Backup, a little help? - Printable Version
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Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-08-2004 at 09:29 PM
I need to format my comp, and I have 19GB to backup, and I'm not gonna be able to do that with CDs, so I'm trying to find another way.
The only way I've came up with is this:
Use Partition Magic to split my 80gig HD, into two partitions:
- 60GB (with windows etc on)
- 20GB (with NOTHING on)
Then put all the stuff I NEED to keep, onto the 20 GB partition.
Format the 60 GB, and install windows on it, then use Partition Magic to merge the 20 and the 60 together to make ONE full 80 GB hard drive?
Would that work, without me loosing any of the files i need to back up?
I need to do this by tomorrow, so any response will be greatly appreciated! Thanks. 
RE: Backup, a little help? by bach_m on 02-08-2004 at 09:32 PM
i think so, siche partition magic is an non-destructive partitioner. it keeps files alive, unlike f-disk 
but it might just be easier to invest in a 20gb external harddive.
RE: Backup, a little help? by DXtremz on 02-08-2004 at 09:35 PM
Last time I used partition Magic to split my NTFS drive into 2 parts, screwed up everything. Had to reinstall windows. =(
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-08-2004 at 09:36 PM
Thats what DX said, about the HD... but i cant, as i have NO money atall.. thanks anyway tho..
DX also said using partition magic on a NTFS drive, screws up windows.. Anyone used it on a NTFS one? i CANT loose these files! 
DX also posted too quick! Im off now, back in a few hours!
Keep replying Thanks....
RE: Backup, a little help? by bach_m on 02-08-2004 at 09:38 PM
is there another computer with a big enough HD u cna network to it?/?
RE: Backup, a little help? by chris on 02-08-2004 at 09:41 PM
quote:or even just a diffrent hd you could unhook the hd and plug it in as secondary put the files on there unplug it then format the 80 gig and reinstall windows then hook the second hd back up and put the files back kinda of a pain to do but if you got an extra hd it seems more safe
Originally posted by bach_m
is there another computer with a big enough HD u cna network to it?/?
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-08-2004 at 09:42 PM
Nope, i have another "20GB" hd installed, but that is only 18.3GB and only has 11GB free....
RE: Backup, a little help? by fluffy_lobster on 02-08-2004 at 10:03 PM
Borrow someone else's hd? If you have room to back it up on your own partition though i guess you could do it on that.
[edit] That's what I love about being on a home network... if something needs backing up there's a choice of 3 other computers to back onto, and everything can be transferred in a few minutes.
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-08-2004 at 10:11 PM
yeah... anyone else used partition magic on a ntfs?
any more suggestions? im really stuck! 
RE: Backup, a little help? by bach_m on 02-08-2004 at 10:20 PM
i cant find anything on any website about not being able to resize NTFS partitions.... so i dont know if thats good or bad :/
what IS this unloseable data, anyway?
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-08-2004 at 10:58 PM
DV-AVI videos (few hundred meg each), captured from tapes that have been erased.
RE: Backup, a little help? by matty on 02-08-2004 at 11:25 PM
you can use norton ghost to make an image of the drive now when you do this and expand the image it will put all files back which i doubt you wanna do
RE: Backup, a little help? by MoRiA on 02-08-2004 at 11:27 PM
Well seeing as you kinda hinted rather strongly for me to do something on this thread...
I have successfully used Partition Magic (v8) on NTFS drives. The only times I've had trouble with it is when doing strange things with Linux partitions... Ended up having to format entire drive to get that sorted.
I never have these troubles because having 4 computers in the house, 180GB of hdd space inside my desktop (on 2 drives) and an 80GB external I can just throw files wherever I need them for the format...
I'm not guaranteeing that PM8 will keep your files intact, neither do the publishers as they warn you before you do anything that the hard drive could suffer nuclear meltdown.
Only problem I've ever had with hard drives was when I was defragging 6 drives (3 physical drives & 3 partitions) with Norton Speed Disk similtaneously... It killed the Master Boot Record for the main C drive. Always exciting when you have to use recovery mode or whatever it's called...
RE: RE: Backup, a little help? by Mike on 02-09-2004 at 02:05 PM
quote:
Originally posted by ---+[Matty]+---
you can use norton ghost to make an image of the drive now when you do this and expand the image it will put all files back which i doubt you wanna do
Thats what I would do...We had made a backup of our laptop (ages ago) and then we needed to format the laptop.We used the image that norton ghost created and then we realised that the image was from another laptop!
Back to topic if you are planning to install Win XP(which you probably do because you have a NTFS HD) then i think that if you boot from the WIN XP disk you can spilt up the HD but im not so sure....
RE: Backup, a little help? by Choli on 02-09-2004 at 02:45 PM
quote:and where will he save the image? If he could he'd saved the files
Originally posted by ---+[Matty]+---
you can use norton ghost to make an image of the drive now when you do this and expand the image it will put all files back which i doubt you wanna do
About Partition Magic, I've never had problems with it. Just be sure that the version you're using / going to use supports the version of the NTFS file system you're going to manage. In other words, if you're going to install Win XP with NTFS, you'll need Partition Magic 8. Versions 7 and earlier may not work properly, because the NTFS version that Win XP uses is (a bit) different from the one used by 2000 or NT 4.
