Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

How to Create a System Image Backup in Windows 7​

   Information

A system image is an exact copy of a drive. By default, a system image includes the drives required for Windows to run. A system image would include all NTFS formatted partitions with an operating system installed on it (ex: C ), as well as the System Reserved partition. These system partitions cannot be unselected. It also includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard disk or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it's a complete restoration—you can't choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced with the contents of the system image.

This tutorial will show you how to create a system image (clone) backup of the entire hard drive or partition that Windows 7 is on, and any other selected drive or partition. You can use this image to be able to do a system image recovery to restore the hard drive or partition at boot back to the way it was at the time the backup image was created.

If you want to include additional drives in the system image, you can manually create a system image. If you manually create a system image, it can be saved on a USB flash drive, CDs, DVDs, or a hard drive.

If a system image was created through Windows Backup instead with the Include a System Image of Drives box checked, you can set Windows to retain as many system images as it has space for on the backup disk or to only keep the most recent system image.

   Note

Keeping different versions of system images

If you're saving your system images on an internal or external drive, or on CDs or DVDs, you can keep several versions of system images. On internal and external hard drives, older system images will be deleted when the drive runs out of space. To help conserve disk space, you can manually delete older system images.

Backup images are saved as backup periods in this format at the selected saved to location like the example below.

drive letter:\WindowsImageBackup\computer name\Backup YYYY-MM-DD HHMMSS

For example, if your computer name is Computer, your backup image location is on hard disk or partition (network or local) D: , and you backed up on 11/22/2008 at 1:00:50 PM (It uses 24 hour time), then that backup image would be located in the folder below.
D:\WindowsImageBackup\Computer\Backup 2008-11-22 130050
If you're saving your system images in a network location, you can only keep the most current system image for each computer. If you have an existing system image for a computer and are creating a new one for the same computer, the new system image will overwrite the existing one.

   Tip

If you want to keep multiple system image versions on the same drive or partition, then you can use either method below to do so.

METHOD ONE:
Change the maximum space used for system images on the drive letter you are saving the Windows Backup to by changing the maximum space used by System Protection for the same drive letter. This is the same setting.

You do not have to have System Protection turned on for the drive letter, but do need to adjust the maximum space to what you like.

The size of a system image can be quite large since it will include all system drives in the image by default plus any drives you have included. If you want to keep multiple system images, be sure to increase the max size accordingly.

METHOD TWO:

1. Navigate to the backup location above for where you saved a system image that you want to keep before creating a new system image.

2. Right click, or press and hold, on the WindowsImageBackup folder, and click/tap on Rename.

3. Rename it to something like WindowsImageBackup-Copy-1, press Enter, and click//tap on Yes if prompted by UAC.
NOTE: This way you can just easily change the 1 an the end of the name to 2, 3, 4, etc... for each new system image that you make a copy of.

4. You now have a different system image version that you can leave at this location to be able to keep multiple versions.

NOTE: When you want to restore a system image in a renamed WindowsImageBackup-Copy-1 folder in the future, then you must rename the current WindowsImageBackup folder first, then rename the WindowsImageBackup-Copy-1 folder back to WindowsImageBackup in order to be able to restore it. The WindowsImageBackup folder must be in the root directory of the drive, and not within another folder.

   Warning

• Windows 7 can only include drives formatted with the NTFS file system in the system image.
• Windows 7 cannot include the partition or drive that you are saving the backup image to in the image.
• All "system" or "boot" drives/partitions are included in the system image by default, so you will not be able to save the system image to a system or boot drive/partition.
• If you are saving the system image to a HDD or partition, then you can only save the system image on a separate hard drive (recommended) or partition than what Windows 7 is installed on. It cannot be saved to the C: drive.
• Only the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions can backup to a network location.
• You cannot restore a 64-bit Windows 7 backup image on a 32-bit system.
• You cannot restore a 64-bit Windows 7 backup image with a 32 bit Windows 7 installation DVD or recovery partition, or the other way around. You must use the same 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 7 installation DVD or recovery partition as the backup image is.
• A system image that was created on a computer using EFI cannot be restored on a computer using BIOS. It can only be restored on a computer using EFI.
• When restoring a system image from a dynamic volume, the disks on your computer cannot be formatted to match the layout of the disks on the backup. To have full functionality, select a volume (partition) on a basic disk as your backup location instead.
• I would recommend to create a system image on a separate HDD, or a separate partition on a separate HDD, for the best reliability to restore from it. CDs or DVDs are just not as reliable. A scratch one just one of them could ruin the whole image.

Here's How:
1. Open the Control Panel (icons view).

2. Click on the Backup and Restore icon.

3. Click on the Create a system image link. (See screenshot below)

4. If prompted by UAC, click on Yes.

5. Select the location to where you would like to save the backup image at, and click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: See the Warning box at the top of the tutorial. Only the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions can backup to a network location.

