HD Questions - Part II

Hi

I have some more questions about hard drives, reinstalling windows etc.

• I have three partitions on my HD -
  C:( Capacity: 25gb | Free: 11gb | Used: 13gb
  D: Capacity: 25gb | Free:19gb | Used: 6gb &
  PQSERVE 4gb(this ones hidden).
  
  Can I readjust the size of the C: & D: partitions using a program such as Acronis Disk Director?
  
  
• If I get Infected with malware and I was to restore my system from a user backup image (which I think is store on D:) would that wipe the C: Drive and get rid of the malware ( Ive used this method before & it seems to have worked - but Ive never been a 100%)?
  Or would I have to do a full factory restore, which I have done also both internally from D:/ and externally from a Backup CD to get rid of any infection.
  
  
• When I bought this computer windows was already pre installed so I made what I think is a Window XP Disc by burning the i386 Folder and a bootable DOS based iso image to CD as advised here: http://forums.whatthetech.com/Synaptics_To….html&st=15.
  If I was to run this CD via Acer's eRecovery Utility would this reinstall windows & would my D: Drive and PQSERVICE remain intact?
  
  
  
• However while my computer has windows pre installed I did receive a back up CD containing the files pictured here:
  [attachment removed]
  Will this do the same as what is mentioned above but also install Acer's Programs and Utilities?

I hope there isn't to many questions there but I am always keen to learn.



Thank You in advance

Howdy

Can I readjust the size of the C: & D: partitions using a program such as Acronis Disk Director?

Yes, though I would not advise you to do so. Changing those sizes could very well prevent the Acer Factory restore from working.

If I get Infected with malware and I was to restore my system from a user backup image (which I think is store on D:) would that wipe the C: Drive and get rid of the malware ( Ive used this method before & it seems to have worked - but Ive never been a 100%)?

Yes. You could do a factory first and then a "user", but that is not necessary. If you preferred, you could restore a C: image from the External hard drive instead (though not using the Acer software, it would have to be 3rd party software.)

If I was to run this CD via Acer's eRecovery Utility would this reinstall windows & would my D: Drive and PQSERVICE remain intact?

Those I believe would be mutually exclusive events. MFRs Recovery Utilities do not typically let you "choose" the source XP files. Conversely if you launch setup from that CD, you *could* reinstall XP without harming the D Partition, but this would be totally independant of the Acer software.

However while my computer has windows pre installed I did receive a back up CD containing the files pictured here:
Will this do the same as what is mentioned above but also install Acer's Programs and Utilities?

It will do the same as above, and it will install all of the Acer program and Utilities you see on the C: drive for sure……however. There is no way to tell if that disk also contains the information/ins to create the D: partition and eRecovery Utility software. The Acer site or manual should have a more complete description on what that CD does. A big clue will be what the exact wording of the label that appears on it says.

Hope that answered a few !

Tallon41

Howdy LoL

Yes, though I would not advise you to do so. Changing those sizes could very well prevent the Acer Factory restore from working.

mmm, I really wanted to reclaim some of that unused space from the D: Drive and allocate it to C:.
Would the company I got the computer from be able to give me a definative yes or no to whether I could do this without ruining the back up utility?

If you preferred, you could restore a C: image from the External hard drive instead (though not using the Acer software, it would have to be 3rd party software.)

Is there any software you could recommend that would do this - I thought Acronis's True Image could acheive that (making back ups but also restoring the backup's)?

MFRs Recovery Utilities do not typically let you "choose" the source XP files.

What does MFR stand for?

Hope that answered a few !

Yes that did thank you very much!!


All the best,


Manic D

mmm, I really wanted to reclaim some of that unused space from the D: Drive and allocate it to C:.
Would the company I got the computer from be able to give me a definative yes or no to whether I could do this without ruining the back up utility?

I would hope that someone there would be able to give you a definitive yes or no, though there is no telling when they'd get back to you on that.

Is there any software you could recommend that would do this - I thought Acronis's True Image could acheive that (making back ups but also restoring the backup's)?

Yes it will. That is a good program to do that. You had said you purchased that program. The difference is in your terminology. A "backup" is not what your original question referred to. That was restoring an "image" file from an external hard drive. While a "backup" is about the saving of groups of files and folders for data security, an "image" is a file that contains an entire "volume(s)" contents. A Volume is a single Partition. Since a Hard drive may have more than one Partition, an Image file of such a drive, would contain multiple Volumes. Consider a an Image to be a "snapshot" of the Volume, at the time of it's creation. Once "restored" using the restore function of the program that created it, the drive will function as it would have then. [though there are exceptions; depending on drive type age of the controllers and the version of Windows XP service pack level installed, generally it's as if the new drive has been "cloned", (some drive image software refer to copying an entire drive as a "clone" procedure.)]

You would create new images of your internal drive every 6mos to a year depending on how much you add and subtract software. You just need to ensure that your "restore" boot disk has the USB drivers necessary to "see" the external drive so it can access your "images."
MFRs = manufacturer

Tallon41

Hi Tallon Yeah I was getting a little confused with the terminology, thanks for clarifying a few things for me you've been really helpful. All the best, Manic D