backing up just the bare minimum

[beautiful]

We've bought our first-ever laptop and it comes with Windows 7 Home Premium installed.

It does not come with Win7 installation discs.

So we would like to create some backups. According to Home - Microsoft Answers there are two types of backup: Full Backup and System Image.

What do I need to backup just the required Win7 files? I don't care about backing up my own files (media, pics, documents, etc.) I also don't care about backing up the stuff that came pre-installed with the laptop, like the trial version of MS office or the trial version of Norton Security or the games. I also don't want to backup stuff I've added after turning on the computer, like MS Security Essentials or VLC or Gimp.

Just the really bare minimum needed in case my computer wiped clean accidentally. Thank you.

 

[Devux]

System image will give you an exact snapshot of what your PC is running right now, Operating System included. Depending on your manufacturer, there may also be the option to make recovery disks to restore the system to the "out of the box" state. I know this to be true with Acer and eMachines. HP comes with a recovery partition, so this isn't necessary for them.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/675-system-image-recovery.html?filter
Here's an excellent tutorial for making a system image

 

[beautiful]

But I don't want a complete copy of my hard drive, as I've posted in my original post. I want just the operating system. How do I back up just the OS?

 

[Devux]

This is a tutorial for a system repair disc, but it doesn't back anything up.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html
System repair disc will try and fix windows. But an image is the way to go if you want a backup of the OS.

 

[beautiful]

i want to back up the OS and nothing else. how can i do that?

 

[Devux]

Either a system image, or a recovery disc from your computer manufacturer. Other than that you can download an image of a Windows 7 install disc since your computer didn't come with one. Then just use the key that should be on the bottom of your rig.

 

[beautiful]

where can one download a win7 install disc? I hope it's legal.

 

[Sardonicus]

You'll see the following options, when starting the backup.

 

[beautiful]

Going the "let-me-choose" route

If I go with "Let me choose" option, what should I then choose?

 

[beautiful]

BTW, is using Microsoft's backup program the best for what I want to do (which is to back up just the bare minimum)?