Will Not Load My User Profile

I really can't stress to you the importance of having a reliable back up program. For example, with the recent power outage problem you have had, could have been rectified in probably half an hour if you had a recent Operating System image.

The main essential item in any back up program is, "THAT IT WORKS". The built in Windows back up & imaging program is not really considered reliable & strange problems seem to occur from time to time that prevent it being fully trustworthy.

Most of the people on the Forum, including myself use Macrium Reflect. I do a weekly image of my Windows Operating System to an external portable USB 3 hard drive, which is a fairly quick process. On the 2 occasions that I have needed to use it to reinstall the OS image took about 15 minutes.

I would suggest that you invest in an external hard drive, either a caddy type or a portable one. The one I use is a Hitachi Touro USB 3, portable 1 Terrabyte drive, which I have found reliable. DVD's & flash drives are not recommended for reliable image back ups. If the back up does not work when you desperately need it then it's almost worse than not having one. Backing up to Cloud storage areas are OK, but how easy will it be to access it when you need it?.

Macrium may seem complicated to you, but it really is very easy to use, so I would suggest that you download the free version & give it a go.

A couple of questions...

do I need the external drive before I download Macrium?
No, you could practice with the CD/DVD's before you had the opportunity to purchase the Drive.

And would an external drive such as yours work for backing up the new computer I plan to buy in a year or two?
It should as long as the Drive's file format matches the new computer, usually with Windows it's NTFS.

As Anak says you could practice with alternatives.

In reality we have to use hardware that is available today for things that we wish to do today. Whether they will work in the future is a question that no one can answer. The chances are that they will, but we have to prepare for things to change if it occurs.

Worrying about whether that external back up hard drive will work in the future, does not get back ups done in the meantime, which is the important part. External hard drives are not a major expense. If you have a local reliable computer shop go in & have a chat with them & find out the cost of one.

Alternatives.....

Here's one for you,
I have two (almost extinct) machines, one's an XP box, and the other is a Vista, meaning that, that is the operating system (OS) that is installed on each one respectively, and they are networked to this one, my win7 machine. Both have enough room (hard drive space) to accept the numerous images that I would want to place on them, and according to driver scans they're both healthy. That is what I use.

I also have CD's, DVD's and USB flash drives because like Ranger4 says:

If the back up does not work when you desperately need it then it's almost worse than not having one.

Let me paraphrase that; It's not almost, it is worse than not having one.

So counting the two extinct machines, the platters, and flash drives I have more than five different ways to recover my machine, and Ranger4 is correct, A hard disk drive (HDD) is the way to go because I don't know for sure if the others are okay, unless I run them, heck, I've even heard of users giving images of their HDD no matter what medium to their family and friends to keep for safekeeping in case the user had a weather catastrophe or a fire.

Diana, it would be nice if you get a new external drive, but if you don't have the wherewith-all to go the "new route" you need to look for alternatives; I do not mean to denigrate Ranger4's position, but one should always have... alternatives....

Ahh...Real-Life. Not a problem and thanks for letting us know, post back when you get a chance.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".
John Lennon, from "Beautiful Boy" English singer & songwriter (1940 - 1980)

Diana, I have just noticed that you have 2 anti virus programs listed in your System Specs. You show Microsoft Security Essentials & McAfee. Having 2 AV programs often cause problems as they clash with one another & unexplained things seem to happen.

I would keep MSE & uninstall McAfee. Uninstalling AV programs can be difficult, so it needs to be done properly. To uninstall McAfee, have a look at this website & follow the directions.

https://service.mcafee.com/webcenter...%3Dul5fi2plg_4