Question re Image backups and Recovery Partition

Okay, here's the deal:
I got a new computer and immediately re-partitioned the c drive into 3 partitions. So the c drive was 700+ gigs, but now is only 83 gigs.

#1: Is the Recovery Partition Dell installed at the factory now useless? I'm guessing that it has an image of the pristine C drive in case I needed to go back to original new computer status and start over. But would it still be usable now? Or ONLY if I erased and reformatted the C drive back to include all the drive space minus the recovery partition, as it was?

#2) I made another disc image using Paragon Express Backup, of my C drive before I partitioned. I stored that on an external drive. Same question as above: is it now rendered useless due to the extreme shrinking of C drive? Or - since the information of C drive would still fit on the smaller C drive - would it still work?

I'm confused as to exactly how these backup images work. Does it indeed require no change in size to the backed up partition or drive?

Thanks for any light you can shed on this. I'm new to "backup images" and not sure how they work or what is required to use them as a backup.

Hi pd,

The manufacturer image will almost certainly only go back on a partition as large as the original.

However, 3rd party programs will usually allow to resize the disk image as you are restoring it.

Obviously, the minimum will be the used space on the partition you originally made an image of, and the max. will be the full size of the partition you are restoring to.

I use Paragon products all the time.

However I am not sure if that particular free one does that - it probably does

You would need to check the help menu to see.

Thanks for that info. So basically, then, I can just erase the image on the Dell Recovery Partition, or minimally put it on an external hard drive "just in case" I really want to wipe my entire hard drive and go back to the original giant C drive as they had it...

I THINK my computer is finally working the way it should (I had some issues with an audio driver and a few other things due to the C shrinkage), so I can just re-backup the C drive now with Paragon Express. I think I might buy the full program anyway, for incremental backups. You say you use that and are happy with it? Do you have Vista 64bit? Because I had some issues with their Partition Manager with my 64bit Vista...

One more question about backing up, though:
Windows Vista Backup Service: Where does it store its files? I have not yet used it, so am not sure how it works. Does it give you the option of where you want to back up to? What are its limitations? Is it a good program like their defragger, or should I use Paragon's full backup software (not the Express version) for my backups?

Hi,

I don't use Windows backup - many people have issues with finding the backup and restoring it.

3rd party apps. are more flexible.

I use Vista x64 and Win7 x64.

You may have had a difficulty with the partition manager if you tried to move data on the partition you were booted into ( the Boot partition).

Or if you tried to move data on the partition containing the boot files (the System partition).

This is because bcd is always "live" and considered part of the partition you are booted into - even if it is on a different partition.

If you try to do that using any partition manager whilst in Windows, you will get an odd message, something like "cannot perform this operation while in the current partition" or similar.

In those cases , always use the bootable cd that you can run off from the partition program.

Partition managers are very powerful tools and you need to know a little about what you are doing before using them.

You shouldn't have that problem with a disk imaging app.

The Paragon ones allow to choose what to image , how often, where to put the image, and you can chose where to restore the image to.

You can also explore the image and copy back any parts of it you want - saves having to restore the whole thing if you just need a file or two.

If you use a different Paragon backup program , you will be able to browse to and restore the image you made with the Express version.

They all use the proprietary arc file system.

A better Paragon app. will also allow -partition or disk backup, file and folder backup, incremental and differential, scheduling, choice of compression levels, include or exclude certain files, etc.


Hope it helps

Thanks for the further info. I am going to get the Paragon Drive Backup 9 Personal. I am very impressed with how easy and quick the Backup Express is, and for FREE! But I have always wanted to do incremental backups on a regular basis of my photos and documents, so this is probably a good solution (the pay version).

As to their Partition manager I used v 9.0 Professional and since I shrunk the C drive using Vista, I then needed to format the new partition that was created from the leftover space. Vista would not allow it because I already had 4 partitions (they count the EISA configuration as a partition).

So, I booted into Paragon's Partition Mgr "Recovery Disc" as directed, but when I did so, it did not allow me to format the new partition. It was greyed out in the option. I tried rebooting a couple times and it still would not allow me to format. Finally I came up with the idea of "creating" a partition with the partition that existed, just partitioning it at 100%. THEN it allowed me to do it and format it. But I don't know why it would not allow me to just format it?

My problem with Paragon Partioner 9 Pro is that the Windows GUI is very easy to use and the options make sense to a relatively "newbie" (of partioning) like me. But the GUI of the "Recovery Disc" that you have to use to partition outside of Windows, was very hard to understand in some respects, the options were worded differently and - as I said - some options were greyed out, that I thought shouldn't be. So all in all it was very confusing as to how and what to do, even though I'd read the HELP files.
Maybe the new "10" has made the boot disc more user friendly? It almost seemed as if the 9 version of it was from a very old interface that they'd "forced" to work with a newer program, or something... Something seemed "wrong" about it...

Hi pd,

You always have to make a partition from unallocated space before you can format it and give it a drive letter.

Creating the partition lets the operating system know the boundaries of it.

It is the same with all partitioners. In Vista Disk Management, if you right click unallocated space - you need to create a New Simple Volume first ( i.e. creating a new partition ). Only then does it let you format and assign a drive letter to it.

The GUI on a boot disc does take a bit of getting used to.

Hope it helps