How big a restore partition

I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the restore
partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?

Thank you.
David

pc nerd <> wrote:

>I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
>reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the restore
>partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?
>
>Thank you.
>David

Just how do you intend to build your restore partition?

Can't I use Vista's ability to expand & shrink the C partition? Then create a
D partition & use Complete PC Backup & Restore to create an image that is
saved to the D partition?

"Manny Weisbord" wrote:

> pc nerd <> wrote:
>
> >I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
> >reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the restore
> >partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?
> >
> >Thank you.
> >David
>
> Just how do you intend to build your restore partition?
>

How big the partition needs to be depends on what you're backing up and how.
A minimal Windows installation will take far less space than one that has a
number of other programs, drivers, etc. installed. Also the program used to
back up the system may compress more or less efficiently than others, or may
add overhead data that expands the size of the backup, and so on.

"pc nerd" <> wrote in message
news:716E2DBF-C36B-45C2-9CC4-...
> I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
> reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the
> restore
> partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?
>
> Thank you.
> David

The plan is to create the partition & save the image to the hard drive right
after I install Vista & before I install any other software.

"Richard G. Harper" wrote:

> How big the partition needs to be depends on what you're backing up and how.
> A minimal Windows installation will take far less space than one that has a
> number of other programs, drivers, etc. installed. Also the program used to
> back up the system may compress more or less efficiently than others, or may
> add overhead data that expands the size of the backup, and so on.
>
> "pc nerd" <> wrote in message
> news:716E2DBF-C36B-45C2-9CC4-...
> > I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
> > reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the
> > restore
> > partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?
> >
> > Thank you.
> > David
>
>

pc nerd <> wrote:

>The plan is to create the partition & save the image to the hard drive right
>after I install Vista & before I install any other software.

What if the drive fails? What good with that image be to you then?

An external USB drive (or a second internal drive) is a better idea.


>"Richard G. Harper" wrote:
>
>> How big the partition needs to be depends on what you're backing up and how.
>> A minimal Windows installation will take far less space than one that has a
>> number of other programs, drivers, etc. installed. Also the program used to
>> back up the system may compress more or less efficiently than others, or may
>> add overhead data that expands the size of the backup, and so on.
>>
>> "pc nerd" <> wrote in message
>> news:716E2DBF-C36B-45C2-9CC4-...
>> > I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
>> > reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the
>> > restore
>> > partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?
>> >
>> > Thank you.
>> > David
>>
>>

I would suggest you look at imaging/ghosting programs to do that - an
to an external disk drive. Here are some ideas of what you can do
'Ghosting approaches - summary because of popular demand « How-To Gee
Forums
(http://www.howtogeek.com/forum/topic...and?replies=46

--
whs

On Sat, 18 Jul 2009 12:24:01 -0700, pc nerd
<> wrote:

> I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
> reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the restore
> partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?



Please clarify exactly what you mean by a "restore partition" and how
you plan on using it.

If you mean a partition that serves as a backup of your system, I urge
you to reconsider that plan. It's a very poor thing to do--the weakest
form of backup there is. It leaves you susceptible to simultaneous
loss of the original and backup to many of the most common dangers:
severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus attacks, even
theft of the computer.

I recommend that you use an external drive for backup, not a partition
on your only drive. Read this article I recently wrote on backup:
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=314



--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

What he plans to do is no different than that which "most" manufacturers do
at the present.

In other words - not much!

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience


"Manny Weisbord" <> wrote in message
news:...
> pc nerd <> wrote:
>
>>The plan is to create the partition & save the image to the hard drive
>>right
>>after I install Vista & before I install any other software.
>
> What if the drive fails? What good with that image be to you then?
>
> An external USB drive (or a second internal drive) is a better idea.
>
>
>>"Richard G. Harper" wrote:
>>
>>> How big the partition needs to be depends on what you're backing up and
>>> how.
>>> A minimal Windows installation will take far less space than one that
>>> has a
>>> number of other programs, drivers, etc. installed. Also the program
>>> used to
>>> back up the system may compress more or less efficiently than others, or
>>> may
>>> add overhead data that expands the size of the backup, and so on.
>>>
>>> "pc nerd" <> wrote in message
>>> news:716E2DBF-C36B-45C2-9CC4-...
>>> > I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I
>>> > can
>>> > reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the
>>> > restore
>>> > partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?
>>> >
>>> > Thank you.
>>> > David
>>>
>>>

Good idea (convenient) with the caveat that if a HDD problem arises you
might not be able to use the recovery image.

You might consider obtaining an external HDD and putting a recovery image on
it to as well and/or burn a recovery image to DVD-Rs.

Saucy


"pc nerd" <> wrote in message
news:716E2DBF-C36B-45C2-9CC4-...
> I want to build a PC & I want to create a restore partition so that I can
> reinstall Vista anytime that I want to. How many gigabytes should the
> restore
> partition be? Is there a minimum size recommended by Microsoft?
>
> Thank you.
> David