I need to back up my entire Windows partition. Sounds complicated. I hope it isn't...

Hey!
I'm going to try to back up my entire Windows partition, and I've had an idea so that I don't have to reinstall those annoying things which take ages to install, like The Sims 2, or Office 2007 and encarta - back up the Registry!!! I need to partition because I only have 32 gigabytes on my Windows partition, and I can't safely resize it, even with iPartition, so I have got my dad's 160 GB hard drive and am backing up everything, including my registry, as I type. I have done a lot of destructive partitioning ever since I got my iMac, and I was hoping to lead an easy life of non-destructive partitioning (Peace out, man! Stop the destruction!), but alas, I need to, and I have standard grades and Int-2s so I can't afford to have much down-time. Please help, because when I get home from school I'm gonna poartition my hard drive unless someone tells me it doesn't work. Then, I'll try it anyway, but without any conviction that it'll work.
Thanks,
Mr Blue Sky

If it doesn't work:

Disk Utility, click on the bootcamp partition, and then make an image of it... Not sure if it restores to a different sized partition though...

I'll check that out.
*worries* *worries*

Applying a full registry backup to a new Windows installation - if that's what you're intending - will end in tears. Just reinstall! ;-)

Interesting, thanks. Anyway, I have a lot of homework (It being standard grade start-of-term-time) so I might not be able to do this until the weekend. The registry is only a backup plan, in case all else fails. Oh, and I have all the files that go with the stuff in my registry fully backed up, too.

Wish me luck!

Mr Blue Sky

It is fixed.

knightlie said:

Applying a full registry backup to a new Windows installation - if that's what you're intending - will end in tears. Just reinstall! ;-)

Click to expand...

You were right. So, I went into my backed up registry using notepad (What would I do without it?) and extracted the values I needed. That worked. So, kids, If you want to back up ard to install programs like the sims 2, You need to back up the relevant registry values as well as the program files you need. Thanks for helping, and to anyone with the same problem, good luck!



Mr Blue sky

easiest way:
norton ghost: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost12

to be sure you don't lost any documents saved in desktop, my documents, browser bookmarks and mail make a copy of all files in C : \Documents and Settings\xxx - where xxx is your user name.