New thread...same partition problem

[twistedvincent]

I never got an adequate answer to my partition problem.....
here it is again, with more information that may help:

My image backup software use is completely confusing me at the moment, but more on that later. One of my problems seems to be that my C: drive partitioned when I got it. When I go to computer management/drive management, my drive is in three parts(though none have an assigned drive letter:
15GB Healthy(recovery partition)
100MB Healthy(System,active,primary partition)
(C 916GB NTFS Boot,ect...)
Can I get rid of the 15gb recovery partition, and if so how?
I have two, 1TB internal drives added and would like to use one for backups. But when I try to use Paragon for my initial backup it says it will use a minimum of 60% of my HDD space. I even tried to do it once but after over 3 hours the backup wasn't complete, so I cancelled it.

This was also a response in my previous thread, but I never heard from him.

Thanks to all of you for your help!!

 

[Ztruker]

Give Macrium Reflect (free) a try for making a backup, works great for me.

Did the computer come with Windows 7 or did you upgrade from XP or Vista? If it came with it then I would definitely not delete the Recovery Partition as that is you ticket to restoring Win 7 if something goes really bad. If you previously had Vista or Xp and have no intention of ever going back, then yes, you can delete the Recovery Partition (15GB) and merge it's space into your C: partition.

The 100MB partition is created and used by Windows 7 so leave it alone.

 

[twistedvincent]

It came with 7 premium, but I did and upgrade to pro.

 

[theog]

I would leave partitions as there are.

Backup take look here:
For option 3 you may like to have look at those tutorials:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/675-system-image-recovery.html?ltr=S
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/648-restore-backup-user-system-files.html

 

[twistedvincent]

So I'm gathering that it's normal for my lowly 150gb on my C: drive to use 60% of my HDD space when doing an image backup to another 1TB drive. That doesn't make sense to me.

 

[karlsnooks]

old rule: If it works, don't fix it.

Ours not to reason why,
Ours but to do or die.
Cannons to the right of them volleyed and thundered,
In to the valley of death rode the gallant six hundred.

from a poem about military stupidity.

 

[gregrocker]

Try Macrium to see what the image size is. Should only be the actual used space on HD. For more compression you'll need one of the paid programs.

 

[twistedvincent]

the paragon is a paid program....well, a giveawayoftheday, but normally a paid program.

 

[gregrocker]

Are you sure it's not saying it will use 60% of the imaged HD, which is about right when you consider the empty space which it doesn't include in the image by default?

What is the size of drives imaged vs. the estimated size of the finished image for Win7 backup imaging vs Paragon.

 

[myzr7]

I never got an adequate answer to my partition problem.....
here it is again, with more information that may help:

My image backup software use is completely confusing me at the moment, but more on that later. One of my problems seems to be that my C: drive partitioned when I got it. When I go to computer management/drive management, my drive is in three parts(though none have an assigned drive letter:
15GB Healthy(recovery partition)
100MB Healthy(System,active,primary partition)
(C 916GB NTFS Boot,ect...)
Can I get rid of the 15gb recovery partition, and if so how?
I have two, 1TB internal drives added and would like to use one for backups. But when I try to use Paragon for my initial backup it says it will use a minimum of 60% of my HDD space. I even tried to do it once but after over 3 hours the backup wasn't complete, so I cancelled it
This was also a response in my previous thread, but I never heard from him.

Thanks to all of you for your help!!

twistedvincent
Can you post a picture of your disk management, your problem could be hidden somewhere in that partitioning.

 

[twistedvincent]

Are you sure it's not saying it will use 60% of the imaged HD, which is about right when you consider the empty space which it doesn't include in the image by default?

What is the size of drives imaged vs. the estimated size of the finished image for Win7 backup imaging vs Paragon.

Just for the hell of it I attempted a quick image backup of my 117GB worth of files to one of my two internal TB HD's. It said it would reduce my drive space by 89%(!!). I proceeded anyway and suddenly my drive read "93.1GB free of 93.1GB"
I have no Idea why.....
BTW.....The drive I'm imaging is also 1TB

 

[twistedvincent]

Here are two screens, disc 1 is the destination drive. Paragon is attempting to use 800+ gb for the image, leaving me 93gb out of a TB!
Obviously the first screen is pre-Paragon and second is post.

Hope this helps.
Thanks again

 

[gregrocker]

The problem appears to be that one of your storage drives is also labeled C.

Change the letter in Disk Management so it isn't included in the image.

 

[twistedvincent]

The problem appears to be that one of your storage drives is also labeled C.

Change the letter in Disk Management so it isn't included in the image.

That's the letter T not C....I use a strange font.
The problem I have with Macrimum and Windows 7 is I can't do differential or incremental backups. I can do differential backups with Paragon.

 

[gregrocker]

The Disk Mgmt screenshots show that both Recovery Partition and 100mb System Reserved partition have no content. This needs to be confirmed and then they can be wiped with the System Active MBR and HD space recovered into Win7.

It would also be a good time to consider doing a clean reinstall after wiping the C HD, as this could be the result of another in-place Upgrade gone bad. An in-place Upgrade is almost always an inferior install.

Please install free Partiiton Wizard to post back another screenshot of its drive listings to cross-check. Then right click on the Recovery and 100mb SysReserved partitions to Explore what files are on there, checking each folder.

You can also try running the Recovery partition (just to see if it will cue up and what options it offers) from boot using the key(s) given on first boot screen or in your Manual on Gateway's Support Downloads webpage for your model.

The backup image may start working correctly if you use PW CD to wipe the first two partitions, then Resize Win7 into its space. It will require recovering the MBR into Win7 by also marking it active and then running Startup Repair up to three separate times from the Win7 DVD Repair console or Repair CD. This is all covered in this new tutorial: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93322-partition-wizard-use-bootable-cd.html

But again, the Win7 clean reinstall will result in better performance so consider it strongly for now or later. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[twistedvincent]

Can I/should I do an image backup prior to a clean install? I hate to go thru all the installation crap again.

 

[theog]

Backing up data is always a good idea.

 

[karlsnooks]

Can I/should I do an image backup prior to a clean install? I hate to go thru all the installation crap again.

I always do just in case anything goes astray.

As a minimum, then as suugested by Theog, backup your data