 | | Welcome to Windows 7 Forums. Our forum is dedicated to helping you find solutions with any problems, errors or issues you are experiencing with Windows 7. The Windows 7 forum also covers news and updates and has an extensive Windows 7 tutorial section that covers a wide range of tips and tricks. | Windows 7 - Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup How to Create a System Image Backup in Windows 7
Published by Brink
11-22-2008
| Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup How to Create a System Image Backup in Windows 7 Information | | This will show you how to create a system image (clone) backup of the entire hard drive or partition that Windows 7 is on, and any other selected drive or partition, to be able to restore the hard drive or partition at boot up back to the way it was at the time the backup image was created. | | Note | | Backup images are saved as backup periods in this format at the selected saved to location below. (backup location)\WindowsImageBackup\(computer name)\Backup (year-month-day) (time)
For example, if your computer name is Computer, your backup image location is on hard disk or partition (network or local) D: , and you backed up on 11/22/2008 at 1:00:50 PM (It uses 24 hour time), then that backup image would be located in the D:\WindowsImageBackup\Computer\Backup 2008-11-22 130050 folder.
By default, Windows automatically saves as many system images as it has space for without taking up more than 30 percent of space on the backup disk. Once the disk starts running out of room, Windows deletes older system images. If a system image was created through Windows Backup instead with the Include a System Image of Drives box checked, you can set Windows to retain as many system images as it has space for on the backup disk or to only keep the most recent system image. You should always keep the most recent system image. If you are saving your system image on a network location, you can only keep the most recent system image. | | Warning | | - Windows 7 cannot backup the partition or drive that you are saving the backup image to.
- You can only save the backup image on a separate hard drive (recommended) or partition than Windows 7 is installed on.
- Only the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions can backup to a network location.
- You cannot restore a 64-bit Windows 7 backup image on a 32-bit system.
- You cannot restore a 64-bit Windows 7 backup image with a 32 bit Windows 7 installation DVD or recovery partition, or the other way around. You must use the same 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7 installation DVD or recovery partition as the backup image is.
- When restoring a system image from a dynamic volume, the disks on your computer cannot be formatted to match the layout of the disks on the backup. To have full functionality, select a volume (partition) on a basic disk as your backup location instead.
| | RELATED LINKS: Here's How: 1. Open the Control Panel (All Items View). 2. Click on the Backup and Restore icon. 3. Click on the Create a system image link. (See screenshot below) 4. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes. 5. Select the location to where you would like to save the backup image at, and click on the Next button. (See screenshot below) NOTE: See the Warning box at the top of the tutorial. Only the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions can backup to a network location. 
6. If availabe, check any additional hard drives or partitions (ex: Vista) that you would like to include in the backup image with the Windows 7 (System and C: ) partition or hard drive, and click on the Next button. (See screenshot below) NOTE: See the WARNING box at the top of the tutorial. If you do not want to add any additional hard drives or partitions, then just leave the others unchecked. You will not see this, if you do not have any other OS installed other than Windows 7. 7. Click on the Start backup button. (See screenshot below) 8. You will now see this window. (See screenshot below) NOTE: If you wish to stop creating the backup image during this point, click on the Stop backup, Stop, and Close buttons. 9. When it is finished you will see this create a System Repair disc pop-up window. Click on No. (See screenshot below) NOTE: If you do not want to see this pop-up window again, then check the box. 10. Click on the Close button. (See screenshot below) 11. Close the Backup and Restore window. (See screenshot below step 3) That's it,
Shawn
. |  Published by | | Administrator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 10,973 | |
 Tutorial Tools | | | | | | | | | |
11-22-2008
|
#1 | | W 7 64-bit Ultimate Vista 64-bit Ultimate XP SP3 32-bit Pro Ubuntu 32-bit 9.10 The Lowcountry |
Hello Brink.
So this will do exactly the same as Acronis TI will do?
Later  Ted | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number * BFK Customs * OS W 7 64-bit Ultimate Vista 64-bit Ultimate XP SP3 32-bit Pro Ubuntu 32-bit 9.10 CPU Intel Q9550 Yorkfield Motherboard ASUS P5Q Pro Memory 8GB Dominator 8500C5D Graphics Card 1x XFX ATI 1GB 4870 : 1x MSI ATI HD 4350 Sound Card Realtek HD Audio 7-1 Monitor(s) Displays 1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI Screen Resolution 1920x1080P & 1920x1200 Keyboard Microsoft 500 Mouse Razer Diamondback 3G PSU Corsair 620HX Case Cooler Master RC-690 Cooling Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans Hard Drives 1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 2x 500GB WD Caviar Black Internet Speed 18.6Mb/s Other Info 1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack |
11-22-2008
|
#2 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail Texas |
Hi Ted,
It's just like the Complete PC Backup feature in Vista. It creates a clone of your hard drive that you can restore at the System Recovery Options boot screen from your Windows 7 installation DVD.
