Let's say you have two HDs in your PC.
One is the C: for OS and a few ground level applications(email so on) and it's one partition NTSF

And the other HD has 3 partitions D,F,G,
FAT32

and D has bulk of softwares and stuff.

How would one image and restore this?
I mean is it possible to image both drives and restore them seperatly later
TY

Yeah, you have to do them together. Because almost all apps install some files into the /windows (or /winnt) directory. That's why I install all my apps (except games) to my boot partition. Then I only need to make one image.

Hi Rad,
when you install all your apks on C:
what do you do with the other partitions ?
And running all your sw on C will slow down your OS
because it will get crowed or not ?
Is 8GB for a c partition  on a 80GB ide HD right ?
What about the swapfile - do you leave it on c:
or is it better to have it on the 2nd HD first partition ?
You guessed it right :
I am in the middle of installing a newer - bigger HD.
40GB is the smallest HD you can get from my nearest
dealers . Prices for 80GB have come down so I
choose a WD 80GB with 8MB cache and a 3 year warrenty.
Now comes the hard part --- doing the ghostimages. ;)

actually none of my boot os's (i have 4) are c.

my other partitions? dang:

mp3s
favorite wavs
ape files
downloads
drivers
uploads from friends
ftp files
unzipped files
games
linux
different os's
entire windows cd's
blindread rips
pictures uploads from the digital camera
back-ups
recordrded sound footage
ghost images
and a bunch of other crap

My config is not all that different.  2 HDs, both with several partitions, each has a bootable primary partition.
Drive 1 holds C: with OS and most freqently used apps, net, email...stuff I want fast.  E: (drive 1, partition 2)holds large apps that I may not care to archive every time...eg msOffice.
Drive 2 is prmarily for backups, but primary partition is reserved with an earlier install so if primary drive is disabled, I am back up instantly with images on the same drive, but other partitions.  Note, primary partition on Drive 2 is D: ...b/c Bill says so.

My backup strategy is straight from the Rad guide.  Drive 1 partitions 1 & 2 are imaged to Drive 2...any partition other than #1.  This way if Drive 1 dies, all backups are intact and restorable.  If Drive 2 dies, I buy a new one and start over.

The best reason for imaging & restoring from one drive to a different drive is SPEED!!  I image 2.5G from C:\ in about 10-15 min.  I also use a partition on the backup drive for downloads which keeps surfing speed high!

If your C:\ drive isn't partitioned, I recommend imaging it first.  Then repartition it...leave about 3-4G for the primary...pick a number big enough you think you can live with it for a while.  See the Rad guide for help with this.  Then you can restore C:\ to the now smaller primary partition.  Once the drive with C: is partitioned, you can image the 2nd drive to the 1st!!.  

The one thing you need to be careful about is the drive naming windows imposes.  If the OS thinks an app is on F:  It won't find it if you move F: to D: (of course!).  Again, I'd refer you to Rad's write up on this...I think it's under partitioning strategies.

Hope that helps.
M