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Question

basic backup

Jul 28, 2016 9:49AM PDT

Am using Windows 7 now. I have a disk partitioned into C and E drives. Just did backup to external drive.

1. Can I be certain that all data from both drives was backed up?
2. Why is the size of the backup on my extrenal disk around 50 GB when the combined total of both E plus C is around 80 GB?

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
1. By restoring and testing.
Jul 28, 2016 10:21AM PDT

A cheap test is to slip in a blank drive and see if you can restore. If you can't restore, the backup is no good.

2. You can't tell since any good backup will only backup used disk space and might compress along the way.

Post was last edited on July 28, 2016 11:00 AM PDT

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Thanks
Jul 28, 2016 12:06PM PDT

OK, I think that worked. That backup was ahead of the Windows 10 upgrade. I don't have the required 20 GB on the C: drive but the partitioned E: drive has 44 GB available. Can I somehow get the Windows 10 upgrade to run off E: ?

(I'm stuck on trying to free up space on C: as it seems I mostly have program files there, nothing easily movable)

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Win 10 on the other drive. Can cost you.
Jul 28, 2016 12:16PM PDT

That's dual boot and would require another W10 license. But maybe I misread the question.

I have this 32GB SSD TABLET and for that the W10 is complicated. I had to use Microsoft's Media Creation Kit and run the upgrade from the USB stick.

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m
Jul 28, 2016 12:39PM PDT

OK. I just have a space problem on C: and am thinking of solutions. Over 15 GB taken up by winsxs for example.

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Sounds like you should use the Media Creation Kit.
Jul 28, 2016 12:56PM PDT

Then create that W10 USB stick then run the upgrade from that.

I successfully upgraded an Asus T100 Terminator (nope, just a Tablet) that had a 32GB drive.

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?
Jul 28, 2016 1:23PM PDT

"Then create that W10 USB stick then run the upgrade from that."

How? Assuming it'll work the same for my external hard drive, do i just drag and drop the W10 Upgrade Assistant into that?

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Twice I wrote how.
Jul 28, 2016 1:27PM PDT

That's 2 times I mentioned Microsoft's Media Creation Kit. I'm unsure how much clearer I can be here. I know it's challenging but if this can't be used, you need to get your tech support on site before the free upgrade day is over.

So again.

1. Use the Media Creation Kit. (see google!)
2. Then run the setup that you find on that USB stick.

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Sorry to have missed the headline.
Jul 28, 2016 9:25PM PDT

Sorry to have missed the headline. You've been exceptionally helpful over the years but please don't bite the novices such as myself. By the same token, I might be able to help you out with advanced Morris-dancing skills, and it would be just mean of me to get impatient with you for not turning wearing the right bells. All over the internet, the info is only in the headline, not in the message, many people miss it. I love you, man.

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Didn't mean to bite.
Jul 29, 2016 8:09AM PDT

Maybe three times is the charm? Anyhow I see you got some space moved around and while a 100GB C is tight it does work. Owners of such learn to dance.

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Winsxs
Jul 28, 2016 1:36PM PDT

Run a pass of disk cleanup.
See what it can do with that folder and other misc clutter.

Grab a copy of partition wizard free.
See what it can do with shrinking E and expanding C.

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the partition - of course!
Jul 28, 2016 9:32PM PDT

Of course the quickest fix will be to expand C! Great idea. Downloading partition wizard now.

Disk cleanup was my first action and it didnt help. I deleted Samsung Manual and tried to delete pagefile.sys (at 3.7 GB) but failed.

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Partition
Jul 28, 2016 10:35PM PDT

After you get this sorted you might want to rethink your partition scheme or get a bigger hdd.

Running windows with a limited amount of free space does not help it's speed.

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Solved
Jul 28, 2016 11:03PM PDT

Done. I moved about 20 GB from E to C which wasn't straightforward and appeared to be failing at first (something about the space in E not being not being adjacent to C) but with a little Googling I found a solution.

So I now have enough space to install Microsoft's privacy-invasion software known as Windows 10!

Thanks for the advice about getting more space. I have a circa 100GB SSD which I thought would be enough. E is nearly full at 24 GB and C at about 70 GM only has about 25 GB free. I think efficiency is the problem, as I don't store any video, audio or games here. Spacesniffer shows loads Windows-related files which I would hand to a pro to delete.Or maybe I have some viruses that AVG hasn't noticed.

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100GB ssd
Jul 29, 2016 1:44AM PDT

I think your going to be in a constant fight for free space.

Give some thought to replacing that small ssd with something larger.
Watch the sales..... a short time ago I picked up a 480GB unit for 94 bucks.

In the mean time grab a copy of ccleaner....see what it will toss out.

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ok 100 GB isn't big
Jul 29, 2016 2:30AM PDT

480GB SSD unit for 94 bucks.really is a bargain. At my local store I was just offered an external 1TB old-fangled Hard Drive for $75 which I think would be half that online.

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Size versus read/write speed
Jul 29, 2016 2:58AM PDT

A standard mechanical drive will be pitifully slow when compared to an SSD. I'd say the 1TB mechanical drive would be better used for offloading data and a smaller SSD better for the OS. Read some reviews on SSD technology. Find out about NAND technology and the various controllers. I'd probably stick with a good brand SSD. That 480GB might be an older technology as newer SSDs seem to be coming in different capacity increments divisible by 50 instead of 40. I don't know what this means. 94 bucks look good for that size but don't think bigger is always better. In any event, take a look at how much space you currently have used on your OS drive. My own rule of thumb is to double rather triple, quadruple or even more. A good 250GB drive might run close in price to that 480 but may be newer technology and sturdier as far as write cycles go.