Windows 7 Some questions about system image backups

[TomTiddler]

So, I'm doing system image backups over a 1Gb/s network. The system being backed up is a Sony notebook (FW285D) with a 500GB hard drive. The backup runs at a steady 4-5MBytes/sec transfer which seems slow (I should note that a scheduled Win7 backup bursts at 24-45MBytes/sec), and as a result the first system image backup took >24 hrs to complete.

Will subsequent image backups take the same amount of time? or is there an incremental mode that I cant find? I can't be doing with more than 24 hours to complete a backup.

Also, in the "regular" backup, if I choose "Let me choose", I notice that the Windows folder is not listed on the C drive, so how do I get regular incremental backups of the "system" without doing an image backup?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[SIW2]

I don't use Windows for that - but I have heard subsequent images ( assuming you choose the same destination) will automatically be incremental.

how do I get regular incremental backups of the "system" without doing an image backup?

I am sorry, I don't understand the question.

 

[TomTiddler]

I guess I could have been more clear .......... System image backups seem to proceed at a maximum transfer rate (across a 1Gb/s network) of less than 10Mbits/sec. Obviously this takes forever for a 200GByte system image. My question is, why is the "system image" portion of the backup so slow, when the regular "scheduled backup" portion runs at burst speed exceeding 70Mb/s??

Anyone from MS want to chime in here??

Ian

 

[ayacenda]

My first backup has been running for 25 hours and it is 46% complete. I have about 300gb that I am backing up to a 2tb drive connected to a USB2 port. I am using the "Files in libraries and personal folders for all users and system image." option. I accidentally hit the sleep button on my keyboard yesterday about 20 hours into a backup. It looks like the backup restarted from the beginning. This seems unworkable to me.

Is my experience typical? Does anyone with 200Gb+ have success with the Windows 7 backup?