I'm sure that Acronis may have more options than this basic feature though. | My System Specs | | OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail CPU Core2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB Motherboard Gigabyte X48-DQ6 Memory 8 GB (4x2) DDR2 PC2-8500 1066 MHz Patriot Extreme Graphics Card BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB Sound Card Realtek HD Audio ALC889A Integrated Chip Monitor(s) Displays 28" Hanns-G HG281DJB and 17" eMachines E17T4 Screen Resolution 28" 1920x1200 and 17" 1280x1024 Keyboard Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution PSU OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W Case Tagan El-Diablo Full Tower w/ 250 mm Front & 120 mm Rear fan Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Copper CPU heat sink w/120 MM Hard Drives 2 x 750GB (RAID 0) Samsung HDD HD753LJ SATA 32MB Internet Speed 10.58 Mb/s Download and 1.12 Mb/s Upload Other Info Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
** Samsung CLX-3175FW Printer
** D-Link DIR-855 Router
** Motorola SB6120 Cable Modem
** ASRock ION 330 server |
11-22-2008
|
#3 | | W 7 64-bit Ultimate Vista 64-bit Ultimate XP SP3 32-bit Pro Ubuntu 32-bit 9.10 The Lowcountry |
Thanks for the explanation!
Later  Ted | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number * BFK Customs * OS W 7 64-bit Ultimate Vista 64-bit Ultimate XP SP3 32-bit Pro Ubuntu 32-bit 9.10 CPU Intel Q9550 Yorkfield Motherboard ASUS P5Q Pro Memory 8GB Dominator 8500C5D Graphics Card 1x XFX ATI 1GB 4870 : 1x MSI ATI HD 4350 Sound Card Realtek HD Audio 7-1 Monitor(s) Displays 1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI Screen Resolution 1920x1080P & 1920x1200 Keyboard Microsoft 500 Mouse Razer Diamondback 3G PSU Corsair 620HX Case Cooler Master RC-690 Cooling Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans Hard Drives 1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 2x 500GB WD Caviar Black Internet Speed 18.6Mb/s Other Info 1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack |
11-23-2008
|
#4 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail Texas |
You're welcome Ted. | My System Specs | | OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail CPU Core2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB Motherboard Gigabyte X48-DQ6 Memory 8 GB (4x2) DDR2 PC2-8500 1066 MHz Patriot Extreme Graphics Card BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB Sound Card Realtek HD Audio ALC889A Integrated Chip Monitor(s) Displays 28" Hanns-G HG281DJB and 17" eMachines E17T4 Screen Resolution 28" 1920x1200 and 17" 1280x1024 Keyboard Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution PSU OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W Case Tagan El-Diablo Full Tower w/ 250 mm Front & 120 mm Rear fan Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Copper CPU heat sink w/120 MM Hard Drives 2 x 750GB (RAID 0) Samsung HDD HD753LJ SATA 32MB Internet Speed 10.58 Mb/s Download and 1.12 Mb/s Upload Other Info Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
** Samsung CLX-3175FW Printer
** D-Link DIR-855 Router
** Motorola SB6120 Cable Modem
** ASRock ION 330 server |
11-23-2008
|
#5 | | Windows 7 Ultimate Vista Ultimate x64 QLD, Cairns |
I wanted to give that a go but I couldn't deselect my Vista drive and I didn't have enough space for both so if you know how I can get to just select C: drive for a image backup let me know. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Home Brew OS Windows 7 Ultimate Vista Ultimate x64 CPU Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16Ghz @ 3.8Ghz Motherboard eVGA 750i FTW Memory 2x2Gigs Patriot PC2-6400 LL Graphics Card Inno3D GeForce GTX260 216 SP Monitor(s) Displays ASUS VW222U 22" 2ms Response time Screen Resolution 1680x1050 Keyboard Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Mouse Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse PSU HYTEC 600W & Thermaltake 650W Toughpower Power Exp Case Thermaltake Armor LCS (Liquid Cooling System) Cooling Liquid Cooling System Hard Drives SATA 150GB
SATA II 250GB
USB IDE 750GB Ext. |
11-23-2008
|
#6 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail Texas |
