Eliminate Recovery Partition_Recover to Main Volum (XP Pro – SP2)

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Hello again…

[Sorry to post back-to-back…but I need some answers on this one, also…& it’s sort of related to the first…in that, I want to accomplish this prior to an SP3 install.]

So…

My (recently new) audio workstation…mfg.’d by ADK…came w/ Paragon Drive Backup (8.1)…which I can utilize to backup my entire local drive content (OS/programs/files & folders) to a dedicated recovery capsule…(which I believe is located on a dedicated partition).

What I would like to do…(because I have 2 external hard drives, capable of backing up everything I have)…is:

1st; ELIMINATE that recovery capsule.

Then…I would like to recover that partition to the volume…so as to add it’s space to the available, writable area of the entire local drive (i.e., only have one main partition). do[/i] have the XP bible (Bott & Seichert)…& I suppose the sequence is detailed in there somewhere…but I thought also that someone here migh have some practical experience w/ this task.]

Then…I want to back up my entire local drive to one of my external drives (since I am going to install SP3…& a complete back-up is recommended prior). [This… I believe I already know how to do…since it is listed as one of the main options on the mail Paragon interface.]

Thanks,

mark4man

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Well, first let me say that I don’t know about your machine. But the first thing I would make sure of (I also don’t know about Paragon’s backup) is that you CAN in fact make an image backup to an external drive and possibly verify its integrity before you go any farther!

Having done that, you may need yet another 3rd party program. One that I DO have is Paragon Partition Manager. In order to non-destructively eliminate a partition and add its space to another partition, you CAN’T do that with the OS! But, I’d be sure that backup is OK before I tackle any partition manipulations if I were you.

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In order to non-destructively eliminate a partition and add its space to another partition, you CAN’T do that with the OS

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[/indent]That’s what I needed to hear, Al…thanks. ( I was really hoping it was possible, but…)

Let me ask you this, tho…you say “non-destructively”. I don’t really care about keeping what’s on that recovery capsule (it’s a full recovery backup from months ago), as everything existing on my local drive is now going to be backed up to external. So…what happens if I just delete that partition w/ the OS…won’t that recover the space to the main volume (& I just lose what’s there)?

Thanks,

mark4man

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Your only options are to use a third party recovery manager, or to completely wipe all partitions from your hard drive, then format it with the configuration you actually want, then to restore the backup to this new bigger partition. This assumes that the backup software is capable of restoring to the larger partition, and that you have managed to correctly format the hard drive to make it bootable

lots of opportunities to go wrong here

StuartR

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When I said non-destructive, I was talking about the OS partition. The only way to change partitions without destroying anything is with a 3rd party program.

But, if your “plan” is to backup, wipeout, restore the OS, then… what Stuart said! Good luck!

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No…I’ll go third party, as advised.

I may be dangerous…but I’m not foolish.

Thanks guys,

mark4man

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