We can’t overstate the value of your data. In most cases it’s worth more than your computer itself. Once you wipe your C drive there’s no going back, so it’s worth double checking that you have everything you need backed up.
If you only have one hard drive, you can improve the backup capabilities of your computer by partitioning it. You can do this with GParted, a non-destructive partitioning utility which you can get from http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php. This is an ISO image of a live CD which you can use to boot your PC so you can do the partitioning outside Windows itself. The walkthrough shows how to resize an existing partition and make a new one for back ups.
Partition using GParted
Change a single partition system into one with two separate logical drives using GParted.
1
Boot from CD
Once you’ve burnt the GParted ISO file to a CD and set your computer to boot from the CD drive, restart your PC with the disc in place and press enter at the Boot prompt. You will need to specify the language used, screen resolution and colour depth before the program launches.
2
Resize partition
Select your existing partition and choose Partition, Resize/Move. Click and drag the partition to the new size that you want, bearing in mind that yellow area denotes used space. You can’t make a partition smaller than the data it contains. Click Resize to return to the main screen.
3
Create a new partition
Select the unpartitioned area and choose Partition, New. Opt to create an extended partition to include the rest of the disk space. Click Add. Now select this partition, choose Partition, New and opt for an NTFS logical partition to fill this space. Choose Edit, Apply to complete all your operations.
Drive backup
A full backup of your Windows drive or partition is always a good idea. Use a drive imaging program Drive Image XML to create one. See the walkthrough for details. The box out demonstrates how to make a recovery disc which you can use should you need to completely restore one of your images. If you have multiple hard drives or partitions, you’ll find that taking an image of your drive shouldn’t take much longer than half an hour or so. A backup to CD or DVD is handy, although it may take a little longer, especially if you need to change discs often.
Create a drive image
Use Drive Image XML to back up your Windows XP drive.
1
Start Drive Image XML
Browse to http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm , scroll down and download DriveImage XML V1.18. The executable installation file is 1.6MB in size. Install and launch Drive Image XML. Once in the program, choose Backup.
2
Select a drive
Select the drive you want to back up, which in most cases will be drive C. Click Next to launch the backup wizard. Select the location where you want to save your backup files to. This should be a separate partition. Choose Split large files to ensure that no file is larger than a CDR.
3
Back it up
Click Next. The program ruins in the background, imaging your hard drive. It provides an estimate of when it will be complete. The final backup files include an XML file and one or more data files. You can opt to burn these to CD or DVD to keep them safe.
Make a recovery disc
This builds a basic Bart PE recovery disc for restoring drive images.
Start by downloading PEBuilder from www.nu2.nu/download.php?sFile=pebuilder3110a.exe. Install the program in the usual way. Put your Windows XP CD into your CD drive, browse to My Computer, right click this drive and choose Explore. Copy the i386 folder to the root of your C drive. PEBuilder will use these files to create the basic disc. If you want to make a full functioning rescue disc that includes your drivers, service packs and other useful tools, you can find full instructions at www.supportpcs.co.uk/bartpe.
You also need the drive image software to restore a backup. Browse to www.runtime.org/peb.htm and select the DriveImage XML V1.18 plugin. Save the CAB file to a useful location.
Launch PEBuilder and set the source path to C:\. For the Media output, select Burn to CD/DVD and opt to auto erase RW. Click Plugins > Add and browse to the CAB file that you downloaded for Drive Image XML. Click Open, followed by Close. To create your BartPE recovery disc, click Build. This generates the CD image and then burns it to your disc. Test this disc by restarting your PC and booting from it. You should now be able to use the preinstallation environment and launch Drive Image XML.
Use PEBuilder to make a recovery disc so you can restore your backup images.
