cloning/imaging unnecessary?

[bayou self]

If I back up all my personal files to USB flashdrives weekly with SyncBack Free (W7) and rsync (Xubuntu), and don't mind doing clean installs, do I really need to clone/image my HDD/SSD? Googling this question gives lots of How-To but not much Why.

[axur-delmeria]

Keeping a disk image of the OS drive gives you a quick recovery option-- no need to reinstall OS, set up user accounts, download updates, install applications, etc which can take hours, even a day or two of downtime.

[Cigarguy]

I do what you do and have not bothered cloning. It takes an evening to do a fresh Windows 7 install with updates and fresh program install. The updates takes a long time. Most time I do it because I want a fresh install not because I needed to. I have all my data stored on a separate drive usually installed via the ultrabay. This data drive is backed up regularly and multiple backups.