How To Make A Backup Windows Image

[@askleonotenboom]

One option is to use Windows’ built-in tool.

[@SuperLittleTyke]

I have read comments elsewhere that Windows 7 Backup in Windows 10/11 is buggy. Instead of fixing it, Microsoft introduced a new approach to backing up, which is not as good as the old Windows 7 way. So for Windows 10 I now use the free AOMEI Backupper software. Very straightforward program.

[@Mr.WellingtonVonDukeIII]

Dear Leo, I've got the problem of my images resetting their position to the center of the screen instead of where I previously left them I've tried googling the problem multiple ways but am left empty handed I even tried asking a site which shall not be named but to no avail, not even Windows home site helped either. Any help cuz, I have my desktop arranged in a specific way and it's very annoying to position the image window back where I want it everytime I open an image? Thanks in advance btw. Seriously grasping at straws here, my last ditch effort is to contact a Geek Squad or summon an interdimensional spirit from another plane of existence hope you can help me avert that fate. Sincerely, Reginald Wellington Von Duke III

[@greybeard5774]

This backup tool literally saved me from disaster when my spinning hard disk was failing .. no third party software could clone the disk due to bad sectors .. even clonezilla was helpless .. but the computer still booted up and worked .. so I made a disk image with the windows built in backup tool .. overall process took a few hours .. then I put the image on a new larger SSD with the windows 10 installation media, resized partitions .. and everything was perfect! And the next day my old drive was dead.

[@stansova3138]

This is why I do daily and weekly backups. and keep both of my backup drives off the computer when hooked up to the internet. I have the first drive catch the data, then I use the 2nd drive with clonezilla to update (ok, clone) the first drive.

[@davidmalik9821]

What is funny about this is that there was a time when Microsoft wouldn't allow this, or tried not to, and now they have it embedded. Yep, I was one of the ones who spent hours discussing with their representative why this was necessary to no avail. I did it anyway! LOL. Excellent explanation young man! BTW, I am helping an old customer with a new Win11 machine. I actually, BY ACCIDENT, found the old reliable control panel yesterday. It was like eating ice cream for the first time as a child. I surf day to day with a Linux machine, although I have Win10 and Win11, laptop and desktop respectively, in my home. That includes my banking as well as part of day-to-day activities. I usually dual boot if I can but it is becoming harder to do with UEFI. Again, thanks for the explanation. One of the easiest non-tech explanations I have ever seen. You get a like an subscribe!

[@The_Daliban]

Great video! Thank you Leo!

[@AlisonReidMe]

Hi Leo, thanks for the great video I have a simple (maybe dumb) question, will this backup Windows 11 itself? I mean, if my SSD M.2 drive goes kaput, can I use this on a replacement SSD M.2 drive? (I'm worried that could happen soon). Or is that an entirely different issue? Thanks

[@askleonotenboom]

An image backup, by definition, has EVERYTHING. OS, programs, data, whatever. You can replace a broken drive with a replacement that's empty, restore the image, and pick up where you left off.

[@AlisonReidMe]

@@askleonotenboom omg that's so amazing !!! thank you so much, I was really really worried coz I have no Windows discs. Thank YOU

[@SuperLittleTyke]

After watching this very informative and precise video I'm going to try Windows 7 Backup again on my Windows 10 PC. Previously, I've never had much luck using it. Windows reported something like "Windows Backup was unsuccessful..." So currently I use AOMEI on all my computers. Why oh why does Microsoft insist on making things so complicated? Why has Windows 7 Backup not been upgraded to Windows 10 Backup by now? Or Windows 11 Backup? And Microsoft wonders why we hate the company so much.

[@dionysus2006]

An image backup is an exact image of your hard drive, sector by sector. It isn't just backing up your data files where you have to reinstall every program you have every owned which you don't have the install packages for anyway. I used to use Norton Ghost years and years ago at work. We would clone the drive to another identical drive and do that multiple times. That way if a PC in the field ever went down they could just install a cloned hard drive and be back up and running in minutes. That is what I am looking for. Do you know an app that will do what I am describing ? Thank you

[@relmdrifter]

Will this image work for the UEFI restore in windows 10? Also what other programs would I look for that could write this image?

[@dabi4754]

Nice series and your a good speaker. One thing I don't see is Do I need to have Macrium to restore the image made by Macrium or can I take let's say EaseUs for example. Thanks

[@askleonotenboom]

Images are in a proprietary format, so you need Macrium for Macrium images, EaseUS for EaseUS images, and so on.

