BACKUP

  • Thread starter Thread starter CdLSRN
  • Start date Start date
C

CdLSRN

I placed a 1 TB Hard drive in a Cool Gear case with firwire for an
external backup. I was going to try Acronis, but I haven't had time to
research it. If I go to' backup and restore center' on Windows Vista
Ultimate 'start-programs - maintenance' will I be able to backup to this hd
as a external backup? Does it do it as a picture? Will I be able to switch
to Acronis later, if I want? Do I turn off the on/off switch on the backup
after backup? Do I leave it plugged in and running for a Acronis backup? Do
I get another backup to switch off every week so that one is out of the
house at all times? ....Do I backup once a week and take it out of the house
and bring it back and back up again the next week? When I do the second
backup does it automatically delete the previous backup? Does it just add
new additions and changes? I am backing up a 1TB (6 partitioned) hd from a
Dell XPS 420 desktop. Sorry for all the questions. but I am clueless about
this and don't want to download a new program until I research the
compatibility etc. Thank you . Ginny
 
Vista backup is for data, its not an Image, it enables you to recover data.
Since Acronis is a completely different application to Vista backup the two
produce files that can only be used by the application that created them.

Acronis True Image can create an Image of an entire PC's drives, or only an
individual partition or drive
Recovering an Image puts your PC back to the date of the Image
You can also recover individual files.
TI can be set for scheduled images, in which case your external drive would
need to be connected.
Acronis can create different types of scheduled Images, eg full image each
time or incremental, depending on the version of TI there is an option to
auto delete earliest Image file when the backup drive runs out of space.

There is a fully functioning free trial of TI on their site
Ideally you would keep your Image/backups at a another location

6 partitions on a single drive is IMO, OTT, after all if the disk goes south
so do all your partitions.
Peoples often create a partition to store data on in the belief that it
makes backups easier - but it makes no difference with modern backup
software, or that they can nuke the win partition to reinstall win without
having to concern themselves with their data. Installing apps on a seperate
drive is in most cases self defeating since reinstalling win would require
the apps to be reinstalled anyway.
 
On the 1TB internal drive, I have D: = temp files - 16 GB/ E: Downloads,
Desktop,My Documents,Contacts, Favorites&Saved Games- 130 GB/ F= Music -
260GB/ G=Pictures- 260GB/ H=Videos - 260 GB/ I = 1 TB External hd.
T,U,V,W = Digital camera card slots, X = DVD/CD RW drive, and Y = DVD RW
drive.
How would suggest that I change these partitions?

C = The 750 GB drive is the OS and Windows Vista backup
 
Well I cannot see any point in a temp file partition, and since some
applications use the %temp% folder to store files whilst they are doing
there thing it may actually lead to a performance lag.
Provided you dont install program files on any of these partitions I see
nothing wrong, allthough I, from my point of view, see no particular
advantage in spreading data files on multiple partitions.
 
I was told it would speed up the computer and fragments of programs would
have limits on where they would get scattered, which would help performance.
This is not true?
 
No its not going to speed anything up, it may have in win9* days but not
winxp/Vista

Vista by default defrags via routine maintenance
 
I really don't know much about partitions. I did follow directions to set
them up so I suppose I could take them down. I am having problems with some
of my programs which I believe might be caused by half of the program being
on one drive (C) and the other half being on either E or H. I have that
problem running in another thread.
But I am getting ready to use this external backup drive I bought. There
were no directions with it and no cd or program with it. There is a push
button in the front and an on off button in the back.
Would it be easier for me to figure out how to back up my data without
the partitions? Or will it be easier to back up, for example pictures, if
they have been worked on a lot, if I leave the drives alone?
 
Back
Top