Following the 3-2-1 Backup theory – 3 copies of your data: 2 stored locally, 1 stored offsite – your valuable data, including photos and documents, are protected. If a local hard drive fails, you can quickly replace it with the identical backup drive while you rebuild a new one. In the event you lose both local drives, you can rebuild new drives with your offsite backup. This insurance gives great peace of mind; but what about your computer’s operating system (OS)? If your computer’s hard drive fails, installing a new hard drive means you have to install a new OS along with your programs; Lightroom, Photoshop, and Third party plugins. Avoid this frustration by including an OS recovery plan in your 3-2-1 Backup. Here’s how to Build a Bulletproof OS Recovery plan.

Backup SoftwareBoth Windows and Mac computers have built-in software to create a backup of your operating system. Windows 10 uses the older Windows 7 Backup and Restore application found in the Control Panel. Mac uses Time Machine, found in System Preferences.

Our goal is to …Select the operating system to backup

Store the backup on an external drive

Schedule when the backup occurs; preferably at night …..

Source: Building an OS Recovery Plan for Photographers