[@vengeance4719]

@@askleonotenboomis windows backup better than macrium?

[@askleonotenboom]

@@vengeance4719 No. I have instructions here because for many it's the only alternative, but even Microsoft says it's better to use a 3rd party app. I recommend Macrium or EaseUS Todo, but there are others as well.

[@RRRRapify]

It says it requires an ntfs usb, not sure what that is. Apparently mine isn't one

[@samubolvivat9504]

you are a good teacher, sir! Thank you.

[@EurekaRecycler]

Leo... My Windows wont come up. Using a Hirins boot disk I see my HDD has a Recovery Partition , How do I make a boot disk from my Recovery Partition ? Also it won't Repair from the OS disk. Thank you

[@askleonotenboom]

I'd download an installation disk, boot from that, and then use the recovery tools thereon. If those don't work I'd have to know HOW they don't work.

[@rockyv180]

Very helpful.

[@DavidM2002]

Leo, would you consider doing a followup video on making a bootable copy of a Windows drive ? I've become a believer in installing a second bootable drive in my computers. I've had boot drives go south on me and cost me endless hours fixing problems ( that I typically created myself). I now have second drives installed that, with a reordering of the BIOS, I can boot from in just a couple of minutes. I used a free app and it managed to clone from a 1Tb drive to a 500 Gb drive which I didn't think was possible. ( I won't leave the name of the app here as my posts get deleted if I do that. ) Thanks as always Leo.

[@STONE69_]

I have system protection turned, it creates periodical restore points of your drive, that you can go back to. I also do a daily or weekly manual backup of any new files to an external hard drive. This way, if my drive breaks, I can re-install Windows and restore all my files in about one in a half hours. Just making a copy of the whole drive become obsolete quickly.

[@sethi100]

Another great video. I’m still using Windows 10. Questions: 1. Why an external usb drive? I C drive on an ssd and a hard drive (platter) inside my pc. Or do I need a drive connected via usb? 2. I once tried setting up the File History back up as another back up tool. But never got that to work. 3. Im guessing you have already done a video on how to restore from a windows image? Thx

[@johnchill]

Hi Leo, thanks for your vids. Question, does the 3rd party software,need to be re authorised when the back up is reinstalled to a) the same hard drive in the same computer., b) a new hard drive in the same computer, Cheers

[@askleonotenboom]

With Windows backup, no.

[@greybeard5774]

No reactivation is needed .. it's an already activated image .. a clone so to speak

[@bikeny]

So, in my experience, whenever I used the term image it meant that the target drive was initialized first, thereby wiping out whatever might have been on it. I didn't see any prompt from the application warning you of such destruction, so, am I to assume that initialization DOES NOT TAKE PLACE? So, if I have a 2 TB "C" drive, does it mean that at long as my target drive has 2 TB free (ok, how much more for the overhead) am I good to go without worrying about what's on the target drive? Next question, the info that is backed up, Is it more than what a 'system restore' creates? I suspect so, my final question: Is the full file structure copied to the backup? That's what I have always been told an 'image' saves. That way the restore process not only brings your system stuff back, but your documents, photos, the things we all use our computers for. Thank you very much.

[@askleonotenboom]

An image is an image because it contains EVERYTHING in the source drive. It's simply stored as files in some format on the destination drive, so as long as there's room you're fine. System Restore is IN NO WAY a backup. At best System Restore is a glorified registry backup and nothing more -- it does NOT "restore" your system. More: askleo.com/why_i_dont_like_system_restore/

[@futuregamer5791]

Mine seems to just keep repeating and never finishes

[@Ko-Deckard]

if i want a second copy on another external HD can I copy and paste the WindowsImageBackup folder or will i need to run the system image again?

[@blackburd]

Remove your current boot drive, install the new one and "restore" to it. once you are up and running, switch the hard drives back and "bob's your uncle" you have an exact copy of the original drive.

[@Ko-Deckard]

@@blackburd Thanks blackburd. What I want to do is have a copy of the WindowsImageBackup folder on two separate HDD (in case one HDD fails). Do I need to run the program again to save the files to a second HDD, or can I just copy the files between HDDs?

[@charlotterogers8733]

Can I do an image backup using the windows 7 back up tool if I have only created a local Microsoft account ? I have a new desktop computer still in the box.

[@askleonotenboom]

Should be able to, yes.

[@adam108]

control panel does not open :(

[@branchau]

I'm confused about the scope of this backup operation. Does it backup everything on C drive, i.e. Windows, all applications, all data and anything else on that drive?

