Windows 7: Image Backup not working correctly

I am trying to create an image backup of my system with the built in 'backup and restore' feature in windows 7 pro 64bit

I entered the 'backup and restore' section and on the left pane, clicked on "create a system image"
I then went through the steps and told it to save a backup image on my backup drive.

The process took about 20minutes and it told me it would take up about 54gb of space. It told me it was successfully completed and asked me if I would like to create a backup disc, which I said no.
I then navigate to the image on the backup drive, and under properties said the file was only 16bytes in size.
I then went through the process again and it did the exact same thing, but after about 10 minutes it changed to 39.6gb :S

But still, my C: drive is about 54gb in size, why did it make the file 39.6gb? And why was it only 16bytes in size when i first checked?



Also, inside the folder I see:
- Backup 2009-11-25 133122
- Catalog
- SPPMetadataCache
- MediaId

And inside the backup 2009-11-25 folder there is 13 .xml files, thats it. Thats what makes up the entire 39.6bg

Does everything above sound normal?

When you get a notice that the backup will take up to xx gb, that is near the max. The back ups are incremental. In other words the first time you back up it will take something near the max. The next time it will only take a few exra gb, because it images only the changes.
Remember even though the first time you made an image, other may have been made, since they are scheduled to be made on a regular basis, for your protection

That may be the reason that the addl space used was less than anticipated.

I did one after I got everything installed.

In the dated folder I have eleven XML files. Most are in the 1-4k range and one is 2MB. Then there is one 18GB VHD file. There isn't much of anything else in the other folders.

You can mount the vhd in Disk Management and have a look at what's in there.

Click Action>Attach vhd.

ok, well i got 11 .xml files in the 'Backup 2009-11-25 133122', ranging from 2kb to 3mb.
Also inside that folder I have 2 .vhd files, one is 48mb, the other is 39.5gb

I then have a catalog folder, a SPPMetadataCache folder (which both contain 2 very small files) and the last file is called 'MediaId'

I would just like to know if all those files are normal and if it all seems ok

bump

Mine is mounted and attached, now where do I see it?

Yes, just like mine have always been.