Of course you allways have to remember this:
quote:Your particular hardware configuration may not be 100% compatible with PM and thing can go wrong.
Originally posted by MoRiA
I'm not guaranteeing that PM8 will keep your files intact, neither do the publishers as they warn you before you do anything that the hard drive could suffer nuclear meltdown.
Oh! When I use PM with windows NT/2000/XP and/or NFTS partitions, I allways use it from the recovery disks. I create them, shut down and boot using them. There may be more problems if you try to use PM inside Windows because PM tells you that it has to restart and do some stuff with boot.ini and etc... and that's more dangerous.
quote:3 drives and 3 partitions??
Originally posted by MoRiA
I was defragging 6 drives (3 physical drives & 3 partitions)
quote:very
Originally posted by MoRiA
with Norton Speed Disk similtaneously
quote:what you can do is delete a partition and create 2 small ones where it was originally.
Originally posted by Avon
think that if you boot from the WIN XP disk you can spilt up the HD but im not so sure
Oh! one more thing. If you're going to use PM, before spliting, try to empty your hard disk all you can and then do a defrag. It's safer to do that before spliting.
And before merging again (after reinstalling) I'd do this: copy (copy, not move) the 19 Gb files to a folder of the other partition and then merge both. Then, if all goes well, you can delete one copy of the files.
Good luck
RE: Backup, a little help? by lizard.boy on 02-09-2004 at 03:27 PM
do you have a dvdrw drive? you could propably burn you stuff to dvdr and then copy it back.
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-09-2004 at 04:33 PM
quote:nope, other wise i would have done that ..
Originally posted by lizard.boy
do you have a dvdrw drive? you could propably burn you stuff to dvdr and then copy it back.
and also, that'd still mean using about 15 discs.. im going to try and contact my mates dad, and ask if i can take my comp round his, network mine to his, copy all the stuff, format, and copy it all back.. :-\
RE: Backup, a little help? by lizard.boy on 02-09-2004 at 04:38 PM
actually for 18 gigs it would be 4 dvds 
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-09-2004 at 05:21 PM
really? i thought dvds were 1.2gig.. ? cool
RE: Backup, a little help? by lizard.boy on 02-09-2004 at 05:23 PM
well i think your in europ right? but in canada i can get 4.7 gig dvds for $7.00 cad for 2
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-09-2004 at 05:48 PM
oh, cool 
RE: RE: Backup, a little help? by Guido on 02-09-2004 at 06:01 PM
quote:Don't want to be negative or anything, but the same happened to me:
Originally posted by DXtremz
Last time I used partition Magic to split my NTFS drive into 2 parts, screwed up everything. Had to reinstall windows. =(
I (think I) had to split a partition (it wasn't NTFS iirc, it was FAT32). When Partition Magic rebooted to finish the operation, the software crashed (after rebooting, but before entering into windows (xp)) and everything in the hard drive was lost
Luckily, a friend of mine had read about a (then freeware) program which helped me recover some of the files lost (by searching the records in the hard drive, because I had to format it to make it work again).
So, I wouldn't really reccommend PM unless it's strictly necessary
Which it isn't.
Why do you need to format? Why not just delete the windows and program files folders (the root, docs and settings, etc.) from a DOS boot disk (or elsewhere since you have NTFS) and reinstall again?
I reinstall windows every once in a while and never format the HD, there's no use for that unless the hd is corrupted or something
It just makes things worse...
RE: Backup, a little help? by Choli on 02-09-2004 at 07:32 PM
about DVDs, everywhere in the world, they can store 4.7Gb if they have one side and one layer. The two sides and/or two layers versions of DVDs can store more info (up to about 11 Gb). About the prize, a 4.7 Gb DVD-R is about 1.80 € in Spain, I think. (1 € = aprox $ 1.20 USA)
quote:That's why I suggested to use the recovery disks, not doing it from Windows
Originally posted by Guido
the software crashed (after rebooting, but before entering into windows (xp))
quote:That seems to be a very good program.
Originally posted by Guido
Luckily, a friend of mine had read about a (then freeware) program which helped me recover some of the files lost (by searching the records in the hard drive, because I had to format it to make it work again).
quote:Me neither.
Originally posted by Guido
I wouldn't really reccommend PM unless it's strictly necessary
quote:I also like to format instead of doing that. Formating checks for bad clusters and if you install a system from scratch you avoid fragmention (<- i don't know very well how to explain this)
Originally posted by Guido
Why do you need to format? Why not just delete the windows and program files folders (the root, docs and settings, etc.) from a DOS boot disk (or elsewhere since you have NTFS) and reinstall again?
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-09-2004 at 08:45 PM
Well, I decided to take the gamble.. I used Partition Magic and it succesfully created a 20 GB partition..
Im just waiting for a copy of XP corp from a mate, then i'll format the 60 gig partition, install XP (again) then copy the files back onto the C partition, then merge the two partitions (C and V) together, and hopefully it'll all be good..
