I use ACRONIS and like it alot. Very easy to set up and I can sleep better knowing if anything bad should happen to my OS or FSX drive I can restore it with ease. I have a image of both my FSX and OS drives and keep that as my master backup. Then its up to you as to how you want to backup.

Imaging is by far the best way to backup. You get not only the files, but also the registry settings, provided you backup not only the OS and FSX drives or partitions, but anyplace else you may have installed add-ons.And there is nothing complicated about it. Time-wise, it's about the same as copying all those files. Should the need arise, restoration is a breeze.Nor do you have to shell out big bucks. Check out these three freeware offerings. I can personally vouch for the reliability and user-friendliness of Paragon.http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express/http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htmhttp://www.macrium.com/ReflectFree.aspJohn

John --- Thanks a bunch! Nice to hear from Taildragger!

Another vote for disc imaging. My FSX system is so tweaked and adjusted, with CH Manager, activated addons...I break into a cold sweat thinking about trying to replicate it!I use XXClone - a free application that is painless to use. I usually defrag with O&O Defrag Pro, and then cable up the clone drive, image the disc, and then remove the clone for storage in another location. That's in case a meteor were to crash through the ceiling and take out my CPU. One cannot be too careful.Disc crash? Insert new drive and reboot...and don't forget to make another clone!Noel WBrisbane

Complete OS and FSX drive image on external USB drive. First image after the OS install, second (update) after clean FSX install and third (update) with all favorite addons. Doesn't matter what happens, i am back alive after 30 minutes while watching TV.And for the small booboo i keep a clean folder backup on an internal HDD. This includes all FSX related folders (also those under Documents, AppData and ProgramData).

Imaging is by far the best way to backup. You get not only the files, but also the registry settings, provided you backup not only the OS and FSX drives or partitions, but anyplace else you may have installed add-ons.And there is nothing complicated about it. Time-wise, it's about the same as copying all those files. Should the need arise, restoration is a breeze.Nor do you have to shell out big bucks. Check out these three freeware offerings. I can personally vouch for the reliability and user-friendliness of Paragon.http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express/http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htmhttp://www.macrium.com/ReflectFree.aspJohn

Update: I started testing DriveImage XML and discovered a nice feature. It allows the viewing and recovery of individual files or folders from the image without having to restore the entire drive or partition. Combines the advantages of imaging and copying in a single backup.Very useful for those cases where just one or a few files have mysteriously vanished or become corrupted.For more info, see the video tutorial here:

John

Well, only 14 hours for re-format, FSX and addons install with liberal testing after each install. I'm using Acronis for the imaging and I'm just about ready for the final image of the drive with FSX all setup and purring along. Of course, I will defrag before that. With all the texture files added from GEX and FEX, I'll have to let it run overnight.That is, IF I can stop flying the C-130 and the 727, my 2 new favs. They both have so much "character". Thanks for everyone's great help and comments. I will be able to sleep well knowing that a pre-installed and tuned recovery is only, as Mango put it, "about 30 minutes while watching TV".regards,Thaellar

Well, only 14 hours for re-format, FSX and addons install with liberal testing after each install. I'm using Acronis for the imaging and I'm just about ready for the final image of the drive with FSX all setup and purring along. Of course, I will defrag before that. With all the texture files added from GEX and FEX, I'll have to let it run overnight.That is, IF I can stop flying the C-130 and the 727, my 2 new favs. They both have so much "character". Thanks for everyone's great help and comments. I will be able to sleep well knowing that a pre-installed and tuned recovery is only, as Mango put it, "about 30 minutes while watching TV".regards,Thaellar

Does not matter about the defrag.. you will need to rerun that anyway after any image restore.. but its still good to clean it up before making the image as it does help in the image file speed creation

Be aware however, the newer versions of imaging software such as Acronis can perform incremental images as well. This helps capture only changes since the last full image backup (sector by sector changes only). In my case, a full compressed image of my FSX server, running high compression, runs about 120GB for a full image of the box, including addon archives. Where as an increamental image only typically runs 15 or 20GB since the last backup. This is great as long as you aren't modyfing all the sectors such as done with the Complete/Filename defrag with O&O Defrag.If you run a Complete/Filename defrag, whereby it re-touches each sector to some extent, you might as well run a full image backup. If you have only space-defragged since the last full image backup, then a incremental image backup would be advantageous as only a few of the sectors should have changed.You can even combine full and increamental images in to one new full image using a utility in the Acronis Home 2009 product, which is pretty cool to archive away the last set of images as one full image, comprised of the orignal full image + all increments. I usually keep one complete archive image and then my current working incremantal backup set.

Thanks for that info Al. I'll definitely check it out.Thaellar