Win7 Image Backup and Restore

IggyAZ · 09 Dec 2009

Not sure where to write this so I decided here under General Discussion.

I truly believe in backups of documents and image backup of HD. In the past I have used many different ones and prior to Win7 I was using TeraByte Unlimited Image for Windows V3 which was fast and reliable.

Well last week I decided to try the Win7 backup imaging software that comes in Ultimate but not sure if he other versions have it. Well I started the programm and saved my image or whatever Win7 now cals it to my backup HD. I have about 25 gb on C: and in less than 6 minutes was complete. The saved area was about 10 gb in size and has mutlimple directories with files in all of them. Will have to do some additional reading on actually what it is but it isn't one file like a true image.

Last night I used Win7 to restore my C: Drive and it went flawlessly in less than 6 minutes. Had anyone had any issues with this program?

I did another Win7 Backup this morning and it seems that it copied over the one I had stored. I'm sure next time I will change directory or file name so I can have more copies stored

Because I'm not sure yet if I trust the Win7 version I will continue to use both backup programs until I know more about the Win7.

Any thoughts?

richc46 · 09 Dec 2009

IggyAZ said:

Not sure where to write this so I decided here under General Discussion.

I truly believe in backups of documents and image backup of HD. In the past I have used many different ones and prior to Win7 I was using TeraByte Unlimited Image for Windows V3 which was fast and reliable.

Well last week I decided to try the Win7 backup imaging software that comes in Ultimate but not sure if he other versions have it. Well I started the programm and saved my image or whatever Win7 now cals it to my backup HD. I have about 25 gb on C: and in less than 6 minutes was complete. The saved area was about 10 gb in size and has mutlimple directories with files in all of them. Will have to do some additional reading on actually what it is but it isn't one file like a true image.

Last night I used Win7 to restore my C: Drive and it went flawlessly in less than 6 minutes. Had anyone had any issues with this program?

I did another Win7 Backup this morning and it seems that it copied over the one I had stored. I'm sure next time I will change directory or file name so I can have more copies stored

Because I'm not sure yet if I trust the Win7 version I will continue to use both backup programs until I know more about the Win7.

Any thoughts?

For me, the back up of Windows 7 is awesome. The two primary restore options, system restore and system image are incremental. The date that shows on the file represents the date of the first back up. Subsequent backups will record only the changes that are made. To be upfront with you, my information comes from use of my Version of 7, Home Premium. Your post indicates that Ultimate may be (and I think that you are right,) may be different.
I have actually used both system image and system restore and they worked perfectly. The only problem that I had was that I made my system image prior to activating and I had to activate a second time, but the back up was flawless.

gregrocker · 09 Dec 2009

You probably already know but for anyone who doesn't, you can specify what files are backed up and a schedule of your choice.

On the separate Image backup, be sure to keep an image from when your OS is running fine in case you need to reinstall for performance reasons.

I save my backup Image to a primary partition on another HD, and back it up to an external. In the external I rename it and move it into a folder for that computer.

If you want to store more than one backup image, you can change the file name, but when you want it to be auto-detected by the Win7 DVD to reimage from boot, it needs to be placed in the external's root and renamed WIndowsImageBackup, or kept in a primary formatted partition which is detected as a drive.