Solved WindowsImageBackup to new hard drive

[3DPiper]

I have a Win7 computer that had two RAID drives, but they crashed.
Luckily, I have a fairly recent WindowsImageBackup of the system.
How can I restore that image to a new hard drive?
I have several Win10 machines, but I need to keep this Win7.

 

[torchwood]

Hi 3dpiper,


does this tutorial help

System Image Recovery

You didn't say what you used to back-up - MS or 3rd party.


Roy

 

[3DPiper]

I think that tutorial is for restoring to the computer you are currently using.
The computer I will be using this with has no hard drives in it now, I will be buying a new one (just one, no more raid)
I think this utility may be what I need:
HDDGURU: HDD Raw Copy Tool
or
Easy VHD to Physical Disk Solution - EaseUS

 

[torchwood]

hi 3DPiper

you still didnt say how and where your backup is
hopefully its 3rd party as they include a Boot rescue setup - like macrium free

never used Raid

id opt for HDDGuru


Roy

 

[3DPiper]

Sorry,
No I used the built-in win7 backup to make the vhd image
It is on an external hard drive and (as far as I know) does not have any bootable materials

Yes, I will never use RAID again (at least not raid zero)

 

[SIW2]

It is on an external hard drive and (as far as I know) does not have any bootable materials

Not sure I understand what you mean. Do you mean you need boot media to restore the image from the external disk to an internally connected disk ?

Windows 7 installation media has the system recovery options on it. System image restore is there. It can also be restored using wbadmin commands ( also in the win7 installation media/recovery disc)

System Image Recovery

 

[3DPiper]

Not sure I understand what you mean. Do you mean you need boot media to restore the image from the external disk to an internally connected disk ?

Yes. Image this scenario: you were just given a computer with no hard drive and no boot/emergency discs or even system discs, and you run newer versions of the same OS on all your other working computers. You do have a system image backup of the unworking computer on an external hard drive and that is it.

 

[SIW2]

Get a copy of win7 installation media. Not hard to find. Need the bit version that matches the os in the image.

Or you could mount the vhd and clone/copy it to physical disk. Plenty of free tools can do that.

 

[Bree]

Get a copy of win7 installation media. Not hard to find. Need the bit version that matches the os in the image.

Or you could mount the vhd and clone/copy it to physical disk. Plenty of free tools can do that.

Booting from W7 install media and using the system image restore tools would be the easiest option.


There should be multiple .vhd files in the WindowsImageBackup folder, one for each partition, and they'd all need to be cloned/copied (and in the right positions) to make a working system.

 

[Snick]

Windows 7 Professional x32 & x64
You can make all versions of Windows available, i.e., Starter x32 version only, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, & Ultimate with eicfg_removal_utility.zip

 

[3DPiper]

Booting from W7 install media and using the system image restore tools would be the easiest option.

Although it did take forever, this worked great!
Thank you so much for the help

 

[SIW2]

 

[Snick]