Vista x64 Ultimate; question about Windows Complete Backup PC

[jyi786]

The size of my main drive is 178GB. I performed a complete PC backup, and the backup directory totals 153GB. Is this normal? Is the backup program compressing the files?

 

[Joe Average]

Compression is a normal "feature" of most backup software, so yes, I'd bet it's got some level of compression going on. Not everything will compress, of course. If the majority of that content in the 178GB is movie or music files, that stuff isn't going to get smaller, but most everything related to the OS itself or applications can and will compress to roughly a 2:1 ratio.

As long as you verify the backup after it's done (it's worth the extra time, seriously) you should be just fine.

 

[jyi786]

As long as you verify the backup after it's done (it's worth the extra time, seriously) you should be just fine.

Well, how do I "verify" the backup using Windows Complete Backup? I don't see any option to do that, unlike others (i.e. Acronis).

Or perhaps you mean "verify" by actually getting another hard drive and restoring the image.

 

[Joe Average]

Well, to be perfectly honest I've never used that Backup feature in Vista, I'm a solid True Image user myself. I'm just making the assumption - yeah, I know what it means - that it should/could/would offer the ability to verify a backup. Not offering that option or feature is... well... pretty stupid. Weird...