Bear in mind that some manufacturers put the OS and Software recovery files on the smaller partition, to recover the computer if disaster strikes. Saves them having to supply CD's.
I don't think you can ever be too cautious when it comes to backing up.
Which is why all my data is backed up on a Western Digital Passport external hard drive.
This proved invauluable when my old laptop died the death with no warning. I bought a new one and just copied everything back on to it. Simples!
