backup the OS only partition for SSD?

[dfk]

hi, i've just installed Windows 10 to a 850 evo 250GB with default partitions.

i'm considering partitioning the OS into 80GB (my last Windows used only 40-50GB), and leave the rest for games and data.

reason to do this is i like to keep an image backup of the OS partition with all drivers installed and customized so i can restore the OS quickly without wiping out the other data on the SSD. and a full 250GB image is too big for me to handle due to lack of HDD space.

my question is how do people backup their OS installation? i think clean install would format the entire C: partition and i would need to redownload 30-40GB games.

do you just image the entire SSD drive these days? or clean install and redownload everything?

 

[13thmonkey]

personally i try to have an OS partition (120GB or thereabouts) (or disk) with some key programs, all large programs I put on other partitions. if i need to restore the OS from a backup it's a lot smaller.

 

[USAFRet]

hi, i've just installed Windows 10 to a 850 evo 250GB with default partitions.

i'm considering partitioning the OS into 80GB (my last Windows used only 40-50GB), and leave the rest for games and data.

reason to do this is i like to keep an image backup of the OS partition with all drivers installed and customized so i can restore the OS quickly without wiping out the other data on the SSD. and a full 250GB image is too big for me to handle due to lack of HDD space.

my question is how do people backup their OS installation? i think clean install would format the entire C: partition and i would need to redownload 30-40GB games.

do you just image the entire SSD drive these days? or clean install and redownload everything?

Yes, I just do an image of the entire drive.
However, a 250GB drive does not mean a 250GB image.

Macrium Reflect only images the actual used data. And it also does some compression.
For instance, 150GB of actual used space on that drive will become an image of around 95GB.

 

[dfk]

hi, i've just installed Windows 10 to a 850 evo 250GB with default partitions.

i'm considering partitioning the OS into 80GB (my last Windows used only 40-50GB), and leave the rest for games and data.

reason to do this is i like to keep an image backup of the OS partition with all drivers installed and customized so i can restore the OS quickly without wiping out the other data on the SSD. and a full 250GB image is too big for me to handle due to lack of HDD space.

my question is how do people backup their OS installation? i think clean install would format the entire C: partition and i would need to redownload 30-40GB games.

do you just image the entire SSD drive these days? or clean install and redownload everything?

Yes, I just do an image of the entire drive.
However, a 250GB drive does not mean a 250GB image.

Macrium Reflect only images the actual used data. And it also does some compression.
For instance, 150GB of actual used space on that drive will become an image of around 95GB.

thanks for the suggestions. yes i tried Macrium free and it does only count the used size (45GB) which is good. i had thought that it does a sector copy of the entire disk.

it does however feel better to have the OS partitioned away from the games. maybe i'm just old fashioned 😛

and like 13thmonkey said, it is much smaller file and quicker to compress for subsequent imaging.

there should not be any performance difference or wear to the SSD if i did partition it right?

 

[13thmonkey]

Not that I am aware of no.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

I prefer to work with physical drives, so I have an SSD for Windows and programs, an HDD for personal data and another HDD for games. This way, if my SSD goes belly-up, none of my personal data or games will be affected. Using partitions or volumes doesn't provide the same level of protection.

I use Paragon Backup & Recovery to image the SSD, which I keep on an external USB drive. I usually take an image once a month.

Taking a complete image of your SSD may not be a bad idea, especially if you've been editing a game's .ini files to remove mouse acceleration and suchlike.

 

[ArtPog]

In addition to the suggestions you've already received concerning a backup system, I would urge you to consider a comprehensive backup system involving the total data contained in your system - not only the OS, but all your installed programs/applications, all your personal data - in short, every scrap of data on your 250 GB SSD. So that for all practical purposes you will have at hand a bit-for-bit copy of your day-to-day working drive.

You can rather easily create & maintain such a comprehensive backup system at reasonable cost through a disk-cloning program together with a USB external enclosure and a HDD that would serve as the destination disk for the TOTAL contents of your 250 GB SSD. A possible alternative would be to forgo the USB external enclosure and just install the proposed destination HDD as an internal drive in your PC assuming the PC can accommodate another drive.

It's hard to imagine a better day-in day-out backup system for the vast majority of PC users. All the data on the cloned disk is instantly accessible in that there's no "recovery" process necessary to access any data as there is with disk images. So that when that day comes when one finds his/her day-to-day working drive has become defective and/or the data on the drive has become so corrupt that you no longer have a bootable or functional drive you'll bless the day you have a "good" clone of that drive leading to the complete restoration of your system quickly and with a minimum of fuss & bother.

In your particular case since you obviously are not working with an enormous volume of data this disk-cloning concept would be especially appropriate I would think. By cloning the total contents of your system on a reasonably routine/frequent basis that would involve only a modest expenditure of your time you would be able to maintain your system in an up-to-date fashion, secure in the comfort that when "things" go awry you can put them to "right" easily & quickly.

 

[dfk]

I prefer to work with physical drives, so I have an SSD for Windows and programs, an HDD for personal data and another HDD for games. This way, if my SSD goes belly-up, none of my personal data or games will be affected. Using partitions or volumes doesn't provide the same level of protection.

