Originally Posted by Mike Hall - MVP

"davidjchuang" <davidjchuang.379mg1@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:davidjchuang.379mg1@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...

>
> Mike Hall - MVP;670674 Wrote:
>
> What advice ? What makes you think he knows what is " one touch backup
> solution "
> What makes you think he knows how to do backup to cds?
> What makes you think he knows how to "remove" files? What makes you
> think he knows how to tell which file is which?
> Does the word BEGINNER means anything to you? Forgot how it was when
> you were one of those --- beginner ?
>
>
> --
> davidjchuang

A visit to any decent computer store will reveal the identity of a one touch
backup solution. They come with backup software.

An external USB hard drive enclosure will also be found at the store, and
can be a cheaper alternative to the one touch type..

Backing up with a CD/DVD burning utility is covered in the utility's help
files, very often in the form of a video tutorial..

The best person for identifying the names of backed up files is the person
who created them..

OK. What you NEVER do is compress a recovery partition. In fact, it is not a
good idea to compress ANY partition..

You explained your machine configuration, but there is a 99% chance the the
OP's machine configuration is not the same as yours, so any attempt to
follow what you said would end up in total confusion..

--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
Help US help YOU - Making good newsgroup posts:
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups
Mike's Window - My Blog..
Mike&#39;s Window

Thank you. What you are saying NOW makes all the sense in the world. It is because you elaborated and back up what you said. Now I know you objected to compressing files/data. I accept that. Now you elaborated on "where" and "how to", anyone, beginners or otherwise, will have the directions needed. Those were my points. I'm dropping this subect, you won't hear about it anymore.

"davidjchuang" <davidjchuang.379xk7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:davidjchuang.379xk7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...

>
> Bob;670867 Wrote:

>> I don't understand what you are saying.
>>
>> You claim to have two hard drives neither of which is removable. Did
>> you
>> install an additional internal hard drive? I think you are referring to
>> the
>> recovery partition as a separate hard drive which it is not. The
>> recovery
>> partition is on the same physical drive as C: drive.
>>
>> "davidjchuang" <davidjchuang.379rb7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in
>> message
>> news:davidjchuang.379rb7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...> > >

>> > >
>> > > Bob;670773 Wrote:
>> > >
>> > > Thank you, Bob.I am not trying to be arguementative, please tell me
>> > > what is the difference of the following : --
>> > > Mike said " Whatever backup program you were running has looked for a
>> > > drive other than the boot drive, but unfortunately has tried to stuff
>> > > the files into the small amount of space needed for the recovery
>> > drive
>> > > ---"
>> > > I said " D: local drive is where my laptop uses for "files
>> > backup----"
>> > >
>> > > Mike said " In the meantime, remove any files that you have backed up
>> > > into your recover partition ---"
>> > > I said " You can delete files you don't want ----". By that I meant
>> > the
>> > > files that were backedup to the D: drive. I never imply
>> > putting/adding
>> > > files into the D drive.
>> > >
>> > > I did say right from the start that my OS is home premium, and that I
>> > > have 2 hard drives ; OS (C system drive, and D: local drive. My "
>> > > files backup " always go to D: drive. Furthermore, I said in no
>> > > uncertain term that if his OS is same as mine ---.
>> > > So, please tell me where was I totally wrong. I am geniunely eager to
>> > > know.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > davidjchuang > >

>
> No, sir, I did not. It came that way. I click Computer, and the window
> will show :
>
> Hard Disk Drives (2) ________________
>
> (Icon here) OS (C ( showing total GB, and how many left )
>
> (Icon here) Local Disk (D ( showing total GB, and how many left)
>
> Devices with Removable Storage (1) ____________
>
> (Icon here) DVD RW Drive (E
>
> That's how I will see. I'm sorry, I have no idea about those smiling
> faces, I did not do it.
>
>
> --
> davidjchuang

David

Check that you do have two physical drives by right clicking on 'Computer'
in the start menu, and selecting 'Manage'. In the window that opens, click
on 'Disk Management' under the 'Storage' heading.

If you do indeed have two drives installed, they will show as drive 0 and
drive 1.

If you can see only drive 0, you will see that it is partitioned into two
parts (C and D)

Some manufacturers (Sony is one of them) do send out machines where the
drive has been partitioned with a reasonably large C drive, and a much
larger D drive such that the user can save large multimedia files.

However, in most cases, the D drive is very small, around 10gb. This means
that the D drive is in fact the recovery partition and should not be
touched.

Backup programs are written to look for any drive letter other than the
letter being used for the boot drive. So, if the only other letter available
is tagged for the recovery partition, it will be selected. Backup programs
don't care what is on the target drive, or how much space is actually
available..

