Windows 7 Backup

I should preface this by saying that I'm really not as obtuse as this is making me look.


Thanks again to Bree and SIW2.

You user files have been backed up twice, once in the files and folders backup, but they are also in the system image backup.

Probably shadow storage.

Fair enough.

you don't need to keep remaking it.

Also fair enough.
However, the whole recovery process is what I'm still fuzzy about, partly, I think, as a result of my failure to understand all of the terms being used.
From my last post:

re the recovery disc, I don't recall that option being offered when I did the image, but it may be that I just overlooked it. Presumably it can be created after the event?

... although, worst-case-scenario, if I just missed it first time round, I can always re-do the imaging process on to the portable hard drive; not the worst thing in the world, given how I'm intending to do backups in future.

You will need to be able to boot to media that contains the system image restore program. Either a "repair disc", or the installation media.

This is where the 'I'm really not that obtuse' assertion comes in.


I'm assuming that 'installation media' refers to the original Windows 7 installation CD. If that's the case, we can forget that option. My son installed this for me some ten years ago, and I know he's long since upgraded to Windows 10; I doubt he's even still got the original Windows 7 CD now, let alone being able to find it. I'm further assuming that a repair disc would be the disc that you're given the option of creating when you do the system image ( albeit that I missed it ...! ). If that's correct, this brings me back to my previous question: does the 'repair disc' or 'restore disc' literally have to be a disc? At risk of making myself seem even more dim than may well already be the case - and bearing in mind that the final object of the exercise is to have the new internal SSD as the primary C drive - could I, for example, either:

• Use a flash-drive ( or memory stick, or USB stick, or whatever the correct term ) in place of an actual disc?
• Create the 'system restore' programme on the same external hard drive that I've used to image the original C drive, rather than use any additional media of any kind? Or even ...
• Plug the new SSD in, and create the system restore programme on that?

As I say, I can almost see some of you rolling your eyes as you read this. In my defence, even though ( believe it or not ) when I was at school I won prizes for computer science, that was fifty years ago, the computer was as large as a sideboard and was the only one in the borough.

If it is first in the bios boot order and has an active flag set in the mbr executable code, the machine might attempt to boot from the old disk. That is a function of the motherboard bios, and nothing to do with the imaging program.

The bit I understood is 'nothing to do with the imaging programme'.
If I've removed the original C drive whilst doing the restore to the new SSD ( one way or another ), would the motherboard still regard the original C drive as 'first in the BIOS boot order' when it was subsequently plugged back in? - If so, there must presumably be some way around that?
Thanks once again for your indulgence. I do miss the old binary tape.

Once again, thanks to all for your contributions, in particular to SIW2 for his patience.


So I've attempted the process. As far as I can tell, the original C drive seems to have been successfully imaged to my portable hard drive. I've used USB7Ice to extract the Windows 7 64-bit installation software from the .iso file to a dedicated USB stick with nothing else on it. I've shut the computer down, removed the allegedly failing D drive, and plugged in the new virgin Samsung 860 Evo SSD. I've left the original C drive in place ( which is how I'm able to post this ), plugged in the USB stick with the installation software on it, and restarted the computer, still booting from the original C drive at this stage. A popup tells me that the drivers for the new SSD have been successfully located and installed. So far so good. However:


Although, when I press F8 on startup, the Samsung 860 Evo is shown on the list, when I boot up and check 'My Computer', the new drive is not shown ( as a matter of interest, both the USB stick with the installation software on it, and the external portable hard drive with the image on it, are shown ).


Whatever the reason for that, when I then attempt to actually restore the image to the new SSD, I get as far as the System Recovery Options window and 'Microsoft Windows 7' does not appear ( nothing does ). As per instructions, I ignore this and press 'next' anyway. However, when I get as far as the next System Recovery Options window with the five options ( Startup Repair, System Restore etc. ) and click on System Image Recovery, I get a message saying 'The system cannot find the file specified' and an error message 0x080070002 ... and that's it; that's as far as I can get.

Sitting here with an open computer and an assortment of screwdrivers. Any help very gratefully appreciated; I've previously suggested the 'explain it to me like I'm a six-year-old' principle ... maybe make that 'explain it to me like I'm a four-year-old'.

Yes: 2 internal mechanical hard drives to begin with, one of which was the C drive ( 1 TB HDD ) and the other the D drive ( 500GB HDD ), which was the one that was failing and which started off this whole sorry story.


Yes, I made an image of the original C drive ( as above ) to an external Western Digital Elements 2TB HDD, which Windows recognises in My Computer without any problems.


Yes, when I'd shut the computer down, I removed the D drive ( which was the one for which the 'failing' warning had originally flashed up ) and plugged in the new Samsung 860 EVO SSD. Started up the computer, which then told me it was locating and installing the drivers for the Samsung, and after a couple of minutes told me that the drivers were successfully installed.


Following your instructions, I'd used USB7Ice to extract the 64-bit Windows 7 Installation Media to an otherwise unoccupied USB stick which I've used countless times before for data storage, without any difficulty. With the original C drive, the USB stick, the external hard drive with the image on it, and the new SSD drive plugged in, I re-started the computer. At the initial prompt I pressed F8 to select the boot media. The new Samsung SSD came up on this list. I chose the original C drive to boot from, in order to be able to access My Computer and see whether it was recognising everything. It recognised everything except the new SSD. Since the new SSD had appeared in the boot list options, I didn't know whether or not this mattered at this stage; so, still following your instructions, I went to my printed-out copy of 'How to Boot to the System Recovery Options in Windows 7'.


