Hi. I'm also new to Acronis but I did notice in the documentation that the tool compresses files whilst backing up. Go to the Acronis True Image 2016 Help and search for 'compress'; you can open the help direct from the tool.

Photos and videos are normally compressed as part of the .jpg / .mp4 / etc file creation process so you do not see much difference in the backup file. (This is also why a 18M pixel camera produces a 2-5MB image file and also why each individual picture is slightly different in size according to how much detail in the picture.)

Documents are not normally compressed unless you switch this on in Windows (it's possible to do this in the folder properties in order to reduce space used on the disc). Thus, you will see significant compression... similar to that you get when you create a zip file.

Regarding Outlook... I don't know how much compression is done by default by Windows on .pst files but there is another issue that might be at work here. As you use a .pst file - which normally includes deleting stuff - the file size continues to grow because the 'junk' doesn't get removed automatically. Instead, you must periodically clean it up manually by: <right click> the .pst file in the left hand panel of Outlook, select Data File Properties, then select Advanced, then click Compact Now. This will take a few minutes to run (depending on how much 'junk' is there) after which the file size will be reduced, take less time to load when opening Outlook, etc. (This process is described in the Outlook help: search for 'compress pst'.) Why this tidying up routine cannot be automated is a Microsoft mystery... I do it every 2-3 months.

Hope this helps, Simon

Yes, Acronis uses compression by default - this is normal and suggested to not change.  Total backup size is normal to see between 15% and 30% less than the original data.  

Files like pictures and videos are already compressed so if that's all that's in your backup, you won't see much size difference, if at all.

Outlook can be compressed - it is a compressed file as of when the snapshot started - if emails come in during the process (or are deleted), those changes won't reflect in that pariticular backup.  Also, by default Outlook stores changes in memory.  Acronis does not backup changes in memory, only those that have have bee written to disk.  Usually, there are autosave features in Word, Excel, Outlook, and that will automatically save the changed files to disk so whatever the last actual "save" on the file is on the system when the backup runs, is what Acronis will be backing up.

This is for an older version of office, but still applies in newer ones too:

Automatically save and recover Office files

Thanks Simon and Bobbo_3C0X1 for your responses - very helpful and I can see now that "Normal" does involve compression for certain types of files.

I still think it would be useful to have a file/folder count for full backups to provide comfort that everything really is there, but maybe that's a little paranoia from previous bad experiences with other software!

Richard,

I agree.  Please submit feedback through the app or your online account. If enough similar requests come in, we may see it in future updates or versions.  This is just a user forum though.. An Acronis technician may see it and decide to submit the feedback directly, but chances are it won't ever be seen. Using the submit feedback option ensures it is at least registered with Acronis.

Hmm! Doesn't ATI remove a significant number of files from the backup? There is a list in the help file that I have appended below.

This issue would be that a file / folder count might give very different numbers and result in more confusion or worry than if it were not there...

... unless, of course, the ATI reports something like "xx folders and yy files were in the target location but zz files were discarded before backup".

Also, if the user tries to compare that against file / folder lists reported by Windows Explorer, might not there be additional confusion if some of these are hidden files / folders (in which case ATI might report a larger number than Windows)?

What is excluded from disk backups?

To reduce image size and speed up image creation, by default Acronis True Image 2016 only stores the hard disk sectors that contain data.

Acronis True Image 2016 excludes the following files from a disk backup:

• pagefile.sys
• hiberfil.sys (a file that keeps RAM contents when the computer goes into hibernation)

You can change this default method by turning on the sector-by-sector mode. In this case, Acronis True Image 2016 copies all hard disk sectors, and not only those that contain data.

Additionally, when you back up your system partition or disk to Acronis Cloud, Acronis True Image excludes the following data:

• The Temp folder (usually located in C:\Windows\Temp\)
• The System Volume Information folder (usually located in C:\System Volume Information\)
• The Recycle Bin
• Web browser temporary data:
  • Temporary Internet files
  • Cookies
  • History
  • Cache
• .tib files
• .tmp files
• .~ files

Hi Simon - good point, but I'm backing up folders and files that contain only data (rather than the whole drive or a partition) so there are very few if any of those file types. I can see that where those file types exist it would be very hard to reconcile the numbers of files/folders at an overall level, but the "data only" folders should still be verifiable.

My issue is that with the absence of folder/file numbers and some compression there is nothing which gives me an alternative check that the backup is complete.

I guess I would be more confident about just accepting that ATI does the job if I wasn't in a lenghthy exchange with ATI tech support about some of the challenges of how mobile device data appears when backed up on the Acronis cloud. (will post separately on that)

Yup, I've just grown to accept that if the files are not specifially excluded, they will be there in the backup.  Best way to confirm though is to test with a restore from time to time and/or at least mount the backup and navigate it.

As for mobile backups - the default data that Acronis backs up is only part of the phone - things like contacts, etc.  However, it won't give you a phone image exactly like it was if you have to wipe the phone or move to another one.  It's a good secondary backup for that important data, but I would still rely on iTunes, Samsung Kies, etc - whatever is available from your manufactuer and take local backups with those applications and then back that data up with Acronis True Image Home locally and the Acronis Mobile App for an extra layer of protection.