6. If available, check any additional hard drives or partitions (ex: Vista) that you would like to include in the backup image with the Windows 7 (System and C: ) partition or hard drive, and click on the Next button. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: See the WARNING box at the top of the tutorial. If you do not want to add any additional hard drives or partitions, then just leave the others unchecked. You will not see this, if you do not have any other OS installed other than Windows 7.

7. Click on the Start backup button. (See screenshot below)

8. You will now see this window. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: If you wish to stop creating the backup image during this point, click on the Stop backup, Stop, and Close buttons.

9. When it is finished you will see this create a System Repair disc pop-up window. Click on No. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: For how to always hide or show this message, see this tutorial.

10. Click on the Close button. (See screenshot below)

11. Close the Backup and Restore window. (See screenshot below step 3)
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Backup User and System Files in Windows 7
• How to Do a System Image Recovery in Windows 7
• How to Backup and Restore the Windows 7 Registry
• How to Enable or Disable the Ability to Create a System Image in Windows 7
• How to Extract Files from Windows 7 System Image using Virtual PC
• How to Extract Windows 7 System Image Files Using Disk Management
• Imaging with free Macrium
• How to Restore your System with a Broken Windows 7 System Image
• How to Manually Extract Files from a Backup in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Backing up to a CD or DVD in Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Backing up to Local Hard Disks in Windows 7
• How to Delete Windows 7 User Data and System Image Backup Files
• How to Create a "Create a System Image" Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Hide or Show "Do you want to create a system repair disc?" Message
• How to Fix Backup Error 0x81000019 in Windows 7
• New Installation: How to Create a General System Image in Audit Mode

 

[Greg S]

Greg,
I've not managed to get it work as MS advertises B&R, but I do think that at one time with B&R I did have multiple images.

I've learned to rename a backup, to avoid the problem...

I wonder if anyone has achieved multiples without renaming using build 7600? MS sounds so convincing that it works that way. What are we missing here?

 

[karlsnooks]

I wonder if anyone has achieved multiples without renaming using build 7600? MS sounds so convincing that it works that way. What are we missing here?

Same question here.

I kept trying different things but never hit upon the correct combo to make B&R work as advertised.

 

[JFLAG]

Brink-
I followed your tutorial onto a new HP 500GB "Simple Save" external. Creating a system image onto the USB drive of my 750 GB hard drive ( of which 278 GB is used), only 32 GB was used on the external, even though the backup setting confirmation warned the backup could take up to 289 GB. I proceeded with a backup on the external drive and it used another 8 GB. Where did I fail? Is it a FAT32/NTFS formatting issue as I read early in this thread? Sorry so noob.
Thanks in advance.

 

[karlsnooks]

Jflag,
I'm not Brink who is away for a few hours.

What you have is completely normal.

That second backup only added a few changes, that is, Win7 B&R makes incremental backups.

Does this answer you question?

 

[Greg S]

Brink-
I followed your tutorial onto a new HP 500GB "Simple Save" external. Creating a system image onto the USB drive of my 750 GB hard drive ( of which 278 GB is used), only 32 GB was used on the external, even though the backup setting confirmation warned the backup could take up to 289 GB. I proceeded with a backup on the external drive and it used another 8 GB. Where did I fail? Is it a FAT32/NTFS formatting issue as I read early in this thread? Sorry so noob.
Thanks in advance.

Welcome jflag!
I agree with Karl on the second backup. Your first backup I think is only reflecting the size of the Backup and not the Image size. Image and Backup being two different animals. Your Image size is probably way higher than 32 GB but if I'm not mistaken, the Image size is reported as a 0 byte Empty folder until you open it giving yourself permanent access. The pic below shows my last Image on that particular external, note that it says that the Folder is Empty.

 

[JFLAG]

Thanks for the quick response guys! Actually what I was wondering is why the system mirror only used 32 GB of the 500 GB external when my C: drive contains 278 GB. I could reason that it was compressed, but the Win7 image utility said that it could take up to 289 GB. That's a heck of a compression ratio.

The 32 GB used info is from the "properties" of the external drive (see attached images) starting from brand new and empty today. It went to 38 GB used when I also did the backup thinking image was just system files and backup was everything else.

The C: drive is just stock as received from Dell. No unusual partitions that I can see, but I'm not all that savvy.

 

[Greg S]

Thanks for the quick response guys! Actually what I was wondering is why the system mirror only used 32 GB of the 500 GB external when my C: drive contains 278 GB. I could reason that it was compressed, but the Win7 image utility said that it could take up to 289 GB. That's a heck of a compression ratio.

The 32 GB used info is from the "properties" of the external drive (see attached images) starting from brand new and empty today. It went to 38 GB used when I also did the backup thinking image was just system files and backup was everything else.

The C: drive is just stock as received from Dell. No unusual partitions that I can see, but I'm not all that savvy.

In light of your screenshots, my theory is invalid,lol. Your disk properties dialog would indicate the used space more correctly than the properties of the Image Folder which will display as Empty Folder until permanent access is granted. After the Backup, do you have folders for both the Backup and WindowsSystemImage?

