Windows 10: Create System Image in Windows 10

I don't believe it matters where the failure happens when taking the extra drive into account.

I don't think systen images will repartition drives, I've only ever restored images to drives with the exact same partitions. That will be another one for me to test. I think if the image is smaller than the partition you're re-imaging onto then it should be OK, providing you're only restoring one partition.

 

see this
System Image Recovery - Restore Image on Computer in Windows 8
Code: Format and repartition disks box: NOTE: Special thanks to MJF for this addition. 1) Grayed out and selected You are forced to have the whole disk formatted and repartitioned to match the partition structure of the disk the image was made from. This can occur when restoring an image to a new disk or the original disk with a modified partition structure. Data on other partitions on the disk you are restoring to will be lost. 2) Grayed out and unselected You are not given the option to format and repartition the disk. This will occur if you are restoring Windows from a partition on the same disk. 3) Not grayed out and unselected Here you have the option to select format the whole disk and repartition or not. In this case the disk the image was taken from has a matching partition structure to the disk you are restoring the image to. By not selecting the format and repartition option your image will be restored and other partitions untouched such as valuable data partitions.[/quote]

 

So the pen drive attached to laptop might have halted the recovery?

 

I believe so, it's definitely possible as it's caused issues as far back as 7.

 

My Windows 10 installation went relatively smoothly. I had to address some download glitches that were clearly addressed by Microsoft tech data and once I followed their instructions, the install went as planned. I decided to make an system image on my 250G external drive now that everything is working and the way I want.

It is now 4pm local time. I'm on my third try as I type this. Nothing but hassle and hours wasted.

My first attempt (after 3 hours backup) resulted in 0x80780119 not enough space error, which apparently is a misleading descriptor. A search online discovered a command line fix. Another 3 hours of backup and another error. This time a Volume Shadow Copy Error 0x80042306.

This one has a few possible causes, which I've tried to address. It may be a conflict with the Carbonite I have running (which I've turned off) or it may be due to chkdsk errors on my external drive which I've repaired.

If this one fails, I'm going to give up and just be grateful for Carbonite which doesn't make me jump through hoops.

 

The tutorial works fine, but doesn't get to No. 8. Instead I get 'Backup failed. There were bad clusters...... Ran CHKDSK with the /f flag set. No problems detected. In fact no problems detected using any of the diagnose and repair tools. Found a thread a bout the same issue with Windows 7. Suggested I shrink and then re-enlarge the system partition. Tried that. No difference. Took the system unit to my local computer store. They ran several tests on the hdd, but no problems found. Other than reformatting the hard drive and doing a clean install, I seem to be out of options. I don't even know which of the 3 system partitions the problem lies in and Backup ain't telling. Any suggestions, or is it down to Microsoft again? System: Generic, ASUS B85M-G motherboard, 1tb internal hdd, Toshiba 1 tb USB 3.0 hdd

 

I've used the Window 10 system image backup and restore on several occasions since its official July release. I use an external USB hard drive for the image copy. I have no issue restoring an image provided the installation of Windows 10 with the issues is still there. If I reformat and do a clean install of Windows 7 and then upgrade to Windows 10, it will not recognize the system image backup on my external drive. When it searches for images, it finds none. I've taken a new system image of the new Windows 10 installation and it will find that one, but still will not find the one I want to restore. I've even tried renaming files replacing certain image files from one image copy to the other but that hasn't worked for me either. Bottom line is that I cannot find a way to restore a system image unless the corrupted version of that installation still exists on my system. And I have also tried booting with a system repair CD I've created. This happened a couple of weeks ago, so I have since found workarounds to get everything back to its original state.

 

The one drawback found with the system image option not only seen with 10 but also with Windows 7 is that Windows will only see the image you made of it while the present installation is still intact even if it runs poorly and needs replacement. A clean install or upgrade over the previous version's clean install only serves to erase the record the first Windows install made of the image itself rendering it useless! You have to restore the image while you can.

Several years back I was working with the same option in 7 but still ended up preferring a 3rd party program that compressed the size of the image made down further when looking at the drive space each would take for the same image taking. The 3rd party program allows you to use any previous image saved when browsing to the location while each made by Windows has a unique ID tag of some type on it.

I think that is where you will find the problem as to why the present 10 install is unable to use the previous 10 install's image. What that serves to do is prevent the wrong image from being restored if as you mention the drive being in an external enclosure is shared with other machines. You wouldn't want the Dell laptop image being restored to an HP desktop! *What*Doh if both images were made and stored on a shared drive.

 

Following the tutorial and somewhere along step 4 or 5 my experience diverges from the process. My backup has started but says that it is using Windows 7 B/U Restore. I cancelled out and began anew and it still says Win 7. How do I use the Win 10 utility?

 

Hello lbeck, *Smile

I've updated step 5 in the tutorial to help you with this.

 

Thanks for the quick response. Now I have confidence that I'm on the right track..

 

You're most welcome. *Smile

 

I think you may end up busy for a bit since some other guides could also use some updated screens. Some data back to October 2014 for the real early stuff while the steps themselves seem to have remained the same. It's a shame however that the backup option isn't as flexible as some 3rd party ware would be as far as being to select an image made with a previous install of the same version or when the drive letter or folder name as well as file name other then file extension is different.

When first seen in Windows this had only been seen in Vista Ultimate there and not in the Pro or Home Premium editions. With 7 that was a switch even finding it in the Starter edition there. Here I have to back up multiple machines where a 3rd software is required.

 

how to restored this system image?

 

Hello Adiy, *Smile

You can use the same method in the tutorial below for Windows 10 as well.

System Image Recovery - Restore Image on Computer in Windows 8