Backup partition?

On my Packard Bell pc, the hard drive has a partition named 'Backup' just before the main C partition.
I can only see it using the Disk manager.

It's 1.9 Gb FAT32 40% free.

Any idea what it's for or how I might use it?

 

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Hmmm.....760 megs seems an awful lot like something about the size of a CD.... Since you're using a Packard Bell, I'm guessing what's on the backup partition is either a windows installer, or ghost image of a default windows installation + a bunch of Packard Bell bloatware.
If you don't have your own legit CD copy of Windows XP, you don't need to mess with it at all. You will probably need this partiton in the future if you ever run into problems with your system, and need to clean install.

.......of course, assuming you DO have your own legit copy.....


Does disk manager say this hidden partition is the "primary" partition?
If so, fiddling with it may not be a good idea if you don't want to hose your current windows installation. If I remember correctly, Windows doesn't like changes made to the primary, and (assuming you are actually successful in altering it) will make windows unbootable.
If it's not primary, then It should be relatively easy to delete that partition using disk manager (it will turn it into raw unformatted space) then create a new partiton using the raw space........but I'm not really sure what you could do with a measly little 2 gigs of extra storage.

You could also try downloading tweakUI (power toy from Microsoft) which *might* give you the ability to unhide it.
http://download.microsoft.com/downl...a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

Lastly, below is what I would do if I were in your shoes....
If you don't care about your current windows installation at all, and are simply annoyed by the fact that you don't have total control over the way your disk space is allocated, you can boot using the Windows XP CD, delete all existing partitions into raw space, and repartiton the way you want it.

 

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Except that that is the amount free and not the amount used.
That it is a primary partition is not necessarily a problem; you have 4. It might be a problem if that partition is the active one, but that is not insurmountable.
I'd leave it alone unless you need the space. Probably it was put there to back up stuff whilst other partitioning was going on. I do that myself.

 

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Oops-- yeah, I was a bit off there

 

Unless they downloaded, unpacked and deleted.

 

I would suggest it's apart of the Packard Bell fall back should your computer be fundamentally screwed by some user mishap. Most of the computer firms now adays have their own method of trying to lower their support phonecalls by clandestine installs as such. In most cases it can be deleted If you are a computer expert however for the most part as Voodoo mention, leave it alone unless you know what you are doing.

 

I suspect it is a backup copy of WindowsXP.
I do have Linux on my computer and using that I can view the files, but its all greek to me.

This is from the version.txt file.

All the necessary Windows files are on the C partition.

My brother in law set up the computer and he doesn't remember anything about a Windows disc.

My problem is that several WindowXP files have become corrupted over the years and so I might soon need to reinstall, or better still use the Backup to repair the files.
I was just hoping someone might know a way of doing that

 

It's packard bell's restore stuff, most likely. You should have some kind of packard bell disc that you could use to invoke a repair install as is.

If not, you can download a recovery disc creator from packard bell's site. You might need to know your serial number/pc model.

I could be talking out my arse, so no guarantees. I chose my own path when it came to windows.

 

Just either reinstall from XP's installation disks or, if likely that comes in a Packard Bell format, have a browse through what you've got on them and look for any documentation regarding how to initiate a reinstall or repair. You should have these options available to you immediately upon putting the installation DVD into the drive.

As to file corruption: have you tried getting some of the crap you don't need off the hard drive on to disk and running Disk Defragmenter? If you're XP partition is becoming full, likelihood remains your data's just fragmented to buggerdy and needs knitting back together again is all.