[dba-Tech] So long, Norman

What I have learned to do when dealing with native Windows 7 is this
(assuming either a virgin start or a backup followed by a format):

1. Install Windows7 and check for service packs.
2. Install Office (whatever version) and check for service packs.
3. Install essential utilities (in my case that includes xPlorer2, NoteTab,
Oracle VirtualBox, FoxIt PDF Reader and a few others).
4. Review what's installed to ensure that I haven't forgotten anything.
5. Back up that image to my 1TB external USB 3.0 drive.

I try to keep this to what I deem is the minimum for life-support. There
are a few hidden assumptions:

1. All my data (My Documents, etc.) lives on another drive or partition,
ideally the former. This preference dates back to my days in CP/M and then
DOS: programs live Here, data lives there. I've stuck to that maxim through
many versions of MS software, and find that it works best for me.
2. I copy my Data drive to the 1TB external every morning at 3am.
3. I burn my Data drive (or in the event of error there, the copy on the
external drive) to DVD once a week.
4. I have a completely separate Downloads directory, into which I deposit
recent versions of every trial and RTM etc. Everything there is considered
disposable, since there is liable to be a refresh next week. I never bother
to back this up, since everything there is disposable.

I am describing my solution to a no-budget + minimal hardware approach to
this problem. That's all I have to offer so far. If I'm missing some
obvious optimizations, please feel free to tell me a better approach. So
far, this approach has managed to keep me afloat, if not optimized. But if
you have better ideas/approaches, I'm all ears.

Should you choose to offer advice, please keep in mind that I live on
minimal pension and cannot afford any $500+ chunk of sofware. In my
semi-retired state, I only make twice that per month. In this situation,
despite my enthusiasm, my resources are very limited.

A.