Another Backup Question

My primary hard drive has two partitions, one of which is a system recovery partition.

I'm wondering which is the best way to do image backups.

Currently, I have one image for the recovery D: partition and several for the other C: partition which contains the OS, software and some data.

Is it better to have separate images for the partitions, or should I be doing images for the entire drive?

I'm using Easeus ToDo Backup free edition.

 

Hi friend!! I use Macrium Reflect to make back up images. I have two Seagate external USB's that I store back up images of my OS(C Drive) on . I have a 100GB HD that is divided into 3 partitions. My OS is on the first partition. I use the other two for storing data. I also have a secondary HD that I store data on. I hope I'm understanding your question.
I make a back up image once a month of my OS or when ever I make major changes. I make a back up image of the other drives when I make changes to them. I'm glad to hear you are backing up your OS. The only time you need to make back up images of your drives, or partitions in your case, is when you make changes. If you have a current image of your OS, I say your good to go IMHO. I don't know much about a recovery feature. You must have Vista or Windows 7. I'm still running XP3

 

It really doesn't matter whether you have separate images or a whole of disk image as the individual partitions can be restored from either. But now you are using an imaging program you will not have any further use for the system recovery partition and it could actually be dispensed with and the space used for something more useful - like a data partition!

The big advantage of having a separate data partition is the in the event of having or wanting to restore your OS partition you will not overwrite your data files. Also, it makes the system backup smaller and therefore quicker. However if you intend maintaining your data on the system partition then you also need an entirely separate routine to ensure that the data files are backed up as frequently as necessary. Once a month is probably sufficient for the OS backup, but data files might need to be backed up on a daily basis.

 

Hi! Very good advice Earthling. I'm not familiar with the system recovery feature. I have friends that weren't happy with it. I think your advice is the best way to go. I use two external USB's to put my images on. My neighbor had his on a brand new USB, and it died on him. They replaced it but he didn't get his data back, which I think sucked. Nothing is ever 100% in this old computer world, but having a back up image of your OS and keeping it current is a great way to go and can save you a whole ton of work if some thing goes wrong. It has saved me several times.:wave

 

The best you can say about it is that it's probably better than having nothing at all, as all it can do is put the comp back the way it was when you bought it - losing all your personal stuff in the process. It's also poorly understood in my experience, the vast majority of users not knowing what it does or how to use it, or in many cases even that it exists at all.

But imaging is a bit like having an intruder alarm - you can't interest most folk in it until after they've been done!

 

Thanks to all for your replies and comments.

A few details I should add that were not in my original post.

I'm using a second internal HD for all the backups in a separate partition for images
and also a second backup copy of other files that change more often, such as configuration
files, bookmarks etc.

I've been using Karen's Replicator to backup the more volatile stuff, first on the OS partition
and then copied to the separate data partition, but I'm not using the automatic backup feature
for any of that.

I also have a Data Partition on that HD which currently contains larger data sets such
as images, .wav files, etc. and maybe later on also downloads.

I don't want to remove the System Recovery partition as that is the Only way I have of
reinstalling the OS, although it does have the caveat of returning it SP2 and includes
bundled software that I don't want, some of which is very difficult to remove, such as
America Online and McAfee antivirus.

I have been considering a reinstall since I had used some Registry cleaners early on,
such as Easy Cleaner and maybe one or two others. Although I have backups of most of
what was "cleaned", I won't put any of that back in as it contains stuff from since
uninstalled software.
Also, there are a few very minor OS issues such as system Standby mode which Refuses to
work and automatic Hibernation which also is non-functional - only works Manually.

I have Never Done an image restore, so I'm afraid to even try it since my system is
currently stable, up to date and clean of malware and generally runs very well.
​

I do have an Emergency Boot Disk for ToDo Backup and also one for MiniTool Partition
Wizard. I think I have a Current Bart PE CD, but my Ultimate Boot CD for Windows is too
old and would not boot when I last tried it.

Another question is which things should be on the OS partition and which things Should NOT
be on the OS partition?

Thanks.

 

Restoring a Todo image of your OS partition is how you would restore it, not by using System Recovery. Your last Todo image will not only restore the OS, but all your installed software, customisation, EVERYTHING. Unless your OS has problems you cannot resolve, and which force a reinstall, you have no further need for the System Recovery partition. And if your OS is in that state there wouldn't be any point in taking further images of it. However you say it is stable and running well, so restoring a Todo image is what you would do. However the System Recovery partition is fairly small so deleting it doesn't make a great difference I admit.

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Then you would be well advised to practise setting up a restore by going right up to (but not committing) the final irrevocable step. Otherwise you are wasting your time imaging as you will not know how to recover an image if your system should suddenly fail.

The OS and all your installed software should be on the OS partition. You can also put anything else you like on it, but for the reasons I gave earlier it's best to put everything else on a separate partition, simplifying backup of both OS and data.

 

Thanks Earthling!

I'll give it a try.

 

Thanks David.

Is there a way to automate that with ToDo so the oldest gets deleted, or do you
just do that manually?

Another question I had asked before (in another thread) but never got a response.
Is it advisable to have System Restore active on the backup partition or data partition?
There is no software installed on either.

 

Todo does not have that feature. Acronis does, but there have always been questions about how reliable it is. It's best done manually imo, though if David uses it he may know better.

There isn't much point in having SR active on non-OS partitions.

Just a final comment about the System Recovery partition. One of the main reasons for using an imaging program of some sort is to be able to store your backups somewhere other than on the main disk to protect them from HD failure and to give you the means to restore your system to a new hard disk should that happen, but as the System Recovery partition IS on the main disk it will be lost if the disk fails. So if you still want to retain the capability to revert your comp to the 'as bought' state then you should take and keep elsewhere a Todo image of the entire disk, including the recovery partition. Then you can safely remove the partition and utilise the space by enlarging an adjacent partition.

 

Thank You Very Much, Earthling. :wave

That's just what I wanted to know.

I will make an image of the Entire Drive and put it on the second HD and see if
I can also put an image of the System Recovery partition on a DVD.

Recovery Partition D: 4.43 GB (2.71 GB Free)
System Partition C: 148 GB (126 GB Free)

I suppose if I remove the Recovery Partition, which appears to be at the beginning of the disk,
and then move or expand the C: Partition into that space, followed by a full optimize defrag with Puran defrag,
the C: Partition should work a bit faster.

For some reason, there is a small portion of 9.54 MB unallocated space on drive #1. Not sure if I'll do anything with that.

I have three Primary Partitions on drive #2, with 114 GB unallocated.

 

Excuse me for overdoing it with this thread, but I have another question.

Is there any advantage to using More Than One imaging solution?

As stated before, I'm using Easeus Todo Backup Free.

Example:
Someone recommended ReDo Backup and Recovery:
Re: Can anyone recommend free software for image-copy and file-based backups?

ReDo Backup and Recovery

 

Backup solutions, those that can do imaging anyway, can seem temperamental - working well on some systems and not on others. My advicie is very definitely to just stick with one that you are certain works on your setup. For that of course you do need to do both a backup and a restore using the drives that matter to you. In your case I would test it by backing up and restoring the recovery partition rather than the OS partition - just in case If that is successful just stay with Todo.