Backup Vista Instalation

Hi!

Quite often I do a complete reinstall of Vista Ultimate x64, but Iīm getting tired of reinstalling all my drivers and programs. How can I easily create a backup of my hard drive (on DVD) just after installing everything? Could I use the backup program that comes with Vista? I donīt care about documents, they can easily be moved to another drive, but as I sad Iīd like not to have to reinstall all my programs and drivers.

I believe you are wanting to image your drive (well that's what I do)

You can use many tools online for "HardDrive Imaging" (searching Google)
But I use Ghost (http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost14)(it may not be the best one, but it works, and that's all I care about)

Ghost seems to be a great program, I think Iīll give it a try. Just in case, do you know if the Vista Ultimate built-in backup (the "Complete" option) would do the same job? Thank you

I'm not aware of that.

But I'd say it's highly likely not the same as imaging your entire drive to a bootable DVD disc (or even another harddrive)

Imaging is the way to go, for speedier recovery. Most full recoveries are done in approx. 30 mins (including everything!!)

I just backed up my entire HD to DVD with Vista Backup. I havenīt tried to restore yet, but as you say itīs propably not possible to boot from this disc. But from within Vista (as far as I can see) I can restore the HD exactly as it was at the moment I made the backup. Thatīs enough for me. But thanks for your help.

please keep us posted. I don't believe you can boot from the HD and restore over
top the running system.

I tried to restore the HD, and it didnīt work :(
According to the help file I read before trying to restore, all I had to do was restart my system with the original Vista DVD, and choose Repair - Complete PC Restore (or something like that). But all I got was a message saying that this version of Vista does not support repair function.
Itīs obviosly better to get Norton Ghost or something similar. To bad, I had to do a clean instalation with all drivers and programs, again. :(

Thanks for the update

Try Ghost (http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost14), or Acronis (http://www.acronis.com/)or Drive Image (http://www.drive-image.com/). I prefer Ghost, but many report Acronis as the best.