davdud101
 
Cool idea, abacab.
 
Your suggestion sounds a bit more like the following -


1 - Get the 120gb SSD and an addditional 1tb HDD to use in conjunction with the 750gb HDD, totalling a little under 2 tb.
2 - The OS and apps are on the SSD, project files can be on the 750gb (perhaps partitioned into a larger sector and a smaller one where Cakewalk content, VST's and sound libraries and stored), 1tb sata drive can house all the additional garbage/mass media, and then EVERYTHING can be backed up onto the external 2tb drive, over night for example. Then it doesn't need to be plugged in constantly either.
And it seems like all my free space'll equal roughly 800gb across all drives (not that that's saying much).
 
Sounds effective to me! I was a little bit hoping that I could save some cash, but $50 for the security of all these projects is actually fine in the long run. Unfortunate thing being that I can't do it immediately because I don't have even the $50 to spend on a 1tb hdd RIGHT now - but in about a month or two, it should also be in my hands.

That sounds like a plan!
 
I feel you pain too, because my HDD and USB drives are about full.  I think I need a 1TB HDD too, as well as an upgrade for the external drives to 2TB.  But the budget keeps me putting that off.  Fortunately, when I upgraded to SSD, I put in a 250GB drive, and that still has plenty of free space.  My motivation in keeping lots of free space on the SSD, is that speeds up boot drive images, and they take less space on the backup drive. 

slartabartfast
Another clear reason to backup in native file format, rather than some kind of compression, is that the loss of a small piece of data will only result in the loss of one file instead of the entire archive. And another reason not to use a proprietary backup file format, is that the data may be irretrievable somewhere down the line unless you have legacy machines and software available to unpack the brand name format.

Rather than "back up" in native format, I make period archival copies of files I create; DAW projects.  I consider this an archive function more than a back up because of the lifetime of the archives.  They are never overwritten.  They are duplicated, but never overwritten.
 
As mentioned above, backups of things I buy are for convenience sake.  The one and only time I had a proprietary procedure fail was trying to restore a sys image onto SSD via Acronis.  As I was already miffed about the direction Acronis was going, I used that opportunity to ditch them in favor of Macrium Reflect.  Reflect completed the restore to SSD with no problems.
 
Note that no proprietary backup solution has ever left me in a position where I couldn't access my backed up files.  Maybe I'm just lucky, but it's been decades, so I'm REALLY lucky.

Update:
Managed to salvage an additional 130gb and a 250gb hard drive from my siblings' old computers. More system backup drives? The 250gb can probably be used for an additional 2 backups of the system drive (SSD). Can the power on drives be toggled from the BIOS usually? Then I can just manually power it up every time I plan to image the system drive.
 
Obviously I'm ultimately trying to have the fewest number of drives spinning at a time to reduce noise and power consumption. But when you're handed a free 380gb, might as well make use of them!
 
I'll probably throw the 130gb guy into an enclosure or something. Then at least it won't go to waste.

davdud101
Update:
Managed to salvage an additional 130gb and a 250gb hard drive from my siblings' old computers. More system backup drives? The 250gb can probably be used for an additional 2 backups of the system drive (SSD). Can the power on drives be toggled from the BIOS usually? Then I can just manually power it up every time I plan to image the system drive.
 
Obviously I'm ultimately trying to have the fewest number of drives spinning at a time to reduce noise and power consumption. But when you're handed a free 380gb, might as well make use of them!
 
I'll probably throw the 130gb guy into an enclosure or something. Then at least it won't go to waste.

You could probably use a SATA power switch ...
 
https://www.amazon.com/s/...Ck%3ASATA+power+switch

abacab
 
You could probably use a SATA power switch ...
 
https://www.amazon.com/s/...Ck%3ASATA+power+switch

Never seen that before! But is it worth putting in another $30 for something like that? Seems like it can be done easier and for free (not that it's is that much, but it IS money that can be spent elsewhere. That $25 put towards a processor or RAM will make a far bigger difference!)

