Samsung R780 Set Up Help

Recently purchased the Samsung R780. I am pretty much a novice when it comes to most of the computer mechanics. I was asked to partition the C & D drive. I had no clue. Searched the web and from advice there I set the C drive with 130G and the D with the balance (total 500G). Part of that advice was to save data to the D drive and leave programs, etc., on the C. Now I am second guessing this. Also, in making the backup with the Samsung Recovery program, should I back up the C to the D, to DVDs, or both? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

In my opinion you guessed right. You should use D: for both the backups and for storing all your files. Then, if Windows falls over (albeit a relatively rare even these days), you can restore a backup which overwrites everything on C: without losing your data files. I can never understand why computers get set up with one enormous C: drive.

You can persuade Windows to put your files on D: by changing the path to the documents folder in the properties in Windows Explorer. Repeat for the other default folders.

Having files on a separate partition does not eliminate the need for periodic off-line backups to mitigate catastrophic events such as HDD failure or theft of the computer.

John

 

Thank you very much! Though I just got done doing a complete backup on DVDs, I suppose I can also do a back up on the D...correct? And, should I? What about the options of the system back up and the data backup? Also, all the pre-loaded programs are on the C drive....leave them there? The only thing that has been added is Sims 3 and it looks like we loaded it on the C drive. Should this be moved to the D drive? If yes, is that possible without losing what has been saved? Anything else I should know? Thanks!

 

The more backups the better, until you run out of space. The backup software shouldn't automatically over-write previous backups. Separating system and data backups is good.

Leave Sims 3 where it is. If something bad happens and you need to reinstall Windows then programs need to be reinstalled as well. However, the likelihood of needing to do a clean re-installation of Windows is small. Normally, you would reload one of the subsequent backups.

My other suggestion is to make sure that you have a good anti-virus software installed and working. The computer may have come with a trial of one of the paid-for packages which will, after the trial period, stop updating itself unless you pay money. I therefore uninstall such trials on day one and install the AV software of my preference (currently NOD32), but one of the free packages such as AVG Free may meet your needs.

John