The Finder's Get Info command totals the number of files and folders within the item you are "Getting Info" on. When you Get Info on a hard disk, the result will include System files that aren't normally backed up. These files can include AppleShare PDS, Desktop DB, Desktop DF, Desktop Folder, and Trash Folder.
Retrospect records only the files it backs up and does not count folders as items. Since Retrospect ignores some system related files and only backs up data files, this would account for the discrepancy.
The Finder also adds up the total disk space allocated for folders, while Retrospect totals only the amount of data it saves. There will almost always be a discrepancy because of ignored files such as Desktop DB & DF. Also, these files look larger to the Finder than they actually are.
Example:
The test hard disk contained only one file.
Get Info on the file indicated that it was 24K on disk (22K used).
Get Info on the RAM Disk indicated that there were 5 items on the drive.
Here is what the Retrospect log looked like:
7/29/94 12:36:49 PM: Copying Hard Disk
7/29/94 12:36:54 PM: Comparing Hard Disk
7/29/94 12:36:54 PM: Execution completed successfully
Completed: 1 files, 22 KB
Performance: 0.2 MB/minute (0.2 copy, 0.0 compare)
Duration: 00:00:05
You can check to be sure that all the data (as opposed to every last bit of information on the drive) is safe by using the Reports:Files command in the Retrospect directory. Retrospect stores the folder information with the files as they are saved. Therefore, folders and data files can both be restored from a backup.