Can I make a backup using DVDs and not to another HDD?

[mroneeyedboh]

You know how when you buy a factory PC, they sometimes come with a set of DVDs that are used for HDD recovery/new HDD installation?

I just had an SSD die and I had to go back through installing windows, and Im looking to streamline that next time it happens. Less headache with drivers etc if I can just toss a new SSD in and throw the recovery DVDs in, then I'd have windows back and ready in short time.

thanks!

Oh and if so, any suggestions on what program that is free that I can make a backup/clone of the HDD in my PC now.

 

[USAFRet]

You know how when you buy a factory PC, they sometimes come with a set of DVDs that are used for HDD recovery/new HDD installation?

I just had an SSD die and I had to go back through installing windows, and Im looking to streamline that next time it happens. Less headache with drivers etc if I can just toss a new SSD in and throw the recovery DVDs in, then I'd have windows back and ready in short time.

thanks!

Oh and if so, any suggestions on what program that is free that I can make a backup/clone of the HDD in my PC now.

An already installed OS will take many DVD's.
There are several tools that will do an image of your entire drive off to another HDD or SSD.
You might be able to cause them to write to a stack of DVD's, but that would be a pain, and much more fail potential.

Macrium Reflect does a full drive image easily. I use it daily.

 

[mroneeyedboh]

You know how when you buy a factory PC, they sometimes come with a set of DVDs that are used for HDD recovery/new HDD installation?

I just had an SSD die and I had to go back through installing windows, and Im looking to streamline that next time it happens. Less headache with drivers etc if I can just toss a new SSD in and throw the recovery DVDs in, then I'd have windows back and ready in short time.

thanks!

Oh and if so, any suggestions on what program that is free that I can make a backup/clone of the HDD in my PC now.

An already installed OS will take many DVD's.
There are several tools that will do an image of your entire drive off to another HDD or SSD.
You might be able to cause them to write to a stack of DVD's, but that would be a pain, and much more fail potential.

Macrium Reflect does a full drive image easily. I use it daily.

\

Thanks. I tried to use that, as I have a storage drive here connected now and I wanted to take the OS only HDD ( the one I want to clone ) and make a copy to the storage drive. It said it was going to format over the whole HDD. I was hoping I could save the clone.image into a folder or something.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks. I tried to use that, as I have a storage drive here connected now and I wanted to take the OS only HDD ( the one I want to clone ) and make a copy to the storage drive. It said it was going to format over the whole HDD. I was hoping I could save the clone.image into a folder or something.

Right.
A "clone" WILL consume the entire target drive.
What you want to do is an image.
That results in a yyyy.mrimage file, on that target drive. This is an 'image' of your entire source drive.

 

[USAFRet]

In Macrium, this:

 

[mroneeyedboh]

Tnks!