 14 Gb.

 

Any ideas would be welcome.

 

3

JLyng,

 

Is the C: drive on a SSD or HD? Where are you creating the image? Same or another SSD or HD?

 

Your times are extremely fast.

 

Can you mount the two images and check the used space in each virtual partition?

4
dickevans wrote:
JLyng wrote:

I am using about 40 Gb of 240 Gb of my C drive.

 

I saved a complete backup with Ghost One Time Backup one month ago. It took about 6 minutes (including verify) and the final size of the Ghost file was 20 Gb. I have saved a Ghost image before and they also ended around 20 Gb.

 

Today I saved a complete backup using One Time Backup again and today the final size is only 14 Gb and it only took 4 minutes.

 

I had hoped there was a detailed log file but the log file only mentions that my C drive was copied.

 

Since I am still using 40 Gb of 240 Gb on my C drive, I find it very weird that the Ghost image should suddenly drop from 20 to 14 Gb.

 

Any ideas would be welcome.

 

Hi,
Was ther a change in the compression used? I sometimes use the 'high' compression so that the file size is small enough to fit a limited space media.

Have there been any big changes in the data you are storing? Text files can compres down to almost nothing.

Keep us posted

I have used "Standard" compression every time. I have saved a complete backup 4 times now since I started using Ghost and I haven't deleted anything. Besides I always check how much space is used before I run Ghost. The first 3 times that I saved a Ghost image the size was 20 Gb.

 

My C drive is 240 Gb SSD and my D drive is a 1 Tb regular harddrive

 

There has been no change in the files I have on my C drive, so it has nothing to do with text files.

 

I have also used verify every time and I didn't get any error messages, but I still find it weird that the backup is only 14 Gb this time.

 

5
Brian_K wrote:

JLyng,

 

Is the C: drive on a SSD or HD? Where are you creating the image? Same or another SSD or HD?

 

Your times are extremely fast.

 

Can you mount the two images and check the used space in each virtual partition?

My C drive is 240 Gb SSD and my D drive is a 1 Tb regular harddrive

 

It is a perfect solution for Ghost (pretty fast).

 

I save the Ghost image on the D drive.

 

I tried opening the last Ghost file and it seems to be okay but something must be missing.

 

I will be focused on all the settings next time I save a backup, but I didn't ask for a different compression or anything.

 

No big deal. My computer seems to be okay so hopefully I won't need the last backup (I will soon save a new backup).

 

6

6GB is a significant difference, especially if the used size of the hard drive has not changed.

 

I use a free open source tool called WinMerge to compare images to see that has changed between them.

http://winmerge.org/

 

If you choose to try it you need to set it to show the comparison by size.

Edit > Options

On the left side click "compare" then on the right size select "file compare method by Size".

 

Then mount the 2 images by right click on then and selecting "mount".  Give them each a different drive letter.

Then back in winmerge go to File > Open

Select the 2 mounted images by letter, one on the left side one on the right.

 

Have it do the compare (may take several minutes) and you should be able to clearly see the differences between the 2 images,  6GB of stuff should be easy to spot.

 

Dave

7

JLyng,

 

Where are you? It's your turn to provide feedback.

8

I still haven't found the reason, but as I said I don't trust the last backup.

 

I will return with more information when I know what is going on.

 

 

9

Do you have feedback to Dave's post? That method will tell you for sure if files are missing.

10
Brian_K wrote:

Do you have feedback to Dave's post? That method will tell you for sure if files are missing.

I didn't install the extra program, but I have just saved another Ghost image.

 

I have used about 40 Gb of my C drive. Within the last 3 backups the size has been the same (within 1 Gb).

 

Here is some info:

 

First backup 20 Gb (I have tried to restore this backup and it worked)

Second backup 14 Gb

Third backup (today) 17 Gb

 

Since I didn't use incremental backup I still wonder why there is so much difference between the first and the second backup.

 

I hope that I can trust the third backup created today. I did use verify and it reported everything to be okay.

 

Thanks for helpening.

 

Jorgen Lyng

11

I guess I found the answer now. intesec recommended to use CCleaner, and those times that I have cleaned my harddrive first with CCleaner before saving a Ghost image the final size of the Ghost image has been about 6 Gb smaller, even though CCleaner only got rid of less than 1 Gb.

 

I have just saved one more Ghost image and today I forgot to use CCleaner first and the size of my Ghost image is 20 Gb.

 

I trust Ghost as it is now. I always use verify and the verify has always reported everything okay.

 

Jorgen Lyng

12

I am using about 40 Gb of 240 Gb of my C drive.