In my opinion, the 'fault' lies squarely with the computer manufacturers,
pumping out computers which look to be well specified but in reality are
only 'adequate'.

--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
http://support.microsoft.com/default...help&style=toc
Mike's Window - My Blog..
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/default.aspx

What "smiling faces"?

You may be correct that /your/ /D drive/ /on/ /your/ /laptop/ is not a
recovery drive. It is not however, as far as I can tell a separate hard
drive or a bootable drive. It's a partition on a single hard drive and both
C and D occupy the same physical drive. Therefore, using the D partition for
backups is not a good idea because if your hard drive crashes you will not
be able to access your backups. Mike's advice would apply to you as well.

Regarding your statement: "I said in no uncertain term that if his OS is
same as mine"
This is where you made a mistake. It's not a question of the OS. It's a
question of the hardware configuration of the OPs computer.

"davidjchuang" <davidjchuang.379xk7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:davidjchuang.379xk7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...

>
> Bob;670867 Wrote:

>> I don't understand what you are saying.
>>
>> You claim to have two hard drives neither of which is removable. Did
>> you
>> install an additional internal hard drive? I think you are referring to
>> the
>> recovery partition as a separate hard drive which it is not. The
>> recovery
>> partition is on the same physical drive as C: drive.
>>
>> "davidjchuang" <davidjchuang.379rb7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in
>> message
>> news:davidjchuang.379rb7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...> > >

>> > >
>> > > Bob;670773 Wrote:
>> > >
>> > > Thank you, Bob.I am not trying to be arguementative, please tell me
>> > > what is the difference of the following : --
>> > > Mike said " Whatever backup program you were running has looked for a
>> > > drive other than the boot drive, but unfortunately has tried to stuff
>> > > the files into the small amount of space needed for the recovery
>> > drive
>> > > ---"
>> > > I said " D: local drive is where my laptop uses for "files
>> > backup----"
>> > >
>> > > Mike said " In the meantime, remove any files that you have backed up
>> > > into your recover partition ---"
>> > > I said " You can delete files you don't want ----". By that I meant
>> > the
>> > > files that were backedup to the D: drive. I never imply
>> > putting/adding
>> > > files into the D drive.
>> > >
>> > > I did say right from the start that my OS is home premium, and that I
>> > > have 2 hard drives ; OS (C system drive, and D: local drive. My "
>> > > files backup " always go to D: drive. Furthermore, I said in no
>> > > uncertain term that if his OS is same as mine ---.
>> > > So, please tell me where was I totally wrong. I am geniunely eager to
>> > > know.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > davidjchuang > >

>
> No, sir, I did not. It came that way. I click Computer, and the window
> will show :
>
> Hard Disk Drives (2) ________________
>
> (Icon here) OS (C ( showing total GB, and how many left )
>
> (Icon here) Local Disk (D ( showing total GB, and how many left)
>
> Devices with Removable Storage (1) ____________
>
> (Icon here) DVD RW Drive (E
>
> That's how I will see. I'm sorry, I have no idea about those smiling
> faces, I did not do it.
>
>
> --
> davidjchuang

Originally Posted by Mike Hall - MVP

"davidjchuang" <davidjchuang.379xk7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:davidjchuang.379xk7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...

>
> Bob;670867 Wrote:
>
> No, sir, I did not. It came that way. I click Computer, and the window
> will show :
>
> Hard Disk Drives (2) ________________
>
> (Icon here) OS (C ( showing total GB, and how many left )
>
> (Icon here) Local Disk (D ( showing total GB, and how many left)
>
> Devices with Removable Storage (1) ____________
>
> (Icon here) DVD RW Drive (E
>
> That's how I will see. I'm sorry, I have no idea about those smiling
> faces, I did not do it.
>
>
> --
> davidjchuang

David

Check that you do have two physical drives by right clicking on 'Computer'
in the start menu, and selecting 'Manage'. In the window that opens, click
on 'Disk Management' under the 'Storage' heading.

If you do indeed have two drives installed, they will show as drive 0 and
drive 1.

If you can see only drive 0, you will see that it is partitioned into two
parts (C and D)

Some manufacturers (Sony is one of them) do send out machines where the
drive has been partitioned with a reasonably large C drive, and a much
larger D drive such that the user can save large multimedia files.

However, in most cases, the D drive is very small, around 10gb. This means
that the D drive is in fact the recovery partition and should not be
touched.

