Win7 Install Partitions and Disk Imaging

[Radish]

Hi,

 

I just got a new computer that came with Win7 Pro. x64 pre-installed by the system manufacturer. I have no previous experience of using Win7 (just many years of using WinXP). If I Iook at the way the pre-install was done I find that I have the following HDD partitioning scheme:

 

Partition 1: 'Hidden' 8.30 GB (Recovery Partition) - (no file-system information shown for this partition)
Partition 2: 'Hidden' 300 MB (System, Active, Primary Partition) NTFS
Partition 3: Windows 7 (C:) 100 GB (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) NTFS

 

I have some vague notion of what these partitions are. However, what I don't know is if Partitons 1 and 2 change their content in any way over time. I really need to know this so that I can work out what I'm going to backup on a regular basis by way of using 'disk imaging' software (I use TeraByte Image for Windows for disk imaging backups).

 

So could someone tell me if Partition 1 changes over time as I make changes on Partition 3 (the Windows partition)?

 

Likewise, can someone tell me if the content of Partiton 2 changes over time as I make changes to Partition 3?

[Tripredacus]

Content in the System Reserved (300MB) partition may change for a variety of reasons. What I can think of is Bitlocker (encryption) or fiddling with the BCD. The BCD contains the files used to locate where the OS is located, and any other boot options such as to run recovery, startup repair or whatnot. You can think of the BCD as a modern day (read overly complicated) version of the boot.ini in XP. One example of the BCD changing would be if you were to install a newer Windows OS to make a dual boot.

Recovery partition might only have the WindowsRE boot image and a factory image used for reinstalling Windows. However, it also depends on the manufacturer of the computer and if they are using the MS recovery software or their own thing. If it is the regular Microsoft way, that partition should not change over time.

In the case of a disk failure, you may or may not have difficulty restoring your backups since it sounds like you are making partition backups. I do not know the capabilities of the TeraByte program you are using, but make sure to see if there is a guide for doing a restore based on Windows 7 and if there are any problems. The only software I've personally used to restore/image a failed Windows 7 OS (without having to get into advanced things like the BCD) is using Ghost 12, but that was using full disk images.

Maybe others have used the TeraByte software (or something else) and can chime in.

[jaclaz]

In my experience Terabyte Image is a good program, and more generally the good Terabyte programs know where their towel is.

 

The 8.3 Gb partition is the recovery partition, and it will never change "automatically", it corresponds loosely to the install CD/DVD that you were NOT given.

Besides making an image of it (once) if the specific OEM provided a way to create some form of bootable recovery/install  media you could create it.

That recovery partition - depending on the OEM and the mechanism used - may when used lead to a "clean, standard" install or to a "factory restore" but in any case it's contents are more or less "carved in stone".

 

The Partition 2 is what the good MS guys, contrary to logic and to everyone else call "system" partition (which contains "boot files").

 

The contents will also never change, with the exception of the \boot\BCD (which is the boot configuration files), all the rest in it are files that may be updated when (say) a Service Pack of a MS patch is applied to the System, but that can normally be recreated fine by running the BCDBOOT program, and you can always boot your system, even without that partition or with that partition wiped by using a "Vista boot floppy", i.e. basically a bootable device containing just the BOOTMGR and the \boot\BCD (which can be created on a USB stick or CD/DVD), which could be a good idea to create and keep just in case.

 

Usually in Windows 7 that partition is 100 Mb in size, so it is possible that it contains additionally a WinRE.wim that would be the Windows Recovery Environment, a small WinPE that may be useful in some cases.

Even if a WinRE is present, it won't ever be changed if not manually by you.

 

So a logical backup strategy is:

1. make an image (better 2) of Partition 1, store it/them safely and you will never need to backup it again
2. make an image (better 2) of Partition 2, store it/them safely and you will never need to backup it again UNLESS you change your boot settings (using BCDEDIT or a similar BCD editing tool), in which case you will better have an updated backup
3. make regularly an image (or backup) of partition 3

 

jaclaz

[Radish]

Okay guys, thanks very much for the information.

 

By the sounds of things, and being the cautious type, I'll do a backup of Partition 1 and store it off safely. Thereafter I'll just do regular backups of Partition 2 and Partition 3 (seems like the best thing to do - err on the side of safety).

 

Thanks again.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Radish

[NoelC]

I'm sure the 3rd party software mentioned is good, but don't abandon the possibility of using Microsoft's own Windows Backup to do System Image backups of all critical partitions.  It's integrated with Volume Shadow copy Services, and thus with the Previous Versions feature, as well as available to you through the Windows recovery environment (WinRE) at bootup.

 

I used Windows Backup for many years and both recovered from failure and upgraded to new bare metal hardware by restoring such backups.

 

-Noel

[submix8c]

@jaclaz (and Radish, the OP) - curious, wouldn't the MBR *maybe* have special code for an Fn (whatver "n" may be) to access the Recovery Environment?

 

And a fair warning that *some* OEM's actually allow "backing up" certain files/folders to (e.g.) the System partition (e.g. HP's "Backup and Restore").

 

Example:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01673043

[Tripredacus]

@jaclaz (and Radish, the OP) - curious, wouldn't the MBR *maybe* have special code for an Fn (whatver "n" may be) to access the Recovery Environment?

It depends on if they are using the MS way or some other software to do recovery. If the MS way, there is no special key... it is just F8 which doesn't use the MBR.

[jaclaz]

@submix8c

I believe that Terabyte software saves anyway the MBR, however making a separate image of the MBR, and while one is at it of the whole set of "hidden sectors" before first partition is always a good idea  , at the most between 63 and 1024 sectors of space will be wasted, much less if you compress the resulting file.

 

jaclaz

[Dubiaku]

This may sound a little drastic and may not be for everybody, but this is what I do.

 

I create an image of the entire hard drive as soon as possible after buying the machine. This image is then available to restore the machine to "like new" in case i want to sell it later.

 

Then, I delete the "hidden" partitions and thus add that space for my use.

 

Then, I make an image of the new partition, and periodic images (automatically every day by Acronis Backup & Recovery to an external drive) after that in case I need one to restore my system, even to a new hard drive.

 

It may not be for everyone, but it works for me.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Dubiaku

[Radish]

I'm by no means an expert on TeraByte Image for Windows (and Terabyte Image for Linux) but I have been using it for many years and it has never let me down. I do know that it is capable of dealing with the MBR and of repairing it, but I've never needed to use that option for anything. It has so many options that you really would need to be an HDD geek to understand it. I'm not, so I just use it in a simplified way and it works fine for me.

 

Also you can create boot CD's so you can manage things from there if you want. This is what I do. There is an option to create a boot CD that is based on Linux - but you don't need to have Linux installed to use it - and that boot CD with its GUI interface is a work of art. I use it all the time even though I only have Windows systems - works great. Even out of sheer interest I'd recommend checking it out - you can use a trial version for a short period of time.

 

Like Dubiaku I make an image of the whole HDD as soon as I get it. I just use Image for Linux bootdisk and make an HDD image before I ever even allow the OS to boot. This gets a very clean set of 'Factory State' images to restore from if you ever want to go back to that level.

[HarryTri]

If you want to do the job with a freeware program then Macrium Reflect Free does it very well.