Reflect: max compression versus least compression?


Bob1212

Bob1212

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Can somebody kindly give me an idea of the mrimg size difference between the two? IOW, is it perhaps half?

My backup external drive is HDD, not SSD, so it'd take me more than a little while to run experiments. I'd just like a general idea.

Thanks.
 

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System One

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    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
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    Dell Inspiron 6525 16"
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    AMD Ryzen 7 5825U apparently made in 2022
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    Will never again by a laptop without a backlit keyboard.
I would leave it at default. The higher the compression the longer it takes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
1) No Compression - 8 mins, file size 37 GB (75 MB/S)

2) Medium Compression - 10 mins, file size 22 GB (35 MB/s)

3) High Compression - 16 mins, file size 21 GB
Click to expand...

Macrium Reflect and Compression - Windows 10 Help Forums

Did an interesting test on my OS drive which only contains OS and programs - no highly compressed data like videos. My drive contains 37 GB, and I got the following backing up to an hdd 1) No Compression - 8 mins, file size 37 GB (75 MB/S) 2) Medium Compr
www.tenforums.com www.tenforums.com
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
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    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 8600G (07/24)
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    ASROCK B650M-HDV/M.2 3.20 (07/24)
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    2x32GB Kingston FURY DDR5 5600 MHz CL36 @5200 CL40 (07/24)
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    Noctua NH-U12S with Noctua NF-P12 (04/24)
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    HP Pavilion Wired Keyboard 300 (07/24) + Rabalux 76017 Parker (01/24)
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    2nd Monitor: AOC G2460VQ6 @75Hz (02/19)
TairikuOkami said:
1) No Compression - 8 mins, file size 37 GB (75 MB/S)

2) Medium Compression - 10 mins, file size 22 GB (35 MB/s)

3) High Compression - 16 mins, file size 21 GB
Click to expand...
Interesting. You only save 1GB between 2 & 3? If that's not a typo (and you say the same in your quoted link), then it seems hardly worth it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 6525 16"
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5825U apparently made in 2022
    Memory
    16GB
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD
    Internet Speed
    up to 160Mbps
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    Win11
    Other Info
    Will never again by a laptop without a backlit keyboard.
Porthos said:
I would leave it at default. The higher the compression the longer it takes.
Click to expand...
Well, since my destination drive is slow, I figured I just walk away and let it run anyway - until I get an SSD destination.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 6525 16"
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5825U apparently made in 2022
    Memory
    16GB
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD
    Internet Speed
    up to 160Mbps
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    Win11
    Other Info
    Will never again by a laptop without a backlit keyboard.
Bob1212 said:
until I get an SSD destination.
Click to expand...
Note that compression will cause excessive writes. You will get 40GB image and then it gets compressed to 25GB, so it will write 65GB.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 5 8600G (07/24)
    Motherboard
    ASROCK B650M-HDV/M.2 3.20 (07/24)
    Memory
    2x32GB Kingston FURY DDR5 5600 MHz CL36 @5200 CL40 (07/24)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASROCK Radeon RX 6600 Challenger D 8G @48FPS (08/24)
    Sound Card
    Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus (05/24)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Philips 24M1N3200ZS/00 (05/24)
    Screen Resolution
    1920×1080@165Hz via DP1.4
    Hard Drives
    Kingston KC3000 NVMe 2TB (05/24)
    ADATA XPG GAMMIX S11 Pro 512GB (07/19)
    PSU
    Seasonic Core GM 550 Gold (04/24)
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 Mini with 3x Noctua NF-P14s/12@555rpm (04/24)
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12S with Noctua NF-P12 (04/24)
    Keyboard
    HP Pavilion Wired Keyboard 300 (07/24) + Rabalux 76017 Parker (01/24)
    Mouse
    Logitech M330 Silent Plus (04/23)
    Internet Speed
    500/100 Mbps via RouterOS (05/21) & TCP Optimizer
    Browser
    Edge & Brave for YouTube & LibreWolf for FB
    Antivirus
    NextDNS blocking 99% TLDs
    Other Info
    Backup: Hasleo Backup Suite (PreOS)
    Headphones: Sennheiser RS170 (09/10)
    Phone: Samsung Galaxy Xcover 7 (02/24)
    Chair: Huzaro Force 4.4 Grey Mesh (05/24)
    Notifier: Xiaomi Mi Band 9 Milanese (10/24)
    2nd Monitor: AOC G2460VQ6 @75Hz (02/19)
TairikuOkami said:
Note that compression will cause excessive writes. You will get 40GB image and then it gets compressed to 25GB, so it will write 65GB.
Click to expand...
Ohhh... I would have guessed it compresses as it goes along.

So maybe an HDD destination is a more dependable choice in the long run.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 6525 16"
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5825U apparently made in 2022
    Memory
    16GB
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD
    Internet Speed
    up to 160Mbps
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    Win11
    Other Info
    Will never again by a laptop without a backlit keyboard.
TairikuOkami said:
Note that compression will cause excessive writes. You will get 40GB image and then it gets compressed to 25GB, so it will write 65GB.
Click to expand...

Bob1212 said:
Ohhh... I would have guessed it compresses as it goes along.
Click to expand...
Bob1212 is correct, it compresses as it goes along. Only the compressed data gets written to the image file.

I have just repeated the tests that @cereberus did, and that TarikuOkami quoted above. My system has an SSD with a total of 26.51GB to back up to an external HDD. The findings were the same, but there's an added twist in the timings. Unlike cereberus I also included auto verify, so the verification time is included here:

High: image file 9.63GB in 7:06 minutes
Medium: image file 9.93GB in 5:33 minutes
None: image file 16.56GB in 6:26 minutes

As cereberus found, High compression gains very little at the expense of being significantly slower. But the real surprise was that Medium compression was the fastest of them all. Why? It's because verification reads every byte of the image just created, and the low compresiion image is some 6.6GB larger - it just takes more time to read it all.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Bree said:
As cereberus found, High compression gains very little at the expense of being significantly slower.
Click to expand...

So high compression should be avoided, with possible exceptions such as a huge amount of .wav or .raw files, which are uncompressed.

...and maybe also if the source drive has a huge amount of empty space.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Inspiron 6525 16"
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5825U apparently made in 2022
    Memory
    16GB
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD
    Internet Speed
    up to 160Mbps
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    Win11
    Other Info
    Will never again by a laptop without a backlit keyboard.
Bob1212 said:
So high compression should be avoided,
Click to expand...
Yes, in general. There is very little to gain, and it's a lot slower.

I do use High compression myself, but only because I have a large number of machines to back up, and without it I would need a larger backup drive to hold all their images.

Bob1212 said:
...and maybe also if the source drive has a huge amount of empty space.
Click to expand...
No, Macrium's 'Intelligent sector copy' avoids including any empty space on the source drive in the image.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, and 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package. In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media. Also running Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine.
Similar experience by Ghost user

I am using Ghost backup. High compression will take longer time to finish. while save a little more size on disk. I do use High compression nearly every backup (unless disk to disk)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7/11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP/Lenovo/Asus
    CPU
    Intel i7-11800H
    Motherboard
    Lenovo Legion 5i Pro Gen 6
    Memory
    32GB DDR4 3200MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
    Hard Drives
    1TB PCIe SSD
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