Recovery Disk D Full

Hi, i hope someone there can help me. I just bought a new computer in April, it is a Dell XPS 410, Intel Core 2 CPU 4300 1.8 GHz 1022 MBRAM, running Vista. Lately I keep getting the message that the last backup failed to complete. I would assume that this has something to do with the fact that of my 10GB Drive D I seem to only have 233 MB of free space left. How do I clear out this drive and maybe start over with a brand new backup, or how do I get rid of what isn't needed? I went to PCPITSTOP and ran their full test and am posting the link to my results, maybe that will help analyze the problem?? Any suggestions you have would have would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.pcpitstop.com/techexpress.asp?id=7DNUHW7W40WSN67V

Your Drive D:\ was created on your machine specifically to serve as Recovery, in the event of catastrophic failure of your Operating System and need to Reinstall. It is the location that Recovery Console will "look" for Original copies of the Operating System, in the event you need to use Recovery Console for repair of your Operating System, or to format and restore C:\ to Factory original condition.

"Nothing" else should be put on Drive D:\
I'll repeat for emphasis……. Nothing.

If you are running scheduled "Backups" you should configure the backup to target a Folder on C:\…..
Or better yet, get an External Hard Drive to handle the storage of a backup copy of your data, media and important files.
_______________

At this point, you may be able to create a new folder on C:\ and call it something like C:\Old Backups
Then you can use Copy/Paste function of Windows Explorer to Move all the "backup data" to C:\

Please notice that I recommend "Copy" / Paste.
Don't use "Cut"/Paste because you don't want to loose data if the process somehow fails.

After you've succeeded in creating a new location on C:\ and populated it with the backup files/folders that have incorrectly been being saved on D:\, and you are sure that you have all the files correctly saved on C:\Old Backups…. Then you can consider using the Delete function to clear the Backups from the D:\ Drive.

When using Delete, you will need to use caution, so that you don't mistakenly Delete a stray file or folder that was part of the original Recovery Console Recovery Backup.

I'll bet alot of people do what you have done.
They see a big mostly empty Folder labled Recovery and think it would be an ideal location for backups. Not so.
(as you have unfortunately discovered)

Best Regards

Thank you Doug for your quick reply to my problem. Now here is my next dilemma. You said to reset my Backup settings to save to a folder on drive C:, but when I go into Backup settings it gives me 2 options: to save to a network, or save to hard disk, CD or DVD. When I click on the 2nd option it gives me a pull down menu of available places to save to and the only ones listed there are RECOVERY D: or DVD RW drive E: and it will not allow me to change either of these or enter anything different. So I cannot change the settings for where future backups will be saved, does this mean I will run into this problem again once that 10 GB of space is used up again??? Also, I created a new folder on C: (old backups) as you suggested and copy and pasted everything on D: to this folder. Below is a list of those folders and files so that you can see what I have copied to the new folder. You said then I should be able to use the Delete to free up D: but you advised being careful not to delete any stray file or folder that was part of the original Recovery Console Recovery Backup. How do I know what folders and files on RECOVERY D: are OK to delete???? folders: dell 4.12 GB HOME-PC 4.98 GB Program Files 6.63 MB Sources 993 KB Tools 1.52 MB Users 262 KB Windows 785 MB files: MedialD.bin 4 KB Thanks again for any assistance

What utility are you using for Backup? Do you have a full set of Installation CD's for your XP, Drivers, and installed applications, that may have come with the machine when you purchased it. It is "possible" that I was off-base with my earlier assumption about D:\ being the "Recovery Console" operating system backup. <– but I still think it is, until proven otherwise. If you are running Ghost, or Acronis or similar to make .iso image backups of your entire machine, for use in case of catastrophic failure, then it makes absolute sense, that you would not be allowed to save back to C:\ Because, if you had a catastrophic failure, that could easily mean that C:\ was corrupted and possibly not accessible. Therefore having the rescue backup on C:\ (a drive you couldn't access) would not help you. So, I guess we need the above additional information. Best Regards

Yes I do have all installation disks that came with computer. As far as the Backup that i am using, I am running Windows Vista and in my programs llist is "Backup and Restore Center" that is what I am using. Does this info help at all?

