Imaging strategies

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  1. Posts : 5,605
    Originally Win 7 Hm Prem x64 Ver 6.1.7600 Build 7601-SP1 | Upgraded to Windows 10 December 14, 2019
       #141

    Could someone stop by and help this member? Is it possible to add files to a system image? I did leave a simple response so he? wouldn't be left hanging.

    Thanks.
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  2. Posts : 20,583
    Win-7-Pro64bit 7-H-Prem-64bit
       #142

    https://www.sevenforums.com/general-d...ml#post3211155
    Not sure what's up with that link you posted :/
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  3. Posts : 5,605
    Originally Win 7 Hm Prem x64 Ver 6.1.7600 Build 7601-SP1 | Upgraded to Windows 10 December 14, 2019
       #143

    I was afraid of that TZ, the original poster started his thread in General Discussion and it has since been moved to Backup and Restore, this is the link now: Is it possible to add files to a system image?
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  4. Posts : 57
    Windows 7 Pro x64
       #144

    I've been reading this thread and like many here am a huge proponent of drive imaging. Started with a DOS 5/Norton Ghost boot disk decades ago, same strategy. OS/Apps on one partition, user data on another. I prefer using bootable media for backup and restoring since in my experience with XP and 7 it is much faster and doesn't require installing anything on the system you are imaging. My preferred imaging software is Acronis 2019 from bootable ISO. I have used it to backup AND restore XP, Windows 7, 8.1 and Ubuntu 12.04. We all have our favorites that get the job done for us.

    I used to carry a CD case with all my bootable CDs/DVDs for Acronis, Hirens, BartPE etc. That CD case is now collecting dust since I discovered Grub4DOS.

    I now have most of my bootable CD/DVD images (ISO) on a bootable USB pen drive.



    You can download the easy2boot.com software and use it to format and create the grub4dos bootable menu for your pen drive. Then you merely copy your ISO images to the _ISO/MAINMENU subdirectory on your pen drive and presto! Multi-boot USB pen drive.

    A few caveats; the file system is FAT32 so max file size is 4GB (most bootable imaging software is far below this range so it shouldn't be a problem). While this worked flawlessly for me on computers using legacy BIOS I couldn't get it to boot fully on UEFI machines. There appears to be a method to convert the pen drive so it works with UEFI but I haven't tried it yet - If I get it working I'll post a follow-up.

    For UEFI I had to use RUFUS which, like easy2boot, formats the pen drive, makes it bootable and copies the appropriate files from your bootable ISO to the pen drive - I had to use this method to successfully boot Acronis 2017 and backup a Dell UEFI laptop. I have also used RUFUS in the past to create a Windows 7 installation pen drive from an ISO. The only drawback is no multi-boot with Rufus - only 1 bootable image per pen drive.

    I'm going to play around with other software and see if I can create a multi-boot UEFI for modern systems but I find it's much easier to carry a pen drive in my pocket with all my bootable utilities than a CD case.
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  5. Posts : 714
    Win 7 Pro, SP1, x86, Win-11/Pro/64
       #145

    For years, I've enjoyed reading these threads on the topic of doing backups.


    Over the years, there have been many so called Backup Programs. All the way back to the DOS days, there were companies, like Central Point Software, that wrote PC Tools, and that put out very good backup programs.

    In MS Windows, the first really GOOD backup program that I was introduced to was written by a little known software company in New Zealand, called simply "Ghost". I began using Ghost 2.0 while working in a small computer shop. We mainly used it to CLONE small hard drives to larger hard drives.

    So cutting to the chase, so to speak, I still use the last DOS version of Ghost, ver 11.5, to clone my own SSD to a 1TB backup drive, once a week. Even more often, I use Ghost 11.5 to make a compressed backup of my C:\ partition to an external HD.
    I run Ghost from two different media. One is a CD that can boot my PC to a DOS Menu on the CD, from which I can run Ghost in several different modes, and also perform different DOS utilities. It's a nice disk to have around.
    I've duplicated my Ghost boot CD to an 8GB Flash Drive. I have the same files on a bootable SD Memory Card.
    Using the same backup program since 1997, keeps it simple. And every Backup can be verified, making it flawless.
    Ghost runs in DOS, and could not care less what it's backing up. It will back up all versions of Windows, and even Linux, or a pure data disk with no OS on it at all.