 

[JFLAG]

Greg-

The utility created two folders (image attached) and it seems to have put the image and backup inside the same folder WindowsImageBackup just judging from the name. Both new folders show zero file size as you pointed out, but I understand they are hidden to keep the novices out.

 

[karlsnooks]

JFlag,
Nothing unusual there.

Let me repeat: Win 7 B&R is NOT A SECTOR BY SECTOR IMAGE BACKUP.

Win 7 produces 1) a VHD which is used for a full restore
and 2) .ZIP files which have backups of individual libraries etc IF you requested such.

The VHD file only has the actual info needed to do a full system restore.
There is no paging file, no temp files, none of the stuff which Disk Cleanup eliminates. MS is rather clever about putting only the necessary stuff in that image file.

In a little while I'll probably post a couple more screen shots for you.
But really when I think about it, this is getting far from Brink's excellent tutorial and is more Q and A regarding backups. Post a new thread in the General Discussion forum. You will get bombarded by those with only a superficial knowledge but still let us carry on there.

 

[JFLAG]

Okay, thanks again. My concern was that the external was defective, and about possibly not getting back to the exact system configuration after some future e-pocalypse.

I'll search and post for testing tips in the GD.

 

[Brink]

Ok Karl, I have the results in, and I cannot get it to list more than one image either. I posted this in the NOTE box in the tutorial to help people to be able to have multiple copies though.

If you're saving your system images in a network location, you can only keep the most current system image for each computer. If you have an existing system image for a computer and are creating a new one for the same computer, the new system image will overwrite the existing one. If you want to keep the existing system image, you can copy it to a different location or rename it before creating the new system image by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the location of the system image, then do either one of these options below. (see above)
2. Copy the WindowsImageBackup folder to a new location.
3. Right click on the WindowsImageBackup folder and click Rename, then give rename to something like WindowsImageBackupCopy1. You can continue this with Copy2, Copy3, etc for other system images that you would like to keep.

 

[karlsnooks]

Shawn,
Excellent. That should cover all bases. Somewhere MS changed non-networked computers to work the same as networked computers. On networked computers the new overwrote the old.

This change thru me for a loop because I thought I had several system image backups and when I went looking there was only the one VHD file. Damage was not serious but sure meant that I couldn't recover to an image file which I thought I still had since the external drive was not even near to being full.

 

[karlsnooks]

If you're saving your system images in a network location, you can only keep the most current system image for each computer. If you have an existing system image for a computer and are creating a new one for the same computer, the new system image will overwrite the existing one. If you want to keep the existing system image, you can copy it to a different location or rename it before creating the new system image by following these steps:

1. Navigate to the location of the system image, then do either one of these options below. (see above)
2. Copy the WindowsImageBackup folder to a new location.
3. Right click on the WindowsImageBackup folder and click Rename, then give rename to something like WindowsImageBackupCopy1. You can continue this with Copy2, Copy3, etc for other system images that you would like to keep.

You might want to change that so that there is one Step 2 and no Step 3 with an OR between the two alternatives of Step 2.

I simply rename before performing the next backup as this keeps all of my system images together.

 

[Greg S]

I simply rename before performing the next backup as this keeps all of my system images together.

Same here

 

[Brink]

Done.

 

[karlsnooks]

Terrific. I've been pointed anyone with backup questions to this tutorial. Sure does save me much agony and time. Thanks for another excellent tutorial.

 

[Brink]

Thank you for pointing out these issues to make them easier for everyone.

 

[Hopalong X]

Brink or
one of the other "Professors" on the forum.

Let me see if I got this all straight.

For a new HD drive to use for the storage.

1) Follow Brinks set up on page one on this thread.
2) Use an external HD or an internal non-raid storage only HD.
My choice I realize there are other devices.
3) Select my BSC'ed XP and it will include that in the image.


Pre image new HD setup.
A)If needed on the new HD: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26829-convert-dynamic-disk-basic-disk.html
B) Will need on the new HD: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2674-partition-volume-create-new.html
C)Make sure one of the volumes of the partition are big enough for the "image" ahead of time.
D)The non-image side of the partition can be used for other storage etc? Correct?

If I need to reinstall Win7 on new HD or the System Repair CD won't repair then I'll need the image.
If the above is all good then I get to my next question.

Is my next step this?
:sarc: I think I reinstall my Win7 CD then go here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/675-system-image-recovery.html

If this is it then I'm set when I get the other HD.

Thanks in advance. I know someone will set me straight if the above is wrong.

I thought this was what a RAID was for until I checked out the RAID discussions on the forum.
RAID1 is best left for bug spray it would seem.

Mike

 

[Brink]

Hello Mike,

That sounds right to me. When you restore the system image, it wil restore both XP and Windows 7 since you included both partitions/drives in the backup. Restoring the image will normally format the drive that you are restoring the image to.

 

[Hopalong X]

Thanks Brink.

I haven't done the image yet. I have to get the HD.
I think I'll order up another WD Black SATA-2 to match the one I have.

Will Win7 auto detect the new HD?
I suppose it would as new hardware?
If not use the search for new hardware?

Thanks again Brink.
Mike