How many DVDs required for Windows 8 backup?

Get yourself a 2TB usb hard drive (around a $100 or less now) and back up your computer properly. Don't mess with DVDs that you have to sit and watch and change as the backup progresses. Use software like Acronis True Image and do an initial backup to the USB drive of the "clean" computer. Then as you install software do another complete (not add on) backup of the computer to a different directory on the drive. Backup at least once every month - better twice a month. With Acronis if you need to reinstall a drive after a crash you don't need to reinstall Windows first. Just create one boot disk that the Acronis lets you create and this will run any and all backups that you have made on your backup drive to the computer if disaster strikes and you are good to go as of the date of your last backup. You can make this all automatic. If backing up is a PITA it doesn't get done.

Why not use a 64 gig. thumb drive..
Costco $24.00

Pretty much DVD's are on their way out.

None, I use an external hard drive.

Seriously a DVD holds, what. 4 Gigs,, So open the files manager (My Comnputer) right click on the disc drive, choose PROPERTIES and it will tell you how much is on the drive.. MOST archival programs acheive about 2 to 1 compression so your DVD now holds 8 Gigs.. Divide.

First make sure you're laptop is Bluray record capable. Most laptops with Bluray are only for playback, but only records to DVD-R.

Thanks. You folks have made it quite clear. I'll be sure to have sufficient DVDs on hand. I'm curious about the blue array media some of you mentioned. I think my laptop has that capability. So, is there a special type of DVD I should look for called "blue ray"?

Cerevisaphile wrote:
I just did a preview of the Recovery Media Creator that comes with Win8 and it claims to need 3 DVD. You can also make a recovery USB stick it seems. This rebuilds your OS the way it came from the factory meaning you still need to backup/install any software that did not come with the laptop and of course any personal data.

Good call. I only back up my stuff. Everything else can be restored for recovery partition of original media.

There are multiple recovery disk creators. There is the Toshiba one, then there is the native Windows utility called wbadmin (Windows Backup Administrator.) On Windows 8, it is pretty brain-dead, but it does have the ability to back your system up to DVDs or Blu-Ray media.

just start the recovery disk creator and it will tell you how many will be needed

http://support.toshiba.com/support/viewContentDetail?contentId=2753749

For a typical fresh image backup of WIN 8, I'd say about 8-9 single-layer DVD+Rs. Half if using dual-layers. But one reason I switched over to Bluray single-layer recordables, which cost about the same now as a dual-layer DVD+R.

IIRC I used 3 of the double sided or whatever, high capacity ones.
bumpy