Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

I have a question regarding Dropbox for Windows. When you install their application onto your system, it creates a folder in User called "Dropbox". Any file that is dropped into this folder is auto-synced to your Dropbox account online. The Google Drive app works the exact same way. Carbonite (a paid service) works a little differently with their application; no folder is created in User, because their app can sync just about anywhere inside the C: drive (with potential limitations).

(Using Dropbox as an example): After creating a system image with this particular folder and program on it, wouldn't restoring it (i.e. a year later) be paradoxal? I'm trying to decide what the outcome would be; would Dropbox download any missing files (which were previously stored) from the cloud to the hard drive, or would files be removed from the account that had previously been there before the image was restored?

I hope this makes sense.

(this question could also be relevant to System Restores)

I think Shawn (Brink) is correct. If my current computer dies and I buy a new one, wouldn't I be able to retrieve all my stored Dropbox files and sync them to the new machine? Seems only logical that the sync process should also work if the old drive was formatted, or if a system image was used (which employs a formatting process if I'm not mistaken), or if a restore point was used.

Hi,

Quick question about this.
I've already done it and works fine. I have a backup in a usb flash.

Can it be used in another computer? Or will there be some kind of hardware conflict?

I know that if you just plug your Windows drive in another computer it will tell you it's a different PC and that a major hardware change has occurred. Is it the same with this thing?


Thanks.

Brink said:

Hello Ron,

Yes, their could be an incompatibility conflict since the system image is not being restored to the same motherboard as it was created on. This would mostly be to drivers for the old motherboard not working with the new one.

If needed, you can manually extract any files you wanted from a system image, and copy them to the new PC though.

System Image - Extract Files Using Disk Management

Hope this helps. :)

Shawn, could there also be licensing issues if the image was from an OEM machine?

Brink said:

Hey Lee,

Yes indeed, but you could just change the product key to a purchased retail key to activate with it instead. The major issue would be the different motherboard.

Thanks, Shawn. :)

Thank your for your quick answer.

So, is there any way to have an image that could work in any computer?
I know this thread isn't about this. Just asking a slight idea or where to head in order to find this info.

Thanks.