How to Restore your System with a Broken Windows 7 System Image
Information
There were many reports where people did rely on Windows 7 images. But, when their system became inoperable and they wanted to recover with their Windows7 image, it did not work. The reasons are not always very clear and it really does not matter. The fact that one cannot recover the system is a dramatic event.
This tutorial will explain a procedure how one may still be able to use this broken image for recovery if the following conditions are given:
The Windows 7 image is on an external drive or the drive can be externalized
You have another working system (Windows 7, Vista, or XP) to which you can attach the external drive
The VHD of the Windows7 image does still existThe approach is to reimage the Windows7 VHD and restore from that image.
We will use free Macrium for that operation. You will find a tutorial on how to operate free Macrium on this tutorial page.
For the recovery you need to burn the WinPE DVD which is explained in the Macrium tutorial. The recovery steps using the WinPE DVD are explained in this tutorial by Kado, which you find at this YouTube site. Note that this tutorial has text but no sound.
In addition, we will use the Windows Disk Management. If you type Disk Management into the Start/Search box and hit Enter, it should show up.
Step 1 - Check the Windows7 VHD
Attach the external disk on which the Windows7 image resides. The Windows7 image is in the root of that drive and the folder is called WindowsImageBackup. Open that folder (you may be asked for authorization) and the subsequent folders until you see a page like this:
If you can see the VHD, as in the picture, then you are most likely in good shape.
Step 2 - Attach the Windows 7 VHD
Go to Disk Management. In the top left next to the File button click on the Action button and then click on Attach VHD. Then navigate to the Windows7 VHD as in Step 1, double click on the VHD, and click on OK.
Now the VHD is attached (also called Mounted). If you roll down in Disk Management, you should see it as one of your volumes. You can also see it in Computer where it should show like this:
Make sure you write down the drive letter (which is 'F' in my example) because you will need that letter later.
Step 3 - Image the attached VHD
As a first step here, create a new folder on the same external disk where the Windows 7 image is. Call this folder Macrium Image. If you have a second external drive attached to that system, you can create the Macrium Image folder there. That will make the imaging step a bit faster.
Imaging an attached VHD is no different than imaging any other volume (partition or drive). Start Macrium and follow the steps explained in the Macrium imaging tutorial that is linked above. Just make sure you select the right volume (the letter you wrote down in Step 2) and that you select the Macrium Image folder you just created.
Then click Finish and OK and the image will be taken. That can take 30 minutes or more depending on the size of the data in your VHD.
Step 4 - Recover your system with the Macrium image
Attach the external disk to the system from where the Windows7 Image originally came. Boot that system from the DVD reader with the Macrium WinPE DVD. Follow the steps explained in Kados YouTube video which is linked above.
All you really need to do is to navigate to the Macrium image and drag it into the C: partition. The restoration of your system should be done in 30 minutes. After you close the WinPE window (after it told you that it was done), your system should reboot to the time when the Windows7 Image was taken.
Final Words
I am pretty sure that this procedure can also be applied to VHDs of other imaging programs that do not cooperate during the recovery step. But up to now, I have only seen people having those problems with Windoes7 imaging - on this and other forums.
Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Hewlett-Packard/G62-107SA Notebook OS Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1 CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz Motherboard Hewlett-Packard 1425 Memory 8 GB DDR3 Graphics Card Intel(R) HD Graphics Sound Card Realtek High Definition Audio Monitor(s) Displays Builtin Screen Resolution 1366 x 768 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
Mouse Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 Hard Drives 250 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
2TB Seagate GoFlex USB 2 Drive
1TB Iomega Prestige USB 2 Drive
1.5TB Iomega Prestige USB 2 Drive (Samsung)
1TB Iomega NAS. Internet Speed 60 Mbs download 3 Mbs upload Antivirus Norton 360 Browser Chrome
Computer type Laptop System Manufacturer/Model Number Sony Vaio VPCEB47GM Laptop OS Win 7 Pro 64-bit CPU Intel i5 2.4 Ghz Memory 8GB DDR3 Graphics Card Intel HD 3000 Sound Card IDT High Definition Monitor(s) Displays 15.6 WGXA Anti-Glare LED Screen Resolution 1280x800
Hard Drives 640Gb 7200rpm Antivirus MSE Browser Opera (primary) with IE9 backup
Computer type Laptop System Manufacturer/Model Number HP ENVY 17-1150eg OS Windows 7 x64 Ultimate CPU 1.6 GHz Intel Core i7-720QM Processor Memory 6 GB Graphics Card ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 Graphics Sound Card Beats sound system with integrated subwoofer Monitor(s) Displays 17" laptop display, 22" LCD and 32" Full HD TV through HDMI Screen Resolution 1600*900, 1680*1050 and 1920*1080
Keyboard Logitech diNovo Media Desktop Laser (bluetooth) Mouse Logitech MX1000 Laser (Bluetooth) Hard Drives Internal: 2 x 500 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
External: 2TB for backups, 3TB USB3 network drive for media Internet Speed 50/10 Mbps VDSL Antivirus MSE, Windows Defender Browser Maxthon 3.5.2. Other Info Windows 7 Ultimate Retail Full in English, additional Guest-user accounts in Finnish, German and Swedish (Working languages English & Swedish, Family language German, my own language, mother tongue, Finnish. I really need Ultimate to get to use Language Packs!)
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
Computer type Laptop System Manufacturer/Model Number HP ENVY 17-1150eg OS Windows 7 x64 Ultimate CPU 1.6 GHz Intel Core i7-720QM Processor Memory 6 GB Graphics Card ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 Graphics Sound Card Beats sound system with integrated subwoofer Monitor(s) Displays 17" laptop display, 22" LCD and 32" Full HD TV through HDMI Screen Resolution 1600*900, 1680*1050 and 1920*1080
Keyboard Logitech diNovo Media Desktop Laser (bluetooth) Mouse Logitech MX1000 Laser (Bluetooth) Hard Drives Internal: 2 x 500 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
External: 2TB for backups, 3TB USB3 network drive for media Internet Speed 50/10 Mbps VDSL Antivirus MSE, Windows Defender Browser Maxthon 3.5.2. Other Info Windows 7 Ultimate Retail Full in English, additional Guest-user accounts in Finnish, German and Swedish (Working languages English & Swedish, Family language German, my own language, mother tongue, Finnish. I really need Ultimate to get to use Language Packs!)
Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Hewlett-Packard/G62-107SA Notebook OS Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1 CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 330 @ 2.13GHz Motherboard Hewlett-Packard 1425 Memory 8 GB DDR3 Graphics Card Intel(R) HD Graphics Sound Card Realtek High Definition Audio Monitor(s) Displays Builtin Screen Resolution 1366 x 768 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
Mouse Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 Hard Drives 250 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
2TB Seagate GoFlex USB 2 Drive
1TB Iomega Prestige USB 2 Drive
1.5TB Iomega Prestige USB 2 Drive (Samsung)
1TB Iomega NAS. Internet Speed 60 Mbs download 3 Mbs upload Antivirus Norton 360 Browser Chrome
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
Computer type Laptop System Manufacturer/Model Number Sony Vaio VPCEB47GM Laptop OS Win 7 Pro 64-bit CPU Intel i5 2.4 Ghz Memory 8GB DDR3 Graphics Card Intel HD 3000 Sound Card IDT High Definition Monitor(s) Displays 15.6 WGXA Anti-Glare LED Screen Resolution 1280x800
Hard Drives 640Gb 7200rpm Antivirus MSE Browser Opera (primary) with IE9 backup
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
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Quote: Originally Posted by marsmimar 
