Solved Do I need to format the Disc before creating a System Image?

[Elljay]

Hi. I would like to know if I need to format my Disc before creating a System Image on a new CD or do I skip that part. How long does this take to do and approx how many Cds would I need?
I have an Acer Netbook Win7 32bit that I have set back to factory condition.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I assume you mean DVDs rather than CDs.

Either is a poor choice on which to store a system image. They are prone to problems and not easily managed. Not to mention the low capacity. DVDs hold about 4.7 GB, so if you have 50 GB occupied on your C drive, it would take 11 disks at least.

I wouldn't even attempt it. If you insist on trying, I encourage you to have low confidence that you could restore successfully if you ever got in a jam and had to try.

 

[theog]

Say your HDD is 7000mb, you would need ten CD's which are 700mb each.

 

[Ranger4]

As mentioned using CD's or DVD's is not the way to go.
You can buy portable USB 1Tb external Hard Drives at very reasonable price. These just plug into a USB port & are powered by the computer.
Then you need to download a software program such as Macrium Reflect & install it. There is a free edition. This will enable you create you system image on the portable hard drive.

 

[gregrocker]

Agreed, you need an external or another internal HD to store the image and do your file backup.

Many users separate their User folders out into a separate partition so that the backup image is smaller, so that if Win7 becomes irreparable they can reimage to C and their data is current and waiting in its own partition.

There are two ways to do this: Make your separate data partition on the same or another HD, then move the User folders to it using http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/18629-user-folders-change-default-location.html.

This will not work if you want to use Win7 backup image which will want to include the data partition in the image since it contains User system files. You can either try another imaging app like free Macrium http://www.sevenforums.com/software/43219-image-your-system-free-macrium.html which is more flexible anyway,

or instead copy your User folders to the data drive, rightclick each to link to the related Win7 http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/585-library-include-folder.html setting each as the default save folder for that http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/595-library-set-save-folder.html. Once this is achieved and all files are showing in the data partitions' User folders, you can delete the User folders on C but keep C in the Library to watch in case a file lands there so you can move it.

 

[Ztruker]

You could create the image on a 16GB or larger USB Flash drive.

 

[Elljay]

Thank you everyone for your input.
What I would like to know - Do CDs or USBs always need to be formatted even if they are new? They always ask to format before using.

 

[Ztruker]

No, CDs and flash drives are already formatted. You would reformat the flash drive it has been previously used. Don't try to reuse CDs.

 

[Elljay]

No, CDs and flash drives are already formatted. You would reformat the flash drive it has been previously used. Don't try to reuse CDs.

Thank you Ztrucker.