Something I've been wanting / meaning to put together for a while, I'm hoping that this helps folks... it's been a while, but whenever a backup app was on GOTD seems some comments talk about disasters, and then WR posted about his attempt to restore a backup using Acronis failing. Sadly there's no way AFAIK to really test restoring an image backup other than actually restoring an image backup using the exact same hardware etc., so I've tried to include everything I can think of that could [& sometimes does] go wrong.
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Creating an image backup of the partitions on a hard disk is easy – the raw data stored on the partition is copied to an archive file that’s usually some form of VHD [Virtual Hard Disk]. Windows VSS allows the backup software to copy a snapshot of anything that’s in use by Windows, so this part of the process is not just easy but normally pretty bullet proof. Where people sometimes have problems is when it comes time to restore that backup…
Before you create an image backup you have to decide where you’re going to store it. The fastest, most reliable choice is on an internal hard disk. An additional hard disk will transfer data faster than if you use the same hard disk where Windows &/or your software and other files are stored, but if you create a separate partition for the backup(s), using just one hard disk really works just as well. The catch of course is that if you have that backup stored in only one place, if that hard disk fails, you’re out of luck, so once you create that backup archive, copy it somewhere else – ideally to multiple places/drives.
You can create a new partition using Windows – Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management – but I prefer an app like AOMEI Partition Assistant, which is clearer and easier to use [Windows also has a built-in Command Line tool called DiskPart -- docs.microsoft[.]com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/diskpart]. Normally every bit of available hard disk storage is already part of a partition, so you have to shrink an existing partition, reducing the amount of free space, and create your new partition in the space you free up. Often the partition that’s largest, and has the most free space to spare, is the partition with Windows on it. If it’s a conventional hard drive [not an SSD] you start by defragging that partition to pack all the data towards the beginning of the partition – that gives you the maximum physically free space to work with. Then you shrink that partition the same amount as you want to allocate [give] to the new partition. If you right click the Windows drive in Windows Explorer and click Properties, the popup will show you the amount of disk space used – an image backup of that Windows partition will be a bit smaller than that, giving you an idea of the minimum size a partition needs to be to store a backup. Then you just create & format a new partition in the unallocated space you got from shrinking that original partition.
Storing your backup archives on a drive accessible over your network is usually just as reliable, but with slower data transfer, so restoring a backup will normally take longer. A good USB stick will work too, bearing in mind that USB sticks can just up and die. A *good quality* SSD in an external USB housing works well, but again, SSDs do sometimes just die. A good USB drive dock works well, *if* you provide cooling [I use a 6” desk fan] to any conventional hard disks you use that way. Consider any USB drives that come prepackaged in an external housing iffy… there’s a LOT of price pressure, and to keep costs down reliability is most always compromised. Those drives may work well enough for occasional use but restoring a backup they’re running full tilt for 20-30 minutes or more, get hot, and often can & will fail.
The fastest and easiest software to use for restoring an image backup is the full Windows version of your preferred backup software, but that means a couple of gotchas. Note: the bootable USB sticks you create with some paid versions of backup software provide features that are unavailable in the full version Windows app. If that software’s running on the copy of Windows that you want to restore from a backup, it will usually add a minimal version of the software to your hard disk that’s basically the same as the app it adds to a bootable USB stick – you’ll restart, your device will boot to that mini copy, and the data transfer *might* not be as fast as when you’re running a full version of Windows. Some backup apps, e.g., Macrium Reflect, will add that mini version automatically when you install the software, and some will give you the option to add that mini version to Windows boot menu. To use a full version of Windows to restore a backup of Windows you need another copy of Windows, either installed on an internal hard disk or a Windows to Go drive.
Otherwise, you’re limited to the bootable USB stick that you create using your backup software, and that means potential problems getting your device to run from the USB stick rather than its hard disk. First you have to find out if your device has a hotkey that activates a boot drive menu when it’s turned on [during or while booting]. That’s the easiest, as you plug in the USB stick, turn the device on [or restart], hit that hotkey, and select the USB stick from the menu. Note: you may see the USB stick or drive in a boot drive menu twice, once with UEFI – your device *probably* uses UEFI, but it doesn’t hurt to check beforehand. If you don’t have that hotkey option, you have to enter the device’s BIOS setup, navigate to the menu listing the boot drive order, and make sure that the USB stick is first.
