wanted to do an image of the C drive

[mossy]

hi, im having a similar problem

I want to just do an image of the C drive but it seems Windows thinks my other drives are system drives as well!

Ive attached the disk management and system image screenshots

Hope someone can help! thanks

 

[mossy]

anyone?? Id like to get my c drive backed up in case i get more problems! thanks

 

[whs]

I assume you are using Windows 7 imaging (bad choice). You must have system files in the other partitions. Windows 7 imaging always rounds up everything that has a connection to the OS.

If you want to image C only, use this: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html?ltr=I This is a much better program anyhow.

 

[mossy]

Thanks - Does anyone know what system files might be on the other drives or is it just like looking for a needle in a haystack?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

What exactly is Corsair Drive H and why is it marked "active"??

Can you boot with ONLY the C drive connected?

How did G drive become "dynamic"?

 

[mossy]

Hi
Corsair is just a memory stick
Not sure how G became dynamic!

I guess i could temporarily disconnect D and G and then do the image??

 

[whs]

If there are system files on other drives, diconnecting them will not work with Windows7 imaging. The image will not work.

The usual suspects of system files spread to other drives are the bootmgr, program files and the pagefile. The bootmgr could have been placed on another drive by the installer, but in your case it does not look like that. The other files (if any) must have been placed there by yourself.

 

[mossy]

I install most programs on either the D or G drive, not C drive - would this be causing the problem?
thanks

 

[whs]

I install most programs on either the D or G drive, not C drive - would this be causing the problem?
thanks

Absolutely - that's why Win7 imaging includes those partitions because else you would lose those programs when you restore.

Should you use e.g. Macrium, you would have to image those partitions too in order to be able to restore those program files when the restore day comes.

I think it is a bad practice to install programs in other partitions - other than C. Only in rare cases - e.g. when the OS is on a small SSD and you install large games - that approach is acceptable. But with a large C partition on hand, that makes no sense.

PS: It is still not clear why D does no show up in Disk Management and C does not show up in Computer. Also G being dynamic is very strange.

 

[mossy]

Ah, makes sense when I think about it, windows is smarter than me

The reason i wanted to use the image was because Windows tried to do a system restore last week after failing to get past a BSOD during bootup
I noticed one of the advanced options was to restore a "system image" - so i was thinking it would be nice to have an image rather than reinstalling Windows again

My thinking behind only restoring C drive was that i already back up stuff on the other drives, so they are safe - its just when you have to reinstall windows it kinda throws everything off
But as you say, i would have to reinstall my programs anyway - guess i need a bigger backup drive, i could confine my program installs to C and D which would keep the image size down

thanks!

 

[whs]

I don't know what programs you have installed. But with a C partition of nearly 150GB you should have no trouble to fit them all on C.

I have a lot of programs installed and my C is under 30GB used space.

As a first step I would uninstall all those 'ouboard' programs and reinstall them on C. Then your imaging task and the space needed on the external drive will be more controllable. Also the time it takes to make and image and to restore.

For image size figure that the image will only use appr. 60% of the space that is used on C - because of compression.

 

[mossy]

yes i think i may reinstall my programs to C drive to keep things easier, thanks.......