Confused about System image and backup

I have a blank 500gb internal drive to which I have saved a system image. In addition I have also set off a backup schedule to perform backups on the filers etc that I want backup that I save to a separate external drive which I can also select create a sys image.

Does both of the system image and backup have to be on the same drive. What I am after is to reduce the need to re-install windows should the need arise and just restore a system image?


Any advice is appreciated

Kwack

If your 500GB drive is a different physical internal drive than that where the operating system resides, then you can use it. It is unlikely that 2 different drives fail at the same time.
I image to my second internal drive all the time - is a lot faster than to external (unless it is an eSata drive). But once every second week I image to an external drive in addition to the internal images - just to be on the safe side.
Your own files (documents, pictures, etc) you should move to their own seperate partition. That is a lot safer. If the system goes down or you have to reinstall, your files are not effected. Imaging that drive is a matter of their update frequency. If you change those files often, image often. Else, once in a while. But the same principles regarding the imaging drives apply.

Ok thanks.

I have done a system image to the 500gb internal drive and done a backup of my files etc which currently reside on a separate partition from my win 7 install to an external drive.

Do I need to keep taking a backup system image or will this be done as part of teh backup scheduler

Thanks

Kwack