Should I partition the drive with the Backup Image?

B

bishop101

New member
Hi, I have a 1TB external hard drive that I will use to make a Backup Image. I'm going to Use Symantec Ghost to make a backup Image.

Should I partition the External hard drive first? I would also like to use it to store other files and folders. If so, how big should the partition with the backup Images be?

How large is a typical Image backup file? I also plan on backing up 2 other linux machines.
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
AMD Phenom™ 9500 Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard
MCP61PM-HM (Nettle3)
Memory
8 GB DDR2 OCZ
Graphics Card(s)
Power Color 5750
Monitor(s) Displays
HP w2207h
Hard Drives
2x Seagate ST336032 0AS SCSI 326 GB,
WD Caviar Black 600 GB,
WD Caviar Black 1 TB
PSU
Corsair TX 650w
Case
Cooler Master 690 Advanced
A separate partition isn't needed unless you will be booting a Linux distro from the external drive. I've imaged my system and it was 28GB in size. Yours will be different depending on how much data you have.

If you have video or music or other real large collections, I would suggest not including those in the image. Save them to the external drive and the just copy back when needed.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built Desktop By DataTech
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
CPU
Intel i5-2550K, Differing ~4.4-4.8GHz No built in GPU
Motherboard
ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Memory
16GB G.Skill Sniper 1866MHz @ 2133MHz 2x8GB
Graphics Card(s)
ASUS GTX650TIB-DC2OC-2GD5, (650TI Boost)
Sound Card
Onboard Realtek 5-1
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung P2570HD
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD for OS, 500GB Seagate Constellation (Enterprise drive) for Data
PSU
Corsair HX650W
Case
Inwin Dragon Rider
Cooling
Hyper 212 EVO w/two Noctua fans, push-pull, @1300 RPM
Keyboard
E-Z Eyes, bright yellow keys with large characters
Mouse
steelseries SENSEI Laser Pro Gaming
Internet Speed
48-51Mbs Mbs down, 11 Mbs up Xfinity Cable
Antivirus
Norton Internet Security 2013
Browser
IE 10, Opera, Pale Moon if needed
Other Info
4 case fans, LG BluRay-RE, ASUS DVD-RW, Mr. Fusion power supply, 1.21 gigawatts.
So the backup Image files will appear on the drive as any other file, and I just point Ghost or Windows/Linux to the location?
 

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
AMD Phenom™ 9500 Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard
MCP61PM-HM (Nettle3)
Memory
8 GB DDR2 OCZ
Graphics Card(s)
Power Color 5750
Monitor(s) Displays
HP w2207h
Hard Drives
2x Seagate ST336032 0AS SCSI 326 GB,
WD Caviar Black 600 GB,
WD Caviar Black 1 TB
PSU
Corsair TX 650w
Case
Cooler Master 690 Advanced
bishop101 said:
Hi, I have a 1TB external hard drive that I will use to make a Backup Image. I'm going to Use Symantec Ghost to make a backup Image.

Should I partition the External hard drive first? I would also like to use it to store other files and folders. If so, how big should the partition with the backup Images be?

How large is a typical Image backup file? I also plan on backing up 2 other linux machines.
Click to expand...

A separate partition is completely unnecessary. I'd just make a folder called C-image-111711 or something like that to date it.

Most here would frown on Symantec Ghost, but it's your choice.

An image of C is probably going to be between 40 and 60 percent of the size of the occupied space on C. That can be adjusted a bit using different compression levels within the imaging program, if available.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
PSU
Rosewill SilentNight 500 watt fanless, semi-modular
Case
Antec Solo II
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12S; Noctua F12 intake, Noctua S12A exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft 200 6JH-00001 USB
Mouse
Dell or Microsoft optical wired; USB
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
Partitions are useful for organizing your data, but they are a personal decision and not necessary for any computer functional reason.

Most imaging programs have a default 2 to 1 compression ratio (the image file will be 50% of the actual size of your data. But they all allow you to increase the compression if you need to.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home Built - Jan 2013
OS
Windows 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1
CPU
i7-3820
Motherboard
Asus P9X79-PRO - Bios 4608
Memory
GSkill F3-14900CL9Q - 16GB
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GeForce GTX660 - Driver 352.86
Sound Card
On board Realtek ALC898
Monitor(s) Displays
Acer S271HL
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
#1- Samsung 840 Pro Series
#2- Western Digital WD1002FAEX Sata3 Black
#3- Western Digital WD1002FAEX Sata3 Black
PSU
Corsair CMPSU-850TX-V2 - 850 watt (by Seasonic)
Case
Corsair Obsidian 550D
Cooling
Standard 3 120mm case fans, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Keyboard
MS KC-0405
Mouse
Intellimouse 5-button
Internet Speed
56 Mbits/Sec (on a good day)
Antivirus
Avast & Malwarebytes
Browser
Firefox
Other Info
Asus DVD - DRW-24B1ST 24X
bishop101 said:
So the backup Image files will appear on the drive as any other file, and I just point Ghost or Windows/Linux to the location?
Click to expand...

That's about it.

Make sure your recovery disk actually boots and can show you the image file and your partitions.

Hope it works. It usually does.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
PSU
Rosewill SilentNight 500 watt fanless, semi-modular
Case
Antec Solo II
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12S; Noctua F12 intake, Noctua S12A exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft 200 6JH-00001 USB
Mouse
Dell or Microsoft optical wired; USB
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.

My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU
AMD Phenom™ 9500 Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard
MCP61PM-HM (Nettle3)
Memory
8 GB DDR2 OCZ
Graphics Card(s)
Power Color 5750
Monitor(s) Displays
HP w2207h
Hard Drives
2x Seagate ST336032 0AS SCSI 326 GB,
WD Caviar Black 600 GB,
WD Caviar Black 1 TB
PSU
Corsair TX 650w
Case
Cooler Master 690 Advanced
bishop101 said:
ignatzatsonic said:
Most here would frown on Symantec Ghost, but it's your choice.
Click to expand...

Are you suggesting I should use the default Windows backup utility?
Click to expand...

No. It does work, but it's not easily understood and a bit fussy.

The inclination on this forum is to use Macrium Reflect, Acronis True Image, or EaseUS Todo Backup.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
PSU
Rosewill SilentNight 500 watt fanless, semi-modular
Case
Antec Solo II
Cooling
Noctua NH-U12S; Noctua F12 intake, Noctua S12A exhaust
Keyboard
Microsoft 200 6JH-00001 USB
Mouse
Dell or Microsoft optical wired; USB
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
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