Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

Sorry if this was mentioned before -- I was too lazy to read all 62 screens of this thread...

I suggest the "Warning" box for the tutorial be amended to point out that system backup will almost surely fail on an external drive of 3TB or larger, as noted in this thread: Backup failed error 0x8078002A on an external 3Tb drive

...as I just discovered trying to use a 3TB WD MyBook.

(This applies to win 7, not win 8.)

--p.

The second sentence in this tutorial --

This would be all NTFS formatted partitions or drives with an operating system installed on it (ex: C ) and the System Reserved partition are selected (checked) to be included in the backup and cannot be unselected.

is ungrammatical and I find it confusing. Can it be fixed?

malvoglio said:

The second sentence in this tutorial --

This would be all NTFS formatted partitions or drives with an operating system installed on it (ex: C ) and the System Reserved partition are selected (checked) to be included in the backup and cannot be unselected.

is ungrammatical and I find it confusing. Can it be fixed?

I can't re-write it, but I'd say it means this:

This would include all NTFS formatted partitions containing an operating system, as well as the System Reserved partition. They cannot be unselected.

Tip
If you want to keep multiple system image versions on the same drive or partition, then you can use either method below to do so.

METHOD ONE:
Change the maximum space used for system images on the drive letter you are saving the Windows Backup to by changing the maximum space used by System Protection for the same drive letter. This is the same setting.

You do not have to have System Protection turned on for the drive letter, but do need to adjust the maximum space to what you like.

The size of a system image can be quite large since it will include all system drives in the image by default plus any drives you have included. If you want to keep multiple system images, be sure to increase the max size accordingly.

I do a full image backup once a week to an external 465 GB hard disk drive (drive letter H: ).

There is only ever one image on that drive -- the most recent one -- but not older sets.

Entering

Code:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

into an elevated command prompt, I get (for the H: drive):

Code:

Used Shadow Copy Storage Space: 19.616 GB (4%)
Allocated Shadow Copy Storage Space: 22.538 GB (4%)
Maximum Shadow Copy Storage Space: 139.728 GB (30%)

Currently, Explorer shows the H: drive to have free space of 386 GB out of a total 465 GB.

My C: drive is 394 GB free out of 450 GB total, D: drive is 1,36 GB free out of 11.8 GB total, E: drive [not NTFS] is 1.91 GB free out of 1.99 GB total.

For SYSTEM drive, not visible in Explorer, the values are

Code:

Used Shadow Copy Storage Space: 7.625 MB (0%)
Allocated Shadow Copy Storage Space: 320 MB (21%)
Maximum Shadow Copy Storage Space: 461.248 MB (45%)

and for C: drive the values are 9.183 GB (2%), 9.594 GB (2%), and 10 GB (2%), respectively.

So am I interpreting the above-quoted instructions correctly to mean that in order to keep two full image backups on H:, I should keep System Protection turned off for H: (it's Off now) but increase its slider to a higher value, say 200 GB?

malvoglio said:

ignatzatsonic said:

I can't re-write it, but I'd say it means this:

This would include all NTFS formatted partitions containing an operating system, as well as the System Reserved partition. They cannot be unselected.

Thank you for clarifying. So in my system (please see my other message in this thread), Windows Backup images the C: drive (labeled WINDOWS) and the SYSTEM drive, but not the E: drive (labeled HP_TOOLS) because it is not NTFS formatted. How about the D: drive (labeled HP_RECOVERY) then?

Yes, drives is inaccurate. Partitions is the better term. A drive contains one or more partitions when in a usable state. If you buy a new drive, it won't contain any partitions. Partitions are made after the purchase.

I don't use Windows Backup precisely because it is confusing, as you are finding out.

It has its own ideas of what shall be included in a so-called Backup. If it thinks that a given partition contains anything related to Windows, that partition will be included. That would typically include C, System Reserved, and any other partition that may contain Windows boot files. So, the resulting backup may be larger than anticipated.

OEM builders, such as HP, have a way of putting boot files on odd partitions. I haven't kept up with that, but HP might put boot files on the HP_Recovery partition or elsewhere. In such a case, you would want to include that partition in a backup. The HP_Recovery partition's primary purpose is to help you restore your PC to the state it was in as manufactured, but that doesn't mean HP may not have also put some additional files on that partition.

So--I have no idea if Windows Backup will attempt to include HP_Recovery. Or the Tools partition, for that matter. You'd have to experiment and find out.

You could of course copy your boot files to C itself and/or use something other than Windows Backup to make images, but I assume you are committed to Windows Backup.

You could even just do a clean Windows install and get rid of all of those smaller partitions and have only a single partition (C) on your drive. That partition would include all boot files and would be the ONLY partition necessary to include in a system backup. Most here would probably tell you to do a clean install, but I could understand your reluctance.

Re-asking the question in case it got overlooked :)

So am I interpreting the above-quoted instructions correctly to mean that in order to keep two full image backups on H:, I should keep System Protection turned off for H: (it's Off now) but increase its slider to a higher value, say 200 GB?