I don't get it with these mini images...
 

Hi,

I have a general problem with the mini images..
After I downloaded it I have a .rar-file and then?
The .mds and .mdf files are in it so i have to unrar the file...that will take 1.8GB on my harddisc....but where is then the sense?

...
 

Search, read and learn. Or use ur original.

you are right. 'mini' images with 1.8GB in size are useless 'mini' images.
they aren't properly created. users just remove the unnessecary files inside the image but do not change size which totally defeats the purpose of a mini image. IMHO those images should be called 'game start images' or something like that.

lol Eagle, hate to say this to a mod... But use the search button :D

Or just use windows compression to compress the images down to 2 megs.

They're called Maxi Images.
Windows compression doesn't help like people seem to believe. Total free disk space is the same even after compressing a 1.8Gb image file, even if when you right click the image it says 1.4Mb...

Ok, I didnt really look into this stuff. I admit. Maybe one day when I start caring about hard drive space I will look is this actually compresses. If you dont like it for taking up so much disk space, why dont you keep it in a rar, and only unrar to use? Endless possibilities...

Actually, I will look into it when I am bored, since it gives me something to do :D

OK I will answer the question about maxxi images, when you use NTFS file compression it will compress the image down to a few megs but this is "size on disk!" it wont show up in explorer (it will still show full image size since the compression works behind the scene. and will appear under total free)

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/853/clip28gb1mf.jpg
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/5739/clip5fk5mn.jpg

take a look at "Free Space" on my drive properties see how it changes from 74.1 GB (uncompressed) to 75.9 GB (compressed)

I think people get confused cause the file wont appear like ziping or raring.
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/846/clip41gr.jpg (uncompressed)
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6186/clip57gm.jpg (compressed)

as you see the file size won't change like a zip or rar would, but overall disk space will be increased as compression is transparent.


also i should note people with ntfs cluster size above 8k (8024 bytes) (the default is 4k (4024 bytes)) wont be able to use NTFS compression also people with older filesystesm such as FAT32/16.

The reason maxxi images are so large is the game usally check the file sizes or sectors across the image so the file has to be the same size as the original most of the time the images are all filled with 0's (this is why it compresses so well) besides for the very end of the image that usally holds the table of contents (TOC) so you can still see the file structure when you mount the image, and the mds file has the protection sectors locations in it and other info.

Also you DON'T need to reboot to free the space after you compress it will happen as soon as the os finnishes compressing it (varys depending on speed of your hard drive(s)) usally F5 will update the window to show most accurate data.

Uhm, excuse me, but any question/answer in this thread that is not covered by the FAQ already...?

XtremeX, thats untrue, check your HDD size before you compress and after you compress, it will be same, but then reboot and it will give you back the space. :)

Im doing it with the Most Wanted image(s) from here.