I'm planning to do a clean installation of Windows 11 on my home PC in February, as part of my routine maintenance. I've read that it's good practice to do this twice a year for optimal performance. After I clean install, I want to create a clean image of my setup—just the OS and updates, plus a few installed programs. I have plenty of storage available on my PC (11TB, with more on the way) to keep multiple snapshots as I set things up. I'm familiar with Norton Ghost from back in the day, but I haven't kept up with the latest tools or methods. What's the best way to go about this for a home user today? I'm open to investing in additional software if necessary, and I want to make sure I'm doing it right from the start. Thanks!
2 Answers
Honestly, doing a clean install twice a year seems a bit excessive. Most users, including those in corporate environments, usually don't need to reinstall that often for stability. If you create a clean image now, you'll likely find it outdated within a few months because of the regular updates Windows introduces. I'd recommend evaluating why you feel the need to reinstall twice a year. It's often more productive to keep your system updated than to start from scratch, unless you're dealing with specific software issues.
If you're set on creating a clean image, I'd highly suggest trying Macrium Reflect. It's a solid tool that lets you create backups easily and you can boot from USB to restore your system if needed. It’s simple to use and has worked well for me. Just ensure you test your backups before diving into reinstallation—always good practice!
I get where you're coming from. My experience in IT also showed that regular imaging was a norm because of certain unpredictable software. For someone like Tim who's moving away from unreliable software, having a clean image handy could provide a safety net.