Comments for Does archiving compressed files increase the chance of corruption?

Comment from Terry Hollett on 2009-04-08

2009-04-08T11:19:08Z

I have avoided compression of files for the same reasons. If I had a thousand files on a CD uncompressed and a few bad sectors developed I could still recover some files. If they where all in one and it became corrupted - they are all gone. That has always been my reasoning.

Except for programs/games. If even one program file becomes corrupt,its screwed anyway. So I don't mind compressing games and program files.

And I always make 2 copies of my backup CD/DVDs.

http://www.geocities.com/terryhollett2003/

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A comment on: Does archiving compressed files increase the chance of corruption?

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Comment from Mark on 2009-04-07

2009-04-08T01:24:10Z

I have dozens of backups DVDs around; I'm constantly backing up data, copying and moving data. I also store things regularly on flash drives. It's not a good idea to put all files in a single compressed container, for the reasons stated above. And with today's cheap, large storage, there's no real reason to compress.

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A comment on: Does archiving compressed files increase the chance of corruption?

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Comment from David Martin on 2009-04-07

2009-04-08T01:12:21Z

I'm with Michael on this one. Use an external drive (and keep it somewhere else - not next to your computer or in the cupboard - take it to work or something). And make copies to DVD's (although even they can,IMHO, let you down. Finally, consider free/cheap offline/online backup services such as http://www.topshareware.com/Backup2Net-download-40601.htm

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A comment on: Does archiving compressed files increase the chance of corruption?

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Comment from Michael on 2009-04-07

2009-04-07T21:20:12Z

Why compress at all? I back up very frequently on to a 420gig external hard drive that I purchased for about £70. A good backup programme handles everything for you and the files stay uncompressed. You will then have no issues over compression.

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A comment on: Does archiving compressed files increase the chance of corruption?

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Comment from Roger on 2009-04-07

2009-04-07T20:36:43Z

I believe you've mentioned using True Image to do backups. I've been using that as well. After reading your article, I started thinking... A dangerous thing for me. When you use True Image, doesn't that mean you're putting all your stuff in one file - increasing the potential problems with corruption? How much does having True Image verify data when backing up help reduce the chances of corruption?

All backup solutions that create a single image file do indeed fall into this bucket. Verifying after write helps, as do the additional techniques mentioned in the article (multipel copies, good media, etc.)

- Leo
08-Apr-2009

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A comment on: Does archiving compressed files increase the chance of corruption?

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Comment from Richard FDisk on 2009-04-07

2009-04-07T16:55:14Z

Good Info;
as always "Back up, Back up, Back up..."
I never rely on a single copy of anything whether it's documents, images, audio or video files etc.
and when I do archiving I make a duplicate of the disc, CD, DVD are rather inexpensive now, even if it costs a $1 per disc that's still cheaper than replacing or trying to replace some irreplaceable data.

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A comment on: Does archiving compressed files increase the chance of corruption?

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