Check your device’s docs to find out how to access BIOS setup. *Usually* getting into the BIOS setup is a matter of hitting a hotkey when the device is first starting, either after being turned on from off, or during a restart. *Usually* the hotkey is either Delete or F2. Note: on some devices the hotkey will Only work if the device was turned off, and it’s common to have to repeatedly hit the hotkey during startup to get it to register with the BIOS so you enter the BIOS setup. In some cases you may have to resort to Windows advanced or troubleshooting boot menu where [hopefully] you’ll find an option to restart into the BIOS setup. You can [again hopefully] get to that boot menu by Shift clicking the power button on Windows 10’s lock screen, or through Windows 10’s Settings. See: laptopmag[.]com/articles/access-bios-windows-10
What you’ll see when you enter the BIOS setup depends on the make and model of the device – just about every one is different -- and they may or may not support using a mouse. The BIOS will search every attached drive until it finds a set of compatible boot files, and on one of the tabs [usually there’s several along the top of the setup screen] you should see a list with every attached drive in the order that the BIOS will search. You want to set the 1st drive on the list to the USB stick or drive. Some BIOS will let you set a temporary boot drive order that only works once, then reverts to normal. Note: if your only choice is the Windows Boot Loader, resetting the BIOS defaults *should* get you a list showing every drive – note the existing settings, especially if you cannot set the defaults for just that one page or tab or the boot drive order, because you *might* have to change several other settings back the way they were. If you can’t set a onetime boot order, when you no longer want to boot to the USB stick/drive you’ll have to change the boot drive order back the way that it was, probably to the Windows Boot Loader. And in some cases, even when you can use a onetime boot drive order menu, you’ll need to manually set the boot drive order back the way it was.
Now, after going through all that there’s still the potential problem of whether that bootable USB stick or drive actually worked. Some devices are pickier than others, and some USB sticks or drives work better than others. If booting to your backup software’s USB stick/drive didn’t work… your backup software probably gives you some options for creating those USB sticks or drives, e.g., Legacy, UEFI, or both, and you can try them all. You can try different USB sticks or drives. And you can check the docs and/or your other available BIOS settings, e.g., the BIOS may have a setting to ignore extra drives during boot to speed things up. Unfortunately, you may also have to try different backup software. Before settling on a brand of backup software I recommend trying its bootable USB sticks on every Windows device you plan on using it with – that’s why I decided to use Macrium Reflect.
Sometimes you don’t want to go to the trouble of restoring a backup, because you only want a file or three. One advantage of storing backup images in a VHD is that that VHD can then be mounted, showing up in Windows Explorer just like any other partition on a hard disk. Some backup software gives you the option to save backup archives in the .vhd format that Windows uses and can mount -- otherwise you’ll have to use your backup software to mount an archive.
Copying &/or Cloning… Creating and restoring an image backup is basically cloning with an added intermediate step – you get a saved archive or copy – and some added flexibility. If you’re replacing a hard disk, the new drive is often a different size. And if you’ve got multiple partitions on a hard disk, you might want to shrink one and grow another as your needs change. Many image backup & cloning apps will resize partitions on a different hard disk as necessary, but they usually do not give you full control over the individual partition sizes, and when you restore an image backup of a partition, overwriting the existing partition, sizes stay the same. But, you can restore partitions individually, giving you the opportunity to adjust the size of the partition you just restored. A simple example, if I want to shrink C: & grow D: I can shrink the C: partition, delete the D: partition, then restore an image backup of D: that takes up all the available space. *To me* that’s faster, easier, and more reliable than moving every bit of data on D: to butt up against the new end of the C: partition using a partitioning app.
You can also get into trouble copying/cloning partitions… Windows assigns each partition a unique ID, which Cannot be used twice. If you’ve got both attached to your device, the easy cure is to go into Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management, check the now missing partition, and you should find it’s now Offline – click Online and it should assign it another unique ID. Moving Win10’s Boot & Recovery partitions on the other hand can sometimes [thankfully rarely] not work. The boot files [BCD] have their own section of the registry and good luck finding Any documentation. If the device won’t boot the best option is to use the boot repair tools on the USB stick created in the paid version of Macrium Reflect or Paragon HDM. Windows has it’s own tool for creating [&/or replacing] the boot files, called BCDBoot – Google and the 1st hit should be Microsoft’s docs showing the command line options and examples. The free EasyBCD *may* help, and it will run portably. And the Windows 10 setup files – like what you use to install Win10 – have a few tool that you can try: docs.microsoft[.]com/en-us/windows/client-management/advanced-troubleshooting-boot-problems . Fixing the Recovery partition can get quite complicated – my [shameless] advice is you’re backing up so don’t worry about it. Once you’ve got a good backup you can restore, why bother with a reset that might or might not work?
More Specialized uses… Windows 10 to a large extent is self-healing, and unlike earlier versions of Windows running a copy as-is on different hardware *usually* works – it’ll try to find the drivers it needs, though they may show up later as optional downloads in Windows Update. SO if you’ve got a ton of software installed, it can be worth a shot to restore a backup of your current PC or laptop to a new one [I’d try just the Windows partition]. You can also create a .vhd file in Windows [Control Panel -> Admin Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management], mount it, restore a backup of the Windows partition, and add it to the boot menu using EasyBCD. You won’t be able to update/upgrade versions of Win10, but otherwise it should work the same as Windows installed normally to your hard disk. Many have claimed the same will work to create a VM [Virtual Machine]. Out of a dozen tries I’ve had it work ONCE, and then performance lags Windows installed to a VM. Macrium Reflect Home 8 has a new option to prepare a V/Box VM from a backup, and while that may take care of boot file issues, it’ll do nothing for the myriad other hardware settings and drivers that are just too incompatible to work.