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Size of backup files?

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I have a single project I am working on that I'd like to fuss with on two computers. I thought the easiest way to do this would be to do a backup of the project on the main computer and transfer that and restore it on the secondary computer. And ditto in reverse: where changes are made on the secondary computer, do a backup and transfer that and restore it on the main computer.

 

What has me a bit nervous about this is that the backup file size is always different -- and smaller -- on the secondary computer. I can't help but wonder if I'm losing something in the translation.

 

Example: today I backed up the project on the main computer (a W2K Pro system) and the file size was 710,192 bytes. I transferred that to the secondary computer (a WinXP Pro system) and restored it there. Then I immediately backed it up using the exact same backup method (default backup project). The backup on the secondary system was 649,974 bytes.

 

Is this merely a function of the different operating systems, or am I losing data somewhere? And is there a better or safer method of doing this?

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There are two possibilities...

1) The backup configurations on the two systems are set up differently and one backup contains something the other doesn't.

or

2) The cluster size for the file systems on the two systems differ. This would show the backup files differing in size even when the data in the backups is identical.

 

If the backup configurations are identical, the data backed up on the two systems will be identical. The bottom line is that the difference in filesize is not really something to be concerned about.

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There are two possibilities...

1) The backup configurations on the two systems are set up differently and one backup contains something the other doesn't.

Nope. Just tested it again with absolutely identical full backup (project & customization) settings.

 

or 2) The cluster size for the file systems on the two systems differ. This would show the backup files differing in size even when the data in the backups is identical.

Nope. Default cluster size on Win2K and WinXP is the same.

 

If the backup configurations are identical, the data backed up on the two systems will be identical. The bottom line is that the difference in filesize is not really something to be concerned about.

Hokay. That's all I need to know. Thanks.

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Any chance that you have exhibits on the one machine that aren't on or aren't linked on the other? I had that happen between my desktop & laptop before I finally figured out the problem......

 

B)

Joan

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I have a single project I am working on that I'd like to fuss with on two computers. I thought the easiest way to do this would be to do a backup of the project on the main computer and transfer that and restore it on the secondary computer. And ditto in reverse: where changes are made on the secondary computer, do a backup and transfer that and restore it on the main computer.

 

What has me a bit nervous about this is that the backup file size is always different -- and smaller -- on the secondary computer. I can't help but wonder if I'm losing something in the translation.

 

Example: today I backed up the project on the main computer (a W2K Pro system) and the file size was 710,192 bytes. I transferred that to the secondary computer (a WinXP Pro system) and restored it there. Then I immediately backed it up using the exact same backup method (default backup project). The backup on the secondary system was 649,974 bytes.

 

Is this merely a function of the different operating systems, or am I losing data somewhere? And is there a better or safer method of doing this?

 

Is it possible that you're in the habit of using optimize on one of the computers? That should affect the file sizes.

 

Dic

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Any chance that you have exhibits on the one machine that aren't on or aren't linked on the other? I had that happen between my desktop & laptop before I finally figured out the problem...... B) Joan

Nope. I literally did a full backup (customizations and all) on computer #1, telling it to backup EVERYTHING. Then I transferred that to computer #2 and did a full restore. In theory, the two should now be identical. So I did a full backup on computer #2, with the identical settings in every way to computer #1, and the size is still different. The only variable I can identify is that one is Win2K and the other is WinXP.

 

 

Is it possible that you're in the habit of using optimize on one of the computers? That should affect the file sizes. Dic

Nope. The project was backed up on computer #1, restored immediately on computer #2 then backed up immediately on computer #2 using the exact same settings.

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