Re: Need specific BootCamp/Vista advice please

In article <1180700762.772977.11990@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
ric <publicmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I need to create smaller compressed backup files for the 150GB internal
hard drive of my Intel-based MacBook Pro.

OK.

My present compressed backup file is 23 GBs, should be 8 GBs.

"should be"?

Yes, present compressed backup is too large because the compression
utility has to handle random un-wiped data in free space areas.

If that random data in free space were wiped to all hex zeroes, the 23GB
compressed file size could be reduced to near 8GB.



what type of backup?

A raw sector-by-sector copy of everything needed to reconstruct the
entire internal drive from scratch.


a ghost image?

No, Ghost was not used.



did you backup the whole partition

Entire internal drive, which includes two partitions. Only thing _not_
backed up was the "free space" in the OSX partition.


did you clone to another disk?

Yes, a 100 GB external hard drive.


did you create a disk image?

No.



it's very hard to follow your train of thought

Sorry about that. I am trying to create a smaller compressed backup.



how big's your partition that windows is using?
50GB?

Yes.



how much of that is in use by windows currently?

10 GBs.



My 100 GB Mac partition used files can be jammed to
one end of the Mac partition, where I can grab the
resulting 10 GB of files, back them up, and ignore the
remaining 90 GBs of free space in the Mac partition.

...as you can on windows. moving on...

Not so fast please. Windows creates "unmovable" system files which
can't by moved to one end of the Windows partition, therefore the entire
50GB Vista partition has to be backed up to insure capturing these Vista
system files.



now, correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't killdisk a tool
for securely wiping hard disks?

Yes, however it will also wipe free space with hex zeroes, without
deleting any legitimate Vista files.


it won't help you in the slightest

Yes it will, same as TechTool does on the Mac partition.



if it was the case (which it isn't) that windows randomly
filled partitions up with noise, then killdisk would not
allow you remove that noise.

The creators of KillDisk disagree with you, they specifically claim that
their utility can remove all traces of old deleted files from a Vista
partition, over-writing such files with hex zeroes, without harming
legitimate Vista files. Check their website.



turn on the firewall, get downloading. nothing to it and no
risk if you don't visit dodgy sites.

THAT is what I wanted to hear, thanks for the encouragement.

I know very little about Vista, so did not know what I was getting into.


Will still have to pay a PC shop to use their broadband connection,
because all I have here is slow dialup.

After I download those huge files, I will have no use whatever for using
Vista on the Internet, which is fine for me.



About Ghost -
*************
Ghost 12.0 for Vista, as it comes, will not even work for creating
bootable whole partition backups like earlier versions of Ghost did for
XP Pro.

....UNLESS one jumps through a bunch of hoops, downloading huge files
from the Symantec servers, then creating your own bootable DVD to allow
Ghost to back up and restore the entire Vista partition.

If I can get Ghost to work with Vista, I will use it for ordinary
backups and restores.

I will reserve my more robust sector-by-sector backups for really
massive failures of Vista.


BTW, thanks for taking the time and trouble to respond to the subject of
this thread, I appreciate it.

Mark-
.

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