Image partition size and Secure Zone

I have done some searches and a lot of reading on this forum. I have found some answers to my questions scattered here and there but I want to make sure that I have it right. So please bear with my asking again:

1. Can a 20 GB C drive - but containing only about 5GB of data - be imaged to a partition less than 20GB? Or do both partitions have to be the same size?

2. When restoring an image to a new, larger HD, can the size of the new partition be increased?

3. I have seen recommendations to NOT use the Secure Zone on secondary media backup. Did I make an error in creating a Secure Zone as one of the partitions on my backup drive? Will this make it harder to restore? Is it possible to undo the SZ without a reformat?

4. Should full backup images be created regularly rather than continuous incremental backups?

I want to make sure that when I do these procedures, they go flawlessly.

Thanks,

earther

 

Hello earther,

The former.

Yes.

You shouldn't create a SZ on a removable backup drive. It can cause problems when using the Startup Recover Manager if the drive isn't kept connected. No problem with a fixed backup drive. You can delete the SZ without a reformat by using the "Manage Acronis Secure Zone" Wizard.

Incremental imaging is o.k. for someone with a LARGE amount of data and who doesn't carry out a defrag between images. However, as you only have about 5GB of data, I recommend that you create full images. It'll only take about 2 or 3 minutes anyway and is less prone to user error when exploring or restoring an image.

Regards

 

Thank you very much for this information, Menorcaman. I am currently backing up to an EXTERNAL USB HD so will follow your advice and remove the Secure Zone using the Wizard. Will removing the Secure Zone remove the images or just the way the data is handled?

As to time to make the image . . . well over an hour! I will be adding a secondary internal drive soon so that will make it much faster. Thanks again

 

Well, I answered my own question. I took the plunge and deleted the Secure Zone. Now I know that doing so also deletes all images that were contained in it. BTW, it took a little less time to create the new image that it did with the Secure Zone but still about an hour.

 

Thanks for posting back (so few people bother). Glad to have been of help.

Regards