Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

malvoglio said:

Re-asking the question in case it got overlooked :)

So am I interpreting the above-quoted instructions correctly to mean that in order to keep two full image backups on H:, I should keep System Protection turned off for H: (it's Off now) but increase its slider to a higher value, say 200 GB?

I don't know if this will help, but it's my understanding that Windows only keeps one of these at a time, at least on any one backup "drive" (i.e. something that gets a drive letter, which usually means a partition somewhere, but I guess it could be a remotely shared dir.). If you want more than one, you will need to rename the existing one. If you later need to use the one you renamed, you have to rename it back to what Windows likes to call it (the original name), which will involve renaming the current one unless you want to clobber it.

Thank you all for replies. But my question was specifically about the first method suggested in the tutorial. That is, not the renaming, but the increasing of space using the System Protect slider. Is this deprecated now?

kado897 said:

No, it will increase space available but if you chose to let windows automatically save multiple copies, as I posted earlier, then a maximum of 30% of your drive can be used for images. This is a Windows imposed limit and you cannot change it. If you use the renaming technique then you can use all of the available space.

Sorry, I guess I did not read carefully enough what you wrote earlier.

I don't think it matters. Windows backup will only use up to 30% of your backup disk to store images. If you allow it to (Don't select the single image option in manage space) it will store a full image and as many incremental images as it can fit in. When the space is used up it will drop the oldest to make room for more. You have no control over this process.

So it actually isn't possible to tell Windows to make more than one full image, only one full image plus incremental images?

If so, then the renaming method would appear to be the superior of the two options.

Will using system image effect other files, etc on the external hard drive? What do I need to do to make sure the computer will boot from the USB device?

PatrickRobinson said:

Will using system image effect other files, etc on the external hard drive? What do I need to do to make sure the computer will boot from the USB device?

Images shouldn't affect any other file. They are just a file of another type.

Regarding booting. Are you talking about booting from the image file on the external? No, you can't do that. Image files are not bootable. They aren't very useful UNTIL they are RESTORED to the internal drive.

What am I missing? I make the image, then aren't I essentially formatting the computer and putting the OS etc from the image back on the computer?