Creating iso image from hd

[FunkyChicken]

Hi guys

I have a sharp MM10 laptop, those of you who have seen this machine will know that it does not have a cd drive. To restore winXP there is an invisible partition on the small 15Gb hard drive.

What i want to do is to copy this invisible partition to a cd/dvd so that if i ever have a hd failure i can just replace the hd and copy the restore image back across.

What would be the best way to do this?

As i do not have an external cd drive the only way to copy the data would be to create an image of the partition, then on a networked computer copy the image to cd.

Are there any easier ways to do this?

First of all how to i find the invisible partition?
Then how to i create a copy of this partition

Once i have copied the iso to cd it should be ready for the future.

If the worst comes to the worst and i ever need to use the backed up partition how would i go about re-installing to the hard drive? As the laptop does not have a cd-drive would i be able to copy it back accross over the network.

One idea i do have is that when not in use the laptop sits in a cradle and acts as an external hard drive connected by usb. Even when connected the invisible partition does not show on the host computer. Could i copy it back across when its acting as an external hd?

Argghhhhh......... Ive had enough of thinking!!!

Ive totally run out of ideas so could some of you guys help me please.

Thanks in advance

P.s. If the only option is to buy an external usb cdrw then i better start saving now (poor student)

[Nimby]

you'd prolly be best off doing a ghost of the drive, or othwise using a partion imaging program ...

if it's a 15GB partition, it's NOT going to fit on one CD, or even one DVD ... be prepaired to use a LARGE amount of cd's, or 3-4 DVD's for this.

[EvilMoFo]

google g4u, it might work in this case
good luck with replacing the hd, i have not seen one place that carried them

i take it you just got it ? when they first came out, like the mm20 has now, there was a free usb dvd/cdrw drive

when i got mine, i didnt see the xp boot screen, i had a freebsd disk ready to go in that drive (i think i would have had a heartattack or the like if i saw the xp boot screen on a machine i owned) so i cant aid you, didnt you get the restore disks ? (i am sure i could help with those ;))

btw, atm its got win2k, fuckin .net programing class, i miss *bsd ... here is a pic of mine :)

[highwizard]

Why the whole HD and not just Key files/directories?

Whenever I backup, I figure to myself "What is important enough to me that if there was a drive failure I would want to keep".

The reason I would shy away from the ghosting of the drive is for the reason above. When you are copying individual directories it really makes you think of what on the computer is important enough to you.

[FunkyChicken]

the whole hard disk size is 15GB

C: = 7.2GB = Windows and progs ect..
D: = 4.8 = Important docs
Invisible = ~3GB = WinXP restore partition

the partition with the xp restore area on is about 3GB in size so i guess a dvd will have to be used.

EvilMoFo - How many cds are there? Have you got irc? would you be a star and p2p the iso's to me?or are you on dial up? do you know how i can locate the invisible partition?

P.s. When i first got this laptop i bust the hd with the magnet on the bottom of my omni antenna, i only had it 2 days so took it back and they swapped the whole machine. If it happens again i doubt i would be able to take it back so i need to backup the restore partition

[FunkyChicken]

P.s. Is it true the hds are 1.8inches? 15GB doesnt feel so bad if it true

[Nimby]

the reason I suggested ghost was because of the impression I got from the original post ... it sounded liek the guy wants to backup the "restore" partition, and be able to slap that back on the system ... problem is, most of the time, unless you have the WHOLE partition, the restore won't work ...

so, my suggestion was to ghost that 15GB parition, and save it that way ...


the backup of just key files makes sense to me ... I do the same :)

[skroo]

Why the whole HD and not just Key files/directories?

Whenever I backup, I figure to myself "What is important enough to me that if there was a drive failure I would want to keep".

