Preserve fresh new computer

[marijnz0r]

I bought myself a new pc.
Core i7 2630QM 2,0 GHz, 4GB DDR3, 640GB HD, GeForce GT540M 1GB GDDR.

Now I really need your help to have my freshly installed laptop to stay as it is. I mean: no bullshit software, no spyware, keyloggers, viruses, trojans and everything you can think of.
I already have a virusscanner/firewall.

Now I only need a sort of backup to preserve the virgin-like state of my pc. I read about Acronis True Image and Norton Ghost.
Can anyone help me with some other cool software/gadgets/tips/hints?

Thanks alot

edit: Rollback RX?

[Amarisa]

Write filters. Basicly everytime you reboot it's the same because nothing or very little is written to the hdd.

[cpinney]

get external hd
create backup
?????
PROFIT

[Mirosuke]

get external hd
create backup
?????
PROFIT

But stains are left?
My suggestion would be everytime think it as new, even after a year, "is still new so I won't watch porn, that's why I have my handheld device for that"

[penfold1992]

Reformat before you start to remove the bs programs, redo drivers and get programs using ninite.com then if you do want to ghost, ghost THAT image...
IIRC symentec are the leaders of ghost images

[[SD]Master_Wong]

make an image of the system while its fresh and reload that image when you think its getting a bit sloppy, but honestly its nearly impossible to stop the system losing its fresh install speed

[marijnz0r]

make an image of the system while its fresh and reload that image when you think its getting a bit sloppy, but honestly its nearly impossible to stop the system losing its fresh install speed

Thats the idea yes. What software would you use?

By the way: does anyone of you use the Administrator account? I used it in Vista when my computer got farked up, but is it a smart thing to do, or does it remove a lot of security?

[omier]

I always use Admin acc. It sucks to have less rights.

[[SD]Master_Wong]

from a techy point of view you should never used the admin account unless you need to do something only an admin can do, other wise make a 2nd account use that this way a lot of auto install virus's cant as they need admins authority. Generally speaking once you have setup your system you rarly need to install new software so its not a big deal. any software that can create an image is ok, personally i rather buy a decent program that i can trust, nether the less this article covers it.

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2011/01/02 ... he-clones/

[only_me]

make an image of the system while its fresh and reload that image when you think its getting a bit sloppy, but honestly its nearly impossible to stop the system losing its fresh install speed

Thats the idea yes. What software would you use?

By the way: does anyone of you use the Administrator account? I used it in Vista when my computer got farked up, but is it a smart thing to do, or does it remove a lot of security?

PowerQuest Drive Image

[Amarisa]

No you shouldn't use admin. Windows is the ONLY OS to let you use it freely. That's why there is the UAC. It is meant to be exactly what Apple and Linux uses. But Windows also allows you to be administrator anyways.

[Grounded]

I've been dealing with Windows issues for so long and I never came up with the idea of not using an Administrator profile! And now that I actually realize what can or cant do I just think its GENIUS!

[marijnz0r]

What kind of language do you use? Your native language or english?
My pc asks me to choose and after some research I found out you can't change the language in the Home Premium version....

[omier]

I use English i don't even know if i have that option to use my native language. It's much more understandable in English to me.

[marijnz0r]

I picked engrish