Compressed ISO's

[greatflash]

Just a little topic to ask what others are doing and perhaps to give ideas to those who have not thought about these options.

Take a system like the PS2. Files sizes for roms can be rather large, so... This leaves a few options.

1) Have a massive drive to store iso's uncompressed

2) Have a massive drive and use ntfs compression

3) Compress the iso.

4) Archive Compress (.ZIP, .RAR, etc) - MASSIVE wait to uncompress.....

I decided to have a look at compressed iso's. Daemon tools can mount isz files natively - so that was a good start.

Here are some size comparisons on an iso.

Uncompressed = 1.65g

NTFS Compressed = 1.62g

.ISZ Compressed = 1.55g

.MOU Compressed = 1.51g

.ZIP Compressed (for comparison) = 1.55g (Normal compression)

Another -

Uncompressed = 4.24g

NTFS Compressed = 3.61g

.ISZ Compressed = 2.62g

.MOU Compressed = 2.62g

Mou is a format supported by WinMount (a free application) that can also handle command line mounting (like Daemon). There is also a Japanese program (name eludes me now) that can also mount these files. I should also mention that all three (NTSF, ISZ, MOU) compression formats mentioned here mount instantly requiring no decompressing.

Personal preference is .ISZ though.

Of course, this kind of compression is only good for emu's that allow the running of mounted images (NullDC, PCSX2, Saturn, etc).

Just thought I would post my findings as I would like to hear what others are doing (also if anyone knows of a batch .isz compressor/convertor).

[Adultery]

You say DT can mount these, so does the GameEx DT integration recognize these files?

[Tom Speirs]

I think I added support for isz last version.

[Adultery]

Well then, that'd be the way I would go with that!

[DazzleHP]

I'm liking the 4.24 down to 2.62! That's quite a nice ratio and could probably save me around 100gb Thanks for sharing the info!

What are you using to compress to .isz may i ask?

[greatflash]

The only thing Is image types like .gcm files where there are multiple other files (also, redumps) could be a problem.

But for a straight compress of iso's - looks like a great alternative to an archive.

If anyone has any ways of compressing the other formats, that would be great.

[greatflash]

UltraISO seams a good tool for compressing, thought there may be better alternatives?

[Adultery]

I'd prob use UltraISO.

[celly]

Man, that would free up a lot of space. Escpecially the newer PS2, GC systems. Mine are all currently uncompressed. I think I'll give UltraISO a spin as well. Thanks for the tip GreatFlash!

[greatflash]

No probs.

If you discover any little tips and tweaks. Please keep us posted.

[Stu1983]

I was using Daemon Tools compressed MDF/MDS format, it was the best compression ratio I could find years ago but having upgraded to a 3TB drive I now have room to live with NTFS compression, the benefit being I can keep the likes of PSX in bin/cue format with audio tracks, I have started recollection my PSX and Saturn images.

For Wii and GameCube I just used the built in compressor that comes with Dolphin (right click rom and choose compress).

[greatflash]

The main place it is a big benefit is in ps2. The saving is ahead of ntfs and instant mounting.

These files soon file even a 4tb drive.

[smd111]

Man, that would free up a lot of space. Escpecially the newer PS2, GC systems. Mine are all currently uncompressed. I think I'll give UltraISO a spin as well. Thanks for the tip GreatFlash!

the only problem with this is if you image is not Mode 1 it will make them Mode 1

ie PlayStation disks are Mode 2 Form 1 and compressing them with UltraISO makes them Mode 1 and if you try to compress them with Daemon Tools it will error before it finishes and im doing this from a real disk

so if anyone has a fix for this i could use it

-EDIT-

ok i found a way around this

(this is what you need)

DAEMON Tools Pro 5.2.0.0348 or newer - installed with serial

a way to make an image of your disk

(this is how you do it)

when you open your full install of DAEMON Tools Pro you will see a convert image button use that

[Circo]

I use ntfs compression on my network rom drives and it works flawlessly

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[Tom Speirs]

NTFS is a good option however its generally not supported on dedicated NAS boxes. Only windows or direct attached drives normally.

[Circo]

Yeah my network box is windows based

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