Slightly OT : Restoring Drive Image to Resized Partition
 

Hi

I would like to install Mandrake 9.2 on a fairly new notebook that currently runs XP on one 40G partition.

I have been advised against using Partition Magic to resize and create a new partition, so I am interested in creating an image of my current partition, formatting and installing both XP and Mandrake from scratch, and then restoring my old files from image.

I have heard that restoring an image to a partition of a different size relative to the original is not necessarily a trivial thing. Does anyone here have experience with this operation?

Thanks

d

Why were you advised against PM? I'm sure others will let us know of problems with partitioning software programs. Assuming someone here confirms a problem with it, then...

If you are installing XP from scratch on a new partition, why not back up just your data, reinstall the apps, and then restore your data? An image is an -exact- duplicate of the drive, including the operating system, data, programs, settings, .INI files, registry entries, leftover temp files, cookies, etc. If you restore an image, it will overwrite your new "from scratch" installation. If you are installing from scratch to get a clean installation, restoring the image will defeat your purpose.

On the other hand, if you are happy with your XP installation, an image will preserve it. What imaging software are you planning on using? Some imaging software will let you reinstall to a smaller partition if the original data will fit. Make sure your new partition is larger than the amount of drive space used in the current partition.

Why not create the image file (these can be large; where do you plan to store it? A second drive is often useful during imaging operation), partition the HD, and attempt to restore the image to the new smaller partition? If it blows up, you've still got the image; repartition the drive to it's original configuration then restore the image. You won't be any worse off than you are now.

Anybody heard of problems with Partition Magic? Aren't there Linux distributions with a partitioning utility accessible during the installation? Even if one of those distro's is not the one you want, you could use it to get the drive partitioned and then install the one you want.

I have used DriveImage a lot and more recently PartitionImage under linux. DI will certainly restore to a smaller partition and will take you through the process as it does it, provided of course it's not smaller than the occupied space. Linux partitioning apps will resize a partition but I am personally a bit shy about this process because results are not guaranteed. If you have a current XP install then image it and restore and that's all that needs to be done provided that the os is running on the identical hardware.

I'm not sure of the basis. Searching on this forums yielded mixed reports. Finally, when I did get my hands on PM (version 5 I think) and boot via floppy, a message to the effect of "this partition extends beyond the 1024 cylinder and won't be bootable" accompanied any attempted resizing of my existing partition. PM was really my first choice, but I don't want to make any catastrophic changes to my system.
I see your point, but I had hoped that restoring from an image would involve less work, ultimately. I have a copy of PQ Disk Image 7, and I haven't been able to find any indication of whether or not I can basically compress an original image to fit onto a smaller logical partition.

Thanks for your reply Charlie

d

Much easier if you've got someplace to put the image. Your original post said you wanted to reinstall XP and then the image, and I couldn't figure out why. I haven't worked with PQ Disk Image; I'm a Norton Ghost man myself. It will burn images across multiple CD's.

---'''Aren't there Linux distributions with a partitioning utility accessible during the installation?'''---

Mandrake 9.2 has a very clever partitioning software, very easy to use. You can simply tell it to autopartition unused space on your disk. Choose expert mode, and all the options are there. It is like magic.

I have used the partition function of Mandrake on another computer and it worked well. My problem in this instance is that I don't have any unused space on this disk. I need to make some, either via PM or via reinstallation. The 1024 cyclinder issue has confounded me, so it looks like reinstallation may be the easiest option.

Thanks to all who have commented so far.

If you are actually using all the space on your disk then you won't be able to put another OS on it. You'll need at least 6 to 10 Gb to instal Mandrake 9.2.

If Windows says you have at least this amount of space, you can free it up by running defragmentation (compresses all your files to one 'end' of your disk) then use fips (Google it) to create a Linux partition in the space created.

Then install Mandrake and when it gets to the partitioning stage choose 'expert'. You'll then see the windows partition and the new one you've created - click on that to choose it. Delete it, and then choose 'autopartition the empty space'.

Remember to back up all your data before anything else.

I don't think the 1024 cylinder issue is an issue - this is only a problem for old disks (pre 1994-98) and you say you are using a new notebook.

If you have PM use it to resize Windows only. You get problems when you create Linux partitions with it. Linux is much better at doing this. Just leave empty space for linux. Also don't install BootMagic, that causes trouble too.

Thanks for the comments

One more question and I'll let this thread go....

Are there any disk partitioning utilities out there that don't require a boot from floppy? I don't have a floppy drive in this notebook and access to a USB floppy is unpredictable.

d

You could put the partitioning tools on a cd instead of a floppy, if you can boot from cd.