In message , micky
writes:
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But maybe there is room for another partition. The HDD is 148GB and I
haven't much software or data yet but I'm only using 34 GB (and I don't
load that much on a laptop). 114GB empty. Maybe in addition to the
DVD, I should copy or clone the current partition to a new one, and then
it will be right there when I need it??

Personally, I make a small C: partition for Windows and software, making
the rest D:, for data - and I only _image_ C: against disaster, just
_copying_ D: (well, I use SyncToy, but in effect that's what that does).
That makes the image a lot quicker to make (and restore if the worst
happens).
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Still, do you think I could find and dowload the fingerprint software,
or the speedy email software? I'll go look.

Good luck.
+1.

Remember to make that bootable image!

Yes, sir. The bootable image is not the whole HDD, just windows and a
couple other files, is that right?

The image (see my earlier post about whether it needs to be bootable)
can be the whole HDD, or just the whole of the C: partition (see above)
plus any hidden partitions the system needs to boot, or - the commonest
- just the _used_ part of C: (plus the hiddens if any). This is of
course the commonest because it makes the smallest (and thus quickest to
create and restore from) images. Most imaging software will let you
choose which you want to create - often with the option of some
compression too, which produces even smaller images, at the expense of
slightly longer creation/restore time (which may be more than
compensated for by the time saved if they're via an external slow drive,
such as USB2).

Note that an image _isn't_ just a _copy_ ("of Windows and a couple [of]
other files"); it includes the necessary magic to make sure that, once
restored, the system will boot (master boot records and other such
arcanery), which just a _copy_ most certainly wouldn't. (Macrium makes
the image as one large - .mrimg - file; I think other imaging software
tends to do so as well.)


**This machine weighs 3.75 pounds and my old acer netbook weighs 3
pounds. I was hoping for 2 pounds but this old thing was a lot cheaper
and after I bought it, the vendor said it was more sturdy than the Acer.
Not sure why she said that.

Because she was the vendor (-:.

I have an old Toshiba machine from Windows '9x days (actually I think it
may even precede those, but it runs 98SElite fine), that is very heavy
(and quite sturdy) - but partly because it includes the power supply:
I'd far rather be able to buy such a machine nowadays, rather than
having a separate lump to trip over, damage the connectors for, and so
on. Never going to happen, of course, while the pretence of ever-lighter
machines continues.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Bread is lovely, don't get me wrong. But it's not cake. Or it's rubbish cake.
I always thought that bread needed more sugar and some icing. - Sarah Millican
(Radio Times 11-17 May 2013)