[galbrecht71]

I am going to be building a computer in a few months and I'm trying to plan ahead for my back up strategy.

I see myself installing the operating system (Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit), Microsoft 2010 Home and Student, and any updates I would need for those programs or drivers. Once that is done i would like to make a system image and separate that for safe keeping. Backing up media and docs will be done on an external drive i will have and does not need to be a part of my original image

I know windows has the ability to create restore points for a quick fix and thats fine, but what i want is more of a last resort/guarantee if something goes wrong and cant be fixed by a restore point. Due to the possibility a virus could corrupt a local partition or a drive failure could render such a partition useless, i want something easily separated from my system.

The chassis i will be using has an available external dock that fits 2.5" drives. Until recently i only thought that i could use an ssd in there, but have since learned there may be more options. This would be a nice feature to utilize since it is easy to disconnect the backup from the system, but i am more interested in being able to accomplish what i want even if i have to go into my case.

I have poked around this question some in an unrelated thread, but didn't get a very clear answer. Is there anything fundamentally flawed with how i am viewing my solution in either method or being to far overkill? I would much rather be safe than sorry and if i can take a few extra steps now to save hours and headache later it is worth it to me. How much space should i allot for a partition or what capacity/type extra hard drive (minimum) should i shop? and How would i most conveniently isolate it from harm?

Any advice and tips are appreciated. Thanks

 

[brobarapas]

Hi And welcome to TSF.

The size of the hdd you use in your pc is entirely up to you,the same goes for the partition you want to back your pc up too.the size of the back up will depend on how many file you are backing up...I use acronis true image for my back up,I never had a problem with this software..it can also clone discs...

This is the way I create my back ups.I have a 750g partitioned in 2,I use 50g for my o/s and I use 700g for all my personal files,If you d/l a file it will auto safe by default to your c drive,I redirect my d/l to be saved on 700g drive,I also safe my music,videos,documents etc,ect, on the bigger drive,I also save my back up on the same drive,I put nothing on the c drive,That way every month I restore my pc from my back up...your pc will be back up and running as to the day the back up was created,I create a back up once I have installed windows,all updates and all programs..that way your pc will always run like new..A normal back up will use about 8gb of space,I also create the same back up on a external drive incase I ever have a disaster with the hdd in my pc,I also save my important photos,files there also..

 

[galbrecht71]

This is the way I create my back ups.I have a 750g partitioned in 2,I use 50g for my o/s and I use 700g for all my personal files,If you d/l a file it will auto safe by default to your c drive,I redirect my d/l to be saved on 700g drive,I also safe my music,videos,documents etc,ect, on the bigger drive,I also save my back up on the same drive,I put nothing on the c drive,That way every month I restore my pc from my back up...your pc will be back up and running as to the day the back up was created,I create a back up once I have installed windows,all updates and all programs..that way your pc will always run like new..A normal back up will use about 8gb of space,I also create the same back up on a external drive incase I ever have a disaster with the hdd in my pc,I also save my important photos,files there also..

Ok, trying to understand...
Are you saying you have (2) physical drives in your computer, eg. (c, d, and "other drive") where C is your OS, D is your OS backup, and (?) is your 700GB main files storage/backup
or (1) 750GB partitioned so it looks like two (c and d). WHERE c IS YOUR 50Gb partition containing your OS and D is your 700Gb partition for everything else?

I have thought about putting my OS on a physically seperate drive, but i don't understand what good restoring that every month would do for performance. I guess i just dont understand where the root of poor performance lies, if it is in your system files or your program/media files? In your case, since you direct all of your d/l's onto your 700GB space where the rest of your files go, will your OS space really be affected performance wise?

 

[brobarapas]

I have 1 drive in my computer partitioned in 2...

50g for my o/s (c) and 700g (d) for all my personal stuff...



If you install your o/s on the (c)drive all updates,programs,bookmarks etc...

Now you know your system is clean because you just created it,now create your back up on the (d)drive..Your back up now will only be 8g .

You do not have to restore it every month,I always do as it will restore your system back to the day it was created,meaning no internet browsing,no malware .no virus .