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  • Windows 7 System Image Backup

    Backing up and restoring data files is important and should be on a regular basis, recently a new type of backup utility that backs up entire PC systems using system images has become quite available. These types of backups protect against a hard drive failure, virus infection or a major crash: If your you can use this system image to restore the PC to its previous state.

    System imaging isn't new; companies have been using it for years such as Norton Ghost., Microsoft has created its own version, which it includes with Windows 7.

    System imaging utilities typically compress the data on your hard drives to create a small image. Various solutions use different compression types, but you may be interested to know that Windows 7 uses VHD format that Microsoft also uses in its Windows Virtual PC software and its server-based Hyper-V virtualization solutions.

    System images contain complete PC operating system files and user files & folders. You can't restore only parts of a system image, as you can with data backups. When you restore a system image, it restores the entire PC and overwrites any existing operating system. That means you should be careful before restoring a system image: Any data you have on the disk will be lost. Of course, remember to use automatic backups.

    To create a system image, launch Backup and Restore menu and click the Create a system image on the left side bar at the top corner. This launches the Create a system image, shown below, which directs you through the steps to back up your whole PC. You can save system images to hard disks or DVDs, as well as network locations only in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate only. You can only write a system image to a hard disk that is formatted with the NTFS file system.

    Click Next. The wizard will give you a chance to confirm the backup settings and remind you which partitions are being imaged. It will also provide an estimate of the amount of space needed to create a system image. The required storage space varies according to the size and usage of the hard disk on your PC. Click Start backup to begin the system image process.

    Two file system locations must be included in the system image-what Microsoft refers to as the boot partition and the system partition. The boot partition is always C:\, whereas the system partition is the drive with the Windows 7 Windows directory. This is typically C: but if you installed Windows 7 in a dual-boot setup with a previous Windows version, the system partition might be in a different location. If you have other drives or partitions, you can optionally choose to include them in the system image as well. As the image is created, Windows Backup will provide an ongoing progress indicator.

    This process could take some time, especially on a heavily used PC. When it's done, Windows Backup will prompt you to create a system repair disc. You should do so: While Windows 7 does install recovery files directly into the boot partition, in some cases; these files will not boot the PC. If that happens, you can use the system repair disc to boot your PC, a requirement for restoring the entire PC with the system image (as we'll see in the next section you can use any writeable DVD for a system repair disc.

    If you have both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 on different PCs, you cannot use the same system repair disc for each. Instead, you must create separate system repair discs for 32-bit and 64-bit systems.

    Restoring the Entire PC
    If a major hardware or software failure has made your computer unusable, and you simply want to return to a system backup, you can use one of the system images you've previously created. Note, however, that you will typically need to boot your PC into the Windows Recovery to make this happen, using the boot repair disc that you created earlier. Note, too, that restoring your PC in this fashion will wipe your system and format your C drive partition.So this should not a last resort.

    Follow these steps to restore your entire PC using a system image:

    1. Reboot the computer.

    2. If you are using a system repair disc, boot the PC with that. Otherwise, after your PC has finished its BIOS sequence, hold down the F8 key. Choose Repair Your Computer from the Advanced Boot Options screen (below) and tap Enter.

    3. After the loading files screen, choose the correct language and keyboard input method and then click next.

    4. If you booted from the hard drive, you will need to choose System Image Recovery from the System Recovery Options window that appears. Otherwise, System Recovery will examine the hard drives attached to your PC and look for Windows installs. When it's done, it will list the install(s) it found and give you the opportunity to use Windows 7's built-in recovery tools to fix problems with Windows or you can restore your PC to an earlier time using a system image. Choose that latter option and

    Click Next.

    5. The Re-imege your computer menu begins. In the 1st phase of this system, you choose the latest image available by default or you can select a different system image.

    Click Next.

    6. In the next step, you can choose to format the PC's hard drive or C: / generally.
    Click Next to continue.

    7. In the final phase of the menu, you can certify what you're doing and click
    Finish continuing.

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