Empty partition ..?

Bill said:

You also may want to check out a program like Paragon Partition Manager. Will help you out a lot with backing up and managing partitions.

Bill

OOPs...I forgot i have Acronis true image home ....
I'll find out if i can use it to delete that R/P ..
Thanks for reminding me bill .

@W7101 - a suggestion:

I personally see no need for a "recovery" partition or so-called "system" backups (which are not complete image backups). Secondly, I wonder what is being stored in a partition that is only 7.8GB. Thirdly, I think most would agree that it is a good idea to create an image backup of the OS partition on a regular basis (full backup weekly with incremental daily - depending on the sensitivity of your data). So what to do?

I utilize a system that consists of three 750GB HDDs and a series of mem sticks. On one of my HDDs I create an OS partition on which I ONLY place the OS and "everyday" apps - NOTHING else! For my present needs, my OS partition happens to be 100GB. All of my other data (docs, MP3s, JPEGs, backup files, etc.) are placed in other partitions on the same or other disks (not the same partition). I place all of my backups on alternate disks and, in addition, my critical data on mem sticks (simply an alternative to external HDDs/CDs/DVDs). Why do this?

Malware rarely attacks JPEGs of your dog; often located within archives, it loads somewhere in the OS partition. In other words, it is almost exclusively that your OS partition is the one that will become infected or otherwise corrupt. By creating an OS-only partition, you avoid time-consuming backup/restore operations because you are backing up a relatively small partition. Secondly, manipulating an OS-only partition, for the most, avoids the possibility of trashing your data by inadvertently overwriting it in the process of restoring or reinstalling your OS. Thirdly, you avoid the necessity of having to frequently backup data that rarely changes - depending on how you structure your system.

For example, above, I noted that I store "everyday" apps (e.g., utilities) on my OS partition. I have a separate partition on which I install games rather than on the OS partition as is usually done. Why? Apart from very infrequent patches, the games do not change and do not become corrupted as a result of my incessant tweaking. My games presently occupy 335GBs on a 500GB partition. I don't want to make image backups of a 500GB partition on a regular basis (no need, takes a long time).

I store images from HDD 0 on HHD 1 or 2; HDD 1 images on HDD 0 or 2, HDD 2 images on HDD 0 or 1. By so doing, I have replicated all of my data on separate HDDs. As I also mentioned, I additionally store critical data (docs, JPEGs) off machine on mem sticks. By so doing, I feel confident that there is little possibility that I can simultaneously lose all of my data.

You did not mention what you use to accomplish backups. Acronis seems to be the standard that many emulate. Both Seagate at DiscWizard End User License Agreement | Seagate and WD at WD Support have a free image backup app based on the Acronis platform (both are Acronis that have some less useful features disabled). To employ one or the other, you must have at least one Seagate or one WD HDD in your system; if so, each will create image backups for any HDD. Paragon at Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition - Free Download also has a pretty good free backup app. I, personally, am not a friend of Macrium which I find takes longer and creates "normal" compression images that are larger than Acronis or Paragon. You can elect other than "normal" compression with any of the apps but the more you compress, the longer it takes.

Finally, please forgive if I insulted your or anyone else's intelligence. I am new here and have yet to familiarize myself with the collective expertise of the group.

Monk

Hmonk ...no need to apologize ....
Thanks for indepth ...long....advice ..
Although i only have afew programs to work on everyday ...
so one cloned HDD is OK for me now ... beside i already paid for acronis image home 10 ..i might as well to use it ..working so far for me..
(BTW .. i find out i can use acronis to delete the R/P)
Thanks .

I didn't know there is a good free software to do this ...
Anyway ... I will try acronis tonight ...first ...then PWHE ..
Thanks whs .

whs said:

w7101 said:

I didn't know there is a good free software to do this ...
Anyway ... I will try acronis tonight ...first ...then PWHE ..
Thanks whs .

The Partition Wizard is a good and easy to use program. It is handy to have around. Their documentation (click the ?) is very good too.

Whs .
How do i check this thread is anwsered ....?
and give you some credits for helping me ..

Got it .

Thanks for all your helps everybody .