[barrythegreek]

I've just done a backup of my system partition with Acronis true image 11 . I backed up 26.5GB & the backup file itself is 13.5GB in 4 parts. I ran validation checks & all passed but this seems to be a lot smaller than I would anticipate . Can't seem to find anything appropriate in the help file .Does this sound ok ?

[spot]

It depends on what sort of files they are. If they're mostly mp3 or mpg then no, there's no room for that degree of additional compression. If they're text then you can expect 90% as reasonable. Program files would easily drop that far. 26GB is too big to just be system files though.

Every archive process you run regularly or for the first time ought to be checked or you never know, recovery might screw up the day you need it. Just unpack the thing and random-check the output's useable. Once you know you can get it back then the process is sound and you only need to re-check every now and then to feel justifiably safe.

[barrythegreek]

Thanks Tim. There's about 13GB windows files , 7GB program files 4GB for laptop itself the rest is system restore . All my docs, music & are on an external drive. I've opened up the archives & looks as if everything is there . Not sure what you mean about 'making sure everything is usable' ? All 4 sections appear to have the same folders inside - 3 of them are approx 4GB & the other Approx 1.5 GB.
Would appreciate any further advice .
I've already done a complete recovery from recovery partition which is ok but takes days with reinstalling everything .

[spot]

"making sure everything is usable" just means unpacking a small selection of files that you ought to be able to open, and check that when you op[en them they've got the content you'd expect. It confirms that you can bring the whole backup back to life if you ever need it.