Total newbie question

  • Thread starter Thread starter CindyH
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CindyH

First off, I apologize if x-posting is frowned upon here. I'm just not sure
which newsgroup to post this in. Now, on to my question...

I was reading an article about saving plugins (and other things) for a
program I'll be using. I have basic pc experience, but I don't fully
understand what this means:

"You can keep your resources on a separate Hard Disc partition (if your HD
is partitioned) from Windows, allowing you to reinstall Windows without the
need to backup any of your resources."

How exactly would I know if my hard disc is partitioned? How would I know
which is the HD that is partitioned from Windows? How do I know that I'm not
going to corrupt something else?

Sorry to sound so dumb on this, but I'm completely confused.

TIA!

Cindy
 
To check if your HD is partitioned - Open "My Computer" folder. (Start
button, select My Computer) Under the heading "Hard Disc Drives" you will
certainly see C:\ - if it is partitioned, you will see D:\ (possibly more).
Hope this helps - as to the rest (if it is partitioned) follow the
instructions to save in D:\
Sincerely, Len
 
if it is partitioned, you will see D:\ (possibly more).

Hi Len!

I just have one more question about this. I have posted a screenshot of My
Computer. Would you mind taking a look and telling me which one, if any, is
my partitioned one? I have several but none look like something I'd store
data in.

It's located here:
http://img6.photobucket.com/albums/v16/MagnoliaSoutherly/Temp/hd.jpg

Thanks again. I really appreciate this.

Cindy
 
Hi Cindy,

Open "My Computer" from the start menu. If you have multiple partitions,
under the "Hard Disk Drives" listing, you will see "C' listed. That is your
main drive. If you also see "D", and maybe other letters, you have multiple
partitions. Listings under "Devices with Removable Storage" is a different
thing. "D" may show there, it would be your CD drive in that case.

If you have multiple partitions, you can open the "D" drive and r-click an
empty spot inside the window, choose "New>Folder" in the flyout menu. Name
the new folder something convenient, Downloads, for instance and direct your
downloads to that folder, it will not interfere with anything else.

If you don't have multiple partitions, you can use the same method to create
a folder in your "C" drive and then transfer the contents to a CD, if you
have a writer, or to some other storage device.
 
CindyH said:
Hi Len!

I just have one more question about this. I have posted a screenshot
of My Computer. Would you mind taking a look and telling me which
one, if any, is my partitioned one? I have several but none look like
something I'd store data in.

It's located here:
http://img6.photobucket.com/albums/v16/MagnoliaSoutherly/Temp/hd.jpg

Thanks again. I really appreciate this.

Cindy
Click to expand...

Hi Cindy,

Normally, that screenshot would tell someone nothing about hard drive
partitions as you cannot tell anything about partitions from Windows
Explorer (they could be two separate physical drives). A shot of Disk
Manager would have been more pertinent.

But, because you have an HP system, I can tell that D is a partition of C.
However, HP has designated it 'recovery'. This means that it's where all the
pertinent files are kept, should you have need to restore your system to
factory settings. Should you accidentally delete anything on that partition,
you may not be able to restore your system so I would leave it well alone.
Depending on the size of the drive, you may wish to partition it further.
This cannot be done natively within Windows, you must purchase a 3rd-party
partitioning tool (I recommend Partition Magic 8).

Hope that helps.
 
You do have more than one partition, but one is for windows xp(system
partition) and the other holds your recovery info from HP. This is used to
restore your computer back to factory condition. Yopu need both and you
should mess with the recovery one or you might not ever be able to reinstall
windows.
So right now it looks like you do not have a partition that you can backup
data to. If you wanted something like this you would have to use a program
like Partition Magic(but I'd only do this if you were an advanced user).
 
Hi Cindy,

In your case, "D" is not a usable drive. It is your restore partition and
should be "Read Only".

LOL, JAX
 
So right now it looks like you do not have a partition that you can backup
data to. If you wanted something like this you would have to use a program
like Partition Magic(but I'd only do this if you were an advanced user).
Click to expand...

Aha! That's what I was afraid of. *sigh* Oh well.

Thanks so much for answering,

Cindy
 
CindyH said:
Aha! That's what I was afraid of. *sigh* Oh well.

Thanks so much for answering,

Cindy
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Just remember cd-r and cd-rw is also a great way to do
backups.
 
If you don't have multiple partitions, you can use the same method to
create
a folder in your "C" drive and then transfer the contents to a CD, if you
have a writer, or to some other storage device.
Click to expand...

Wow! I appreciate this tip. Thanks for pointing that one out. I suppose
that's the way I'll have to go.

Cindy
 
You're welcome Cindy. Really, It is best to copy your downloads, etc. to an
outside backup even if you do have multiple partitions. In the event of a
hard drive failure, you would lose your data even if it is on a separate
partition.

LOL, JAX
 
First off, I apologize if x-posting is frowned upon here. I'm just not sure
which newsgroup to post this in. Now, on to my question...

I was reading an article about saving plugins (and other things) for a
program I'll be using. I have basic pc experience, but I don't fully
understand what this means:

"You can keep your resources on a separate Hard Disc partition (if your HD
is partitioned) from Windows, allowing you to reinstall Windows without the
need to backup any of your resources."

How exactly would I know if my hard disc is partitioned? How would I know
which is the HD that is partitioned from Windows? How do I know that I'm not
going to corrupt something else?

Sorry to sound so dumb on this, but I'm completely confused.

TIA!

Cindy
Click to expand...

Cindy, are these plugin's for graphics programs? I use a folder originally
named: PlugIns. In that folder I have installed EyeCandy, KPT, BladePro and
other plugins. Each in their own subfolder. With most graphics programs,
you can direct the program to the PlugIns folder and it will add all of
these filters and tools to the program's menus.

That folder can be on C: or it can be on another partition. The point is to
have them installed to a central location that any graphics program can
easily access.

I took a look at your My Computer image and it looks like C:\Plugins would
be a good choice for you.

While your D: drive is a second partition on your main drive. It holds
recovery files for your computer and you really don't want to mess around
with that one too much, if at all. The other drives are for removable media
and not suitable for what you want to accomplish.
 
Cindy,

Try this in your Run box:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\diskmgmt.msc

Backing up is easy if you use professional software.
Drive Image is the real solution.
A second hard drive for this image is even better.

I have made a special Bootable CD that boots both:
Drive Image 2002 and Partition Magic 8.02.
This boot up is using elboot image by Bart.

It actually boots up with Millenium boot disc.
But vrom the CD disc.
Hence, fdisk etc is also loaded in ramdrive.

However, to simplify repair tasks in XP.
I stick with fat 32.

You can email me via:
http://home.kooee.com.au/kingull/xp.html?
For any assistance you wish.

Frank.
 
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