Backup

Peter Tsang

Peter Tsang

Peter Tsang

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Joined
23 Dec 2008
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642
Folks

I have a laptop and it is installed with Windows 7 and I want to clone a backup copy using GHOST. The GHOST11.EXE software is sitting on a bootable USB drive which also contains Partition Magic 8 DOS version.

There are several options, but I want an arrangement as follows. I intend to split the hard drive into 2 partition. 30GB for the clone backup, the remaining 250GB for Windows 7.

But I want to make the 30GB backup partition invisible.

What do you reckon?

Thanks!
Peter
 
I wouldn't use Partition Magic 8 on a Windows 7 system - it's a very old program, and the results could be unpredictable (and not in a good way). Just right-click the existing partition in Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management and select "Shrink Volume", then create a new partition in the newly freed space (don't assign it a drive letter if you don't want to see it in Explorer).
 
CaptainCrash said:
I wouldn't use Partition Magic 8 on a Windows 7 system - it's a very old program, and the results could be unpredictable (and not in a good way). Just right-click the existing partition in Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management and select "Shrink Volume", then create a new partition in the newly freed space (don't assign it a drive letter if you don't want to see it in Explorer).
Click to expand...

Sorry, can you explain more ho this works? It sounds like a solution to me...
 
Well, I can't really make it much clearer - go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management, right-click on your system partition (I'm assuming you have a single C drive), and select "Shrink Volume" from the dropdown menu. It will take a moment to collect information about the disk, then present you with a dialog where you can choose how much you want to shrink the partition, up to a maximum dictated by the existing file layout. Then once it's done its thing, right-click on the newly freed-up space, and create a new partition to hold your backup.

It's all fairly self-explanatory, really just a case of following the prompts. Do back up any of your own user files first though - it should be a trouble-free process, but when you're messing with the partition table on a disk containing live data it's always best to be on the safe side.

I would also have suggested using Win7's own backup for creating a system image, but it won't let you use a separate partition on the same physical drive - you could however check out the free version of Macrium Reflect as a more up-to-date alternative to Ghost 11.
 
Thanks captain!

I am trying to make something like the Dell invisible recovery partition. Do you know how to make one?

The Dell invisible recovery partition is completely hidden from Windows, so can prevent an accidental deletion...etc

Thanks!
 
You'll probably need something more specialised if you want the partition to be completely hidden from Windows, as opposed to it simply being invisible in Explorer. To be honest though, I can't see how anyone would "accidentally" delete a partition, it's not something you'd inadvertently do while you were browsing the web, for instance. :p

Acronis True Image Home allows you to set up a "secure zone" for backups, although it's not a free solution unfortunately. There may be other partitioning tools which will do something similar, have a check through the freeware sticky at the top of the forum. :)
 
CaptainCrash said:
You'll probably need something more specialised if you want the partition to be completely hidden from Windows, as opposed to it simply being invisible in Explorer. To be honest though, I can't see how anyone would "accidentally" delete a partition, it's not something you'd inadvertently do while you were browsing the web, for instance. :p

Acronis True Image Home allows you to set up a "secure zone" for backups, although it's not a free solution unfortunately. There may be other partitioning tools which will do something similar, have a check through the freeware sticky at the top of the forum. :)
Click to expand...

YOu are the man! I have just googled the name Acronis here
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/47773-hidden-restore-partition/

Looks like this method has been around for some time.
Thanks anyway...it's a long way to go...i mean googling...
 
It looks like your google-fu came up trumps then, although I have to admit I've never heard of it, and to be honest I don't feel much like wading through all 136 pages of that thread, so I don't know if there are any hidden gotchas.

I expect it will work fine, but I'd definitely repeat my *strong* suggestion that you back up anything irreplaceable to another medium before you get stuck in. :)
 
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