Hi All, thanks for the info so far, but the more I read, the more questions I have and the headache just gets worse
I have a Dell Dimension 5150 running WinXP Pro SP3
Norton Ghost v 15
Verbatim Smartdisk 500GB EHD now formatted into NTFS
OK, while I was in the Computer Management screen I noticed that there are 2 hidden partitions on the ‘C’ drive: I've attached a screen print of it. In case that doesn't show this is what it shows:
39MB FAT Healthy (EISA Conf) "C" 229.49GB NTFS Healthy (System) 3.29GB FAT32 Healthy (Unknown Partition)
It’s my understanding that the 1st 39MB partition is a Dell Utility Partition and the 3rd 3.29 GB Partition is a "Dell PC Restore by Symantec" utility.
I’ve read postings and am confused; some posts say the 1st Partition is important and if needed the ‘image’ of the ‘C’ drive won’t work without it. Other posts say it’s not needed, but nice to have on hand. I haven’t been able to find any posts that mention the 3rd Partition.
So what do I do?? I have yet to create any Backup. My EHD is not partitioned (at least I don’t think so – I didn’t partition it because I don’t know how to).
1) “click on Show Hidden Drives from the Ghost backup job to view and back up these hidden partitions” quote taken from AllenM 01 24 2010 – will this be found when I attempt to do a Backup Computer from NG 15?
2) Without going into NG and actually attempting the backup, do I have to do 3 separate backups; in the order that they are in on my “C” drive? Or will I be able to backup all 3 partitions at the same time?
I’m not even going to worry about how to restore (if/when needed) until that time comes. I’ve learnt more about computers in the last few days than in all the years I’ve been using them. All I’ve ever done is turn the computer on, then email, surf or do docs/spreadsheets. I’m old enough to remember telephones that actually had a dial on them, the handset was attached by coil and the phone plugged into the wall! And computers were the size of a small room!! I’ve been fortunate never to have a computer crash and lose important data, but I do want to be proactive and make sure that my computer is backed up if/when that happens.
Sorry for the long post, but easy to understand answers will be very much appreciated.
Barb