[@askleonotenboom]

An image backup includes everything on the disk.

[@stigboy7622]

@@askleonotenboom do that bakup the windows key to ? , so if i upgrade to win 11 and get a new win 11 key , and after som time want to install win 10 agein the win 10 key is stil there ?

[@TheBruceTR]

Hello Leo - Using Windows 11, can I create a System Image on a USB stick drive? Please advise. Many thanks.

[@askleonotenboom]

Yup.

[@speedster427]

No!!! Windows will not back up to an external drive. (Sept., 2024). That option is not available for a system image.

[@askleonotenboom]

@@speedster427 YES. "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)" will absolutely let you create an image on an external drive. Just checked.

[@speedster427]

@@askleonotenboom Mine will not ! The external drive option does not show up even though I have it plugged in. Instead, there is a message saying "windows cannot create a system image to an external drive". Google the net......I'm not the only one with this problem.....and no one seems to have an answer. Some, like you, just say it does work for them. Odd, it does work however for my other PC, a Windows 10 machine.

[@bonanzadriver3639]

Can this use a cloud storage solution? One Drive,Dropbox etc.

[@askleonotenboom]

No. Cloud is impractical for system images due to the size.

[@keiththompson2289]

Will third party backup programs allow me to back up my computer with two hard drives?

[@askleonotenboom]

Most do, yes.

[@squeakyg2161]

Leo I tried “create system image” but received an error code execution failed. It’s an internal system error . What to do about it. Windows 11 Pro machine. Plugged in Samsung T7 external drive but I can’t create system image. Anyone know what I need to do.

[@askleonotenboom]

Not enough details to go on. If motivated, submit a question at askleo.com/ask with lots and lots of details.

[@squeakyg2161]

Isn’t a Recovery disk different from a “create system image” ?

[@askleonotenboom]

Yes it is. Recovery disk has tools (and often Windows for a reinstall), system image is a complete image of the hard drive. Two completely different things.

[@deckten]

I have tried using Windows 7 backup tool. When I choose a backup location a message states that my 128GB USB Drive is not a valid backup location. I have tired 2 new disks formatted to NTFS and get the same results. I am working on a new Lenova computer with Windows 11. Thank you .

[@futuregamer5791]

Same here

[@journeyman6752]

I'm trying to do this in Windows 10, I have formatted the 32GB USB to NTFS, but still get an error message with a yellow triangle "The drive is not a valid back up location"

[@als1035]

Having an image is great, but how do you restore it after your computer has been compromised. In addition, using a application that Microsoft says openly is going to be removed one day doesn't give me the confidence I would like. Third party solutions, even free ones, are much better.

[@askleonotenboom]

You boot from a Recovery disc or a Windows Setup disc to restore these images.

[@SpeccyMan]

@@askleonotenboomHow does that work when your computer came pre-installed with Windows 11?

[@askleonotenboom]

@@SpeccyMan You can create the recovery disk from within Windows. You can download a Windows 11 image from Microsoft.

[@itstheweirdguy]

I don't see why microsoft can't just move this thing forward and upgrade this piece of software, stop calling it Backup Windows 7....and modernize it. OneDrive sucks it doesn't do what this does. It's fully supported on servers still, they call it "windows server backup" on a server...it's still wbadmin it's the same software. They even ruined file history backup which was kind of cool in Windows 10, when you upgrade to Windows 11 you can't specify folders anymore you can just do the default user folders.

[@SpiritintheSky.]

You can't have too many backups, of all varieties.

[@stansova3138]

Did you know Linux Mint makes an image for you automatically, all you have to do is enable Timeshift, now some updates knock out my FS-uae Launcher, when I install updates, but since I am using timeshift i can take it back and reinstall what the update screwed up and the best thing is I don't even have to think about it, it does it daily or weekly or monthly, a year would be way to long, I learned this by using microsoft products, why because they always screwed up something with updates or new exclusive updates. Only trouble is I lost my data, and it is like we were taught in the Navy, you always have your used software in the box, but one thing you don't have is your data, and that is what costs the most. After all that is what you have spreadsheets and databases for, to help you do your job. So it ain't the computer, it ain't the software it is the data that you have which is the most important and costly to replace. MS hasn't learned that yet.

[@saiyan08]

Wait, two months ago you said in previous video not use this option and know you do? Make up your mind. LOL

[@askleonotenboom]

My mind is quite made up. But not everyone agrees with me, so I'm giving them instructions for this anyway.

[@muli38]

this image tool is buggy i dont recommend using it