Full backup and restore to defrag. Is this possible?
All,
Hello. I have ATIH 2012. I am curious if this is possible. Fully backup a machine, and then restore (either same disk or different disk). All files are now defragged, correct? Now, backup will NOT be sector-by-sector, so I assume it's file-by-file.
Based on my thinking and assumptions, if a restore just writes the files to a disk (excluding position dependent files such as those in the MBR), then all files restored will written in contiguous sectors, correct?
On a different note, how does ATIH determine if a file is to be backed up for inc. and diff. backup methods? By NTFS File Archive Attribute? Changed date/time stamp? Or something lower-level such as sector changes? I ask because I came across a another discussion about how someone's defrag caused a major file size increase in his subsequent backups; many mentioned sector changes as the explaination.
This thread is really an opener to a more detailed discussion to what I had in mind for ATIH, and building/rebuilding my machines. When I have more time I will create that posting....
Sincerely,
ATIHNewb


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What if the backup is a file backup not a disk or partition backup? In that case the I would think the files will be written to 'new' locations and if the disk is starting out empty, then the files should be restored contiguously.
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I would say no still (but there's no documentation I can find to support it). It would really depend on the content/health of the recovery disk and how much data is currently in use and how much is being recovered. If you are recovering a nearly full disk to a similar sized disk, as the recovery progresses on and space becomes less available, it will need to move files around based on available sectors remaining on the disk so could still be fragmented in the end. I would not rely on Acronis for defragmenting - allow Windows to defrag or use a third party utility as needed. There is nothing in the product description or knowledge articles that suggest Acronis does any type of degramentation so I would not expect it to do anything other than what the product says it will.
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If ATI restores the block as originally backed up and a defrag takes place before restoration, hasn't the block that was backed up now changed with respect to the file it originally represented. If so, then restoring a file would overwrite the block it once related to but which may no longer represent the file backed up. ??
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