Windows 7: is a backup of Win 7 install discs needed?

I've been going through my house and insuring everything against fire/theft loss, and now I'm looking at my computer. My data is all backed up off-site in two ways. I have not previously tried to back up software install discs, but seeing as they could get torched in a fire, it would be nice to have a backup in some safe location.

Most of my expensive software is music software that uses dongle protection, so the install discs themselves aren't copy-protected and this should be easy.

But what about the Win 7 install disks? (I have both the 32-bit and 64-installers for Win 7 Home, in the upgrade version.) I also have some Windows XP disks from earlier on. Can these disks be copied simply as a data disk (i.e. look at the files they contain and copy to a new disk) or is there some copy protection scheme?

Or maybe I don't need to back them up. Does Microsoft have some policy of resupplying the disk if I can show the serial number or something like that?

ImgBurn will do it. Make an ISO and either just keep that or burn another DVD if you want. I cannot comment if MS have issues but of course the copy is useless without the key you paid for. Also, you can download the ISO if you get stuck. The real thing is to keep copies of your activation Key.

By the way, what I am doing is burning gold DVD-R as my backup, and I'll keep it off-site. At least some of the music software discs I want to burn to DVD-R are greater than 4.5 GB in size, so an iso won't fit on just one disc. Could I use ImgBurn to make an iso, then use 7-Zip to split it into 4.5 GB parts?

A much better updated program since ImgBurn was written for the 32bit XP and won't even run on the 64bit anything is the free Passcape ISO Burner program. That will burn any iso image to disk with ease on any version of Windows XP and newer on both the 32bit and 64bit.

The Passcape program also has an option for writing a Windows 7 iso to a usb flash drive to see a 7 USB Install Key made up. The guide for that option can also be an alternative while the best would be keeping any optical media safe in a fire proof vault. USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create

Programs like PowerISO or the All Free ISO Creator 3.0.5 will handle iso images made from dvds while ImgBurn is for smaller cd images with a size limit. The shareware version of another program can also burn as well as create images to disk and make up bootable flash drives as well. UltraISO - Download

Sorry but not true. ImgBurn works fine on Windows 7x64 and is the application I would most recommend. ImgBurn is a 32 bit application but then so are many (most?) that run on the 64 bit Windows 7 OS. They are stored in Program Files (x86).

@ratsrcute
You probably need to burn to a dual layer DVD. I use these for third party installation disk. I have backed up Sibelius this way. Again, this is definitely not any sort of pirating of the software. It is merely copying the installation disk. Without your personal installation key it is useless.

The last latest version of ImgBurn tried here simply wouldn't run on the 64bit Windows. For what ratsrcute would find far better for his needs is what I did here which was but the full versions for both PowerISO and UltraISO as well as free download seen with the Passcape ISO Burner program.

The shareware version of PowerISO won't handle anything over 300mb simply being the trial version to try out while full version would support editing as well as multiple disk formats. Large iso images are the norm for that one.

As for seeing Windows go on clean I've been seeing enough of that lately where a USB Install Key seems to go along faster then relying on optical media and you can a case of flash drives around with you!

There are different programs to do similar things so you need to make your own choice.

But re: ImgBurn
The Official ImgBurn Website
"ImgBurn supports all the Microsoft Windows OS's - Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008, Windows 7 and Windows 8 (including all the 64-bit versions). If you use Wine, it should also run on Linux and other x86-based Unixes."

I would rather see ratsrcute make his own comparisons and go from there. For PowerISO the features would be seen at PowerISO Features

The PowerISO program isn't just for dropping images on disks either but a good one for data dvds if you prefer backups by optical. With imaging programs like Acronis however you can back up entire drives to a network location even and solve the need for burning any disks if you had that option available or simply to an external hard drive.

A fire proof safe in a basement location however would go further in protecting any and all optical media as well as anyting else non replacable in case of any fire since the safe would usually be away from the heat source as well as protect your documents. As for Windows MS allows for the iso creation, usb flash drive installs mainly started when netbooks arrived for installation purposes rather then the term "casual copying". The rest falls into a grey area.

Agreed

The last look by the way at the ImgBurn program was about a year ago where it still wouldn't run on the 64bit side. I see that was finally addressed with the March 2012 release there. Back in 2009 however it wouldn't work for 7 isos still being limited to size as far as cds not dvd isos where PowerISO took up the gap.

The free Passcape ISO Burner program however has been found to burn reliably without reducing the burn speed down. I've been using that to see the 8 isos burned to disk while still using the full retail version of the other to create images. For a freebie it's light weight and works fast.