OS Image
What's This?
A OS Image is a copy of snapshot of your operating system at a specific time. They can be used to install a new operating system, restore your system to a previous moment in time, and even created bootable drives.
Creating a Custom Disk Image
In my oppion it's best practice to make a custom image of your disk after configuring your system. This way the next time you want to reformat, you can just flash the system with your disk image to restore to a brand new state with your customization in tact.
There are plenty of freeware programs that can do this, such as:
Tools
Below are some helpful tools that you might need during the OS installation process:
- Rufus - Easily flash external drives with any OS Image
- Minitool Partition Wizard - Easily format or partition drives
Other OS'es
- Batocera - designed for emulation of video games.
- Open Media Vault - lightweight linux based OS for a personal NAS.