partitioning and imaging
 

i have 1 hard drive that I want to partition into 2 parts. on 1 part i'll install all apps and my os and on the second partition i'll keep all my data. on the second partition i'll also keep an image of the first partition.

HOW DO I DO THIS?

do i have to make the first partition primary and the second extended?

i did this but made both partitions primary and using ghost to create and then restore an image, erased my second partition, since in the restore i could not only pick the first partition, but could only select the entire physical drive.

which windows are you using??

windows xp pro, sata drives if it makes a difference

well i order to make it right i would recommend partition magic

it does an awesome job at partition

the second partition should be a logical partition and the first partition the one with the OS the primary

is a better option, having 3 partitions? 1 for the o/s and apps, 1 for data, and 1 for images of the first drive with the o/s and apps? I want to be able to restore the first drive without losing any of my data.

depending on how big your drive is

It will be best to keep the image some place other than your current hard drive containing your OS. If your hard drive dies, you may lose the image as well.

Best is to either keep it on another hard drive or burn it to DVD.

Yes.

and I would not recommend PartitionMagic..it's unreliable for partitioning. Personal experience is that I keep running into error with codes that i cant even google up. It's great for formatting or jst general partition/HDD info.

I would also suggest burning the image onto DVD or back it up into a 2nd HDD