Imaging with free Macrium

mjf said:

salluhassan said:

yeah i will definetly need your help if i intended to restore that images which i stored in my external hard disk . because i donot so sure about it , that is it possible to go back to as same as it was before when factory installed . currently i donot wanna go back bcoz i have fully activated again windows 7 home prem by a clean reinstall of OS . but in case for the sake of information i would like to know how to go back to previous situation when my notebook was factory installed with a system reserved partiton, C: system drive, HP_recovery(D:) and a HP_tools(E:) . and i already backup system reserved partition and Hp_recovery partiton with macrium , but not C: system partiton and not hp_tools partiton .. but with acronis true image , i already got images of these three drive, system reserved partition, hp_recovery and hp_tools.

Basically, you need an external HDD of sufficient size to store an image of your OS partition. You really need at least a 500GB external HDD.
If you do an image restore of your Recovery, system reserved and Tools partition you should be able to put your PC back in the state it was when you bought it.

This Forum unlike many others has a very extensive Tutorial section. I suggest you do some reading. If you need help in accessing the tutorials then get back to us and we will guide you.

yeah definetly i need a perfect suitable threads related to restore images of hp_recovery and hp_tools and system reserved partiton . i have it stored now in one of my usb external hard drive . both images created by macrium and acronis true image .i did that twice times back up bcoz of safety purpose .

whs said:

I assume even though I have 32 bit, so far there have been no issues using your 64 bit rescue disk. Should I be careful about using it on a 32 bit system?

Your assumption is correct. All the 64bit means is that the mini-OS that drives the Macrium on the WinPE is a 64bit version. As long as your PC is 64bit capable (which practically all PC's are nowadays), then it will run.

And regarding the Macrium version question, there is nothing to worry about. I have imaged and recovered with all kinds of mixed Macrium versions and never had a problem. They seem to be all upward/downward compatible.

Thank you WHS very much. As far as I can tell, my specs all say x86, nothing regarding x64 capable, but your ISO works excellent for me. My laptop is a Dell Inspiron E1705 from 2007 that I upgraded to Win7 pro 32 bit from Vista that was originally on it. I formatted at the time and did a clean install of Win7 pro 32. Am I missing something? I apologize for my lack of understanding. I have worked on PC's for 16 years, but never much with x64 systems. All I know is that your ISO does the job with no complaints :) But I assume from your statement about having a x64 capable system, that although it is x86, something is supporting it running so well with 32 bit system. Thank you again for your help and efforts!

whs said:

I am pretty sure your CPU is x64 capable. What is the make and model ?? I'll see whether I can find the specs.

Hi whs :) Indeed you are correct. I honestly had no idea, but following the Performance Info and viewing the details in Win 7, here is what it stated about the "System":

System

Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Model MP061
Total amount of system memory 2.00 GB RAM
System type 32-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 2
64-bit capable Yes

So I am assuming this is the reason your boot ISO works so well? :) I had no idea until I looked into what MS states of how to see if your system is x64 capable. I think I just found out :)

Thanks again whs for everything and for your kind guidance in this matter. I appreciate it very much :) Have a good day sir.

Jim

whs said:

I think you are making an overkill:

1. Why do you need a recovery partition if you have an image of C:
2. The tools partition is pretty useless
3. If you move the bootmgr to C, then there is no need to image the system partition

Result: You only need to image/restore the C partition (and a possible Data Prtition - if any). At least that is the way I do it.

i didnot say that i have the image of C: . i will not make image of C: bcoz its probably reach out to 250 GB for me if i try to make whole disk image of all partitions . but i only created image of system reserved partiton(which is of 300MB when u saw it in disk management and also hidden) and hp_recovery with macrium .

mjf said:

whs said:

1. Why do you need a recovery partition if you have an image of C:

Because you can recreate the system as it was out of the box even to a new HDD.
Sometimes you may need to do a factory restore. Even if you do a clean install you may want to sell the PC as bought. I think it is more reliable than a set of DVD recovery discs.
Also, the image is relatively small.

But each to their own.

yeah exactly my point , when we try the unit , the recipient sometimes demands that he want full factory installed as same partitons because he then will be able to recovery whole pc by just pressing the f11 and then there will be no need to install hp drivers and any tools .

whs said:

Michael, I hear what you say. I always make a first image after the initial install. But I guess if you want to sell the box, you can install from here: Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River « My Digital Life

but if we recover like a whole clean reinstall of OS then we must need some drivers of hp and then we need to wait for windows updates and all that internet communication needed to do all this . but by simply recovering the pc by pressing f11 One does not have to worry about stay in touch with internet . may be quick solution .

but where are the related threads to whom i was expecting some help to restore images so as to achieve the look of just like factory installed partitions .??