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Repartitioning Strategy

I want to repartition my hard drive. Do I really need back up my disk first?

You don't need to, but it is strongly recommended that you do. Backing up today is a lot easier and cheaper than it used to be. Besides, if you don't have a backup, you may have a real problem if something goes wrong in the repartitioning.

It used to be that a backup was mandatory before you started messing with your disk partitions. There were too many chances of error and potential problems. (For example you could render 8 gigabytes of a 12-gigabyte disk unusable by trying to turn it into a single, big Linux partition using the wrong version of Windows.)

Modern partitioning software like Acronis Disk Director Suite is much more reliable. You don't have to be a computer expert to use it and built-in wizards provide the knowledge and guidance to ensure results. That said, there are still outside circumstances, such as a power surge from a nearby thunderstorm, that can mess up a repartitioning.

It also used to be that backing up your system was expensive. To do it effectively you needed a tape drive and a number of tapes. Since those tapes sold for $20 or more and a tape drive was more than $100, this cost a lot of money. And since the $20 tapes and accompanying software were slow, you could tie your system up for several hours doing a full backup. But disk-to-disk backups are a lot less expensive today, and disk imaging has become the backup strategy of choice for many corporate and individual users. Disk imaging is faster and more reliable than file-based backups.

With products like Acronis True Image, backing up is fast, simple, inexpensive and painless. Most computers today come with at least a CD-R drive. If you don't have a CD-R drive, you can add one to your system for $30 or less. Even CD-R media, which can only be used once, is less than 50 center each — much less if you buy in quantity. Better yet, because Acronis True Image can backup a live system, you can run your backup in the background while you're still using the system.

As a result there's no reason to be hesitant about making a complete backup before you start

Modern disk management software, such as Acronis Disk Director Suite, is much more reliable and, perhaps more importantly, much easier to use and less mistake prone than software from just a few years ago. The software can be run in either a manual or automated mode, so that the user is completely insulated from the technology.