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Create Windows 7 System Image for Full Backup and Restoration

Posted By Raymond In Category: Computer

May
10
2010

One thing I really like in Windows 7 is the built-in capability of creating a full backup image so that I can restore it back when Windows is corrupted and unbootable. The computer that I use to mess and test stuff was running Windows XP and I normally use Symantec Ghost to restore back the original state. I have upgraded the testing machine to run Windows 7 and has chosen to use Rollback RX instead which is very similar to Comodo Time Machine. The Rollback RX snapshot backup and restore process is VERY fast but I had issues with it deactivating Windows 7 and had to reactivate every time I do a restoration. On some bad days when the Windows Activation server is down, I am unable to activate Windows and kept on getting error code 0xc004c008.

Then I tried using the good old Symantec Ghost to create an image backup but when I restored the partition, the computer cannot be booted up and it seemed to have incompatibility between Ghost and Rollback RX. I gave up using both Ghost and Rollback, and now I am using the Windows 7 built-in system image backup and restore tool. One good thing about using the Windows 7 built-in system image backup is I don’t need to install any third party software and run its services during startup which gives me a total clean Windows 7 machine after restoration.


If you didn’t know what is a system image, a system image is an exact copy of the drive but is backed up and saved into a file which can be used to restore to a computer at any time. Although Windows 7 Backup and Restore tool hardly comes with any extra features and the speed is not as fast as third party drive imaging software but it is good enough for my situation. I have a pretty large hard drive 600GB so I split the drive into 2 partititons, the first one for installing Windows 7 and the second one for storing backup images. After finished installing and properly setting up Windows 7 the way I liked it, I ran the Windows 7 Backup and Restore tool to create a backup image and save it to my other partition. Whenever Windows 7 got very corrupted or unstable to use, all I need to do is reboot the computer, hit F8 and select Repair Your Computer from the Advanced Boot Options.

I will show you how to create Windows 7 backup system image. There are a few ways of running the Windows 7 Backup and Restore Tool and you can only do it from Windows.

Method 1: Click the Windows 7 Start Menu orb button and type backup at the Search programs and files bar. You should see Backup and Restore appear in Programs.

Method 2: Click the Windows 7 Start Menu > All Programs > Maintenance > Backup and Restore

Method 3: Type this at the run (WIN+R) window %SystemRoot%\System32\control.exe /name Microsoft.BackupAndRestore

Method 4: Type this at the run (WIN+R) window %SystemRoot%\System32\sddt.exe

Method 5: Control Panel > Backup and Restore (Large icons or Small icons view)

Method 6: Control Panel > Back up your computer at System and Security (Category view)

After running Backup and Restore tool, click Create a system image from the right pane. The full command line to directly access the Create a system image is %SystemRoot%\System32\sddt.exe /BLBBACKUPWIZARD.

You can either backup to a different hard drive partition or to DVD disc. For on a hard drive, external hard drive or even a USB flash drive is supported but mapped network drive doesn’t. At the final confirmation, the Backup and Restore tool will tell you how much space it would take to create the backup and clicking the Start backup button will start the backup process.

There are 3 ways to restore back your computer using the backup image that you created.

Method 1: From Control Panel with Small or Large icons view, run Recovery. Click Advanced Recovery methods, and select the first option that says “Use a system image you created earlier to recover your computer“. If you have files to backup, then click Back up now or else click Skip. Click the Restart button which will reboot your computer and follow the steps.

Method 2: This is useful when Windows cannot start up. Turn on your computer and start tapping F8 key. Select Repair your computer on the Advanced Boot Options, select keyboard layout, select username and type the user’s password if there is one. Then finally on the System Recovery Options menu, click System Image Recover and follow the instructions.

Method 3: It is also possible that the boot sector or master boot record gets corrupted and you won’t be able to press F8 to go to Advanced Boot Options. You will need to start the computer with a Windows 7 system repair disc which can be created in a working Windows 7 or download the ISO image from here via torrent or free file host. The instructions are exactly the same as method 2.


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    • VIJAY KULKARNI

      You saved my PC :) Thanks a million …

    • Dan

      Thank you for the great info again Raymond! Great to see that you have a little time to write an article again.

    • hailalpha

      thank you :) never knew how o use this feature!

    • Akshaye tripathi

      U r simply genius Ray!!!
      Exceptional….
      Thanks for the valuable knowledge again!!
      :)

    • Victor

      Great tip! Thanks a lot!

    • In-f3st

      Nice article…is there any way to avoid backing up both WinXp and Win7 if you are using dual boot?

      Cause I have tried and the Win7 backup recognizes both partitions (WinXP and Win7) as system partitions and backs up both to one image.
      This is fine, but sometimes annoying if i only want to restore only one OS.

