Addendum:
On further thought, why even bother with XXCOPY, when you can get various
windows-based programs to do it. It's a LOT more convenient that way, and
you'll never have to worry about the possibility (or at least potential) of
breaking the long filenames (as is often the case with the older DOS based
programs; but XXCOPY may not have that limitation - I can't recall now)
> Yup - you gotta download it (it does not come with Windows). But
> (IIRC),
> it's free. (But my memory might be off).
>
> Jo-Anne Naples wrote:
>> Dang! I thought xcopy could copy to any "real" drive although not to a CD
>> or
>> DVD. I Googled xxcopy; I assume you're referring to a freeware program
>> that
>> I would need to download rather than something that comes with
>> Windows--right?
>>
>> Thanks again!
>>
>> Jo-Anne
>>
>> "Lil' Dave" <spamyourself@virus.net> wrote in message
>> news:uQnj32o0IHA.3680@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message
>>> news:egaty6i0IHA.3968@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>
>>>> "Lil' Dave" <spamyourself@virus.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:O0hiK2c0IHA.2408@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:en4c27V0IHA.4364@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Lil' Dave" <spamyourself@virus.net> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:e8hcwYV0IHA.4492@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:%23VO92uN0IHA.2208@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>>> I recently bought two external USB drives for backing up the
>>>>>>>> internal
>>>>>>>> hard drive on my Windows XP SP3 computer. I also bought Acronis
>>>>>>>> True
>>>>>>>> Image 11 Home to do the backups. I thought that when the program
>>>>>>>> did
>>>>>>>> its first backup, it would reformat the external drive from FAT32
>>>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>> NTFS. However, it didn't. I asked on the Acronis forum and was told
>>>>>>>> the program doesn't reformat drives but that it might be a good
>>>>>>>> idea
>>>>>>>> to do so myself; I was also told that this reformat won't affect
>>>>>>>> data on the drive.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Should I do the reformat? If so, how do I do it? (If you could
>>>>>>>> point
>>>>>>>> me to a website offering this information, that would be
>>>>>>>> wonderful.)
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thank you!
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Jo-Anne
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Just some tech jargon info to add to what's been said alredy in
>>>>>>> reply.
>>>>>>> The partition contains the file table information and that file
>>>>>>> table
>>>>>>> is the format, whether FAT32 or NTFS. Normally, with standard
>>>>>>> partitioning tools, you have to remove the partition and create a
>>>>>>> new
>>>>>>> one with a file table appropriate to what you want. XP has a
>>>>>>> converter to get around that for FAT32 to NTFS. If you're starting
>>>>>>> with a blank hard drive, no files, you might as well just do it the
>>>>>>> old way in XP's disk management. This will map out any bad areas
>>>>>>> during the process. Converting tool in XP does not.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Since you have 2 large hard drives, I would consider using one for
>>>>>>> an
>>>>>>> imaging target. The other, I would use as a monthly clone target,
>>>>>>> leaving disconnected/off otherwise. If your onboard hard drive
>>>>>>> fails,
>>>>>>> you can toss in the clone for quick recovery. If that fails, you
>>>>>>> can
>>>>>>> wipe the clone with TI, and restore your latest image to that hard
>>>>>>> drive.
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>> Dave
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thank you, Dave! You've put it very clearly. One more question: If I
>>>>>> can clone to my hard drive (and I'm not sure if Acronis True Image
>>>>>> does that), I assume I'd have to take it out of the case to put it
>>>>>> into the
>>>>>> computer--right? That doesn't look possible with the two drives I
>>>>>> bought (WD Passport).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thank you again!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jo-Anne
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Cloning will make an exact image to whatever the hard drive you choose
>>>>> for a target. Using the clone onboard your PC for a boot drive is a
>>>>> factor if your bios doesn't support 48 bit lba (large hard drives).
>>>>> If
>>>>> that is a problem, the imaging software, if you make the imaging
>>>>> restoration the exact size of the original (default), you should have
>>>>> no problems.
>>>>> --
>>>>> Dave
>>>>>
>>>> Thank you, Dave! Anna on this list said that my Dell should support
>>>> large
>>>> hard drives; I think she's had experience with the same model I have.
>>>> Nonetheless, for now I'll stick to imaging with Acronis--and might well
>>>> do some regular backups at least of my data, either with my old Easy CD
>>>> Creator or with xcopy (which I used back in the pre-Windows days).
>>>>
>>>> Jo-Anne
>>>>
>>>
>>> xcopy won't work. xxcopy will most of the time.
>>> --
>>> Dave