backing up windows 7

[tech7]

Hi

i got windows 7 installed on my computer

i want to backup my system

which way should i back it up

system image or system repair disc

and whats the difference between them

thanks help me!!!

 

[Kari]

Hi Tech7 and welcome to the SevenForums.

System Repair Disc is something you (hopefully never!) need when things go really bad. It is a good idea to create a repair disc, though as it self it has nothing to with backing up your system.

If you read through these forums, you notice that a lot of users are using third party solutions for their backup needs. I am one of those who trust MS and Windows 7, I'm using the Windows 7 Backup. I've been extremely satisfied, it does what it promises.

System Image is a practical tool when something happens and you have to completely reinstall your system. It contains the whole Windows 7 hard drive, including all the files, folders, applications and software. Restoring a system image returns your computer exactly like it was when image was created. Personally I use system image as my main backup system, as told in tutorials here and here.

Backup is a bit more flexible letting you to choose what to backup. You can easily change settings adding files to a backup or removing them.

Both System Image and Backup functions can be fully automated.

Kari

 

[masterB]

Try this program to image your system.
Macrium Reflect Backup and Hard Disk Image software for Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003/2008
It's free and it does a good job.

 

[tech7]

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

 

[harpua]

With a hope and a prayer that it works as advertised.

Reason I say that is that it (W7 backup) didn't work for me when I tested it. By test, I mean when I tried to restore a full image backup I made with it by booting from the Windows install disk. Probably was just my particular external hard drive that didn't work well with it, but that was enough to put me off it.

So I went back to my old standard (which is Acronis True Image Home, now using v. 2010) to make both compressed image backups and sector by sector clones of my entire C: drive. I sleep better now. Acronis has worked well for me for many many years now and the newest version seems pretty awesome to me.

 

[tech7]

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
:sarc::sarc::sarc:

 

[harpua]

Try it yourself like I did. Maybe it will work for you. Even if it works for someone else, that doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you. 10 people could post in this thread that it works for them and that won't necessarily assure that it will work for you. The only way to be sure is to test it out on your system and see if it works (i.e., will restore properly) for you.

 

[tech7]

one more question

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

 

[Tews]

Depending on the program, it will ask you for the image file and location ... select your drive, and the image file...

 

[tech7]

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

 

[Tews]

Good luck and welcome to SevenForums!!

 

[tech7]

thanks Tews

 

[Dave76]

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.

 

[Kari]

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

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
:sarc::sarc::sarc:

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:

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

 

[pparks1]

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
:sarc::sarc::sarc:

Yes, I have used it. Between test boxes at work and getting all of my hardware squared away at home...I've restored using this tool at least 20 different times on 4 different machines and have not encountered any problems at all restoring. I've backed up to internal secondary drive, I've backed up to external USB drives and I've even backed up to DVD media and restored from all of them.

The only "issue" i experienced was backing up a 160GB drive (which was nearly empty) with the utility and then trying to restore it onto an 80GB drive to test out the 80GB drive and the utility would not allow me to restore it onto a smaller disk.

 

[tech7]

thanks alot guys
thanks kari
i now know how to backup and i will let you know how it goes

 

[tech7]

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]

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.

 

[Dave76]

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

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.

 

[bjrichus]

I downloaded and installed Macrium Reflect and man - even the free version is impressive!

Much faster then the regular backup program in Windows 7 and the backup image file is mounted as a drive letter for you without any effort once the backup is completed!

I restored a few odd files form that new drive letter (ok, so I used explorer to drag and drop them) to verify that they were all ok and it all worked fine, data was intact and .exe file worked. File sizes were identical to the originals!

You even get a PE-type of CD ISO to use for system recovery.

I'm (almost) sold on getting the paid version to get the easier file at a time recovery thing.