Is it worth it to make an image of windows?

[Liby195]

Is it worth making an image of windows after installation?
I know there is the benefits of being able to get a system back to a freshly installed state using an image,
but after a few months, wouldn't there be newer drivers and software versions that would make the system image
kinda... i dunno... old?

what do you do when its time to do a spring clean?

 

[gilpin]

Is it worth making an image of windows after installation?
I know there is the benefits of being able to get a system back to a freshly installed state using an image,
but after a few months, wouldn't there be newer drivers and software versions that would make the system image
kinda... i dunno... old?

what do you do when its time to do a spring clean?

I have used a PC for years without doing this, but recently started due to having extra hard disk space that I purchased.

I create am image on a monthly basis and supplement this with the backup of my key files via a free online backup service that I got with my firewall/virus product. That means if a disk failed I could restore the system to within a few days / weeks of where it was.

I was glad I did this a few weeks back as a motherboard BISO somehow messed up my windows disk and a system restore could not fix it. I never got to the bottom of why as I have never encountered this issue before.

To restore the image was easy, just boot with original Windows DVD and choose the relevant option.

 

[Hawkeye22]

If you don't like having to install all your programs all over again, then yes. I image my OS drive a minimum of once a month. I backup data files every weekend.

 

[gokanis]

After awhile the patches can take an hour or so, the closer you are to being current on your backup, the better. I keep an initial clean backup with nothing on it except the original windows install and basic drivers (you never know when you want to play with a fresh install) then once a month do a incremental one. For my xp systems I do it every 3 months.

I don't keep alot of installed software on the system. Just some tools, office and my recent games. Game saves get backed up to a seperate drive.

 

[CaedenV]

I have had mixed results from making drive images and backup discs. I would suggest doing it as it is better to have it than to not have it, but 1/2 of the time something gets corrupted, or scratched, or generally complicates the situation and you end up having to start over from scratch anyways. So go for it, but dont trust it, and always keep all of your install files handy somewhere.

Another thing to look for (especially if you like to keep things clean when doing a fresh install) is to make slipstream discs. This way when you have to reinstall your OS you can do so while keeping current on all of the hundreds of updates that win7 has accumulated in it's short life, without fear of having your backup screwed up by a bad piece of software.