Need help with back up my computer for windows10

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winkawak said:

I have 1 SSD which i used to installed my windows 7pro and 2 hdd i used to installed games and small programs on.

1. Do I need to back up my hdd too? or just ssd?

If you are talking about backing up your current Windows installation, you need to back up the C partition and and any other partition marked as "system" in Windows Disk Management. Most likely you've got a System Reserved partition. Back it up.

2. If i only need to back up my ssd does that mean i can unplug my hdd and it will work plugging it back in after windows 10 finished installing on ssd?

You should unplug your HDD before upgrading Windows to the SSD. Yes, the other drive should work after plugging it back in.

Im using create system image feature in windows 7 pro but for some reason only 1 of my hdd drive shows up as a option to save image on. Any ideas?

Not sure. Windows Backup and Restore can be strange. It may not want you to backup to one hard drive because it contains some portion of Windows.

Should i use a third party image program beside microsoft?
Is system image best method of backing up?

I would use Macrium Reflect Free Edition.

Yes, system imaging is the best backup method.

You probably ought to post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management so people can see what's going on with your partitions and hard drives.

OK. If you want to back up your existing installation, I'd just make one image file containing both the System Reserved partition and C.

That image file will take up somewhere around 20 GB. I'd store it on disk 1 or disk 2.

I'd use Macrium.

If you want to move to an SSD, you could clean install 7 onto the SSD or you could clone the existing install to the SSD or you could restore the image file you made to the SSD.

After you get an install of Win 7 on the SSD, you could then do an "upgrade install" to Windows 10. After that is activated, you could then do a clean install of Win 10 on the SSD if you insist on clean installs.

You could do the job with Windows built-in Backup and Restore, but that application is cranky enough that I would not personally use it.

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winkawak said:

ignatzatsonic said:

If you want to move to an SSD, you could clean install 7 onto the SSD or you could clone the existing install to the SSD or you could restore the image file you made to the SSD.

After you get an install of Win 7 on the SSD, you could then do an "upgrade install" to Windows 10. After that is activated, you could then do a clean install of Win 10 on the SSD if you insist on clean installs.

You could do the job with Windows built-in Backup and Restore, but that application is cranky enough that I would not personally use it.

You lost me on this part. Why am i doing this after i create a system image of c and reserved?


I lost you on what part? Why are you doing what?

Windows 7 pro is already installed on the ssd c drive. can i just upgrade to windows 10 after creating system image?


If you have Win 7 pro on the SSD, you can upgrade to Win 10 with or without creating a system image. If you don't want a system image of Win 7 pro, don't make one. If you have no intention whatsoever of ever wanting to return to Win 7 come hell or high water, why bother making a system image of Win 7? The purpose of an image is to let you easily return to some former operating system. Maybe you don't care about that at all. That's fine and it's your personal choice.

difference between upgrade vs clean install?

It's debatable. Purists always want to do a clean install. A clean install would wipe the drive clean and remove any remnants of the previous installation. An upgrade install would not. You may never notice any real-world difference between an upgrade install and a clean install. If you do an upgrade install, I think you can revert to Win 7 from within Win 10, without restoring a previously made system image, for 30 days. If you do a clean install, you could not revert to Win 7 unless you had a system image of that Win 7 install or had some means of doing a clean install of Windows 7.

winkawak said:

i want to back up or create a imgae in case the installation of windows 10 goes south. I dont want to lose my data.

Then make a system image of C and System Reserved with an application such as Macrium Reflect Free Edition. Learn how to use the application--making an image, making a recovery disk, testing the recovery disk, and learning the restoration process. If you don't, you will have a false sense of security and end up in the toilet at the worst possible time.

Have a Plan B. Imaging isn't perfect. It could fail. What will you do if it fails? Rely on Plan B.

I'd recommend you also back up your DATA ONLY, NOT WINDOWS, by ordinary means--copying with the mouse or keyboard to a safe location. This would not rely on imaging.

In other words: DON'T rely on imaging to back up your DATA.

winkawak said:

ok, last thing i wanna make sure u said no need to back up the hdd with game installed correct? just unplug the hdd and plug it back in when ssd is instaleld with windows 10?

When in doubt, back up all partitions. Why not?

I don't game.

Your Windows installation is on C and System Reserved.

I've never installed anything anywhere other than C.

I suspect an unplug and plug back in will work as Windows will see that drive just as it had before--not an OS drive.

But to be safe, you should get other opinions and back up all partitions on all drives.