Why did I get 18 file folders when I did my backup

The reason for that is that your external drive is configured as FAT32. In the past many drives were set up that way. This was necessary in the days of Win95, 98 and Me etc. Seagate seems to be shipping as NTFS currently.

If you want to change it one option would be to format the drive and set it up as NTFS but in doing that you will lose any data that's on it.

Thanks for the reply.

I am using XP Media Edition.

So the question is: What will I see the next time I check my external hard drive after I have done an incremental backup?

If my computer were to crash and I had to reload the information, how would I do that?

John

If the size of the incremental is larger than 4Gb it will also be split automatically.

If you had to restore you only need to point the restore process to the first of the files in the group. True Image will know that they are all connected.

But if that's the only thing on your external at the moment, why not reformat it to NTFS, re-do the backup and you will have just the one file.

I have probably 10,000 photos on the hard drive in addition to some extremely valuable Word documents. I cannot live with the thought of loosing all of that information which has taken me several years to accumulate.

Finally, I am a computer novice and I doubt that I could save the above mentioned data and then actually perform the reformat process. Maybe it is easier than I think.

I assume I would have to reload all my software which I could probably handle but it would be a big pain.

Am I making too much of this or is there a simple way to save the information and then do the reformat>

John

One function you can try is to convert the drive to NTFS without data destruction. I would still do a backup of the data though if I was doing this. We have converted many (hundreds) of drives this way with only one having data loss in the past that I can think of.

To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt
1.Open Command Prompt. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2.In the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs
For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format. You can convert FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS with this command.

Important Once you convert a drive or partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT or FAT32. You will need to reformat the drive or partition which will erase all data, including programs and personal files, on the partition.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb456984.aspx

My advice might be a little different.

Before you attempt any type modification or change in your external drive note the prior suggestion by Mem. Don't do any changes until you have a backup of your photos and if you perform a conver before protecting yourself, they your backup on the external is at risk.

Don't wait even an hour, if you still have the room on your external drive, use Windows copy to copy your photos to the external so you have duplicate copies. I realize you have made Acronis backups but you have not proved will perform as you expect and this is not necessarily the fault of TrueImage. A free program such as Karen's Replicator can do this copy function very nicely.

Also, rob your piggy bank or dig some change out of the couch and go buy another external drive. The prices are very reasonable. Also read the two comments under my signature item for item 7G. You need to save have your important photos on yet another spare drive using several methods. Can't you just imagine your grief if you could not recover your photos! Make your copies now while your hard drive is still functional.

After you get your photos copied to your spare drive and have checked that you can see and copy them; then use True Image again and make a new backup to your newly purchased spare external. Then and only then should you attempt any changes to your old external drive. Once you have your photos copied on a new external drive, then you can convert the old drive. At that point, the contents of the old external can be converted but a better method would be to simply a reformat of the external to the NTFS rather than convert. The convert would still leave you with all the small files but a new backup to an NTFS drive would be all one file.

I would also urge that you click on my signature below and read all the items listed under #12. I am always saddened by reports of lost or damaged photo files due to a non-functional backup or users not having taken proper precautions to have duplicate or triplicate file copies of their important photos. The responsibility lies with you to take any precautions necessary so you have proved that your photos are protected.

If one really had to you can go backwards and move computer photos back to a set of storage cards in your camera

Looks like there is now a move to having external drives NTFS formated off the shelf

The latest run of external USB drives from WD (OCT-2009**) were not FAT-32 but NTFS: before this all were FAT32. You really need to re-format-partition and check the drive using some check program before using as a backup storage device.

I have decided to convert my external drive (Drive K) to ntfs format.

I followed the instructions and hit "enter".

the following message appeared:

"Type of file system is FAT 32.
Enter current volume label for drive K:

I have no idea what it wants me to enter. I have tried several things and each has been incorrect and it kicks me out.

If I cannot find out what to enter at the prompt, how do I reformat my drive?

Thanks for the help,

John

The label of the partition is the name give to it. This should show up when you look at the drive in Explorer, for example. In Explorer, if you right-click on the drive and select Properties, you can also see the label (in the box at the top).

If the partition isn't labeled (named), you may need to create one before the conversion program will work. Asking for the label is just a security measure to make sure you really want to proceed.

I successfully converted my external hard drive to NFFS format.

Once I learned how to do it, it was a snap.

I then backed up my C drive onto the External hard drive and that also went without problems.

Thanks for the help.

John