Backups, part 3 (backing up your Windows installation)
Posted on 29. Sep, 2008 by Mike Halsey in backups
So we’ve covered moving your files away from the drive or partition on which you’ve got Windows installed. We’ve also covered how you can get those files backed up. But what about Windows itself? Reinstalling Windows, all its updates and all your software can be a real pain. What about installing all those updates and software and then backing everything up?
In part one I talked about partitioning your hard drive to leave space to backup Windows, but backing up your whole operating system with all its software can be a complicated business and will usually cost money. The only exception is if you have Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate. Hopefully this is something Microsoft will rectify in future versions.
With any other version of Windows Vista or with XP you’ll need third-party backup software. The best ones are Symantec Ghost and Acronis TrueImage. They’ll allow you to back up your Windows installation and create a boot CD from which you can restore Windows to a fully-working copy, complete with all your software and settings intact.
It’s not enough to use Windows Backup to copy your Windows files and folders to another drive or partition. The reason being you won’t be able to restore these files unless you can boot from Windows, the very situation you will probably not be in if you need to restore it.
Complete PC Backup
Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate, hopefully all future versions too, include software called Complete PC Backup. In the Start Menu search box type backup and run the Backup program that will appear 
in the results. In the window that appears, select Complete PC Backup. There are only two steps, in the first you are asked to select which drive or partition you want to store your backup on, or if you want to store the backup on blank DVDs. The second step asks which drives/partitions you want to include, normally you would just include your Windows drive.
Restoring is a simple matter of inserting your Windows Vista DVD when you start your PC and booting from it when prompted. Click through the country selection option and then choose Repair your Computer, that you will see in the bottom left of the window that appears.
This will search for the Complete PC Backup you have made and restore it. The entire process will take no more than twenty minutes, after which time everything will be working and updated exactly as it was when your backup was made.
Periodic fix too?
Complete PC Backup, or a similar third-party solution (Acronis TrueImage is my preferred choice as it’s very similiar) can also help when you have a Windows installation that’s performing badly and misbehaving. Windows needs refreshing every now again again, normally about once a year. You’ll have software to change and updates to install, but at least you’ll have a refreshed installation that runs well.
it with others, or 
The Long Climb » Upgrade or clean install?
Nov 26th, 2008
[...] At the end of the day the choice has to be up to you. In the Backups series I wrote about how to back up your complete Windows installation. If you can do a clean install, get all your software and settings as you want them and then [...]