To image reserve partition, or not to image..
A partition and disk imaging/cloning program
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steven_shiau
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…that is the question.
Hi, all. I'm on the Windows 7 OS and using Clonzilla for the first time. My system has a 1TB hard drive broken into three partitions as follows:
1) 100 MB Win7 reserve partition
2) 462 GB Win7 system/OS partition (currently only 122 GB is used)
3) 500 GB partition (completely empty at the moment and set aside for data storage)
I've read the tutorial, FAQ, googled the question, and did a quick search in the forum but couldn't find an answer. I've selected the "saveparts" option and the 500 GB partition as the destination for the image but I'm not sure if I should only be selecting the 462 GB system/OS partition by itself or the 100 MB reserve partition and the system/OS partition together for a single image?
Much appreciated.
I've been reading some more information on CZ tutorials and troubleshooting threads both here and on other boards/sites. Most seem to encompass device to device (disk to disk or partition to partition) or just device to whole disk image material but they have gotten me to see my question might not yield the full result I'm seeking to find. I'd like clarify my previous question and add to it.
What I'm seeking to accomplish: Create an image of my system which will not be dependent on future hard drive/partition size other than having enough space to contain what the system occupies now.
Problems: I only have one hard drive at the moment. This means I can't do any sort of device to device cloning. Since CZ doesn't like having an image placed on the same destination as target, this means no imaging of the whole drive for me. All I can do is image the system (and reserved?) partition onto the free space partition on the current drive. Also, I do plan on getting another hard drive down the road but I'm not sure what size it'll be. It might be smaller than my current one or even smaller than the current system partiton or ideally bigger hard drive.
Being that I don't have the hardware in place to test stuff out and it's my first time backing up my system this way, I'm trying to catch anything I can now. Anyone have advice? Here are some other on topic questions which are floating around in my head:
-Selecting the "saveparts" option is correct choice since "savedisk" refers to whole disks, right?
-Assuming "saveparts", should both the Win7 system and reserve partition be selected and imaged together onto the free space parttion or imaged individually (not sure if that matters or not)?
-Under advanced options, should I select the following?
* "-j2" for hidden stuff between reserve partition and system partition
* "-r" auto-resize file system to target partition (this only for destination or when image is restored?)
* "-e1 auto" ntfs boot partition
-Lastly, if I do get second hard drive and it happens to be a 320 GB disk when my back up image is of the 122 GB system on the 462 GB partition, will this be an issue?
Sorry for all the questions, seems digging deeper brought out more questions/confusion.
Thanks again.
"-Selecting the "saveparts" option is correct choice since "savedisk" refers to whole disks, right? "-> Yes.
"-Assuming "saveparts", should both the Win7 system and reserve partition be selected and imaged together onto the free space parttion or imaged individually (not sure if that matters or not)?" -> Both ways should work. It's up to you.
"-Under advanced options, should I select the following? * "-j2" for hidden stuff between reserve partition and system partition * "-r" auto-resize file system to target partition (this only for destination or when image is restored?) * "-e1 auto" ntfs boot partition " -> This is for restoring. To save, you can just use the default options in the dialog menu.
"if I do get second hard drive and it happens to be a 320 GB disk when my back up image is of the 122 GB system on the 462 GB partition, will this be an issue? " -> What did you mean? Did you mean to restore a disk to a smaller one?
Steven.
Yes. Basically, the system partition is 462 GB but only 122 GB is currently being used up at the moment. Assuming it stays that way and I get a second hard drive but it's only 320 GB, will it be an issue trying to restore to a smaller drive and partition as long as it's big enough to contain what's currently in use?
Thanks for the reply and I really appreciate the help, Steven.
Yes, it will be an issue, as described here:
http://clonezilla.org/
"The destination partition must be equal or larger than the source one."
Steven.