Backup and Restore System Configuration Question
If one has various USB devices, (e.g., camera card reader, iPod, GPS, external disk drives); as well as removable hard drives; what are the system configuration requirements for both backup and restore to work properly, and to be compatible? i.e., do all of these things need to be plugged in and running, everything in the exact same position and same order, for both backup and restore?
Thank you very much for your thoughts,
~~zapatero
Thank you for your reply, Scott. I think that I understand, and that does help me to narrow my focus. But which leads me to three more detailed questions:
1) Then, may I understand that the presence (or lack thereof) of all of those other USB devices is unimportant; and that it is only the USB external target drive that must be present -- (with , as you say, the same drive number assigned at both the backup and restore times)?
2) Would it make sense to assign that external target drive the letter "Z" in Windows, to keep it out of the way? (I've never done this before, so I don't know whether that assignment is a one-time permanent thing, and stays with the drive; or would it have to be redone each time)?
3) Regarding the removable hard drives; (presuming that the C: drive will necessarily be there during both events), is it important whether or not the other removable drive is installed during both events?
Apologies for being so detailed, but having not been down this road before, the pitfalls of error can be pretty consequential for a new user.
Thank you very much,
~~z
Zapatero,
Yes, choosing Z: as the drive letter is a good way to go.
Whether other disks are connected doesn't matter when you backup your system disk, or when you restore it. Of course, if you have moved some system features to another disk (page file, windows search index, ...) you will need the location of these features to be available for windows.
Thank you for your reply, Pat. Well, I thought I would be smart enough to change the drive letter for that external USB target drive to Z:, but I find that I am unable to determine how to do it. Can you please guide me?
Thank you very much,
~~z
I haven't tested this in the new version but in prior versions, ati liked to see the drive on the same port.
Got to My computer and open Manage, Open Manage Disks, find your external on the list, highlight it and right click it and select the option for changing the drive letter assignment.
You can also find this is you look in Help in windows from the Start button.
Thank you for your reply, Pat. Well, I thought I would be smart enough to change the drive letter for that external USB target drive to Z:, but I find that I am unable to determine how to do it. Can you please guide me?
Thank you very much,
~~z
Right On, Scott!! Thank you. I reassigned it to Z and it appears to be working fine.
BTW, yesterday I really did spend quite a bit of time searching for this topic on Desktop -> F1 -> Help/Search, and couldn't find it! Today it is there! (And I wonder why I am paranoid!) Thankfully there are kind people like you around to nurse people like me through all of these things!
~~z
Yes. I should have said instead to google it-- usually much more helpful than windows help for some reason, especially once you learns sites to avoid -- like, lol, yahoo help is almost always wrong, and ehow is a close second.