Comparing two images without Winmerge decompressing the contents

[phytonikos]

I have used Clonezilla to make images of a disk drive for backup, uploading the image to the cloud. I am using Winmerge here to check the integrity of the cloud-uploaded image against the local one.

Clonezilla saves the disk image in a folder, containing numerous very small files and then the large .img file. When I compare the two folders (cloud-uploaded and local), the collections of files are read as identical, including the .imgs. However, when I try to compare those .img files independently from the folders, Winmerge attempts to extract them to a temp folder before comparing them.

Though the images aren't huge (~135 GB), the extracted versions that wind up in the Winmerge temp folder (I'm guessing here) correspond to the size of the disk cloned, which is 2TB. While running the comparison (extracting phase) the hard drive where Winmerge is fills up to the maximum and then Winmerge alerts that there is no more space available on the disk.

What is the way to compare the data of the compressed images without Winmerge automatically extracting them? Is there a method besides including them both as contents of a folder that includes additional files?

[sdottaka]

Hmm... It seems that WinMerge judges the img extension to be an archive file, but I was unable to reproduce this.
Anyway, to prevent it from being recognized as an archive file, disable "Enable archive file support" as follows.

When you compare those img files with WinMerge, the following window will be displayed, and if you press the Yes button you can compare only the contents without displaying it.