My main goal is to keep my HD at a size where I can backup everything
to a single DVD.

If I have an 80 gb HD and only use about 10 to 15 GB, would I be able
to fit the image onto a single DVD? Is it the amount of space acutally
used on the disk that determines the image size or is it the size of
the partition? Would I be better off going with a smaller HD to image
everything on one DVD disk?

Would a 40 GB HD be easier to backup/image than an 80GB HD if I'm only
using about 10 GB of space? Would there be any advantages to the
larger HD?

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On 25 Jul 2004 04:31:58 -0700, jfclay@yahoo.com wrote:

>My main goal is to keep my HD at a size where I can backup everything
>to a single DVD.
>
>If I have an 80 gb HD and only use about 10 to 15 GB, would I be able
>to fit the image onto a single DVD? Is it the amount of space acutally
>used on the disk that determines the image size or is it the size of
>the partition? Would I be better off going with a smaller HD to image
>everything on one DVD disk?
>
>Would a 40 GB HD be easier to backup/image than an 80GB HD if I'm only
>using about 10 GB of space? Would there be any advantages to the
>larger HD?

Smart idea. But you would run into problems you don't yet forsee
:-)
Backup software usually contains some compression mechanism.
If you fill a harddisk with 3.6 GB of mp3 and jpeg files it will
barely fit on a single DVD.
Yet, you may see opto 10 GB of text, database and spreadsheet
files on a single DVD. (Because they compress more efficiently.)

But there's light on your horizon: a good backup package already
offers a solution to your perceived problem. It is called
spanning and it basically means that the program takes care of
splitting up your backup in CDR or DVD size chunks.

--
Kind regards,
Gerard Bok

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On 25 Jul 2004 04:31:58 -0700, jfclay@yahoo.com wrote:

>My main goal is to keep my HD at a size where I can backup everything
>to a single DVD.
>
>If I have an 80 gb HD and only use about 10 to 15 GB, would I be able
>to fit the image onto a single DVD? Is it the amount of space acutally
>used on the disk that determines the image size or is it the size of
>the partition? Would I be better off going with a smaller HD to image
>everything on one DVD disk?
>
>Would a 40 GB HD be easier to backup/image than an 80GB HD if I'm only
>using about 10 GB of space? Would there be any advantages to the
>larger HD?

Why don't you just get a externial drive, the same size as your
internial, connectied by firewire and back up to that. Backing up to
DVD is a piain in the XXX. Everyone has good intentions, but never
back up.

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bok118@zonnet.nl (Gerard Bok) wrote in message news:<4103a64e.670289@News.Individual.NET>...

> On 25 Jul 2004 04:31:58 -0700, jfclay@yahoo.com wrote:
> 
>
> Smart idea. But you would run into problems you don't yet forsee
> :-)
> Backup software usually contains some compression mechanism.
> If you fill a harddisk with 3.6 GB of mp3 and jpeg files it will
> barely fit on a single DVD.
> Yet, you may see opto 10 GB of text, database and spreadsheet
> files on a single DVD. (Because they compress more efficiently.)
>
> But there's light on your horizon: a good backup package already
> offers a solution to your perceived problem. It is called
> spanning and it basically means that the program takes care of
> splitting up your backup in CDR or DVD size chunks.

Actually, I just need to backup the OS and whatever programs I have
installed. Not mp3's and jpg's.

But I'm getting a new HD and don't know what size I should get.

Is it the amount of space acutally used on the disk that determines
the image size or is it the size of the partition? Would I be better
off going with a smaller HD to image everything on one DVD disk?

Would a 40 GB HD be easier to backup/image than an 80GB HD if I'm only
using less than 10 GB of space? Would there be any advantages to the
larger HD?

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On 25 Jul 2004 14:21:43 -0700, jfclay@yahoo.com wrote:

>Actually, I just need to backup the OS and whatever programs I have
>installed. Not mp3's and jpg's.

So you will probably use a program like Ghost or Drive Image.

>But I'm getting a new HD and don't know what size I should get.

Depends on your PC. If your PC is some years old, it might lack
support for very big drives. But apart from that: buy big.

>Is it the amount of space acutally used on the disk that determines
>the image size or is it the size of the partition?

The size of the partition is not important. It is the amount of
'used space' that determines the backup size.

>Would I be better
>off going with a smaller HD to image everything on one DVD disk?

No. You won't even find a HD small enough for that !

>Would a 40 GB HD be easier to backup/image than an 80GB HD if I'm only
>using less than 10 GB of space?

No.

>Would there be any advantages to the larger HD?

Two advantages:
Higher speed and more gigabytes per buck.

--
Kind regards,
Gerard Bok

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