I use Paragon Backup & Recovery to image the SSD, which I keep on an external USB drive. I usually take an image once a month.

Taking a complete image of your SSD may not be a bad idea, especially if you've been editing a game's .ini files to remove mouse acceleration and suchlike.

does Paragon able to do image of SSD while Windows is running? I see that Macrium can do this while the system is on, but I've only used Acronis which boots to dos and images while the OS is offline.

 

[dfk]

In addition to the suggestions you've already received concerning a backup system, I would urge you to consider a comprehensive backup system involving the total data contained in your system - not only the OS, but all your installed programs/applications, all your personal data - in short, every scrap of data on your 250 GB SSD. So that for all practical purposes you will have at hand a bit-for-bit copy of your day-to-day working drive.

You can rather easily create & maintain such a comprehensive backup system at reasonable cost through a disk-cloning program together with a USB external enclosure and a HDD that would serve as the destination disk for the TOTAL contents of your 250 GB SSD. A possible alternative would be to forgo the USB external enclosure and just install the proposed destination HDD as an internal drive in your PC assuming the PC can accommodate another drive.

It's hard to imagine a better day-in day-out backup system for the vast majority of PC users. All the data on the cloned disk is instantly accessible in that there's no "recovery" process necessary to access any data as there is with disk images. So that when that day comes when one finds his/her day-to-day working drive has become defective and/or the data on the drive has become so corrupt that you no longer have a bootable or functional drive you'll bless the day you have a "good" clone of that drive leading to the complete restoration of your system quickly and with a minimum of fuss & bother.

In your particular case since you obviously are not working with an enormous volume of data this disk-cloning concept would be especially appropriate I would think. By cloning the total contents of your system on a reasonably routine/frequent basis that would involve only a modest expenditure of your time you would be able to maintain your system in an up-to-date fashion, secure in the comfort that when "things" go awry you can put them to "right" easily & quickly.

thanks for the info. yeah i would backup the entire system but i'm strapped for HDD space as i do not have >1TB HDD yet, using an old 500GB for now. recently upgraded GPU/SSD so that might have to wait.

i do have an external HDD but only USB 2.0. which is why i would only backup the OS/boot drive as it is a hassle to reinstall drivers and customize again, if something goes wrong. for data i use freefilesync to dropbox/external HDD, but yeah only important files and some media.

i can see how a complete disk backup is simpler and preferable for completeness, but it is also takes longer to do a complete disk image, and requires a spare HDD.

what drive imaging/cloning software do you recommend? do online/offline imaging make any difference these days? i often used GHOST in the past but that is an old dos utility.

 

[ArtPog]

From your original post I was under the impression that your entire system (OS + all other data) was contained on the 250 GB SSD since you did not indicate any other drives were involved. But I take it that is not the case, i.e., your OS + possibly some add'l data is contained on that SSD, however you're employing a secondary HDD (a 1 TB HDD?) to contain add'l program data, etc. Do I have this right now?

In terms of a disk-cloning operation it is not the size the disk(s) involved, i.e., their total disk-space, but rather the total contents of the data that would be cloned. So obviously the size of the destination disk - the recipient of the cloned data contents - must be sufficient to accommodate the data contents. I trust you understand that.

Please understand that my recommendation involves disk-cloning, not disk-imaging. I believe that for the overwhelming majority of PC users disk-cloning is a more practical backup strategy because of its relative simplicity, the fact that all the data backed up through the cloning process is instantly available for access to the user, and there is no "recovery" operations needed for restoration purposes.

The disk-cloning program I use (and have been using for more than a dozen years now) is the Casper program. I have never found a program its equal in ease of use, general effectiveness, and perhaps most of all - speed of operation when the program is utilized on a more or less routine basis. We clone our systems quite frequently - sometimes on a daily basis or a few times per week. Obviously the time it takes to complete the d-c operation is dependent on the volume of data to be cloned and the amount of changes that have been made to the system since the previous d-c operation. In many instances the d-c operation (when frequently undertaken) takes only one or two minutes. The program also contains the capability or creating automatic scheduled backups.

However the Casper program is a commercial one and costs $49.99. Many potential users balk at purchasing the program because of its cost when they can obtain d-c programs that are freely available on the net. But as far as I'm concerned the cost of the program is trifling when compared to the benefits it provides, as noted above.

 

[bicycle_repair_man]

I prefer to work with physical drives, so I have an SSD for Windows and programs, an HDD for personal data and another HDD for games. This way, if my SSD goes belly-up, none of my personal data or games will be affected. Using partitions or volumes doesn't provide the same level of protection.

I use Paragon Backup & Recovery to image the SSD, which I keep on an external USB drive. I usually take an image once a month.

Taking a complete image of your SSD may not be a bad idea, especially if you've been editing a game's .ini files to remove mouse acceleration and suchlike.

does Paragon able to do image of SSD while Windows is running? I see that Macrium can do this while the system is on, but I've only used Acronis which boots to dos and images while the OS is offline.

I've not tried it, I boot Paragon from a USB drive during POST.