Windows 10: system image backup fails. Migrate user data only ?

welp, this hard drive is fubar.
Can't create a system image in any program because certain LBAs cause every backup software to hang and fail.

So the next best option is to just migrate user data.

Will Chrome browser data and cookies be transferred properly?

Last time I tried copying the user folder, browser history data etc were not copied properly.

:)

 

Is My Understanding of Windows Bare Metal System / Images Backups vs. File Backups ... and Restores Correct?

So my understanding of it is like this, there are two types of backups, and they are Image Backups and Data / User File backups...

• Image Backups (System Backups / System State /Disaster Recovery Backups)
  • The Creation Process
    • Can be created with wbadim system state backup
      
    • Then if the Data / User File Backups are included in it, they can be removed by mounting the Image Backup, and removing the Data / User Files from it to save on space (see
      this)
  • What it Includes / Excludes
    • Excludes the Data / User File Back
    • Includes installed programs and OS system files.
    • On Windows, you'll probably also want to remove any temp files from the image such as:
      • pagefile.sys
      • hiberfil.sys
      • swapfile.sys
  • When?
    • It's best to make this after you have the machine setup the way that you want with the programs already installed on it, and after updates are installed, you'll want to back it up again...this isn't always possible, but it's likely the best time to do this.
• Data / User File Backups (User File Backups)
  • The Creation Process
    • Usually a full backup is created and then incrementals or differentials after that (and of course use a strategy like GFS)
  • When?
    • Run more frequently than image backups, these backups are scheduled and run when few people are using the system...
  • What it Includes / Excludes
    • Only includes the data /user files, and it does not include any of the system files and program files like the Image Backup.

Then when you need to do disaster recovery, you restore the Image Backup first, and then when it's been recovered you add back in the
Data / User File Backups to the system.

I know that the Data / User File Backups (User File Backups)
can be removed from the xvhd file back created in the system state backup to decrease it's size by mounting it and deleting said files. But I'd like to know if I first restore the
Image Backups (System Backups / System State /Disaster Recovery Backups), and then restore my Data / User File Backups will I still be able to use the machine as it was when I did the backups?

Is my understanding of this correct? Is there anything I missed?

Thank you,

Andrew J. Leer

 

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

 

Windows 10 System Image Backup fails

I have not tried this resolution because of the initial steps I listed in my question. As mentioned in my original statement, I performed a clean install of Windows 10, yet when I tried to restore the computer from a System Image Backup it failed. As I just
got the computer up and running again with Windows 7, I didn't want to go back and try this fix as I didn't see how it would help as I originally upgraded from a Windows 7 computer that has BIOS, and upon looking at the settings, there is nothing listed about
EFI.