Help, Doug are you still there???

Hi,
It looks as though Doug is not around at the moment.
Until he gets back I suggest you do this:

1 Perform a data back up but use DVD(s) as the medium.
2 For the time being leave the D: drive alone.

Doug will be notified that I have responded in this thread and hopefully will get back to you before too long.

In the meantime it might be best to check out the two different types of backup that come in most versions of Vista.
One backs up your data and the other backs up (Images) the complete hard drive with all applications data, settings etc that are on your machine. The Image in Vista (which is called Complete PC back up) is like an electronic "snapshot" that enables you to put back your machine to the exact state it was in at the time you took the "snapshot" This is only as a rule used for total disaster recovery and not for just replacing a few files or folders. Its more of an all or nothing solution.

The data back up, being very much smaller (as it doesn't include your programmes, applications etc) allows you to replace just a few damaged or missing files or folders if you need to.

More information available from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/…ils/backup.mspx

and also here:

http://vistasupport.mvps.org/complete_pc_backup.htm

It might be wise to see if you can check back and establish exactly what type of back up your have achieved as I have a suspicion (no more than that) the your original back up may have been a Complete PC back up ie an Image of your whole machine.

Unfortunately we have had so few machines running Vista coming into the workshop for repair that we are still, to a certain extent "feeling our way" with it
Regards
paws

Hi Paws, thanks for the response. I think you are right about the image thing. There is a folder on RECOVERY D: dell/image/factory.wim and this was created the day I set up my computer. The strange thing is tho that 3 of the other folders: Program Files, Sources and Users say they were created back in Nov. of 2006. I didn't get this computer til May of 2007 so how can that be possible?? I did go into D: HOME-PC and deleted some backup files that say they were created back in July, this atleast freed up 5 GB of the 10 GB available. But when I try to run a backup, they still fail but it doesn't give me any information regarding why. I am going to try to do a backup to CD and see if that works. Currently all I have been using to backup is what I guess Microsoft calls their "Backup Wizard" that comes in Vista. Would you recommend disabling this and maybe using another backup product? If so, are there any good free ones that you know of??? Well, the backup to CD seems to be working. I guess we will see.

Hi girllikethat, I'm glad the CD/DVD approach seems to be working. At least, hopefully this will buy us a bit of time whilst we research the issue and come up with a satisfactory explanation/solution. Doug and I will get our heads together over this one and see if we can figure it out. Usually the D drive is set up by the computer manufacturer (Dell) as a "disaster recovery function" so that if you hit major problems that cannot be resolved by the usual more conservative methods then you can bring the computer back to the exact state it was in when it left the factory. This is a pretty drastic step and is not used for anything other than seriously major problems that can't otherwise be fixed. This would explain the date issue…. Nov 2006 was the date the "disaster recovery function" was created/updated by Dell for this particular range or model of Dell computer (including yours) and would have been installed on your machine by Dell prior to your machine being shipped to you. (The files would still carry the origin date of Nov 2006) The Microsoft Back up you need to do now I think is a Data back up (see the previous links) and I will consult with Doug and see if we can come up with some precise advice for you on how to achieve this. I'm told that the Vista back up is an improvement in the facilities provided by Windows Vista over previous versions so for the moment I would stick with it, however if we find its not what you want then there are other back up methods that we have experience of that we can recommend. Regards paws

I have a question, hope that it will not disturb u. I already reinstall vista on my laptop. I found that there is a file name Factory.wim in RECOVERY D:/, this file was created some day before i got my dell. So, if i run this file (Factory.wim) will my operating system and all the softwares be the same as offered by dell originally? If everything will be the same as original one, how can i run this file? Thank u so much.