Windows 10: Windows 7 Image backup stuck on removed HDD

Trying to do a system image using the Windows 7 backup function on a Windows 10 (1909) machine. When it opens it is stuck showing a drive that is no longer in the system. When I open the option to search for another drive, it searched 4 hours before I closed it. It won't let me change the drive to put the new backup on.
How can I get it to let me find a drive that is currently on the system?

:)

 

Windows 7 Backup Image Question

Hey guys I was wondering if anyone with knowledge of the Windows 7 backup image can help me out. I make regular, monthly backup images of my harddrive and last night I messed something up with an AVG update. I updated, was having problems with CPU usage after the update and I tried a system restore to the previous day to fix things. Well this did not fix it. So I was forced to use the backup image.

This was my first time doing so, so I wasn't entirely sure on how to do it, but it was actually pretty darn easy. I've got the computer back up and running like it used to. Have my old AVG version back and no more high CPU usage. I've run ccleaner to fix any registry errors there might be, everything is checking out just fine.

Here's my question though. At the beginning of the process, there is an option to "format the PC's hard drive and repartition disks to match the layout of the system image." This is unchecked by default and I left it unchecked. A friend of mine suggests that I redo the process and reformat. Is this necessary for my situation? I could see maybe if I had a bad virus or something of that nature. Could I have messed up the registry by not formatting? Thanks guys.

 

Windows 7 Image

Good question... Dunno if Win 7 will think it's been installed on another PC because of a different HDD and ask to be activated...?

 

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