Hi, this is a generic question not limited to a single case, as I often have to deal with other people's computers. What's the best method to backup an OEM OS to small images for future reinstallation? (even to a different hdd\ssd) Possibly without user data, because that can be huge and it's better saved\updated elsewere anyway. What about saving the recovery partitions? (as they contain smaller installers for everything) I've checked the default programs, but: - Win7 can only save the entire disk and so it needs an additional big external drive to store the images (not a cheap solution). - Win8.x can backup the smaller recovery partition, but doesn't create images and thus needs a dedicated 16 GB USB device (basically always an additional purchase, even with available hdd or sticks). - (no idea about Mac or Linux for now) So I've tried Clonezilla and it seems good, but: - I haven't tested a restore yet. - cloning the entire disk to an image has the same problem of the huge size and the external drive requirement, so.. nope. - cloning only the recovery partitions seems the best option, but I'm not sure if it will work! What about the original partition table? For example, I've seen a Win8 laptop with 7 default partitions .. how could I ever restore those to a new empty hard drive? (unless I only need 1) Do you have any suggestion or advice?