Yep... Not to mention that if you have a crash that's serious enough to have you at the point where you need to do a major recovery, chances are that a fresh install of the OS might not be a bad idea. I really don't care about saving the installed OS binaries and libraries because, well, they can be reinstalled - and (particularly on Windows systems) there's a good chance that any crash may have been caused by malware (viruses, trojans, spyware, etc.) embedded on the machine that you don't know about. Better to start anew and recover the work that you can't conveniently reproduce (i.e., your own) than worry about the stuff that can be reinstalled from CD.

[highwizard]

the whole hard disk size is 15GB

C: = 7.2GB = Windows and progs ect..
D: = 4.8 = Important docs
Invisible = ~3GB = WinXP restore partition

When you say 4.8 = Important Docs, is that MB or GB's?

I'm curious as to what you have in the important Docs that takes up that space. I mean, your porn collection is replaceable.

[FunkyChicken]

= I mean, your porn collection is replaceable.

Let me stress that porn collections are not expendable!! Retro porn is slowly disappearing from the face of this earth.

More to the point - 4.8 GB docs (also means holiday photos, and other bits of junk)

You guys have missed the point - i need to backup just the invisible partition which is about 3GB, this partition consists of just the windows restore information.

When i bought the laptop it did not come with a winXP restore cd as there is no cd drive to restore from, instead they put the restore "cd" directly onto the hd on its own partition. Sorry if i didnt make it more clear earlier.

I want to back up this restore partition incase of hd failure, if hd fails i wont have an os to install

[EvilMoFo]

How many cds are there? Have you got irc? would you be a star and p2p the iso's to me?or are you on dial up? do you know how i can locate the invisible partition?
...
Is it true the hds are 1.8inches? 15GB doesnt feel so bad if it true

2, i think
yes, EvilMoFo on efnet (im in the dc forums chan too...)
once i find the dam things, ill look this weekend...
1.5/768 speakeasy line :)
you try partition magic ? is it in disk management ?

the hd is the size of a pcmcia card... heres a couple pics of the inside: 1 2 3 4

[FunkyChicken]

cheers for those pics. How the hell did you manage to get the courage to open the laptop? i love the little thing and wouldn't want to risk breaking it, probably because im a little heavy handed. The wifi card..

does it look like a standard mini pci?
do you reckon i could upgrade it to 802.11g with ease? what about a/b/g or is the internal antenna not compatible with a?

do you have an external cd drive for it? what exact model do you have and does it boot from it? ive read somewhere that you need a specific external cd for it to boot from.

did your cd drive come with the laptop?

p.s. Are you running Linux? what version? how did you go about installling it?

cheers

[geekgurl]

Mini PCI WiFi Cards

Not all laptops can use a 802.11g mini pci WiFi card, the bios won't support it updated or not. You're best going with a pcmcia g card if you want to go g.

[EvilMoFo]

How the hell did you manage to get the courage to open the laptop?

does it look like a standard mini pci?
do you reckon i could upgrade it to 802.11g with ease? what about a/b/g or is the internal antenna not compatible with a?

do you have an external cd drive for it? what exact model do you have and does it boot from it? ive read somewhere that you need a specific external cd for it to boot from.

did your cd drive come with the laptop?

p.s. Are you running Linux? what version? how did you go about installling it?

the fucker wasnt working, after i put it back together it went to the service center...

yes, looks like it
maybe, dunno
prob only 2.4

yes
lsc-24081mx, laptop liteon dvd/cdrw in a case... boots very well
i doubt that, the bios lets you boot to usb drives with ease, i have a samsung usb floppy and it boots off that too...

yes, i got it direct from sharp (link)

ahem...

btw, atm its got win2k, fuckin .net programing class, i miss *bsd

i dont like linux, i used freebsd for a long time tho... it was installed via cd...

when i got mine, i didnt see the xp boot screen, i had a freebsd disk ready to go in that drive (i think i would have had a heartattack or the like if i saw the xp boot screen on a machine i owned)

btw, in xfree86 (dunno bout xorg) it takes a nice little option to get it working: Options "UseBIOS" "off"