Hard Drive Backup - Partitions or Disk?

Hi,

A few questions to "those in the know" about getting a full system backup that is reliable and can be restored effectively.

I am running Windows XP MCE SP2 and have an internal 750GB SATA drive which is partioned into three drives (C: Windows and Applications, D Drive for Documents and Pictures and E: for Video Recordings made with media center).

As I don't need to backup the video recordings on the E: drive (and they're big and always changing anyway), I am currently only running a partition backup of the C and D drives. Monthly full, Weekly incrementals..

Is this strategy and "partition backup" sufficient to enable a full recovery of the boot drive and documents drive? I have read elsewhere that you might need to actually backup the "disk" rather than the "partition".

Thanks,

 

Hello aussiegtc,

If using True Image 9.0 Home Build 3567 or later then the answer is "yes" as the MBR/Track 0 data is included in the image at all times. When using any version/build of TI prior to Build 3567, the MBR/Track 0 data is only included in the backup image if you selected the whole of the disk drive.

Just remember, if restoring the partitions to a replacement drive (or the boot info on the original drive has become corrupted), you will also need to select the MBR and Track 0 data as part of the restore.

Regards

EDIT - additional clarification provided

 

Dear menorcaman,
I think I may have a similar situation.

This may be a silly question but when you say:

Which ATI would you be referring to: 8 9 or 10?
I have ATI Server 8.0 build 800, btw.

 

Menorcaman was referring to ATI Home 9.0.3567

 

Thanks Menorcaman - much appreciated!

I'm running TI10 so the partition backup will be fine..... it's a little hard to understand the documentation wording at times...

cheers,
Andrew

 

Hi Andrew,

The sheer number of posts/threads in this forum suggests that you're not wrong

Regards