Creation of a Backup partition (D drive)

[Ck11]

Before performing a system recovery to resolve another problem, my laptop had 3 partitions: C, D and E. Since the restore I now only have C and E and I wold like reinstate the 'D' partition for backup and system image etc. I have ample disc space, but I don't the knowledge to create the partition. Can anyone advise please.

[WAWood]

@Ck11 

Sorry, but there is no simple way to create that yourself -- as that comes preinstalled from the Factory.

The only surefire way to do is it to do a complete factory reset of your PC using HP Recovery Media -- as that erases the ENTIRE drive, recreates all the original partitions, and repopulates them.

HP Recovery Media is a set of DVDs and a CD, or USB stick, that will erase the hard drive (removing all data, settings, and applications, reinstall the original OS, drivers, and some HP Utilities.

In some cases, you may be able to order a USB stick instead of disks. You have to order these from HP; they can not be downloaded.

You can look online for Recovery Media starting with the linked paged: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers

Once there, input your Product name or number. On your Software and Drivers Download page, select your Operating System and and Version. Click "Update".

If HP Recovery Media is available for your machine, down near the bottom of the page, you will see an entry for Order Recovery Media-CD/DVD/USB. Click the "+" symbol to expand that entry and click on Order Media for details.

Or, if you prefer, you can do the same by contacting HP Customer Service:

If you live in the US or Canada, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/phone-assist.html#section1

If you live elsewhere, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html

NOTE: After you get through, stay on the line until you are finally able to talk to some one -- it can take a while!

If you have trouble finding a phone number, then try: 1 (650) 857-1501.

If HP no longer provides Recovery Media for your model, another site you can check is: http://www.computersurgeons.com

When you get the media, if it is a USB stick, insert it into your PC, pressing F9 to get a Boot menu, then select the External USB Hard Drive to boot from it.

[Ck11]

Hello WaWood,

 Many thanks for your swift reply,

As I have just completed a restore of my laptop I wont be going back through that again, unless I have to,

In terms of storing backups I would appreciate your opinion on what would be a reasonable solution. Currently I am using and SD card, which is OK as a short term solution but I cant store system images on it etc. As I see it, I have two other possible options:

• Use my Netgear NAS which is connected to my laptop via Ethernet; or
• Purchase an external USB connected drive.

I would appreciate your opinion.

kind regards,

CK11

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@Ck11 

I would recommend the use of an external USB drive -- as 1TB drives are now fairly cheap and you can store lots of system images on a single drive.

Good Luck