Hello, So I used DriveImage XML to backup my C: Drive. all the stuff is in a folder in C: Drive. That folder with all the backup data (image) is a compressed 7GB.
How do I put this 7 GB folder onto DVDs in such a way that if I have to restore the Win7 computer, I can do so?
You would need some sort of bootable version of DriveImage program , preferably on the same dvd's .
Do they have a downloadable boot image of some kind?
You might be better using one of these - they are free versions:
Backup & Recovery Free Edition
Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download
Does Macrium Reflect Free edition do compressing, too?
Yes, Macrium is similar to DriveImage in that it uses xml files, however, it is much more sophisticated.
Not knocking Drive Image - they have doing it free for a long time and respect to them for that.
D/l Macrium and the first thing to do is run off the boot disc ( select the Linux option).
Boot the cd and make sure it sees all your drives and is working fine. It's very unlikely it won't , but thre are always some machines that any boot cd will have trouble with.
The other one, Paragon is actually better in that it has an enormous number of features. You can also restore from within windows using Paragon ( still run off the Paragon boot cd and test it - just in case you need to restore and you can't get into windows)
Lads,
I keep telling everyone-Windows 7 has a marvelous Backup and Restore program. It is free. It is easy to use. It works!
I have used this several times, just recently, since I was testing out some other things and wanted to make sure that I could 100% restore. Works like a champ!
Hi karl,
Did you image just one or two partitions on the Hd - then try restoring?
Did you find it wipes all the partitions on the Hd and restores only the ones you imaged, and only to the exact same locations on the drive?
Less importantly, do you not also find it isn't very quick , and the backup images are very large ?
With all due respect to Karl, I would not mess around with the Windows imaging. As far as I can tell, he was lucky. It sometimes does work, it sometimes does not. And you cannot mount the images that are large and take a long time to make. Plus you cannot mount the images - only Win7 can. So you fly blind.
A while ago I posted this tutorial for free Macrium. You will see it is super simple to use, does a good compression (nearly 50%), is fast and most importantly works all the time. I restored already about 10 times for trial and for real and never had a problem. If you follow the tutorial, you will be in business in a few minutes.
As you can read, I have used and tried many imaging programs - but none can match Macrium in ease of use. Just one note - free Macrium does not do differentials (the paid version does) , only full backups. I personally prefer that. I never did differentials even with programs that have that capability because if you lose one in the chain you lost it all.
Let me repeat and repeat and repeat. Win 7's Backup and Restore works. It is easy to use, It is free. It is reliable.
Now to your question. I tried all different combinations of backing up partitions (and restoring). Not a single effort failed.
In the last three days, I've been testing different scenarios of backup and restore, of enlarging, of shrinking, of deleting, and of creating partitions.
What I did was first I would make a backup, Then I'd do my experimentation. When time came to restore, I'd do a restore. A couple of times, afterwards I had to so a system repair from the the Recovery Disk but this was due to my changing of partition sizes and locations.
I always use DiskPart to create, delete, grow, shrink, format, make active, assign drive letter to partitions.
I have also used ImageX to create and apply WIM files.
When it comes to requirements that will involve anything more than a simple grow of a partition or no change to partition size, then I work with WIM files.
I am glad it works for you. But what about all these other poor guys where it did not work. And how do you mount the image files and look at them or copy individual files/folders.Let me repeat and repeat and repeat. Win 7's Backup and Restore works. It is easy to use, It is free. It is reliable.
And this is the time it took to image my whole C drive. Try this with Win7.
Last edited by whs; 06 Mar 2010 at 22:30.
First to set the record straight, I make no comments on products which I've never used.
There are those who can mess up anything. I've written manuals, taught courses and no matter how simple and straight-forward the explanation there is always a percentage who will have troubles and there is also a percentage who never have problems and most of us fall in between.
Now to your question as how do you view the files backed up by Backup and Restore.
Backup and restore saves into a VHD file. That VHD doesn't come up and bite you but rather is, let us say, will hidden. This is a definite shortcoming, however, with the approach of Microsoft to many things, I believe they are afraid that we would harm ourselves if accessing the VHD was easy. I strongly disagree with MS's overly protective attitude.
UH OH. I will give the location info in the next post since I don't have a free USB port right now for connecting the external usb drive which I use for backups. I'lll send this off and be back in a couple of minutes. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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