System/OS Image Query

[SportiveUK]

Hi,

I have previously used V10 Free of Backup & Recovery and have now purchased V12 Home for use with a new Win74 64-bit machine.

My requirements are relatively simple (I think) in that I have one drive with the following partitions:

System
MSR (Microsoft Reserved Partition)
OS

Documents
Photos
Music & Video
Recovery

I have undertaken an entire HD backup of the clean install in case of HD failure both onto my network and onto external HD. My non system files will be synced with my NAS on an ongoing basis so all I want to do periodically is backup the system partitions after any major changes.

I keep receiving conflicting advise about which of the 3 "system" partitions I should backup in the event of OS corruption. i.e. do I need to include all 3 in the archive, or can I get away with just the OS? I assume that if I include all 3, its just a case of restoring all or some as necessary although I wouldn't know which to restore when! Given the system partition is only 100mb and the MSR is only 128mb I don't suppose it's an issue size-wise but I just want ensure I can restore the system back to a working state quickly and easily so I don't want to miss a key action. The manual is not clear on this - it explains the process very well but does not confirm the kind of query posed above.

Thanks very much

[Robin A.]

According to the information you have posted, the safest route is to include the 3 "system" partitions in the backups. But it shouldn´t be necessary to backup all 3 with the same frequency, because the first 2 partitions should not change frequently.

If you provide more information about your system, maybe you can get more specific information. For example:

Is the disk a GPT or an MBR? Do you have 7 partitions, or 4? What do you see in the Windows Disk Manager (post an image)?.

[SportiveUK]

Single Disk is GPT and the partitions are:

System Partitions:
EFI System Partition (not visable to OS)
Microsoft Reserved Partition (not visable to OS)
C: OS Windows 7

User Created Partitions (by splitting the OS Partition):
D:
E:
F:
G:
H:

So in total 8 partitions, all but the first two are listed as Primary Partitions.

What I am not clear on is what information is contained in the two system partitions at the start of the disk that might cause problems if only the OS partition is restored.

[Robin A.]

EFI System Partition, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EFI_System_partition. This partition is used to boot the system, so it must be backed up.

Microsoft Reserved Partition, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microso...rved_Partition.
It is not clear to me how critical this partition is, but I would back up it too.

[SportiveUK]

Thanks for the advice. I had done some prior research but then got conflicting advice and I assumed that the "Smart Wizard" would confirm to me that if I wanted to image/backup my OS, that I should also include the EFI System Partition in the archive. Because it didn't I wasn't sure whether it was necessary.

I'll ensure all 3 partitions are included in the archive to be on the safe side

[Robin A.]

If you use Windows 7, I think you could also get a "recommendation" by MS, about what partitions to backup.

Follow the procedure to create a "system" backup using the built-in Windows 7 backup program, and at one point it will indicate what partitions ("or "drives") will be backed up. It is not necessary to actually create the backup.

[SportiveUK]

Good tip, it does indeed confirm that the EFI System partition & the OS partition are both required for a "system backup image". It's a shame the Paragon application does not do the same as you could merely include the OS partition and come unstuck later down the line.