Windows 10: Selecting system install location from a Recover Image drive

I'm planning on performing a factory reset on my PC after installing a SSD. I would like to know whether I will have to copy the Windows Setup onto an external storage device USB/DVD in order to then be able to install in on that SSD or will I be able to select the install location before or after performing the reset. As mentioned in the title I have the windows setup on a Recover Drive and this is how it was when I first purchased the PC. I have performed a factory reset in the past however do not remember if there was an option to select the installation location.

:)

 

Recover System Image

Hello,

I am having trouble recovering a system image. I created a system image on a USB flash drive following these steps that someone posted on these forums.

- create a directory on your USB drive
- right-click the directory and choose "Share with", "Specific people"
- choose yourself from the list of users and click Share and Done
- in the "Create System Image" menu choose "On a network location"
- now enter the URL for your share (\\your-computer\sharename)
- enter your username and password and click OK

I shipped my computer to dell. They wiped it and sent it back to me. I got it back, held down F12 at start up, and tried to reimage it. My computer couldn’t find the saved image with on my flash drive, nor the copy I added to my documents. It only lets you
search over my network, so I typed in the path to my own computer and another on my network. My computer can’t find the image. Then I spent 4 hours on the phone with Microsoft. We tried booting from Windows 7 via a flash drive and recovering the reimage. Still
can’t find the files. We tried moving the image file to a new disk and extracting the files via a 3rd party. Didn’t work.

The reimage is saved as a 85.5GB Hard Disk Image File. When I double click it, it says “The disk image isn’t initialized, contains partitions that aren’t recognizable, or contains volumes that haven’t been assigned to drive letters. Please use Disk management
snap-in to make sure that the disk, partitions, and volumes are in a usable state.

I have now also tried to access the system image by attaching the virtual hard disk. The first time I did this nothing appeared to happen, but now it says that it has already been attached. Any help would be greatly appreciated; I have lost hundreds of hours
of work and spent 12 hours trying to recover what seemed like a prudent backup.

 

System Image Problem


[table][tr][td]Version[/td] [td]Date[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]5.05[/td] [td]8/03/2009[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]5.08[/td] [td]7/21/2009[/td] [/tr] [/table]
Which one is newer?
Only 5.05 was offered on HP for the machine I linked.
The description danced around some of the anomalies we're seen with drives.

Since only 5.05 was offered, I questioned 5.08
Guess we know the answer now - 5.05 failed to flash.
We could spend time trying to figure that out, but IMO it's better on the back burner for now

I think the next step is to try the Macrium sleight of hand to get the System Image restored.
I'd like to get the System Image up and running to do the follwoing

• Copy Nick's data to a folder off of the restored System Image C: drive
  
  
• run a Belarc Advisor audit to collect license keys for Nick's software
  
  
• there might be other data collection that Nick can do in preparation for the final step

The final step is a clean install, install up-to-date MS and 3rd party software, and restore the copied personal data.

Nick was having difficulty locating the outlook files in the System Image - so getting it back running live is the best I can think of.

Thoughts, suggestions, and objections are always welcome and considered

 

Unable to use System restore from a windows 10 image on Windows 7 with error: "windows cannot find a system image-the usb drive is not visible"

Hi Otley,

Thanks for replying to us with the status of your issue.

As you mentioned, when you connect the USB flash drive in to the system then the System image backup is not present. It might occur if the System image files is not created properly or may be it got corrupted.

As an initial steps I suggest you to check for the memory space in the USB flash driver.

If the Memory is occupied in the USB flash drive the I suggest you to try running check disk on USB flash drive and check if it helps.

Follow the below steps to perform Check Disk.

• 
  Press Windows + X on your keyboard.
  
• 
  Select Command Prompt (Admin).
  
• 
  Type the below commands.
  
  Chkdsk [drive letter]: /f /r
  

Reply to us with the status of your issue, we will be happy to assist you.