 

I saved a complete backup with Ghost One Time Backup one month ago. It took about 6 minutes (including verify) and the final size of the Ghost file was 20 Gb. I have saved a Ghost image before and they also ended around 20 Gb.

 

Today I saved a complete backup using One Time Backup again and today the final size is only 14 Gb and it only took 4 minutes.

 

I had hoped there was a detailed log file but the log file only mentions that my C drive was copied.

 

Since I am still using 40 Gb of 240 Gb on my C drive, I find it very weird that the Ghost image should suddenly drop from 20 to 14 Gb.

 

Any ideas would be welcome.

 

13

JLyng,

 

Is the C: drive on a SSD or HD? Where are you creating the image? Same or another SSD or HD?

 

Your times are extremely fast.

 

Can you mount the two images and check the used space in each virtual partition?

14
dickevans wrote:
JLyng wrote:

I am using about 40 Gb of 240 Gb of my C drive.

 

I saved a complete backup with Ghost One Time Backup one month ago. It took about 6 minutes (including verify) and the final size of the Ghost file was 20 Gb. I have saved a Ghost image before and they also ended around 20 Gb.

 

Today I saved a complete backup using One Time Backup again and today the final size is only 14 Gb and it only took 4 minutes.

 

I had hoped there was a detailed log file but the log file only mentions that my C drive was copied.

 

Since I am still using 40 Gb of 240 Gb on my C drive, I find it very weird that the Ghost image should suddenly drop from 20 to 14 Gb.

 

Any ideas would be welcome.

 

Hi,
Was ther a change in the compression used? I sometimes use the 'high' compression so that the file size is small enough to fit a limited space media.

Have there been any big changes in the data you are storing? Text files can compres down to almost nothing.

Keep us posted

I have used "Standard" compression every time. I have saved a complete backup 4 times now since I started using Ghost and I haven't deleted anything. Besides I always check how much space is used before I run Ghost. The first 3 times that I saved a Ghost image the size was 20 Gb.

 

My C drive is 240 Gb SSD and my D drive is a 1 Tb regular harddrive

 

There has been no change in the files I have on my C drive, so it has nothing to do with text files.

 

I have also used verify every time and I didn't get any error messages, but I still find it weird that the backup is only 14 Gb this time.

 

15
Brian_K wrote:

JLyng,

 

Is the C: drive on a SSD or HD? Where are you creating the image? Same or another SSD or HD?

 

Your times are extremely fast.

 

Can you mount the two images and check the used space in each virtual partition?

My C drive is 240 Gb SSD and my D drive is a 1 Tb regular harddrive

 

It is a perfect solution for Ghost (pretty fast).

 

I save the Ghost image on the D drive.

 

I tried opening the last Ghost file and it seems to be okay but something must be missing.

 

I will be focused on all the settings next time I save a backup, but I didn't ask for a different compression or anything.

 

No big deal. My computer seems to be okay so hopefully I won't need the last backup (I will soon save a new backup).

 

16

6GB is a significant difference, especially if the used size of the hard drive has not changed.

 

I use a free open source tool called WinMerge to compare images to see that has changed between them.

http://winmerge.org/

 

If you choose to try it you need to set it to show the comparison by size.

Edit > Options

On the left side click "compare" then on the right size select "file compare method by Size".

 

Then mount the 2 images by right click on then and selecting "mount".  Give them each a different drive letter.

Then back in winmerge go to File > Open

Select the 2 mounted images by letter, one on the left side one on the right.

 

Have it do the compare (may take several minutes) and you should be able to clearly see the differences between the 2 images,  6GB of stuff should be easy to spot.

 

Dave

17

JLyng,

 

Where are you? It's your turn to provide feedback.

18

I still haven't found the reason, but as I said I don't trust the last backup.

 

I will return with more information when I know what is going on.

 

 

19

Do you have feedback to Dave's post? That method will tell you for sure if files are missing.

20
Brian_K wrote:

Do you have feedback to Dave's post? That method will tell you for sure if files are missing.

I didn't install the extra program, but I have just saved another Ghost image.

 

I have used about 40 Gb of my C drive. Within the last 3 backups the size has been the same (within 1 Gb).

 

Here is some info:

 

First backup 20 Gb (I have tried to restore this backup and it worked)

Second backup 14 Gb

Third backup (today) 17 Gb

 

Since I didn't use incremental backup I still wonder why there is so much difference between the first and the second backup.

 

I hope that I can trust the third backup created today. I did use verify and it reported everything to be okay.

 

Thanks for helpening.

 

Jorgen Lyng