Backup programs are written to look for any drive letter other than the
letter being used for the boot drive. So, if the only other letter available
is tagged for the recovery partition, it will be selected. Backup programs
don't care what is on the target drive, or how much space is actually
available..

In my opinion, the 'fault' lies squarely with the computer manufacturers,
pumping out computers which look to be well specified but in reality are
only 'adequate'.

--
Mike Hall - MVP
How to construct a good post..
Help US help YOU - Making good newsgroup posts:
How to use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups..
How to Use the Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups Window - My Blog..
Mike&#39;s Window

Thank you, Mike. You are right in both counts. I do NOT have 2 hard drives, just 1 partitioned to C and D, and the D drive has only 10 GB. As to the " not to be touched ", I don't really have a choice. There are 2 options on files backup. One is to sit by the computer for 3-4 hours feeding the damn thing with cds ,which ,by the way , failed twice and never finished the operation because I aborted it. I aborted it because 1/2 way to the 3rd disk, it asked for reinserting the 1st.disk, when I did that, it said either "no disk ", or not the right disk, or asked me for a blank disk if I don't want to write on that disk. The vicious cycle never ended!
The 2nd option is to backup to D drive (I don't have an external drive.) When I started a manual backup, system would ask if I choose to backup to CD/DVD E: drive ,or D: drive. So, I was not doing anything crazy, ** the system offers the 2 choices **. And I have been using D for scheduled automatic backup ever since. I hope I have answered fully.

Originally Posted by Bob

What "smiling faces"?

You may be correct that /your/ /D drive/ /on/ /your/ /laptop/ is not a
recovery drive. It is not however, as far as I can tell a separate hard
drive or a bootable drive. It's a partition on a single hard drive and both
C and D occupy the same physical drive. Therefore, using the D partition for
backups is not a good idea because if your hard drive crashes you will not
be able to access your backups. Mike's advice would apply to you as well.

Regarding your statement: "I said in no uncertain term that if his OS is
same as mine"
This is where you made a mistake. It's not a question of the OS. It's a
question of the hardware configuration of the OPs computer.

"davidjchuang" <davidjchuang.379xk7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net> wrote in message
news:davidjchuang.379xk7@xxxxxx-mx.forums.net...

>
> Bob;670867 Wrote:
>
> No, sir, I did not. It came that way. I click Computer, and the window
> will show :
>
> Hard Disk Drives (2) ________________
>
> (Icon here) OS (C ( showing total GB, and how many left )
>
> (Icon here) Local Disk (D ( showing total GB, and how many left)
>
> Devices with Removable Storage (1) ____________
>
> (Icon here) DVD RW Drive (E
>
> That's how I will see. I'm sorry, I have no idea about those smiling
> faces, I did not do it.
>
>
> --
> davidjchuang

Obviously you don't see those smiling faces. I AM looking at them now as I am typing this response. 1 is at (C ), 1 at (D) and 1 a (E), all in the same position. It must have something to do with " :" symbol, as they're over and covering up those symbols.
Anyway, thank you for pointing out my mistake; using wrong terminology, and misconception.
As to the D drive issue, Mike asked the same question, and I replied. If you don't mind, kindly look at that one, and perhaps your opinion. Thank you.

Frizzie - There is not need to "tinker" with the restore partition - space
wise or it's files (do not save data to the partition). The restore
partition is already compressed and if necessasry requires the "extra" space
to perform a restoration.

Check your documentation. HP usually provides an utility to copy the
restore partition and create a restore CD/DVD - in which case you can
recapture the D partition

Major problem with restore partition and disks is that restoration is to the
state of the computer at time of purchse - meaning that application/data
added or installed over a period of time are lost unless backups are being
maintained.

data.
"frizzie" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:f577362cdd83a585198b6a97c3d2ab14@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

>
> Hi David:
>
> You wrote:
> "D: local drive is where my laptop uses for "files backup", and it has
> 9.99 GB of space,and I have 4.38 GB left. If you have the same OS as I
> do, this IS the one you CAN TOUCH. You can delete files you don't want ,
> if you know what you are doing. If you don't, and since you have only 1%
> of space left, there is one quick fix --- for now. It's by compressing
> what are in the D drive."
>
> I have a 3 month old HP Pavilion Elite running Vista 64 bit Home
> Premium edition with SP1 installed. I see that there is only 1.01 GB
> free of 10.5 GB left on the FACTORY_IMAGE D drive (the C drive has its
> own partition as does D, E, F. G and I have 4 removable drive; one is
> an external as well) I have not received any auto alerts re: low disk
> space for the D drive -- the amount of space used caught my eye.
>
> My question is will your COMPRESSION fix work on the 64 bit machine as
> it does on your 32 bit? If so, what happens once the file is compressed?
> I mean do I have to decompress it if I need to system restore? This is
> all very confusing to me.
>
> Thanx for your posts. I'm learning albeit slowly. I think I need to
> buy a Vista for Dummies book, if there is one.
>
> -frizzie
>
>
> --
> frizzie

Hi Guys,

I am using Vista Ultimate 64bit on HP Pavilion dv9205TX laptop.

