Upgrade To Windows 7

The basic essential is to make backups of all your data, if there is a problem and you lose the Vista system - you can use the disk you have to recover - if you lose your own data you are

To make things easier to restore Vista if you do have an issue you could create a system image that would reduce the re-install time dramatically

Most users here use a free version of Macrium Reflect for these Images Imaging with free Macrium

As for the size needed for the image right click on your root of the System Drive, [Normally C:], and check properties this will show you the size used - this is the maximum space you will need for a backup/Image - most backups/Images will perform some compression/cleaning so checking the program will allow you to reduce the space required

O.k....Thanks for that, will have a look.......not checked the Dell yet, but can get a usb 2.0 64 GB flash drive for £20......if that is large enough will it do the job, I mean does it have to be a disc, or does a flash drive do the same thing ?.......Del.

No. Macrium will NOT tell you how much space it needs.

A rule of thumb is that the image file created by Macrium will be roughly 1/2 the size of the OCCUPIED space on the partitions that the image file represents.

So--if you are making an image file of a 300 GB partition on which 60 GB is occupied, the image file will be somewhere near 30 GB and you would need 30 GB of storage space. It might be 25 and it might be 35. Those are estimates, assuming the default "medium" compression level is used. You can use high compression, which will reduce the size of the image file, but I'm not sure by how much as I have never used high compression.

You need to decide what partitions you are going to image and that depends on your individual setup as seen in Disk Management. Maybe you need to image only C. Maybe not. If your personal data is also on the C partition, that would make the image file larger. In an ideal situation, your personal data is NOT on C, but I'm guessing that it is. Macrium images the entire partition. You can't tell it to exclude certain parts of a partition. It's all or none.

How many partitions do you have and what is the occupied space on each?

Del 80 said:

O.k....Thanks for that.....not sure how many partitions I have.....will Macrium tell me that, once I have downloaded it onto the Dell laptop that I want to back up ?........Del.

Macrium should show you your partitions, but why wait for Macrium to tell you?

You should be able to find out right now within Windows itself.

I guess this is a Vista PC? I don't recall Vista well enough to tell you how, but in Windows 7 you would use "Windows Disk Management" to give you an on-screen representation of all of your hard drives and all of the partitions on each of those drives.

Surely there is a similar way in Vista.

Try this to get to Windows Disk Management in Vista:

Go to Control Panel. Look for "System and Maintenance". Open it. Then look for "System and Security". Then scroll down to "Administrative Tools". Double click "Computer Management". Click on Disk Management on the left side of the window, located under Storage.

You'll need to post a screen shot of what you see in Windows Disk Management or be able to describe what you see IN DETAIL.

What partitions do you see in Vista when you look in Windows Explorer? If you right-click C, how large is it and how much space is used?

Explorer may not show all partitions as some may be hidden. I just don't recall Vista well enough, but there is surely a way to find out about your partitions and how much space is occupied on each.

Here's a screen shot of my Disk Management to give you an idea:

In the lower portion, it shows 2 disks; one with 1 partition and one with 3 partitions.

Del 80 said:

O.k.....Have downloaded Macrium to Dell Vista laptop ......this is what it is telling me....... Disc 1 (none) 8.4 mb of 39.2 mb........Disc 2 Recovery (D) 5.62 gb of 14.65 gb............Disc 3 O/S (C) 43.78 gb of 134.36 gb...........the view of it looks similar to the one in your post..........Del

Well, an image of C would occupy about 20 to 25 GB.

I'm reluctant to comment further without a picture of Windows Disk Management. The picture will show the required detail with no room for misinterpretation.

However:

Look at the pic below of my Macrium installation. Notice on the left side there is a choice that says "Create an image of the partitions required to backup and restore Windows".

If you choose that, it should automatically select the required partitions and you could then proceed through the Macrium interface and let it make an image file. It will ask you where you want to save it and you would choose your flash drive. You could just accept the defaults for other choices.

But................you'd still have to know how to restore that image file if necessary and that would require more study and preparation. I have no idea if you are willing to go down that rabbit hole.

And it would still be preferable to see an actual screen shot of Windows Disk Management, rather than rely on your description.

Del,

Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image

:)