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Old January 17th 10, 03:30 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers
J. P. Gilliver (John)
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Posts: 5,291
Default Can you partition a C drive without deleting what is on it?

In message , Patti Barden
writes:
Ok, thanks. I do have Paragon Partition Manager and Paragon Hard Disk
Manager but a novice on both.

Everyone always says make a "backup of files" before you do anything but how
do you backup 37GB data onto
a floppy disk?? That is the only option my XP gives me, that is why I bought
an external hard disk.

Thanks, Patti

[]
Depends what you (and the people telling you to do it) mean by "backup".

If what is meant is a full backup so that it can be restored if things
go wrong, you need an image-creation utility - there are hundreds out
there, free and paid; you also need to be sure that it will create
something (floppy or CD) from which a corrupted PC can be booted, so
that the saved image can be restored.

If what is meant is just a _copy_, then of course you can use your
external hard disc; you copy your _own_ files (documents, pictures,
videos, and data produced by other prog.s, such as maybe genealogy
data). If all goes wrong, you then have to reinstall your operating
system and applications, which is a daunting task, but at least you
haven't lost your _unique_ data. This assumes you have the original
installation discs for your OS and applications; for your OS, you
probably haven't: sometimes this is put in a hidden partition on the
disc (does your PC offer "factory restore" or some similar phrase,
briefly, during bootup? If so, it probably is using this method), but of
course if you're going to be playing with partitions, you may corrupt
that.

Many of the image-creation utilities will allow you to create the image
on your removable disc: just make sure that the mini-OS they create on a
floppy or CD is able to restore from (i. e. has drivers for) the
removable disc. (Many of them create what is in effect some variant of
Linux on the bootable medium, though may not say so; most Linuxes now
know about removable discs, so it shouldn't be a problem. May well turn
out to be a different drive letter though.)

FWIW, I recently used partition manager (8, I think) to resize the
partitions (to do as you are wanting to do, create a separate one for
the OS and for data - IMO a good idea, and many modern PCs are supplied
that way); although it was on a '98 system, I was most impressed with
how smoothly it went.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **

"Mr. Spock succumbs to a powerful mating urge and nearly kills Captain Kirk."
- TV Guide description of Amok Time Trek episode.
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