New Win 7 Computers have 4 Partitions

Mary, this doesn't address the Dell partitioning but I have an Acer laptop and it was partitioned similarly.  It had a recovery partition, a "C" partition and a "D" partition and I didn't realize it until I was doing some disk cleanup.  I went in (in Vista) and deleted the "D" partition and  expanded the "C" partiton. 

Jack 

As you said, many people will not know what to do with a D partition, so why would Dell set it up any differently?  By setting up a D partition called Data, many people may assume there is a good reason to start putting their data on a D drive, which in fact there IS a good reason.  If you are storing your data on a D drive and some day have to restore to factory settings (contained on the recovery partition), then you do not lose your files.  This is not a Dell thing ... as the other post indicated it is a practice of Acer, Asus, HP, Dell and most other OEM's.  In today's world, that is considered good practice, so you will see it done that way.  Most instruction manuals explain the reasoning for the partitions.  Though most people don't read them, I suspect the only ones who do are the ones that wouldn't know the reason for the Data partition anyway, and are thus educated.

The best advice is to delete the D partition and extend the C to have full use of the boot drive. Then users can partition a smaller Data partition if they want. IMO, Resetting to Factory Settings is mostly a tool for tech support to repair the damage done by users. It is not very useful to most users. Backing up personal files and having the reinstallation disk is better. Buyers should be given the option to get the disk for a small fee.

My home built PC, with Windows 7 64 bit Professional, has a 1TB hard drive but it is not partitioned.  Everything is on the "C" drive.  However, I make regular full hard drive backups, at least every two weeks and more often if needed, using Acronis True Image (some call this a ghost backup) to a separate hard drive.  Thus if there is a corruption that requires reinstallation or if the drive would fail and have to be replaced I can be back up (hard drive completely restored) to where I was as of the last backup in a little over an hour.  That is a much better way to go.  I also do full hard drive backups of the Acer laptop that I mentioned to a separate hard drive.   

This brings up another fallacy with the Dell "backup" partition or the extra partition noted on the hard drive.  Many users use these to "backup" data, however this is false security; if the hard drive fails and must be replaced the "backup data" is also lost. 

Hi fireberd

Sorry to deviate a bit from the original discussion-

using Acronis True Image (some call this a ghost backup) to a separate hard drive

Is it not correct that Win7 x64 ultimate OS [I am not sure about the Windows 7 64bit Professional] has buit in an Image Back Up facility that would perform the similar back up as you suggested with Acronis True Image? Using an image back up to an external Hd and in a case of computer HD failure put back the imge to the new HD?

I wish to know if there is any difference between the Acronis True Image -gostback up and the Win 7 Ultimate OS built in Image Back up?

Regards

Good point and I completely agree which is why we need to have a reinstall disk for the OS. What I didn't realize (and should have explained) until I took a closer look at my new laptop was that the C boot drive is only 58.5GB! The major portion of the 320GB hard drive is Local Disk D which is empty. Imagine installing all your programs using the default location and you see how the C drive could become full fast. Even Custom installations require some big parts of programs to be on the boot drive. All the Libraries are setup to be on the C drive so all added files are automatically placed there. There is no warning or notice about this. I think this is so the Recovery program can be small and only requires replacing the 58 GB C drive files. It's a shame to spend days setting up a new computer with all your programs and files and realizing the disk should be repartitioned.

Edit: corrected the size of the C partition.

Mary G ... I'm kind of surprised to hear you say that.  While I agree that NOTHING can replace doing a proper backup of personal files, have you every used the Rest to Factory Settings??  10 minutes to restore to new condition while keeping D (Data) files in tact ... I'm not sure it gets any easier to restore the OS than that - this having been done on several computers of different makes.  Regardless, PC's should ALWAYS include the reinstall disks at NO charge.

We've gotten off  topic here. I was referring to the size of the C drive with all the system files and Dell programs. I have to correct my previous post. The C drive on my new computer is only 58 GB. The empty D partition is 228 GB. See the problem? All the User files and programs are on the tiny C drive.

Regarding the backups--If the hard drive fails or is replaced, the Recovery partition is completely useless. A reinstallation disk is a must for the inevitable disk failure. I have never needed to return to the factory image on any of my computers.

If you are referring to the "Windows Backup and Restore Center",  it does not have the comprehensive backup facilities that Acronis does.  It will back up selected files but from what I see it will not do a full "ghost" type backup.   From one site I found doing a google search, the comment about the Windows backup "None of this is to say that Windows' baked-in backup center is a substitute for a smart, powerful backup utility"

See This

Windows Backup on Window 7 X64, can make an image backup - read the documentation which explains all.

Hi

You are correct MSGALE. I can find Image copy in my Win 7 x64 Ultimate edition.

Windows Backup on Window 7 X64, can make an image backup - read the documentation which explains all.

However it appears fireberd has not fully comprehended my question or it may be that the Win 7 Professional has no Image Copy back up [ghost backup] built into that version of the OS?

Acronis has other xtra facilities that much I do understand. However what I ment was the Image Backup that is part of the Win 7 x64 Ultimate OS's will do exactly what Acronis's Ghost Backup restore if HD on the computer fail.

Regards

For fireberd

I was wondering--for future use--how did you do that? Delete the "D" partition and expand the "C" partition. Thanks

The "D" partition I had was empty and had never been used.  If I remember correctly I used the "extend volume" and "extended" to include what was the D partition.

In Vista and Windows 7 go to Control Panel/System and Security and then under "Administrative Tools" click on "Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions" to get to the "Disk Management" Panel. 

While I think that relative sizes can be debated, I'm actually a fan of Dell splitting the partitions like this.  I agree that Dell should do more to encourage people to put their data on D (perhaps create some preinstalled shortcuts or define the win7 document and media libraries to default there).  While a clean install or factory restore will still wipe all installed programs, it will then leave data intact. 

For my own purposes, I only gave my C partition 70GB out of 750.  I currently have 36GB free for my OS and programs.  While there are certainly exceptions, I think the norm is for the OS and installed programs to take up significantly less real estate than data.

Dell Servers used to offer (likely still do?) a choice about how the drive was partitioned.  Perhaps Dell could start doing the same for their other products.

"If you are referring to the "Windows Backup and Restore Center",  it does not have the comprehensive backup facilities that Acronis does.  It will back up selected files but from what I see it will not do a full "ghost" type backup."

Fireberd see this    All Programs>Maintenance>Backup and Restore, once it opens there is a "Create a System Image" on the left side.

I used this in Vista Business and ran into a problem, I made a C image of my drive, then I shrunk the C partition, later I needed to restore my C image, it failed because the partition size was smaller, there was plenty of room for the data contained in the image, but it saw a smaller partition size and refused to reimage the C partition, not sure if this is fixed in W7. You are correct, this built in image software is not near as flexible as Acronis.

I do think keeping important data/backups on the D partition is a bad Idea, what if the hard drive fails?

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