Creating system image?

[BarnabasSackett]

Windows 7 Ultimate.

After my problems reported elsewhere, I decided to make a system image after I got things working. This was recommended by inference by one of the gurus who responded to my questions.

So I got the system up again and I needed to learn about system images. So I hit F1 and read about creating a system image. Clicked here, clicked there, specified by external hard drive and told it to only include my system drive C:. Whir, whir, whir . . .. system image created.

Now, I've cleaned the system of any possible Malware, so I want to create a new image of my system drive. So, I click here, click there and specify my external hard drive but NOW it won't let me include only drive C:, it wants to include my data drive, E:. The check box for E: is greyed out so I can't uncheck it.

Any suggestions? Any idea of what is going on here? Or what I did I click incorrectly.

 

[Brink]

Hello Barnabas,

Did you move anything like your user profile folder, user folders, page file, etc... to the E drive?

If you did, then that will make your E drive a system drive. By default, all system drives are included in a system image, and they cannot be deselected since they are required for Windows 7 to be able to run properly.

 

[BarnabasSackett]

That must be it. After I got everything working, I did the System Image, moved the user files to E: and then used MKLINK to create a "junction" so that C:\Users\Barnabas points to E:\Users\Barnabas.

Is there a way around this? Would a symbolic link do anything differently than a junction?

 

[Brink]

Same thing basically. You'll need to move them back to C (un-MKLINK them) before you will be able to uncheck E.

 

[BarnabasSackett]

Nothing is ever easy, is it?

 

[Brink]

LOL, no it sure doesn't seem like it so far.

 

[kado897]

I would suggest that after you have unlinked that you access your data files on E by including the folders in the appropriate libraries. This way Windows does not treat them as system and they don't get included in an image.

 

[BarnabasSackett]

I would suggest that after you have unlinked that you access your data files on E by including the folders in the appropriate libraries. This way Windows does not treat them as system and they don't get included in an image.

I did that with XP but discovered that Microsoft likes to hide things in the User folder, which if it is on C:\ can get wiped out when things go awry. I moved everything to E: so that I can just copy User folder on E and get everything in one fell swoop.

 

[kado897]

Yes you get a lot of settings in the hidden AppData folder and some programs create their own settings folders under User. That is one good reason to leave them on C so that they will be imaged along with Windows and the programs. You can also separately back them up as folders if you need more frequent backups. In my own setup I have left the user folders where they are but they have very little of what would be user data in them. My documents, pictures, music and videos are all on other partitions, added to the appropriate library and made the default save location there.

• Create a new folder at any location you want.
• Move any files you want into the new folder.
• Include the new folder into a library of your choice.
• If you like, you can also set the new folder to be the default "save" to location for the library as well.