I see a lot of people recommending something different than window backup. I am new to this but I have used windows 7 back up on a desk top and laptop without a hitch. I have not tried to restore anything but the backup seemed to work fine.
So what is the problem? Do I really need to get a third party software for this task?
Thanks
No, you shouldn't need third party software. With XP, maybe, but not with 7. The Windows 7 backup tool has suited my needs (despite being slow) and does what it says on the tin, backs up and restores in a failsafe way
I wouldn't give it or any imaging application a vote of confidence until I had actually done a restore. If you do that and it works, then you apparently understand it well enough to use it, at least on your current configuration.
Since Win 7 came out I've only used its Backup and Restore tool. I have several system images to Bluray and backup weekly to an external drive. I've only restored once (when I restored to a new drive) with it and it went without hitch. When I installed the SSD I went with a clean install.
As for speed, when I've bothered to watch it the weekly backups take less than 10 minutes (about 8-9) so I don't have much complaint about speed.
You can check to see that the image can be attached and mounted with Disk management. But, restoring a full system image is the acid test.
I have used windows imaging extensively and restored many times without problem. The fact is that windows imaging has presented problems for some people (/system configurations).
I recommend keeping some additional images using a second imaging program. I use Macrium Reflect in addition to the Windows inbuilt.
I have used windows 7 backup for quite some time. I created a system image about every other day. It's simple and doesn't take a lot of time. I have used the restore several times and it works as it should with no problems. The image is exactly as it was directly before the image was made.
Maybe I'm paranoid, but it's with good reason. I don't rely on any one imaging program, I use at least 2 that I feel confident in. and backup both internally and to an external HD.
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