| Windows 7: restore win7 from image |
28 Apr 2010
|
#1 | | |
restore win7 from image I did a clean install of Windows 7 on my (aging) ThinkPad. No problem. But then I decided to replace the horribly slow hard disk with an SSD. I first made a recovery disk and an image backup (on an external USB hard drive). ThenI installed the new SSD (without difficulty),and rebooted the machine using the recovery disk. Again there was no difficulty. The recovery environment saw the attached USB drive, and the new (blank) c: drive. I chose recover from a system image, but after about 10 seconds, the recovery process quit saying that "no disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found".
The C drive is active. I can get to it from the command prompt. I formatted it (FAT32 which was the only option I had). I tried to copy a file from the recovery DVD to C:, and had no difficulty in doing that. I cannot imagine why the image restore system will not recognize C:
Any ideas?
Thanks,
JAS | My System Specs |
| |
28 Apr 2010
|
#2 | | |
I converted C: to NTFS, but still the image restore fails. I really am out of ideas now.
JAS | My System Specs | | |
28 Apr 2010
|
#3 | | Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP 1 |
Here is a tutorial about SSD Partition Image - Restore from a HDD to a SSD
It might help you about some steps I think . | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Self Assembled OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP 1 CPU Intel Core i3 2120 @ 3.30GHz Motherboard Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. H61M-DS2 DVI Memory Corsair 2GB x2 (Single-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz) Graphics Card 2047MB GeForce GTS 450 (ZOTAC International) Sound Card Onboard (Realtek High Definition Audio) Monitor(s) Displays LG Flatron E2040T Screen Resolution 1600x900 Keyboard Logitech MK220 Mouse Logitech MK220 PSU uMAX 750 watt. Case iBall Cooling Air/ Fans Hard Drives Western Digital 1 TB
Seagate 500 GB Internet Speed BSNL Broadband Antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials Browser Waterfox Other Info Dell Studio 15" Laptop |
28 Apr 2010
|
#4 | | Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 Florida in winter, Black Forest/Germany |
I suspect that the image (original C partition) is larger than the SSD. Usually you cannot restore an image to a smaller disk/partition. For that you need a clone.
Btw: No disk (internal and external) should be formatted in Fat32 - that is only a valid (useful) format for USB sticks. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops OS Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 CPU from 1.6GHz Duo to i7 Monitor(s) Displays 2x HP w2207 Keyboard with trackball - no mices Mouse Trackball mice Hard Drives 5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals Internet Speed DSL 6000 |
28 Apr 2010
|
#5 | | |
No, the previous hard disk was the same size as the SSD and that hard disk was not nearly full. I understand the original Fat32 format was a mistake, after the conversion | My System Specs | | |
28 Apr 2010
|
#6 | | Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 Florida in winter, Black Forest/Germany |
I would suggest you do a clean install on the SSD. The way you try do do it will leave you with a set of problems.
1. Your SSD will not be aligned unless you did that beforehand. That will give you a major performance hit. The Windows 7 installer will do that for you.
2. A set of Windows 7 functions have to be disabled on the SSD (e.g. Defrag is only one of them). Again the Windows 7 installer will do that for you.
3. Trim may not get properly setup and you'll end up with a write speed that is degraded by 50%.
If you are not an "expert" with SSDs, you are liable to make a lot of mistakes that you can avoid with a clean install.
I am not sure why your restore did not work. I only know that the windows imaging has it's quirks. That's why I use Macrium which never let me down. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops OS Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 CPU from 1.6GHz Duo to i7 Monitor(s) Displays 2x HP w2207 Keyboard with trackball - no mices Mouse Trackball mice Hard Drives 5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals Internet Speed DSL 6000 |
28 Apr 2010
|
#7 | | |
OK. You arguments for a clean install make good sense. I will try it. One more question slightly off topic. I have two sets of Win 7 disks (one for my laptop and one for my desk top). And of course I have two cards bearing the product keys. Is there any way I can tell which product key goes with which set of disks?
Thanks
JAS | My System Specs | | |
28 Apr 2010
|
#8 | | Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 Florida in winter, Black Forest/Germany |
I am not sure I can answer that question. I would think, that as long as you do not use a product key twice, it would not make any difference.
PS: maybe the people from the MS outreach team can answer your question. Send them a PM. http://www.sevenforums.com/members/cassiefwinteam.html | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops OS Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 CPU from 1.6GHz Duo to i7 Monitor(s) Displays 2x HP w2207 Keyboard with trackball - no mices Mouse Trackball mice Hard Drives 5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals Internet Speed DSL 6000 |
28 Apr 2010
|
#9 | | |
That, alas, is precisely the question. Both the laptop and the desktop were activated, and if I do the install with the wrong disk, the activation will be refused and I will have to reformat and start with the other disk. Oh well... My fault for not keeping things straight at the beginning. | My System Specs | | |
28 Apr 2010
|
#10 | | Windows 7 Pro 64 SP1 East Bay Area, CA |
Why don't you use this Magical Jelly Bean Software - Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder v2.0.1 on the computer you're not doing the clean install on, It will let you know which one NOT to use. | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Compaq sr5410f case OS Windows 7 Pro 64 SP1 CPU AMD X2 4450E @ 2.3 ghz Motherboard Biostar MCP6P M2+ Memory 4.0 g Graphics Card Nvidia GeForce 9600 GT , 512mb Sound Card onboard Monitor(s) Displays auria eq2367 Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080 Keyboard logitech wave cordless Mouse logitech LX8 cordless laser mouse PSU 250 watts Case Compaq Cooling couple fans Hard Drives 1 tb Hitachi HDT721010SLA scsi, 500 gb external Internet Speed comcast hi speed 19 dn 8 up Antivirus Microsoft Security Essentials Browser IE10 Other Info Laptop specs: HP g7-1365dx /
CPU: AMD A6-3420M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics /
RAM: Crucial 8Gb (2x4Gb) /
SSD: Crucial M4-CT128M4SSD2 ATA Device/ FW 000F /
GFX: AMD Radeon HD 6520G /
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1 restore win7 from image problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:54 PM. | |