Should I copy my Win7 DVD to my HDD ?

[BaldrGeek]

I just built a new computer (my first one!) and everything seems to be working.

I seem to recall a friend telling me some time back (well before Win 7 came out) that after doing an install, it's a good idea to copy the entire windows install disk to your hard drive, so any time you get a "Windows needs to load a driver, please insert the CD" msg you can just point it at whatever folder you used and let it go from there.

I don't know if that was actually good advice then, or just someone talking out their butt. And I certainly don't know if it's useful now.

So - should I copy my Win 7 Premium (64 bit OEM) disk to my HDD? I have a terrabyte, (plus a 120G SDD as a boot drive) and I probably won't use more than a couple-hundred gig, so space isn't an issue.

Any advice would be appreciated.

So far, I've built the system, installed the OS, and added a firewall and anti-virus software, I've done nothing else.

 

[nbelote]

Back in Windows 95 days when most of the world was just discovering the Internet and there was no such thing as Microsoft Update that your computer was readily connected to, yes I would've advised you to copy your disc to your hard drive if you had both the extra storage space AND were afraid of losing or damaging your Windows 95 install disc (kids, dog, whatever).

Nowadays? Stash the disc where you won't lose it, because you won't use it again unless you need to boot from it to recover or restore Windows or choose to reinstall.

 

[suddenstop]

In fact I usually just throw the disks away, the only thing you really need is the key. If you ever need to do a reinstall downloading a fresh copy from digital river is usually easier than digging out an old disk. Plus if there was a service pack, a fresh copy beats an hour and 7 reboots for a clean install catching up on patches.

Short answer: you don't need it and copying to your hd is no longer necessary and a bad idea.

 

[smorizio]

With new builds i do I make a bootable USB stick for the customer so that if they lose the cd they still have a valid windows installer.

 

[BaldrGeek]

Thanks for the advice. This is the first time I've built a complete system myself. I've done various upgrades, and replaced some parts and pieces, but this is my first full build. Reading the forums here gave me confidence I could do it and all the info I needed.

So my thanks is for those of you who posted answers above, as well as to many other people who helped me along the way, mostly as a side effect of helping someone else. You have a very nice and helpful community here.