How to back up a fresh Windows install?

http://www.skriptsz.net/forums/showthread.php?t=72 👍

I run three partitions: C, D, and E.
The C drive is strictly for Windows and any software that forces itself into C:\Program Files without asking.
I use the D drive for my main Program Files folder, plus all my games and other apps...
Drive E is where I stash everything else—docs, movies, music, you name it.

I use Acronis to back up just the C drive onto a DVD. It usually fits on one disc, but if I’ve been a bit heavy-handed with installs, I might need two or more.

I also made an Acronis boot CD.

I refresh the image on an RW DVD about every 20 days.

If Windows ever completely craps out—like, it won't even boot—I just set it to boot from the Acronis boot CD. It asks me where the image is, I point it to the DVD, and it restores the image to C. That way, the C partition is perfectly back to how it was at most 20 days ago.

As for the stuff on D, I just check if the programs still work since registry entries change over time. If they don't, I just wipe them and reinstall. Not a huge deal.

I I have C:\Program Files, but there aren't actually any programs in there, just Common Files. I guess if you went into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> Current version and changed the ProgramFilesDir to D:\ Program Files, then you wouldn't have any programs sitting in C:\ Program Files anymore. 🧐

If you set this up, all your programs will default to installing in D:\Program Files. Personally, I think you might be missing an F:\Swap partition (around 2 GB). Some people might disagree with me, but hey, what can you do! 🙂

I guess you've got a point, but my C drive is small enough to fit on a single DVD since Acronis doesn't bother updating the swap or hibernation files anyway. I actually prefer keeping the "original" Windows files on C so they're part of the backup, while all my programs live on D.
Regarding the swap, I left it on C because I'm already dealing with two drives split into three partitions each, plus a CD drive, a DVD writer, a few virtual drives, and some USB sticks. Honestly, I lose track of where everything is, so adding another partition would probably just make things more of a mess.
As for the swap, I read somewhere that it's best to put it at the start of a second physical drive (so, my E partition). It doesn't really matter if it's on its own separate partition. I just found Ultimate Defrag—haven't messed with it yet—but it lets you physically place files wherever you want, so I might try using it to move that swap to the beginning of the E partition (the start of the second drive).