    • http://www.cncmaps.com thomasalan

      I’m going to try this i recently had to reinstall everything due to a corrupt partition problem, and have been wanting to learn how to go about creating a disk image.

    • DigiDoc

      I myself prefer Comodo time machine or similar software. It saves my time as well my disk space. Windows backup solution eats up too much disk space. What do you think guys?

    • http://wootop.blogspot.com/ Ashwani Agarwal

      thnx very much

    • INDRANIL

      Thanks RAY. Don’t need to run third party software after reading this article. You are the man ;).

    • mgcwil

      hi, thank you for another excellent article!
      I am under W7 dual booting with Vista (unused) and I hesitate to use this function for the time being satisfied with Paragon Drive Backup (Live CD), it would be a tool that fills a dual boot Windows disrupts Windows!
      If I may Raymond, this shortcut works with me : %SystemRoot%\System32\sdclt.exe /BLBBACKUPWIZARD

      Thank you very much:)

      PS;I’m french, sorry for my bad English

    • ding-dong

      great info ray! :D thanks!

    • luddy

      Ray,

      Great info but do you realize in your scenario above that your backups will be gone if you lose your OS drive?

    • Tony

      I saved an image and attempted to restore from that, it didnt’ work. Luckily the paragon image did, otherwise win7 has been great.
      I have a Windows Home Server, but I was trying to restore a save of a 500GB hard drive, even though only 60GB was used to a 160GB drive. Apparently WHS won’t let you do that in my case.

    • Warren

      Raymond… you and your blog have helped me alot so here’s a tip for you.
      You can backup and restore your Windows 7 activation with Backup & Restore tools. This is not a crack or patch. This only backs up a legitamately activated version of Windows and can only be used on the same machine. I’ve tried it and it works.

    • Alhu

      Thank you, Ray

      It’s a good tip

    • leofelix

      Great article as usual Raymond, thank you.
      A couple of question:
      1) Will this method work on Windows 7 Home premium too?
      2) I had tried to do a system backup image with the Windows 7 Ultimate integrated tool on some DVD +R, I was asked to use DVD RW .. but it didin’t work at all, anyidea?
      However I have bought Acronis True Image 2010 then.

      Thank you in advance

      Regards

    • barry hobopoor

      thanks ray. you’re blog is the best man, i visit most days. all the best…

    • jack

      thanks buddy….
      i am in a habit of curropting my os.
      this tool will be helpful for me…
      thanks again ^^

    • drtank

      this thing helped me recover from a major mess.
      i wasn’t able to restore my system from System restore (i ran it from System Protection), quoting some problem with the antivirus program.
      i ran the CD and it restored my system back like butter…….. !!! :)
      thanks once again.

    • Frustrated

      The problem is that Windows7 backup is not like some of the commercial products aka Acronis. Every time Windows7 backup is run it creates a complete image. There is no way that I can see to create incremental images. One should also never rely on only having one backup. If that backup for whatever reason fails to restore you are sol.

      Also one can not restore selected files with Windows7 backup. Its all or nothing restoration.

    • Karlston

      Hi Raymond, as an earlier poster pointed out, you’re saving your backup images on the same drive. In the event of a drive failure (they do happen), both partitions will most likely be toast, and you’ll lose both your OS AND your backups.

      IMO, this is not good practice, and your article should point that out.

      Just FYI, am using a backup product called Macrium Reflect, it allows incremental and differential image backups as well as full. Standard file/folder backup too. Can recommend it highly.

      Regards

    • Douglas

      How can I make an image only of C:?
      I don’t want an image of the whole HD, only the Windows system, the C: partition.

      I made that once, and restore. It worked. But now I can’t. The system image programa don’t let me choose only one partition.

    • erkki

      Downloaded comodo time machine, but at the install it says : unsupported filesystem detected …! ? I’m on windows 7…

    • Selvan

      Great article, thanks.

      But I found a couple things different for me on Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

      1. for Method 4 above, I had to use this string instead: %SystemRoot%\System32\sdclt.exe

      2. I found ‘Create a system image’ in the left pane, not the right as mentioned below Method 4 above.

    • RudeBoySes

      this is what i have been using since Windows 7 was released and have had no problems.

      It takes me on average 15 minutes to do a complete System Image Backup with Repair Disc for a 160 GB Hard Drive.

      I don’t backup my Libraries as i have a 2nd partition for that.

      I love Windows 7 Backup over 3rd party Software because i personally hate installing unnecessary software/bloatware which is usually common with 3rd party software.

      The speed of Windows 7 Backup depends on your hardware. i.e. USB 2.0 or Firewire or if you’re burning to Disc.

    • dingga

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