Windows 7: How much space should i dedicate to a full system image?

What whould be the max for a fresh operation system with some apps installed like skype, steam etc

Hello Raymond,

It will vary wildy from system to system, but with just the basics you could expect a system image to need at minimum around 20 GB.

Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

Hope this helps,
Shawn

I have about 30 GB occupied on an 80 GB C drive. Macrium images of that drive are typically about 10 to 12 GB in size, with the default compression level. I used EaseUS imaging for a while and as I recall it produced files of about the same size.

I'm not sure what the built-in Windows tools uses.

Many people keep multiple images. I normally have 3 of various ages totaling around 35 GB, so you might want to allow for more than a single image. I'd just keep them on another drive---no need for a separate "images" partition or anything like that.

Critical point right there, if you're wanting to ensure the ability to recover after a complete failure of the drive itself.