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Old January 20th 10, 02:29 AM 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 , glee
writes:
First, set up your external drive (as someone already mentioned).
Partition it with either a single partition or with more than one if
that's what you want...doesn't really matter.


That someone was me. Do as glee says. If the external hard drive is
already usable, then it's already been set up - though probably only as
one partition; stick with that if that's what you want. (Personally I'd
divide it, but that's just me.)

When the external drive is set up, use (I assume you are using...)
Acronis True Image to create an image of your system, storing it on the
external drive.

If you make an image, rather than "cloning" the drive, it make a large
file with a .tib extension ...tib stands for True Image Backup. It is
just a file....it doesn't erase anything on the drive, any more than
making a text file and putting it there would erase anything.


Whatever you are using (Acronis?) should also offer (or have the option)
to make a bootable CD or something; let it do so. You need that to boot
the system from if your subsequent actions render the system unable to
boot from the internal drive. This would let you restore the internal
drive from the image file, should that become necessary. (Without the
bootable CD, having the image backup file will be no use to you if you
do corrupt your system!)

Why are you cloning the drive to the external drive?? You usually only
clone if you plan to REPLACE your C: drive with the other
drive....that's not what you need to do. True Image makes .tib files
which can be restored if needed by using the rescue boot CD made with
True Image, to boot your computer and then choose to restore from the
external drive.


I agree with glee - no need to clone, if you're making an image file.

Read the Help files please!

[]
"Patti Barden" wrote in message ...
Thanks everyone - I am struggling.

If before I do anything I should make a backup/copy of my
37GB data in case anything goes wrong -
where do I put the backup/copy? If I partition

(see above/below)
the EHD (external hard disk) and put the
backup/copy on it and then Clone
the C Hard disk and put the clone on the EHC,
I think that erases everything on the EHD which would negate


It would; it would also (if it worked at all) make the EHD appear to be
the same size as the IHD you are cloning, I think. Just do an image
(which is a special form of backup/copy, which the bootable CD is able
to restore from). As I said in an earlier post, a clone - if the term is
being used correctly - copies all the unused space as well, which you
don't need to do.

my backups. Using a CD or floppy would mean a lot of disks or floppies?


(Well, you could use DVDs, but you'd still need several of them to
backup 37G. As well as some way of being able to restore from them. Just
backup/image to the EHD.)

What am I missing?
Patti

I personally would _move_ much of your _data_ _off_ your C: drive - I'm
assuming much of that 37G is data, not operating system or software -
before playing with it; it will give you a smaller system you need to
work with. (And after you've finished all your repartitioning, amend as
much software as possible so that its default storage location is D: or
above, not C:; Office - that's Word etc. - can be told not to use C:,
and _most_ other good software can as well.)

Just for my own curiosity, what _is_ taking up all that space (37G) -
lots of movie files?
[]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
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