The day is coming nearer - the day when all my ordered gear arrives. I actually have a couple more questions regarding backing up other stuff on the system.
 
1) What do you do when it comes to applications that you want installed from your previous computer? Just look at a list of installed apps and note 'em down somewhere, then reinstall later? (That may well be the simplest and best option for me. It'd at least insure that all the software is up-to-date)
2) Where will I be able to redownload the fileparts for the installation of SONAR X3 again? I removed them from my Downloads folder to save space when I backup my system, but I'm assuming I should be able to get the back again.
3) Any important things I should look out for in this process?

davdud101
The day is coming nearer - the day when all my ordered gear arrives. I actually have a couple more questions regarding backing up other stuff on the system.
 
1) What do you do when it comes to applications that you want installed from your previous computer? Just look at a list of installed apps and note 'em down somewhere, then reinstall later? (That may well be the simplest and best option for me. It'd at least insure that all the software is up-to-date)
2) Where will I be able to redownload the fileparts for the installation of SONAR X3 again? I removed them from my Downloads folder to save space when I backup my system, but I'm assuming I should be able to get the back again.
3) Any important things I should look out for in this process?

1. When it comes you Windows, you generally can't move applications from one computer to another. You need to install applications using the supplied installer. The exception to this is if the app is truly "portable", in which case it is only supplied as an ".exe" file (that you can put anywhere and map a shortcut to it). If you have backed everything up you may find that you have some folders in "My Documents" where some applications store settings. I usually just copy all of "My Documents" over to my new build, just to keep it simple. The alternative is to take a survey and see what all is in there, and just move what you need.
 
2. You can get your Sonar X3 installer downloads and serials for any Sonar X series from your Cakewalk account on the website.
 
3. Since you are doing a new build, you will end up with a clean install of Windows and all of your applications. That's a good thing! Make sure you have all of your application installers and serials handy. Then make sure you have any specific hardware drivers that you need after the install. For example, the motherboard chipset, the graphics driver, the network driver, any audio or MIDI devices that you use, etc. I typically disable the on-board audio in the BIOS, and use only the custom drivers for my audio interface. Often the system drivers are shipped on a CD-ROM, but these may already be out of date. Check the vendors website for updates. There may also be a newer motherboard BIOS you wish to flash before you get rolling further with your setup.
After you decide how you want to set up your Cakewalk folders and paths, and get that installed, you can copy the projects over from your old build.
Good luck, and happy DAW building!

Sweet! 

I think today's the day. I'm going to at least back up my Windows 7 install twice - once on my 150gb drive, and once on my 2tb. Then tomorrow I'm going to assemble everything and install Windows 10 on my 750gb HDD (but the SSD comes in the mail on Monday, and then I'd have to reinstall Win10. Should I wait? I'm SO eager to put this thing together!!)
 
One important question before I continue - do I need to "re-backup" each time, or can I just copy all the files made from Windows' backup utility over to a different device? It might potentially save me time.

 
UPDATE!!: Okay, I found a new solution. Given that I have an entire 555gb free on my main drive - and with how eager I am to get this darned thing GOIN' - why don't I just partition the old Windows 7 install install the new motherboard and its components, and then install Windows 10 right onto the free space of the same drive? It'd only be temporary, I won't need to back up anything (though I suppose I'll take my precautions anyway), and the disc remains bootable with both Win 7 and Win 10 until I'm ready to install onto the SSD on Monday. Then I can make sure I have all the necessary drivers and that everything runs smoothly, and still have it all done in advance so the once the SSD arrives, I just install Windows 10, reinstall the drivers and it's all ready to go.
 
Since OEM copies of Windows are tied to motherboards and not hard drives, this should theoretically work fine, it seems. And in case I missed something on Win7, I can always just go through the painstaking process of reinstalling the motherboard and fix whatever need fixing.
 
Does that sound feasible?