Rank: Newbie
Groups: Member
Joined: 7/1/2007
Posts: 1
Points: 3
Location: Lebanon, NJ
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Here it is...
I have a 120GB HD in my laptop, and a 40GB drive I'be been keeping all of the files on that I have installed on it, (games, media, programs...).
I have just about ran out of room on my 40GB, and am wondering, if I formatted the 40GB, if I could compress it and have enough room to take a proper backup of my system, or if I would need a drive comperable to the 120GB.
I've had a couple issues in the past, despite my best efforts to avoid them, that have either wiped my HD or locked access to it. I'm just glad I had the forthought to at least copy my files over to the 40GB, else I would loose ALOT of stuff. (I've already lost tons of files twice over the years, and some of them I can not find again, so I would like to begin making proper backups as soon as I can.)
Thanks in advance for your help. ^^
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Rank: Administration
Groups: Administration
, Member
Joined: 2/17/2007
Posts: 1
Points: 6
Location: Windsor, Ontario
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Hi,
Sorry for the late reply.
"I have a 120GB HD in my laptop, and a 40GB drive I'be been keeping all of the files on that I have installed on it, (games, media, programs...).
I have just about ran out of room on my 40GB, and am wondering, if I formatted the 40GB, if I could compress it and have enough room to take a proper backup of my system, or if I would need a drive comperable to the 120GB."
Is your 40GB drive NTFS formatted?
To check this right click on the drive and select properties. You will see a text label that says: File System: XXX.
If it is FAT32 formatted, I would suggest you upgrade to NTFS. You can do this without formatting.
Once you are sure that the drive is NTFS formatted, you can right click on any of your folders (or select all folders on your drive) and go to properties again. You will see a button on the first tab called Advanced. Click on this. Then check on the box called "Compress contents to save disk space".
Once this is on, your file system will use compression, which will make the access to the files slightly (unnoticeable) slower, and the space savings a lot higher.
"I've had a couple issues in the past, despite my best efforts to avoid them, that have either wiped my HD or locked access to it. I'm just glad I had the forthought to at least copy my files over to the 40GB, else I would loose ALOT of stuff. (I've already lost tons of files twice over the years, and some of them I can not find again, so I would like to begin making proper backups as soon as I can.)".
Now that you have more space on your 40GB, you can backup the files you need on your primary to the 40GB. You shouldn't need all of your files, just the ones you authored yourself. Any program files you won't need, as you can just re-install the applications.
Likewise. If you want to backup the movies and music from your 40GB to your primary, you can backup only those. Again you would just ignore the Program Files.
It would be best to use an automated program to do this for you so you don't forget. I would suggest to use Vision Backup (http://www.vwsolutions.com/VisionBackup/) But I must admit that I work for VisionWorks, so I am very partial.
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