Following those instructions, I got as far as the System Recovery Options window and 'Microsoft Windows 7' does not appear ( nothing does ). As per the instructions ( 'If Windows 7 is not listed here, or it is blank, then it is ok. Click on Next anyway' ) I clicked on 'next' anyway. At this stage I get a message saying 'The system cannot find the file specified' and an error message 0x080070002, but it allows me to ignore this and move on to the next window, which is still the System Recovery Window, but the one with the five options ( Startup Repair, System Restore, System Image Recovery, Windows Memory Diagnostic, Command Prompt ). I click on System Image Recovery and get the exact same message ( i.e. 'The system cannot find the file specified' and an error message 0x080070002 ). It won't let me do anything after that point.


If in fact there are drivers needing to be added, I don't know which ones, where to find them or why they're needed. The only things that are new are the external hard drive, which I've had no problems with since I bought it, and which Windows recognises without any difficulty; and the new Samsung EVO 860 SSD, which the boot menu recognises but Windows 7 does not ( or at least not that shows up within 'My Computer' ), despite the fact that when I first installed it, the computer told me it was searching for, and had found and installed, the drivers for that SSD.


I hope that clarifies, and I apologise if any of this seems like I'm teaching you to suck eggs; that's certainly not the intention, I'm just trying to give all the necessary information.

Firest you need to check in windows disk management and see if the new disk is initialized, partitioned and has a letter allocated.

Had no clue how to do that, but Google was my friend, so I think I've conquered that one now; the new SSD is showing up in My Computer, although that in itself hasn't solved the problem.

If the external disk is connected via usb3, win7 does not come with usb3 drivers as standard.

From memory, when my son built this machine for me ten years ago, two of the USB ports are USB3 and the other two are USB2. I think. Don't ask me why; even he can't remember now. Up to this point, it's made very little difference ( USB3 is reputedly faster, although I've never noticed any perceptible difference regardless of which port I use; but still ). Having used all of the ports without incident over the course of the last ten years, until now, the question of drivers had never arisen. The problem now is that I'm not 100% sure which ports are which; if by nothing more than the law of averages, I'd say there's a reasonably good chance that the USB stick containing the installation media is plugged into a USB3 port. Equally, I'm reasonably sure that the external hard drive containing the image of my original C drive is plugged into a USB2 port.


So, irrespective of why it's never reared it's head until now, if the answer is as simple ( I use the word 'simple' very much in a relative sense ) as downloading USB3 drivers, so be it. However:

Use dism++ to export any relevant 3rd party drivers into a folder.

... this is where it all grinds to a halt.
I downloaded and saved Dism++10.1.1000.100. Since this appeared to be a zip file, I extracted it to a folder within the Downloads folder on my original C drive ( which is what I'm still currently working from in order to have access to the internet ).

Then mount boot.wim from the installation media and add the drivers.

As they say where I come from, I haven't a scooby. I have no clue how to 'mount' boot.wim, which I gather I'll find somewhere within the installation media files that are now stored on the USB memory stick. I'm assuming 'mount' doesn't mean 'open', or you'd have said 'open'; just in case, on the offchance, I tried opening it, and Windows 'can't open this file'. Even if I'd managed to 'mount' boot.wim, I wouldn't know how to add the drivers, or indeed which files those would be ( all the extracted files from the Dism++10.1.1000.100 zip file? - pure guesswork here ).

Then save the mounted image and finally unmount.

Inasmuch as I've no idea how to get to the point of having a 'mounted image', I wouldn't know how to save it or unmount it.

Attachment 411225
Attachment 411224

... I'm sure these are extremely useful if you have some idea what they are and what to do with them.

Nothing I've managed to do so far gets me to the window illustrated in Attachment 411224, but if that does happen at some point, do I just click 'export' for everything that's ticked?



Obviously, trial and error would be one way to go: simply repeat the original restoration process using every combination of USB ports for the installation media / external hard drive until, hopefully, they both end up being plugged into USB2 ports - assuming I'm right in the first place and two of the ports are in fact USB2. On the one hand, I can't believe that's actually going to be the correct way to go; on the other hand, I'm starting to feel like I'm trying to read the schematics of the Starship Enterprise in order to figure out how to turn on a light-switch.


Honestly, when this all started out, I thought I at least had some idea what I was doing. If nothing else, I guess that's a lesson learned. You remember I modified 'explain it to me like I'm a six-year-old' to read 'four-year-old'? Maybe I should make that either 'three-year-old' or 'alien', or possibly at a push 'alien with learning difficulties and poor language skills'.

Right: to wrap this thread up, firstly my thanks to everyone who's offered their assistance, and not least to SIW2 for his patience ( which I fear I may have exhausted! ). Ultimately, since I clearly don't have the language skills to understand the whole 'mount boot.wim' process, I resorted to trial and error, which seemed the only alternative; eventually I found the two USB2 ports and the rest was fairly plain sailing. I do still have a couple of other problems, which I've posted separately, rather than drag this thread on indefinitely; but again, thank you all for your help.