Windows 10: Create a Backup Image 101

Greetings,

My wifey has a laptop that was set up a very specific way to work with a very specific printer. We had to pay a guy over a hundred clams to make it work this way and (call me paranoid) but I think he made a point of not letting me see how he did it so that he could charge us this again in the future.

So I'm thinking I should create a system image backup. So that if the laptop fails or is sold off I simply take that backup and apply it to the new laptop.

QUESTION 1 -- Am I making sense so far and is THAT how images 'work'? If yes --

QUESTION 2 -- Is there a way to do this without backing up ever last item on the SSD? Meaning it backs up the system and every last preference but doesn't bother with photos and such? Or is just smarter to back it ALL up just in case?

QUESTION 3 -- Simple affordable software for this?

Thanks all,

Don't labor on Labor Day unless you're bored like me!

:)

 

Having trouble creating a backup image

Hello Shane,

Thank you for your interest in Windows 10 and for being a part of Windows 10 family.

As per the issue description you are unable to create a system image of your computer. I would suggest you to refer the steps provided below and see if it helps you to create a system image.

• Press Windows key + X.
• Select Control panel from the list.
• Select large icons under view by option.
• Open File history.
• Click the System Image Backup link in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
• Connect an external USB hard drive with enough free space.
• In the backup wizard, you'll be prompted to choose from one of the three options to save the backup. For this example, we are going select the hard drive you just connected. However, keep in mind that you can backup to DVD blanks and a network share, but
  these options will slow down the backup process.

• Click Next.
• Confirm and begin the process by clicking Start backup.

• The backup could take anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours, it all depends on the amount of data to be backed up.
• And yes, during the backup process, you can use your computer as you would normally do.

Hope the information provided is helpful. Do let us know if you have any more concern related to Windows. We will be more than happy to assist you.

Regards,

 

Creating a System Image backup - keeps looping

Hi,

Thank you for giving us an opportunity to assist you with the query.

I understand the inconvenience caused, now that you have me with you let me take care of this.

The system image is exactly like the mirrored copy of the Operating System which contains the configuration of the Operating System. When you create backup system image your windows 10 comes back to the same position at when the image was created earlier.

As an initial step, I suggest you to make sure that the services required for backup to run successfully is enabled. Refer to these steps:

• 
  Press Windows + R
  keys, type services.msc and press Enter.
  
• 
  In the services window, locate the services
  File history service and the Volume shadow copy service and check if they are running.
  
• 
  If they are not running, right-click and select
  Start to manually start the service.
  
• 
  Check if you are able to create a backup now.
  

Step 1: I suggest you to follow the steps from the below article created by

Andre Da Costa and check if it helps.

How to: Create a system image in Windows 10

How to: Create a system image in Windows 10

Step 2: If the issue still persists, I suggest you to boot the computer in a clean boot state and then check.

Booting the computer in a clean boot state can reduce software conflicts and help identify the root cause of the issue. You can refer to this article for more information:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: After troubleshooting, reset the computer to start as usual. Refer to the step
How to set the computer to start as usual after clean boot troubleshooting under more information.

Hope it helps.

Let us know the status, we are glad to assist you further.

 

Help, cant create windows image

Hello there, @fullinfusion!

It seems like some sort of an OS confusion has happened with your secondary WD Black and I'm sorry to hear about that. *Frown
Maybe re-formatting it would help indeed as the community already mentioned. I'd suggest to take a look at this step-by-step how to partition and format an HDD: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=PYCoid
Keep in mind that this will wipe clean the drive, so you should backup all important data from the drive somewhere else.
I noticed from the screenshots that your HDD appears as Disk 0, this means that it's plugged in the primary SATA port where the SSD (as an OS drive) should be. Actually it is possible that because of this Windows cannot create the image there. Swap the ports of the SSD and the HDD, this might help as well.

Keep me posted. Hope this helped! *Smile
SuperSoph_WD