Problem with System Image Recovery

[Novastorm]

So I decided I'd finally upgrade from my 150 GB SATA HD, and I'm already regretting it. They say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"... guess I should've listened.

Anyway, I created a Windows 7 Pro 64bit system Image from the old drive and put it on an external HD. Then I removed the old HD, switched cables and checked the bios settings to make sure the new HD was recognized as the first HD. After booting with the restore CD and choosing the System Image Recovery option and choosing the image, it gives me the last "Re-image your computer" screen with the following information:

Date and time: 10/30/2010 timeblahblahblah
Computer: MyDesktop
Drives to Restore: \\?\Volume{fbdd5e3b-abbf-11df-aa47-806e6f6e6963}, C:

I'm not sure what the "\\?\Volume..." stuff is all about since I don't see that on any other screenshots I've looked at.

So I click the "Finish" button and then click "Yes" for the warning message about formatting and replacing the info on the drive. I then get the following message:

The system image restore failed.
No disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found.

So, the bios detects the drive, I've gone into the diskpart.exe program on the restore disk and it sees both the drive and the C: partition... What am I missing here? At this rate I'm going to give up and just keep using my old 150gb drive...

 

[payne9999]

Not sure what is happening with your Win 7 system image. I use the Win 7 back up and restore as well and I have often worried that in the event of a catastrophic disk failure I might not be able to recover.....I will probably purchase Acronis soon. However, I do a manual backup of all data files and a separate sys image just in case the recover option fails and I have to reinstall as well as manually retrieve the data files.

However, if you can, since you are starting with a new HD, is it practical to do a clean install and retrieve your data from the old drive after the install? I know it is a bit of a hassle but it would probably be better.

Since I run some demanding stuff on my machine, I have had to do several fresh installs on two of my machines to solve certain problems. I am to the point now where it is becoming old hat to just reinstall.

I wouldn't give up on the new drive unless you cannot recover all the data you need or you have a ton of software to reinstall.

Dave