    I've also used it for backing up Windows 10/Pro/64.


    In all these years, I've had countless HD failures, * but with good backups "In the Can" , I've never lost the first bit of data.

    * I've had almost NO HD failures since I stopped using WD drives.

    Cheers Mates, and Happy Computing!

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  6. Posts : 1,384
    Win 7 Ult 64-bit
       #146

    I have a question about image vs. clone.

    I have close to 60 programs on my C partition, so not easily duplicated from scratch. I've been imaging with Macrium, and it's been working fine, although I've never had to restore more than a few random files. If I have a virus or any other major system screwup, I can restore from an image.

    However, if my HD dies, then I need a clone to copy to a new HD. The downside is that a clone also copies all the free space, of which I have huge amounts. Half of my C partition and 2/3 of my D partition are empty and will remain so.

    Is there a compromise between these 2?
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  7. Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       #147

    RoWin7 said:
    I have a question about image vs. clone.

    I have close to 60 programs on my C partition, so not easily duplicated from scratch. I've been imaging with Macrium, and it's been working fine, although I've never had to restore more than a few random files. If I have a virus or any other major system screwup, I can restore from an image.

    However, if my HD dies, then I need a clone to copy to a new HD. The downside is that a clone also copies all the free space, of which I have huge amounts. Half of my C partition and 2/3 of my D partition are empty and will remain so.

    Is there a compromise between these 2?
    You don't need a clone, you can restore an image to a new disk. If you have imaged all the partitions Windows needs to run (In W7's case System & C) then there should be no problem booting Windows from the replacement disk.
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  8. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #148

    RoWin7 said:
    I have a question about image vs. clone.

    I have close to 60 programs on my C partition, so not easily duplicated from scratch. I've been imaging with Macrium, and it's been working fine, although I've never had to restore more than a few random files. If I have a virus or any other major system screwup, I can restore from an image.

    However, if my HD dies, then I need a clone to copy to a new HD. The downside is that a clone also copies all the free space, of which I have huge amounts. Half of my C partition and 2/3 of my D partition are empty and will remain so.

    Is there a compromise between these 2?
    While Macrium Reflect has the capability to clone from a larger drive to a smaller one, as long as the amount of data on the source drive will comfortably fit on the smaller drive, restoring from an image is far superior. Plus, if you have room to store them, you can have multiple images on hand so, should the most recent one not meet your needs, you can go back to an earlier one. You will need some kind of rescue medium to restore from an image (I suspect you already have one). A USB thumb drive is far superior to using an optical disk (CD, DVD, etc.).

    One thing I've found that really speeds up the process of restoring the System (OS, programs, and games) is to segregate the System from data. This can be done by having them on separate drives or, if limited to only one drive (like my one drive wonders, aka notebooks), on separate partitions (I suspect you are already doing this).

    Imaging is essential for restoring System files (cloning can also be used but is not very efficient) but is too time consuming and wastes too much storage space to be efficient for backing up and restoring data. A folder/file syncing program, such as FreeFileSync, is far more efficient for backing up data. When set to Mirror Mode, it will result in what is essentially a clone of the original data drive or partition (unnecessary hidden System files needed for storing even data are not copied since the destination drive already has its own). The really big difference is, after the initial backup, updstes will take far less time than actually cloning. The better folder/file syncing programs also have a feature called Versioning that, when enabled (which I strongly recommend), will send files deleted from the backup drive during an update to a user designated Versioning drive or folder. This protects from losing accidentally deleted files.
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  9. Posts : 636
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
       #149

    RoWin7 said:
    However, if my HD dies, then I need a clone to copy to a new HD. The downside is that a clone also copies all the free space, of which I have huge amounts.

    No, a clone is not necessary. An image is a copy of all the used space, and that's all you need for an exact copy of the working system.


    I had a dying HDD and made a Macrium image (not a clone) before it failed completely. I restored that to a replacement SSD and lost nothing.
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  10. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #150

    Bree said:
    ...I had a dying HDD and made a Macrium image (not a clone) before it failed completely. I restored that to a replacement SSD and lost nothing.
    You lucked out on that. The idea is to make an image every time you make a change to the System (change settings, update the System or programs, delete programs, etc.). Then, if you get failure without any warning, you will already have the image you need to recover with.
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