How big a restore partition

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pc nerd

I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the restore
partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?

Thank you.
David
 
pc nerd said:
I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the restore
partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?

Thank you.
David
Click to expand...

Just how do you intend to build your restore partition?
 
Can't I use Vista's ability to expand & shrink the C partition? Then create a
D partition & use Complete PC Backup & Restore to create an image that is
saved to the D partition?
 
How big the partition needs to be depends on what you're backing up and how.
A minimal Windows installation will take far less space than one that has a
number of other programs, drivers, etc. installed. Also the program used to
back up the system may compress more or less efficiently than others, or may
add overhead data that expands the size of the backup, and so on.
 
The plan is to create the partition & save the image to the hard drive right
after I install Vista & before I install any other software.
 
pc nerd said:
The plan is to create the partition & save the image to the hard drive right
after I install Vista & before I install any other software.
Click to expand...

What if the drive fails? What good with that image be to you then?

An external USB drive (or a second internal drive) is a better idea.
 
I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the restore
partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?
Click to expand...



Please clarify exactly what you mean by a "restore partition" and how
you plan on using it.

If you mean a partition that serves as a backup of your system, I urge
you to reconsider that plan. It's a very poor thing to do--the weakest
form of backup there is. It leaves you susceptible to simultaneous
loss of the original and backup to many of the most common dangers:
severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus attacks, even
theft of the computer.

I recommend that you use an external drive for backup, not a partition
on your only drive. Read this article I recently wrote on backup:
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314
 
What he plans to do is no different than that which "most" manufacturers do
at the present.

In other words - not much!
 
Good idea (convenient) with the caveat that if a HDD problem arises you
might not be able to use the recovery image.

You might consider obtaining an external HDD and putting a recovery image on
it to as well and/or burn a recovery image to DVD-Rs.

Saucy
 
If recovery partitions are such a bad idea, then why do laptops come with a
recovery partition?
 
My Acer didn't. Instead they prompted the new owner to make a backup set of
DVD-Rs right away. This was about a year or so I ago I bought it.

One of the reason why many laptop manufacturers don't include a proper
Windows CD and instead use an onboard restore partition is probably because
there's a big racket offering third party apps (which they get money for)
which are included in those recovery images. As well, they'd rather use your
harddrive space than provide discs. And they don't provide straight set of
OEM & Driver discs because then on recovery, the third party apps (which
they get money for) are gone!

It's a racket.

Here, I wasted no time zapping and repartitioning my laptop's drive and
installing a generic copy of Windows. I downloaded the drivers off the
manufacturer's website (Acer) and burned them to disc beforehand. Without
all that 3rd party junk the computer ran better. Then I doubled the RAM (to
2GB) so the machine just flies.

Best wishes,

Saucy
 
If recovery partitions are such a bad idea, then why do laptops come with a
recovery partition?
Click to expand...


These are images of the system partition when it is first installed.
The manufacturer creates that instead of giving you a CD or DVD
because it saves him a little bit of money.

The manufacturer normally also tells you that *you* should create and
save a CD/DVD that's a copy of that partition.

The issue I mentioned below is not about having such a partition, it's
about *relying* on it as backup.
 
pc nerd said:
If recovery partitions are such a bad idea, then why do laptops come with a
recovery partition?
Click to expand...

Because no recovery media was provided. One or the other MUST be
provided.

While one can hope their hard drive will never die and that the
recovery partition will always be available, that hope might
eventually be dashed.

In case you are unaware, one can use that recovery partition to create
recovery DVDs that will protect against drive failure. In fact, when
one first starts a new PC with such a partition (and no optical media)
a reminder is usually provided which - if one chooses to follow - will
burn the DVDs right then.
 
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