External drive capacity for Complete Image Backup

I have Win Vista Ultimate 64bit. I want to try the Complete backup Image from
the Backup and Restore Center.
My external drive is 189GB. My "C" drive is 455GB with 221GB used.
Does the backup Program do any data compressing that would allow me to use
that external drive?
Frank C
Dell Inspiron 530S
Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
Dell studio laptop
Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
HP Photosmart D7260

Compression is used but there is no way to know how much files will
compress. In general, executable files are already compressed, and most
music/video files compress poorly because of the random nature of their
data. You would do well to get a larger external drive and be sure it will
work.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Desktop]
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/


"Frank C" <> wrote in message
news:8C965869-2AEA-403B-9234-...
>I have Win Vista Ultimate 64bit. I want to try the Complete backup Image
>from
> the Backup and Restore Center.
> My external drive is 189GB. My "C" drive is 455GB with 221GB used.
> Does the backup Program do any data compressing that would allow me to use
> that external drive?
> Frank C
> Dell Inspiron 530S
> Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
> Dell studio laptop
> Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
> HP Photosmart D7260

Thanks for the reply Richard, I'll get a bigger external disk. Do you have
any recomendations?
--
Frank C
Dell Inspiron 530S
Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
Dell studio laptop
Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
HP Photosmart D7260


"Richard G. Harper [MVP]" wrote:

> Compression is used but there is no way to know how much files will
> compress. In general, executable files are already compressed, and most
> music/video files compress poorly because of the random nature of their
> data. You would do well to get a larger external drive and be sure it will
> work.
>
> --
> Richard G. Harper [MVP Desktop]
> * NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
> * PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
> * The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
>
>
> "Frank C" <> wrote in message
> news:8C965869-2AEA-403B-9234-...
> >I have Win Vista Ultimate 64bit. I want to try the Complete backup Image
> >from
> > the Backup and Restore Center.
> > My external drive is 189GB. My "C" drive is 455GB with 221GB used.
> > Does the backup Program do any data compressing that would allow me to use
> > that external drive?
> > Frank C
> > Dell Inspiron 530S
> > Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
> > Dell studio laptop
> > Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
> > HP Photosmart D7260
>

Despite what others may say, hard drives are pretty much a "commodity
item" - no one is much better or worse than any other simply based on brand
name. Some swear that Brand X fails twice as often as Brand Y but in
reality they're all pretty much the same given the same specs, intended use,
etc.

Find one that meets the size you need, don't bother with ones with huge
buffers or high rotation speed because in an external USB housing (assuming
it's USB) the maximum speed will be limited by the USB port and is far
slower than even the slowest hard drive you can buy today. If it's a
FireWire or eSATA drive then you may wish to consider speed versus price
versus the fact it won't be used every day.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Desktop]
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/


"Frank C" <> wrote in message
news:7282F69B-2B44-43BF-8588-...
> Thanks for the reply Richard, I'll get a bigger external disk. Do you have
> any recomendations?
> --
> Frank C
> Dell Inspiron 530S
> Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
> Dell studio laptop
> Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
> HP Photosmart D7260
>
>
> "Richard G. Harper [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Compression is used but there is no way to know how much files will
>> compress. In general, executable files are already compressed, and most
>> music/video files compress poorly because of the random nature of their
>> data. You would do well to get a larger external drive and be sure it
>> will
>> work.
>>
>> --
>> Richard G. Harper [MVP Desktop]
>> * NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
>> * PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
>> * The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
>>
>>
>> "Frank C" <> wrote in message
>> news:8C965869-2AEA-403B-9234-...
>> >I have Win Vista Ultimate 64bit. I want to try the Complete backup Image
>> >from
>> > the Backup and Restore Center.
>> > My external drive is 189GB. My "C" drive is 455GB with 221GB used.
>> > Does the backup Program do any data compressing that would allow me to
>> > use
>> > that external drive?
>> > Frank C
>> > Dell Inspiron 530S
>> > Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
>> > Dell studio laptop
>> > Win Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP1
>> > HP Photosmart D7260
>>