Originally Posted by
mikew99
We can agree to disagree on this point: For me, it is inherently better to segregate the programs that are installed with the OS from the ones that I install myself. That works best for me, but by all means, do what works for you.
If Windows programs were actually written to support that, it
would be a good thing. But the vast majority of Windows applications aren't, and in particular a lot of the really big ones fail utterly when one tries to do so with them.
Of the other stuff I install, mostly all small enough that there's no point in backing up the installations even if it could be done safely; half of them lack automatic updaters and one gets the bonus of getting newer versions at the same time. Since they're small, 90% of the benefit could be kept by just keeping the installers around in a folder.
I'm sure you can produce some counterexample of a non-small application where it survives a separated backup of just data/programs, but off the top of my head the only examples I can think of are games.
This is a great idea that I completely forgot to mention: Imaging the installation can save a load of time on reinstalls, especially if you do it after all the Windows updates are done. I currently use Macrium Reflect, which offers a free version.
Windows 10 (and 8/8.1) both install so quickly on modern hardware that it really doesn't seem worth the effort, and they're pretty good about keeping update ISO versions out every couple of months with 10.