best way to set up windows 7 partitions for easiest system recovery from image [closed]

Question

In the near future, I am going to build a new pc and install Windows 7 64-bit. My first time doing both.

I'd like to put the O/S and all third-party software and software metadata on partition X, and all my documents and data on partition Y. If my system ever crashes, I'd like to restore a spittin' image of partition X onto that partition. Is restore-partition possible?

Are there ROBUST utilities in Windows 7 that would let me relocate my user data (documents, etc) to partition Y? When I did this in the past with XP Pro, using the O/S-provided utility, XP got totally confused and fubar. Are things any more robust with Windows 7?

Answer 1

If your concern is restoring a "spittin' image" and you don't have a space issue to store an entire image of your system, then I believe it's not necessary to split your data and software onto different partitions, and might in fact complicate your backup strategy.

The simpler the configuration for the backup is (i.e. 1 single partition) then the less likely of something going wrong.

Check out the built in Windows 7 backup, which can be schedule to take full operating system partition snapshots and backup files too.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-AU/windows7/products/features/backup-and-restore

It does support selecting multiple partitions, and in my experience does work well.

If you wanted a more manual and in my opinion more solid process, and were not concerned about space, try using full disk cloning software such as CloneZilla to duplicate your entire drive/partition. But the fact that it's a manual process means it's a much weaker backup strategy relying on you to remember to do it, and carefully.