i have a backup hard drive where i keep all my important files. whenever i do a restore, i go in and unplug the ide cable on the backup hard-drive. it gives me peace of mind that the drive wont end up being formatted.

so my question is, will a standard compaq restore end up formatting a seperate physical drive (not the c: physical drive)? its a pain to open up my case each time and unplug the drive, but obviously its worth it not to lose my data. does anyone have actual experience with this? thanks!

The only way that HDD will be formatted is if you want it formatted. if you have this much concern why not also back up this data to media, like DVD 4.7 gig or CD 800 mb each--not to worry you more , but by going and unplugging the IDE cable often you could bend a pin or static somthing out if your not careful. There is another option, you could get a removable drive bay that fits into your tower [ if you have a tower] or use a remote USB or Firewire hard drive that has a switch on the unit----- many option out there rather then unpluging an IDE cable.

I fitted my old 8GB HDD into an external housing connected to a USB socket [I have USB 2.0 & 1.1], and it's working well.
This can be switched off and/or disconnected to protect the contents or save wear & tear.
See here:
All Products (http://www.vipower.com/)
External Enclosure (http://tinyurl.com/7w6y2)
USB 2.0 to IDE SmartCable VP-9208 (AT2) (http://www.vipower.com/product/SmartFamily/SmartCable/smartcable.htm)

hmmm, good advice. maybe ill look into those usb2.0 enclosures. thanks guys...

I use a hot swappable USB 80GB external for my backups...about the size of paperback novel. Run the backup, put it away. It's a wonderful thing. :D

I have to strongly agree with Grumper. You're playing the odds with the cable pins. Vegas would bet against you.

In Edinburgh, Scotland, UK it cost me £15 for the cable and £25 for the housing.

so my question is, will a standard compaq restore end up formatting a seperate physical drive
The Compaqs I have seen just restore the C partition (that is to say the active partition) on the master HDD - and usually do this from a hidden partition somewhere else on that HDD. So, as long as you don't set the second HDD as master or for HDD-1 to boot before HDD-0 in the boot order of the BIOS setup, there shouldn't be a problem. Backing up critically important data onto removabe media is always a good idea.