Sorry Mr GRiM, but it will not let you save the backup image on the same partition as Windows 7 is on. It will only let you save it on another partition or hard drive that has enough space for the backup image. | My System Specs | | OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail CPU Core2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB Motherboard Gigabyte X48-DQ6 Memory 8 GB (4x2) DDR2 PC2-8500 1066 MHz Patriot Extreme Graphics Card BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB Sound Card Realtek HD Audio ALC889A Integrated Chip Monitor(s) Displays 28" Hanns-G HG281DJB and 17" eMachines E17T4 Screen Resolution 28" 1920x1200 and 17" 1280x1024 Keyboard Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution PSU OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W Case Tagan El-Diablo Full Tower w/ 250 mm Front & 120 mm Rear fan Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Copper CPU heat sink w/120 MM Hard Drives 2 x 750GB (RAID 0) Samsung HDD HD753LJ SATA 32MB Internet Speed 10.58 Mb/s Download and 1.12 Mb/s Upload Other Info Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
** Samsung CLX-3175FW Printer
** D-Link DIR-855 Router
** Motorola SB6120 Cable Modem
** ASRock ION 330 server |
11-23-2008
|
#7 | | Windows 7 Ultimate Vista Ultimate x64 QLD, Cairns |
No that's not what I meant, I have a external Hard Disk but which it selects as my backup drive but it is only 300GB and that is not enough room for both my Vista and Windows 7 Drives.
So my question was can I deselect my Vista Hard drive from the backup which would leave just my C: Drive to backup which has only about 65Gb used at the moment. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Home Brew OS Windows 7 Ultimate Vista Ultimate x64 CPU Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16Ghz @ 3.8Ghz Motherboard eVGA 750i FTW Memory 2x2Gigs Patriot PC2-6400 LL Graphics Card Inno3D GeForce GTX260 216 SP Monitor(s) Displays ASUS VW222U 22" 2ms Response time Screen Resolution 1680x1050 Keyboard Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Mouse Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse PSU HYTEC 600W & Thermaltake 650W Toughpower Power Exp Case Thermaltake Armor LCS (Liquid Cooling System) Cooling Liquid Cooling System Hard Drives SATA 150GB
SATA II 250GB
USB IDE 750GB Ext. |
11-23-2008
|
#8 | | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail Texas |
LOL, sorry Mr GRiM.
In step 5, it should only have the Windows 7 drive or partition selected by default. I'm not sure why you would have Vista selected, or how to deselect it if it will not let you. | My System Specs | | OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Retail CPU Core2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 12MB Motherboard Gigabyte X48-DQ6 Memory 8 GB (4x2) DDR2 PC2-8500 1066 MHz Patriot Extreme Graphics Card BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB Sound Card Realtek HD Audio ALC889A Integrated Chip Monitor(s) Displays 28" Hanns-G HG281DJB and 17" eMachines E17T4 Screen Resolution 28" 1920x1200 and 17" 1280x1024 Keyboard Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 5500 Revolution PSU OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W Case Tagan El-Diablo Full Tower w/ 250 mm Front & 120 mm Rear fan Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme Copper CPU heat sink w/120 MM Hard Drives 2 x 750GB (RAID 0) Samsung HDD HD753LJ SATA 32MB Internet Speed 10.58 Mb/s Download and 1.12 Mb/s Upload Other Info Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
** Samsung CLX-3175FW Printer
** D-Link DIR-855 Router
** Motorola SB6120 Cable Modem
** ASRock ION 330 server |
11-23-2008
|
#9 | | Windows 7 Ultimate Vista Ultimate x64 QLD, Cairns |
That's OK, thanks anyway and if you do find a way let me know. Here is the screen I have. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Home Brew OS Windows 7 Ultimate Vista Ultimate x64 CPU Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16Ghz @ 3.8Ghz Motherboard eVGA 750i FTW Memory 2x2Gigs Patriot PC2-6400 LL Graphics Card Inno3D GeForce GTX260 216 SP Monitor(s) Displays ASUS VW222U 22" 2ms Response time Screen Resolution 1680x1050 Keyboard Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard Mouse Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse PSU HYTEC 600W & Thermaltake 650W Toughpower Power Exp Case Thermaltake Armor LCS (Liquid Cooling System) Cooling Liquid Cooling System Hard Drives SATA 150GB
SATA II 250GB
USB IDE 750GB Ext. All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:05 AM. |  |