Did you look at the links in my message to Cetin? Conclusion there, in general terms, seems to be that for an image size of less than 256k varbinary is the winner; over 1Mb then external files win. For sizes in between 'it depends'

Also, AFAIK, if you *can* use FILESTREAM (i.e. SQL2008) then backup/restore will include the image data. Never tried it tho :-{

>I'm allowing the user to select any picture. I size them to 40x40, but the original size is open to whatever he selects. Their could be a couple thousand images.

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>>>Thanks everyone.
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>>>One problem I have is that my client will want to take the app home. If I store the pics in the DB, then all I have to do is provide a Back/Restore feature. If the pics are on the hard drive, he has to back those up and copy them home also.
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>>What's the average (byte) size of the image and how many of them will there be?
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>>>>>What's involved in storing and retrieving images in a SQL table into a PictureBox on a WinForm?
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>>>>I wouldn't recommend storing file content into a table. Is this something that cannot be adjusted? If you can, I strongly recommend your store those images in a directory and establish a reference from the table to them.