Hard drive back up

[borderterrier]

I am currently in the middle of a hefty problem getting Vista to work with my Garmin etrex and Memorymap. I have bought a new cable because it came with a disk to ensure I had the correct driver, still doesn't work.

The reason I have come to this site is my computer presented me with a choice, it said that I should back up my hard drive, to ensure that I wouldn't lose any info in the event of a breakdown.

I clicked yes and was told after a time that there was not enough disk space. When I looked at my hard drive page, the recovery drive (E) is full and now in red!

How can I return it to it's normal state, with some spare gig's.

Kind regards

Ed

 

[kenny111111]

hello, have you tried system restore?

 

[theog]

You can not use the OEM HD Recovery partition for backups, delete all data you have add.

Backup to a USB Drive.

 

[borderterrier]

Thanks for the reply...Kenny

Just tried to do a system restore and I get told that it could not be created as there is insuffcient storage space to create shadow copy.

I am a not very competent with computers.

Ed

 

[Ed Canuck]

Hi Ed (nice name :D),

Could you run the MSInfo tool (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information), click on File and Save to your desktop (Name it MSInfo.nfo). Upload it with your reply (see Vista Forums - FAQ: Reading and Posting Messages).

In the meantime, as Theo said, delete anything you created on your E: drive during the attempted backup.

Ed

 

[borderterrier]

Ed

Thanks for your reply and for reinforcing what Theog said.

Bingo!

Fresh day, fresh look and it worked. Simple delete and I am back to where I was.

I can now return to the Garmin/Memorymap problem which is exercising other forum brains.

These forums are such a brilliant idea. People sharing aquired knowledge just because they want to help others. Without them, I would be at a loss, I really do not know much about computers.

Kind regards to all who offered help.

Ed