Unusual backup size

Nuntius said:

Ok....

So... I was able to change the backup size down to normal... (50GB) by empty everything in my E drive but now im having a different problem...

I can no longer backup my system at all....

keep getting the following error

[IMG] Uploaded with ImageShack.us[/IMG]

sigh... one problem after another >.< maybe i should just format my windows...

any advises?

thanks!

In the process of clearing the other partitions you probably deleted some files that the system is looking for now.

No need to reinstall. Just get off that defunct Win7 imaging and use a sensible imaging program.

mjf said:

I haven't looked extensively but it appears to me
1) No gain moving pagefile to another partition
2) Maybe a marginal gain on another disk
eg, Ref:
Is it a good idea to change my Microsoft Windows page file size?
3) Sufficient RAM (which is relatively cheap) should place less emphasis on the pagefile.

So in the OP's case I would have thought moving the pagefile to another disk create more problems than it is worth. I use Windows imaging extensively with complete success. The OP's configuration effectively removes this capability in a practical sense.

whs said:

You are absolutely right. No point moving the pagefile. With e.g. 4GBs of RAM, reduce it to 1GB for the very rare hard page fault that some programs produce - even if there is sufficient availablee RAM. And since the page faults are rare, there is really no performance gain.

I read about moving the pagefile back when I was using XP (~6 years ago).
The theory was that you would get superior performance, because you wouldn't be trying to read/write to the pagefile and OS partition simultaneously.
It seemed like a reasonable explanation to me.

Since I first started using Windows 98 (~10 years ago) it has been my practice to move everything possible off of the OS partition.
My friends all complained that they had to reinstall Windows every 2 or 3 weeks.
They also claimed that it wasn't because of malware.

The only reason I could think of, was that the constant read/write operations, on the OS partition, were causing the failures.
Therefore I moved everything that I could, off of the OS partition.
I only had to reinstall Windows 98 when I got hit by malware or I got a new HDD (so not every 2 or 3 weeks). :)

With modern hardware (large amounts of cheap RAM) there probably is no appreciable benefit to moving the pagefile.

My Windows 2K8 textbook recommended:

pagefile = 1.5 x RAM (caveat: see the MS links below)

Here are some MS links:
How to determine the appropriate page file size for 64-bit versions of Windows
How to overcome the 4,095 MB paging file size limit in Windows

I also remember reading (a few years ago) constant complaints about Windows backup (thus I use Macrium).

In any case the solution to the original problem is still the same:

Installing some other program to create your backups.
And/Or
Moving the pagefile back to your OS partition (or its own small partition).

Yeah, sometimes history teaches us a lesson - but in this case it teaches us the wrong lesson. If you were looking for performance, moving the pagefile off the SSD would be counterproductive. But with today's systems that usually have a lot of RAM, the pagefile is used so rarely that it really is a non issue.

In addition to being rarely used, it is also used in very small doses. So a 1GB size suffices.

Right Jim. Rumors run faster than fact. But who cares, let the morons live with their believes.

mjf said:

I think the ironic thing in all of this is that I don't think imaging programs including Windows include the page file. But because it's a system file Windows may want to include the partition it is on!
If you are going to deviate from a basic MS Windows configuration for some good reason a good third imaging program is probably the way I would go.

Weird, isn't it? It probably has to do with the semi-same reason that on Disk Management, the PAGE FILE is one of the attributes listed next to a partition.

EDIT: Since System Image is in "VHD" (block-level) backup mode, WHOLE volumes/partitions copied is the only M.O. available.

I'm still happy using Windows System Image/Backup, though.

whs said:

If you were looking for performance, moving the pagefile off the SSD would be counterproductive.

Agreed.
I've never heard anyone say that moving your pagefile from your SSD to a HDD increases performance.
It's always been recommended as a way of reducing write operations performed on the SSD.