Windows 7: Backing up Windows 7

Hello,

If my hard drive will break, with no way of repairing it , and I will have to switch it with a new one, is there a way to backup windows 7 for case like that or I must buy new windows for the new hard drive?

Thanks all helpers

Hi,

No you won't have to buy a new copy of Windows 7 - you can just reinstall it.

Have a look at this for creating a system image:

Imaging with free Macrium

Regards,
Golden

Thanks for you quick reply
I have another question : you can burn this image and install it on another pc? I mean that doesnt make sense because otherwise you would copy your windows to multiple computers right ? so is there a way that windows "knows" on which pc it was installed and so the image would work there only?

thanks again

Burning a backup is useless. 100GB will take about 25 DVD's!! Use external USB drive instead to make backups.

License is valid on ONE computer.

An OEM License (the license you get if Windows 7 has been installed by manufacturer) is valid ONLY on that computer. If you swap motherboard... license is invalid because it thinks... it's another computer. Swapping keyboard, mouse, harddisk is not a problem.

Thanks kaktussoft,
So I should buy an external hard drive to backup all my computers , right?
and thanks for answering, so you mean windows recognizes where it was installed by leaving a "mark" on the motherboard right?

Not a mark on motherboard!
An OEM license belongs to that type of computer. Chipset, cpu, etc. You can't use an image of another computer anyway! Most of the times it work (in 95% of cases). For example if you buy a new computer and restore the image to it. But only if Windows 7 understands it. It has totally different hardware so Windows 7 is confused and has to remove drivers and install new ones. If Windows 7 boots it can be fixed easily.

Most important is the sata driver. The standard Windows 7 sata driver works always.

Once again please post screen of disk management.

Assume you have 3 computers in house to backup. Total used space 800GB in total. Backup will be 600GB (compression). Buy a 1TB external usb disk. (or even larger)
Put backups in Q:\backups\pc1 and Q:\backups\pc2 and Q:\backups\pc3
in pc1 you put backup of pc1. Q is drive letter of usb drive...just an example of course. That letter is different and may vary on each machine!

If you buy a new computer and restore an image (that was made from on another computer) and Windows 7 doesn't boot but shows stopcode 0x7B

ReDeploy a system to new hardware

But is in the PRO version and SERVER version only. If you ever gonna restore an image on other hardware post a question first on sevenforums!

Kaktus, if I have Home Premium version, I can't deploy windows on another computer right?
So my question is, does windows 7 home premium version somehow remembers the motherboard?

Simple answer, yes it "remembers".

An OEM version of Windows Home Premium can be activated only on the original motherboard. In some cases, Microsoft might let you activate to a replacement motherboard if you talk to them on the phone, but don't count on it.

Non-OEM versions of Windows Home Premium can be installed on any motherboard---BUT ONLY ONE motherboard at a time.

So, each installation needs a separate Windows license, regardless.