[dnanian]

OK. There's no sense formatting before partitioning, because partitioning also formats. Make sure it's GUID partitioned, and your volumes are all "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".

I wouldn't bother with a DVD partition: retain the DVD instead, since you'll want to make sure nothing's been changed on it in general.

Main drive volume -- kind of up to you. If it's a 500GB drive, and data tends to 'grow to occupy all available space', I'd make a 500GB volume. Your choice, though.

"Save file storage" -- remember, if it's important, you'd better back it up somewhere, and preferably not on the same drive. Never, ever only have one copy of important data, ever.

And, no - can't really encrypt and maintain a bootable backup, and certainly not after the fact...

Hope that all makes sense!