1 OR 2 system images if I have a laptop and a desktop?

[orlando1974]

I have a laptop (Win 7 64-bit Pro) and a desktop (Win 7 64-bit Ultimate). Can I just create one system image or is it best to create one for each? If so, why?

Thanks

 

[Brink]

Hello Orlando,

A system image can only be created per computer, so you would have to create one for each since they are separate physical computers.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[orlando1974]

OK thanks. Can I put them on same external drive under 2 different folders? (ie. Laptop, Desktop)

 

[Brink]

You can save them both on the same external drive since they will have a separate computer name folder in the WindowsImageBackup folder, but the WindowsImageBackup folder must be in the root of the drive for Windows to be able to use it for a system image recovery. If you place the WindowsImageBackup folder in another folder, Windows will no longer be able to see it.

 

[orlando1974]

Hmmm, I was hoping to fit both images on a 100GB external drive... but oddly...after successfully backing up the desktop system image (Ultimate) and using up 55GB, I went to do the same on the laptop (Professional) and it was estimating space needed as 180GB.

Why would my laptop image (c: only) require 3 times the space as my desktop image??? Same programs are installed! Almost identical setups....

 

[ignatzatsonic]

.

Why would my laptop image (c: only) require 3 times the space as my desktop image??? Same programs are installed! Almost identical setups....

The Windows backup tool has its own idea of what a "system image" is and it apparently thinks the setups aren't exactly identical.

We can't tell much more without a screen shot of Windows Disk Management on the laptop.

 

[orlando1974]

I've opted to try using Macrium Relfect (Free edition) after reading some positive comments and experiencing an error message with the Windows 7 backup feature. I like Macrium because it is simple to use and it allowed me to decide on a level of compression.

QUESTION 1: Does using a higher level of compression when creating the image affect anything other than it takes longer to create the image?

QUESTION 2: It took only 18 minutes to create the image from my SSD on my desktop, but over 2 very long hours to create the image from my laptop's internal drive!! Such a big difference! (for some reason the laptop is also yielding a much larger system image.. 100GB more than the desktop). Weird..almost identical setups in terms of programs.

 

[mjf]

..almost identical setups in terms of programs.

The difference may be that a system file is located on a non OS partition on your laptop. In terms of speed difference, the image size is clearly a big issue but also read speeds from your laptop spinner will be much slower than your SSD.
Full Disk Management screen shots of your Desktop & laptop could help with opinions.