I do get a notification for low disk space in Recovery partition (E. I have a primary partition (G of size 1.08 GB and I never used it. Is it possible to join this partition with E:? If so, how can I do it? If I delete the partition G:, will the free space get allocated to C: or is there an option to choose the partition to which I want to allocate the free space?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers,
Mahesh.

Hi AJR -- Thanx for your reply. I'm not gonna muck with the recovery partition D. In fact, I think I'll forget about it. What I do need to do is make a binder with all the "how to" recover/restore information.

I have one more question -- Even tho I've made recovery disks, would it be wise to backup (onto my external drive L) not only the C drive but a one time D and then E (where I keep my personal files) and then do incremental backups of C and E? I'm using Acronis software to backup. Is this backup overkill?

Thanx again.

-frizzie

Frizzie - As I mentioned in my previous post - recovery partitions and/or
disks represent the installation at that period of time. The longer you have
the computer the more changes you made are lost on restoration.

The simplest backup - providing you have the Vista dvd and program disks, is
to just backup data. Restoration is complex since the OS and individual
programs must be reinstalled along with the data.

Having said all that - you cannot "go wrong" with Acronis - I use it on two
desktops (one belongs to "She Who Must Be Obeyed - commomly called wife and
under no circumstances is THAT computer to go down!) and one laptop

Acronis is all you need - it will backup on schedule to a second internal
drive or external drive and, if you desire, it will create a restore
partiton and keeps it up to date with incremental or differential backups.

Acronis will also create a bootable disk which contains a copy of Acronis to
restore a dead computer. In addition, if you have Acronis create a recovery
partition, it will modify the master boot record so that, at boot, you will
have the option to do a restore by hitting a "F" key - usually F11.

Even though you create a restore partition, always have backups to a
separate internal HD or an external HD - for obvious reasons - if you lose
your primary drive with a restore partion you are in trouble.

BTW - if you are using Acronis I would not backup the "D" drive/partition.
One other thing - do not confuse drives versus partitions - as you probably
know, you can have one drive divided into several partitions e.g. C, D and E
or three separate drives C, D, and E.


"frizzie" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:f577362cdd83a585198b6a97c3d2ab14@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

>
> Hi David:
>
> You wrote:
> "D: local drive is where my laptop uses for "files backup", and it has
> 9.99 GB of space,and I have 4.38 GB left. If you have the same OS as I
> do, this IS the one you CAN TOUCH. You can delete files you don't want ,
> if you know what you are doing. If you don't, and since you have only 1%
> of space left, there is one quick fix --- for now. It's by compressing
> what are in the D drive."
>
> I have a 3 month old HP Pavilion Elite running Vista 64 bit Home
> Premium edition with SP1 installed. I see that there is only 1.01 GB
> free of 10.5 GB left on the FACTORY_IMAGE D drive (the C drive has its
> own partition as does D, E, F. G and I have 4 removable drive; one is
> an external as well) I have not received any auto alerts re: low disk
> space for the D drive -- the amount of space used caught my eye.
>
> My question is will your COMPRESSION fix work on the 64 bit machine as
> it does on your 32 bit? If so, what happens once the file is compressed?
> I mean do I have to decompress it if I need to system restore? This is
> all very confusing to me.
>
> Thanx for your posts. I'm learning albeit slowly. I think I need to
> buy a Vista for Dummies book, if there is one.
>
> -frizzie
>
>
> --
> frizzie

[quote=AJR;716430]
snip:

Hi AJR -- thanx so much for your reply.

You wrote:
BTW - if you are using Acronis I would not backup the "D" drive/partition.
One other thing - do not confuse drives versus partitions - as you probably
know, you can have one drive divided into several partitions e.g. C, D and E
or three separate drives C, D, and E."

---------------------
After reading your reply above, I checked the size of the drives and C + D equal the size of E so it appears D is a partition of C. I have two hard drives and an external. Sooooo I won't back up D, as you suggested. I plan to back up on 6/1 because I got a canon scanner for my birthday this week and want to make sure that's backed.

Hope you and "she who must be obeyed -- yep I read that story <g>" and feel the exact same way, have a nice holiday and thanx again.