Recovery Partitions (WinXP-Pro SP-2)

[CWBillow]

I was just reading in PC Mag about making a Recovery Partition.

Is there really any difference here from that as opposed to a image backup that's "just the way you want it?

Regards,
Chuck Billow

[viking33]

Chuck,
You might want to put a link to the article so we can see just what it is talking about.

It SOUNDS like you make a partition just to store backups and data files.
An IMAGE is an exact copy of everything with all of the OS or apps and settings and options etc. A far cry from just a back up.

[CWBillow]

Bob:

There ya go!

Recovery Partitions

Regards,
Chuck

[viking33]

Chuck,
They are just talking about making a separate partition as a place to store your Image backup, rather than a CD or other HD.

-----------------------------------------------
All you need is the right software and enough available space to hold your stuff.
The "right software," in this case, is a partition utility and a backup program that can create a compressed "image" of your newly reformatted and reloaded hard drive.
----------------------------------------------

That's exactly what I do to store my Images made from Acronis True Image. I have an "I" drive (image) where I put my data from TI.

[CWBillow]

Bob:

That's what I had gathered.

True Image has that with a tweak, because you can actually makes theirs bootable.

I've never really seen much point. I (try to) keep a current backup that I can just restore if need be, stamping it with a "Don't Erase" in case I got carried away in one of my frenzies.

I'm thinking about getting an external drive for my backups. That way they can run unattended. They're too big now for even DVD's s I always have to "hang around" when I'm backing up. And I do enough fiddling that it's easiest just to do complete images instead of incrementals.

Regards,
Chuck

[viking33]

Chuck,
TI can create a bootable CD in order to restore the images. You can make the boot CD and then use the image file created on the separate partition to do your restoration or point it to your CD drive if you imaged to a CD or removable drive.

Don't forget there is a BIG difference in a backup and an Image. A <big>HUGE</big> difference.

[CWBillow]

Bob:

Exclusive of my Outlook and "My Docs" files, all I run are images. You're right, there is a big difference, and I haven't used file backups in years.

Regards,
Chuck Billow

[JohnGray]

Another point to make is that if your (single) hard disk fails, then your "recovery partition" goes with it...

John

[CWBillow]

Truly this is so, John. That's another point for an external drive... saving the bother of having to remove/re-install etc. if your machine goes down and you have to replace it totally.

Regards,
Chuck Billow

[viking33]

John,
That's why my "I" drive is a separate little 40gig HD.

[NYIntensity]

An external isn't bad; but an internal mirror would probably fit the bill a little better...just my <img src=/S/2cents.gif border=0 alt=2cents width=15 height=15>. I've never done a recovery from a mirror, but I can't imagine it would be very easy if you needed to use different controllers, and you'd need a way to boot and recognize the external to begin with.

[StuartR]

A mirror does a completely different job to a recovery partition. It only protects you against hardware failure, but it is always completely up-to-date.

If you have a software install that goes horribly wrong then it will corrupt both mirrored drives, and you will still need your recovery partition.

StuartR

[bigaldoc]

And that's why I now have two external USB drives on which I alternate my weekly backup images. The drives are large enough to store several images each as well as my nightly selected file backups. Hopefully, I've got options in case an image fails me rather than a drive itself. I've been pleasantly surprised at how quickly TrueImage is able to run my image to one of those USB drives - impressive!

[DaveA]

I use TrueImage also. I rebuild my test machine a lot. I can restore a full image of my C drive in about ten (10) minutes and I am ready to go.