Isnt it great when things work!
Oh, one more thing- when you merge the two partitions together it wont mess up will it? I know the actual merging could mess up, but if it doesnt, the hard disk will be fine and whole again yes? (not too sure how to explain) but basically, ill have a good, clean, working 80 GB hd?
Thanks for all the help everyone!
RE: Backup, a little help? by lizard.boy on 02-09-2004 at 08:58 PM
you might as well leave the parttion now and save important dava there even though it will most likely bee full soon won it
RE: Backup, a little help? by Choli on 02-09-2004 at 09:03 PM
quote:after the merge, (if things go well) you'll have a folder in the 60 Gb partition (that then it'll be 80Gb) which will contain the (up to) 20Gb of the other one.
Originally posted by dom.
Oh, one more thing- when you merge the two partitions together it wont mess up will it? I know the actual merging could mess up, but if it doesnt, the hard disk will be fine and whole again yes? (not too sure how to explain) but basically, ill have a good, clean, working 80 GB hd?
After that, move your files where you want to, and I'd suggest you to do a scandisk and a defrag. That way you'll be sure all is Ok.
Just be sure you merge the 20Gb partition into the 60Gb one; not 60 into 20... you get me, don't you? Also, you can copy the files from the 20Gb one to the 60Gb, delete the 20Gb partition and resize the 60Gb to take all the 80Gb available. However, I odn't know what would be better. I think I'd do the merge thingy
quote:of course
Originally posted by dom.
Isnt it great when things work!
now you've done the half of the work. Good luck with the other half
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-09-2004 at 09:16 PM
quote:thanks
Originally posted by Choli
now you've done the half of the work. Good luck with the other half
quote:yep
Originally posted by Choli
Just be sure you merge the 20Gb partition into the 60Gb one; not 60 into 20... you get me, don't you?
i tested it on a smaller drive i have before i did the full 80 gb drive, when i merged back.. like you said - it made a folder on the drive, but im now unable to delete that folder.. any idea why? when i try it says:
quote:
---------------------------
Error Deleting File or Folder
---------------------------
Cannot delete System Volume Information: Access is denied.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected
and that the file is not currently in use.
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------
after it said that, i went inside the folder, and deleted all the folders and files inside, but now i have an empty folder i cant delete. if i go into its properties it says its read only, and if i uncheck read only, and click ok.. then go back into properties its still on read only..
RE: Backup, a little help? by Choli on 02-09-2004 at 09:30 PM
and that System Volume Information folder is inside the folder that contains the partition just merged, isn't? Well, first make sure you have permisions over that folder (ont onle the standar read-only, but also the full control at the security tab). Then you should be able to delete it (it there isn't any program using it).
If still you can't, reboot and try again. Also you can disable that option that is used to make system restore points. Sorry, now I'm using Windows 2003 (in english, btw) and can't find that option (and I think 2003 has it too). It was somewhere at the system properties in XP.
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-09-2004 at 09:49 PM
alright thanks ill give it a go, and let you know if it worked
RE: Backup, a little help? by Guido on 02-09-2004 at 10:33 PM
System Volume Information wasn't created by Partition Magic, it was created by Windows Xp's system restore -- to be able to delete it, disable it from My Computer properties.
quote:Too late
Originally posted by Choli
quote:That's why I suggested to use the recovery disks, not doing it from Windows
Originally posted by Guido
the software crashed (after rebooting, but before entering into windows (xp))
quote:If you have 20gb+ of data to backup, I guess it's a better deal to defrag it manually instead of formattingquote:I also like to format instead of doing that. Formating checks for bad clusters and if you install a system from scratch you avoid fragmention (<- i don't know very well how to explain this)
Originally posted by Guido
Why do you need to format? Why not just delete the windows and program files folders (the root, docs and settings, etc.) from a DOS boot disk (or elsewhere since you have NTFS) and reinstall again?
As for the bad clusters, if the HD works perfectly (as it usually does) I don't really care if there are 2, 3 or 50 clusters wrong
RE: Backup, a little help? by Choli on 02-09-2004 at 10:54 PM
quote:the problem is if they aren't marked as wrong
Originally posted by Guido
I don't really care if there are 2, 3 or 50 clusters wrong
quote:yep, but once the partitions have been merged, the SVI folder of the merged partition shouldn't be longer used by windows and it could be deleted (it isn't in any root folder)
Originally posted by Guido
System Volume Information wasn't created by Partition Magic, it was created by Windows Xp's system restore -- to be able to delete it, disable it from My Computer properties.
RE: Backup, a little help? by dom. on 02-10-2004 at 09:19 PM
Well, i formatted the C partition, then installed PM, and merged C and V and it all worked fine, thanks for all the help everyone!
RE: Backup, a little help? by Choli on 02-10-2004 at 11:25 PM
quote:Yay!!
Originally posted by dom.
Well, i formatted the C partition, then installed PM, and merged C and V and it all worked fine, thanks for all the help everyone!
Congratulations