Windows 7 - System Image Recovery

What kind?

There are a lot - I mean a lot of posts about the image not being recognised - even when it is clearly visible to the operator. Restore is then not possible.

I suspect it happens if the location of the image appears to be in a different location - perhaps due to repartitioning, or adding another Hd, etc.

I haven't really used Windows System Image - except just quickly - apart from the reliability question - it is just not flexible enough for me.

Some people may find it does all they need. I think it's a good idea MS included it.

It seems to be there so the average Joe - who has never heard of making an image - will do so when prompted. They won't need any fancy functions - and are unlikely to start making changes to their systems that will confuse it.

I don't imagine for a second MS are trying to outdo Paragon and Acronis.

They are providing basic functionality.

Good for them.

MS also provide a very nice app. called Paint. Many will be happy with that. Anyone who takes that kind of thing seriously- or as an interest - is clearly going to use something more capable.

Hi Shawn ,

How do you get it to pick up a different Image?

Selecting Different image doesn't help here. It just shows the images you have made with it's own function.

I can't see a way to Browse to a vhd created by another app. e.g. Paragon, and restore that.

Also, how do you select a different Target to restore the image to?

I guess if you removed the original HD and put a new one in it's place - it would restore to the New one - thinking it was the old.

Also, I imaged only my second partition. Would it have restored to the second partition, or would it have restored to the HD - i.e. to the lower address spaces, overwriting the first partition?

Very unclear as to what it would do.

Thanks.

Hi SIW,

Answers in-line. Hope this helps.

If you have more than one incremental system image saved to the same location, or have say a separate hard drive with a different system image attached before step 1, then you should be able to see them listed after selecting Restore a different backup.

You cannot use the normal restore method in Windows 7 to restore a different program's image backup. That program would have to be used instead to restore it's image backup. However, you might be able to use the same methods in these tutorials.

How to Extract Files from Windows 7 System Image using Virtual PC

How to Extract Windows 7 System Image Files Using Disk Management


By default, it will always restore the system image backup to the same drive and partition letters that were selected when the system image was created. (C: drive and System Reservered partitions by default + whatever else was selected)


When the system image is restored with that backed up, it will wipe out your current second partition and restore it as it was in the system image backup instead.

Hi Shawn ,

Thanks - Paragon is perfectly capable of restoring/extracting files from any vhd images.

Just curious if one could make Paragon vhd' s- then use the restore function of Windows Sys Img - obviously, it refuses to do that.

You can do it the other way - Paragon AR will pick up any vhd you browse to.

How do you get Win Sys Img to restore the image to a different HD?

The only way that you could get a Windows System Image to restore to a different drive is to only have a hard drive that you want to restore it to connected with only the drive that contains the backup. Now if the backup is just located on different partition on the same C: hard disk, then it will still replace the current C: partition though.

Thanks.

That's a shame - it can't do most of the things I would want an image program to do.

There doesn't seem to be any way of just imaging a partition of choice, either.

It seems to always want to image the System and Boot partition - you can add others - but I can't see a way of doing them individually.

No, unfortunately the C: (system) drive and System Reserved partition will be backup by default and cannot be changed. I guess they did it since these would have to be backed up for the restored image to work though.

If you need a basic image backup, then the included one in Windows 7 works fine for this. Only a 3rd party program will give you more advanced features and options.

Thanks Shawn,

The fact you can't select which partition to image - and you can't select where to restore it to - is really limiting.

It's a good fist step from MS to include this feature, I hope they expand it's functionality. I'm having troubles like someone discribed here already. I want to make an image and put it on a different HDD, but if the new HDD is smaller then the original it won't work.

I don't want to make it smaller en create a new image etc. Trying a 3th party program for this.