I have 99% set up my new ASUS Zenbook laptop the way I like it and I decided to run a 'Full' Macrium Reflect image backup. Macrium Reflect finds 6 partitions.
I know I need to include partition 3 (C: drive) in 'Full' images, but what about the other partitions?
In particular Partition 5 'Restore' is 21.50GB with 15.05GB 'Used'. It would be nice to not have to include partition 5 since it would significantly reduce the image size.
At the moment the Restore partition is 'New' (6 weeks since I set up the device for the first time) and I would expect it to be 100% okay. I believe it does not change but I'm not sure if corruption can occur and I would not want to include a corrupted partition in a future Full backup.
What partitions do others think should be included in Full images?
I've always imaged the entire SSD including all partitions. I want my image to be complete. My image must be everything with nothing left out.
I use Macrium Reflect X and I alternate saving my images to two 4TB Samsung Portable T9 SSD drives. I image every night and keep the last 30 days of images.
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If you do not include all partitions each time yet you want to be able to restore the whole disk then you will have to
- keep notes about which partitions are in which image, and
- keep enough of your old images to be able to make up a complete set of partitions.
Mine looked like that pic you have once and it was because I reinstalled without wiping the drive. Back it all up and then figure out which partitions you need. I whittled mine down to just TWO. The OS and the small boot partition at the front of the drive but I cannot tell just looking at yours which ones are not needed. It took me a while deleting one at a time and I was nervous each time but I got it done without screwing anything up. I like knowing what things are.
Once you have a good backup (or two) you wont need the restore partition unless you think you might want to put it back to how it was the day you bought it but that's what THIS image will do so keep it safe.
In particular Partition 5 'Restore' is 21.50GB with 15.05GB 'Used'. It would be nice to not have to include partition 5 since it would significantly reduce the image size.
You'll have to check but I think that partition contains the PC maker's restore-to-factory image.
That image is dated.
Personally, I believe that
- downloading current versions of the PC maker's software & drivers, and
- downloading the current Windows ISO file & making an installation USB from it
will be much more useful in the future as an additional toolset for recovering your computer.
I've always imaged the entire SSD including all partitions... I alternate saving my images to two 4TB Samsung Portable T9 SSD drives. I image every night and keep the last 30 days of images.
sounds like a good plan for those who need to do it every day. If something goes wrong with one of the portables, the alternate day images are on the other one
I always backup all partitions on my system drive. Some backup applications don't select them all by default, leaving the user to select them manually, if desired.
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I agree. Because I am using Macrium I don't need it but to delete partition 5 'RESTORE' will leave 21.5GB unallocated space in-between partitions 4 and 6. It will reduce my 'Full' image size but the small amount of space 21.5GB will be of little use compared with the 950GB Free space on C: drive.
Maybe after the device is out of warranty I'll think about doing it.
