Windows 7: How do I backup entire pc to external HD then Reinstall

Hell yeah I got a new install.



Any reccomendations on what to do or install next?

Oh btw apparently mcafee sucks so can any reccomend a good virus scanner for both free and paid?
One that doesn't slow down or hinder performance.

The experts' clear choice is Microsoft Security Essentials, nearly invisble after you install, update it, and it runs its first scan.

Second choice would be Avast which is only slightly more visible.

Paid AV's are bloatware infections which even require special tools to remove. Avoid.

Do your MS updates and especially be on the lookout for newer drivers in Optional updates.

Suggest you install programs slowly with time in between to gauge performance changes. Don't let any write themselves into msconfig>Startup list as they freeload on CPU/RAM and don't need to start until you click them. Only AV and gadgets/stickynotes need to start with Windows 7.

When you get it setup as you want, clean and order HD with CCleaner "Run Cleaner" and Registry tab, Auslogics Disk and Registry Defraggers, then save a Windows 7 Backup image externally so you never have to reinstall again - just reimage the HD or a replacement in 20 minutes.

What about Auslogics disk and registry defraggers?
You want me to install them?

I only installed google chrome so far. gonna go install microsoft security essentials now.

I am still trying to decide whether to install itunes or an alternative. Any suggestion there?

Suggest you use CCleaner "Run Cleaner" then Registry tab first.

Then Auslogics Disk and Registry defraggers in that order.

Monthly will keep your HD clean as a whistle, and perfectly ordered.

Give IE8 a try, too. They finally got it perfect with Windows 7.

Ccleaner came up with around ten or so missing dlls. It's a fresh install so I didn't delete em. Figured it was better that way.

Have you tried winmerge for comparing files on hard drives?

You can trust the CCleaner Registry choices since they are nothing that is currently active, mostly leftover shells. Have never heard of it messing up the Registry,. If you want you can back up the deleted keys to Documents and merge them back in later if probs arise.

Not familar with winmerge.

I looked at the most recent version of winmerge which was a year ago. Won't be installing that anytime soon.

My external HDD has several different folders on it. In order to free up space I'd like to compare files and folders against each other and delete the duplicates. Any software recommendation?

BTW winmerge allowed you to merge the folders and delete the duplicates which would really come in hand considering I have a bunch of files and folders.

I believe you can configure the Windows Backup utility to do those kind of incremental backups that won't duplicate files already saved.

I just drag my active User files onto external after deleting the previous versions, since i don't like all of the wasted space with backup utilities.

That's one of reasons I have multiple copys of stuff. I dragged active user to external and got around 3.5 mbs transfer speed. I decided to just do it folder by folder.

I'm currently keeping mu iTunes library on my external until I find a viable solution to storing ove 180 gigs of music.

I know there are multiple duplicates all across the drive and I really don't want to single handily delete them.

Regaurding image backup. I know you had suggested to keep multiple backups. Problem is e everytime I back it up it say's the previous images will be deleted. I don't want that. I have more then enough room on my hdd for another image. How do I make sure that they don't get deleted?

Windows backup also tells me it may delete previous backups when I backup to external with lots of space.

Yesterday i reimaged from the stored backup and found I had all three successive backups to choose from, even though the file only showed the last date.

You can test this yourself by booting from DVD/CD and cueing up the saved file for reimaging, to see whether it is saving multiple images, and how many. It is always good to test you image anyway right up to the final step before it reimages, and sometimes actually reimaging to make sure.