backing up windows 7

Good luck and welcome to SevenForums!!

tech7 said:

thanks for the help guyz
now i can backup my windows 7
thanks alot

You can find several free backup programs that will do the job for you. This Seven Forums site has an extensive list of free programs that work with Windows 7.

FREE Great Programs for Window 7

Among others you will find:

Macrium Reflect

If you have a Seagate or Western Digital hard drive in your system you can get an Acronis True Image HD manufacturer version:

Seagate DiscWizard

Western Digital, Acronis True Image WD Edition Software


If you want to find all your system information and more:

SIW - System Information for Windows


Another Seven Forums thread for 64 bit Win7 free programs:

Free 64-bit programs

You should always keep your system image backups on a different physical hard drive or storage media, an external hard drive works well for this. Depending on the amount of personal data you have a smaller media like DVD or big flash drive might be enough.
If you keep your image backups on the main hard drive and it fails you will loose everything, operating system, personal data and your backup. Hard drives do fail.

tech7 said:

thanks kari

so i will probably just create a system image as my main backup
and if something does go wrong and i need to reload that image
how would i do that?

thnaks

tech7 said:

so has anyone used system image
and restored it
becuz i really need to know as i sont want to take any risks with windows 7

tech7 said:

one more question

how do i restore a system image
from a portable hard drive

To use System Image as you main backup plan, you need to have some knowledge how to use Virtual PC or Disk Management to extract single files and / or folders from the image. I would recommend you used both: create a System Image to be able to restore your system completely, and create a scheduled backup to use when you only need to restore some files or folders.

I've used the system image and been totally happy with it. At work we have several identical computers (same make and model, same hardware), so to test if we could migrate to Windows 7 I installed build 7100 to one of these computers, installed then all the software we need to have on every computer. After everything was installed, I created a System Image to an external HD, and a System Recovery Disc. Using System Recovery Disc to boot the two other computers, I then restored the image I had created with the first computer. Everything went smoothly, after this procedure all three computers had a working Windows 7 with all of our software.

To restore a System Image you start the Backup and Restore Application and click Recover system images or your computer at the bottom of the page. From the next page you choose Advanced recovery methods, then Use a system image you created earlier to recover your computer, following the instructions given to you on your screen.

When your computer has crashed and you can not start Windows, you can use Recovery Disc to boot. Windows 7 Help gives detailed information how to do this:

Windows 7 Help and Support said:

1. Insert the installation disc or system repair disc.
2. Restart your computer using the computer's power button.
3. If prompted, press any key to start the computer from the installation disc or system repair disc.
   If your computer is not configured to start from a CD or DVD, check the information that came with your computer. You might need to change your computer's BIOS settings. For information about which settings to change, check your computer manufacturer's website. For more information about BIOS, see BIOS: frequently asked questions.
4. Choose your language settings, and then click Next.
5. Click Repair your computer.
   This step only applies if you are using a Windows installation disc.
6. Select a recovery option, and then click Next.

Hope you find all the info you need. I will give you some rep points for showing you understand the importance of backup. On this forum I've often lost my nerves when reading some members posts telling backup is not so important. It is refreshing to notice you really want to be prepared. Nobody wants problems with the computer, nobody wants the computer to crash. But s*** happens.

Kari

But did you actually try to restore to see if it really works?

Might be a good idea to at least check if you can boot from the repair disk and check if it will find/see and allow you use the backup image you created. That's where it failed for me. Ymm (hopefully) v.

tech7 said:

good news guys
all went to plan
my system image was created successfully
and system repair disc also worked fine
thanks alot
now i just have to do a rugular windows backup of my personal files

harpua said:

But did you actually try to restore to see if it really works?

Might be a good idea to at least check if you can boot from the repair disk and check if it will find/see and allow you use the backup image you created. That's where it failed for me. Ymm (hopefully) v.

harpua has a very good point, I have made several system repair discs that, for whatever reason, failed to work.
Always check them before you 'need' them.