Partitioning a HD
 

Hi Guys;
this is my first time in a forum, so excuse any mistakes I make. I tried partitioning a HD for back up data purposes,on my HP Pavilion 540n,with the OS already installed (I'm running XP Home) and I followed the instructions on the tutorial,I got to Disk Management,click on it,I see 2 partitions: 1) HP RECOVERY(4.30GB) 2) HP-PAVILION C: (32.70GB) I right click on the C: partition because that's the one I'm supposed to partition but the only options I get are OPEN,EXPLORE,CHANGE DRIVE LETTERS AND PATHS, PROPERTIES AND HELP while FORMAT,MARK PARTITION AS ACTIVE AND DELETE PARTITION show as inactive, so I don't know where to go from there, I thought it was because I am supposed to reinstall the OS, but I tried that an my laptop using the restored CDs and it wouldn't give me the option to enter any values for a partition or ask if I wanted to create any logical drives, it automatically did it all. can somebody help me understand why or what is it that I am doing wrong? Thank you.

Use Knoppix
 

Here's how i Partitioned my HD's:
1. Obtain a copy of KNOPPIX (A Linux Live CD) [Download and burn it to CD, or buy it]
2. Boot the Disc
3. Run a program called "qtparted"
This program should have the ability to resize a windows (NTFS) partition
4. Click on /dev/hda1 in the side bar
5. Right click on the partition you want to modify and select the option you want (resize is a good idea here)

WARNING: Back up anything important on your HD before you do this

6. When this is done reboot into windows and run "chkdsk"

Also you can delete the HP Recovery Partition, it only really has the manufacturer's junk which can help restore the system (but to me it is a pain and a waste of space)
If this fails then tell me and i'll tell u a more techy way:)

If you do partition the drive and back up your data to it. You still stand a good chance of losing the data if the drive goes down the gurgler. It is expensive to recover data from a drive.

I suggest you rethink how you want to back up data. Either backup to a cdr or dvd is the better option...

I am with wombat on this ...use a cd or dvd for back-ups...

The whole purpose behind backing up your data is in the case of a disc failure or crash....if you have that data backed up to the same disc and it fails ...well what good is it then!

backing up to a removeable drive is ok so long as you don't keep it attached and operational at all times.