every 6 months is too long. monthly is probably the norm, altho weekly is also popular.

you can keep as many images as you want ..long as you have room, so if u wanna load an early image,you can always do that, even if you have a more current one on hand.

what version of ghost are you using?

you can always do a pre & post update image .. i sometimes do that when the updates i'm doing might cause problems (service packs, etc.)

restored images automatically defrag the drive. it's one of the nice features of restoring an image.

i image & restore everything on my system drive (where windows resides). i keep all prgms there except for multi-cd prgms like encarta, cuz they make my images too big.

I believe that Rad asked about what imaging program you use because Ghost 2003 and Ghost 9.0 > ... are different and offer different options.

I use Ghost 2003 and my strategy starts from square one, when the installation starts:

1.) Clean install of the operating system on C:

2.) Move user data folders (My Documents, Favorites, E-mail storage, Address Book and such) to a different partition, e.g. D:

3.) Create a partition dedicated to images (never defrag), preferrably on a different physical HDD, e.g. E:

4.) Update the operating system to current (using pre-downloaded updates - do not connect to the internet)

5.) Clean up temp-files and such, defrag and create image #1

6.) Install "for keeps" programs and update to current (using pre-downloaded updates - do not connect to the internet)

7.) Clean up temp-files and such, defrag and create image #2

8.) Install periferal hardware (keyboard, scanner, printer, ...) and update to current (using pre-downloaded updates - do not connect to the internet)

9.) Clean up temp-files and such, defrag and create image #3

10.) Install the preferred FireWall and AntiVirus software, connect for the first time to the internet and update to current

11.) Clean up temp-files and such, defrag and create image #4

12.) Install "other" programs that come in new versions on a regular basis

13.) Clean up temp-files and such, defrag and create image #5

Now, you have five images to roll back to. #3 is important since it is created prior to installing FW and AV. Some of these are difficult to uninstall but that image makes it easy. It is often quicker to re-install the updates to Windows/Office and other programs than to struggle with a troublesome uninstallation.

14.) Create a "disaster recovery" image on a monthly basis, e.g. after the monthly batch of updates to Windows/Office.

15.) Since user data is not included and have been moved to a different partition, backup using the preferred utility at least on a monthly basis. If you have important data, backup often enough to make you feel comfortable.

That's how I do it,
Christer

silverjim

Brian, a frequent contributor here, has referenced this web page by Dan Goodell on occasion in the past--it's a thoughtful read on backup strategies: 

Backup strategies

May I say this forum is quite informative and helpful. Many of the other tech forums that I've posted questions  on, I've either received no answer or answers  that didn't really reference the question that I'd ask, instead going off on some tangent.

I especially like the  idea of doing two partitions - one for the OS and programs, the other for  data. That way I could just do backups of my data at appropriate intervals and do an image of my C: partition whenever something new was added (like once a month).

I do, however, have one odd problem that I'd  like to run past y'all. Lately (I can't put a finger on exactly it started to happen - old age, I guess) my browsers (Firefox and Opera) will ask me if I want to open or save a file. Sometimes it'll be an MHTML file from the CNN.com site, sometimes from other well-known sites and the file won't have a name, just tells me that it's a octet stream or words to that effect.

Also, Firefox occasionally displays the source code for a page instead of the page when I go to the site. Really annoying. It's 1.5.0.7, btw. In fact, when I hit the 'preview' button here it displays the source code. Crap. I'm sure it's something in my system, I just don't know what.

I've scanned the disk for virus (avast free), spyware (adaware, spybot, MS defenser), and trojans (blacklight). Nada. I've kept up to date on the MS updates, too. I'm going to reformat and reload, thinking that should get rid of the problem, but I'd sure as hell admire to know what causes it.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I appreciate all of your  help with my problems.

silverjim