Windows 8 system image

[karib]

I want to take a system image in windows 8.

I have problem taking it.

Some questions about it, either it functions well or not:

-Does this feature actually works or not?

-Does it take image of everything in my system? I mean my windows settings, applications, custom preferences, personal files etc.

-If I ever need to restore an image, will I have completely my windows machine back?

-Or is it only a backup with limited features?

Now I should describe the problem.

First of all, it cannot take backup to usb stick, eventhough it is bigger size than the occupied size of the hard disk.

Because of this, I have to use external hard disk, because I want to take a system image of a laptop.

Neither works too!

See the screenshots for yourself.

Why this happens?

If I try to take the image in dvds, at the end, even though I want to avoid this mess, can I copy them afterwards to an external hard disk as separate folders (named like 'dvd1' dvd2' etc) to keep them there? I guess I can, but my question is if this strange windows backup procedure, will read these separated image sections that I would have copy to hard disk from dvds.

My question is about restoration. I do not want to keep a dozen of dvds for the system image. Even if I do it, I want it to be temporary. But, what happens If I ever need to restore them?

Of course, the best solution it would be to take an all in once system image to the external hard disk, but I didn't manage it.

No usb stick usage, no external disk too. Usability goes away dear microsoft.

I hope I can get some help from you about this problem and finally manage to take a system image.

[Gotenks98]

skip the system partition, it just gets recreated anyways. Just do the c: drive. Alternatively you could do a recimg which basically takes a snap shot of your apps but not the data. Its good if you want to just refresh the pc without having to reconfigure everything. As for the imaging you were doing, its a great way to back your system too because its a bit for bit image. I have used this in the past in windows 7 to get my sytem backup and running.

[karib]

I just tried to make it again.

The system partition cannot be unchecked. It is not allowed. So I can't skip it.

What is the recimg and how can I do it?

I am concerned mainly about the whole system settings and application, with their settings too. I can backup my data separately.

But I want to be able to have my machine back in an hour, without having to configure everything, every single detail, from the start.

I want all system/os settings and all apps with their settings, backup.

So what can I do?

[karib]

Do I have any hope for solution? :(

[Neu B]

You need to assign a drive letter to System Reserved in Disk Management window.

[hamslammer]

Use a real backup solution like Acronis True Image. I'd totally stay away from the Windows backup solution.

[karib]

You need to assign a drive letter to System Reserved in Disk Management window.

You guess that this may cause the problem?

Can you please tell me one good application, that it is tried from you or people you know in restoration process?

I need something reliable. If I ever need it, to be able to restore.

For example, I had a bad experience with acronis trueimage.

So it doesn't matter to take a bootable image. It does matter to have in hands a reliable image, for any case of restoration.

Can you please suggest me something like that?

[scaramonga]

True Image 2012 been great for me :) Was a lifesaver after installing Windows 8. Restored my Win7 image in minutes and saved me a whole lot of heartache.

[Neu B]

Not guessing. I ran into the same problem a while back.

[Gotenks98]

No need to pay for something that windows can do natively. Just assign the drive letter and try it again and let us know if you can do it then. As for as the recimg thing you want to do a google search for it. Its essentially the same thing the OEMs use now with windows 8 to create a custom recovery image When you refresh your pc (not reset your pc) it uses that image to restore things. Keep in mind its not for your data but for applications and the OS.

[karib]

You need to assign a drive letter to System Reserved in Disk Management window.

No need to pay for something that windows can do natively. Just assign the drive letter and try it again and let us know if you can do it then.

Unfortunately it does not worked for me. Windows gave error again although I assigned a drive letter.

[Gotenks98]

Let me ask you this, is the drive you are backing up to formatted as ntfs? I know for some reason it only backups up to that format on a drive. Also if this is a usb drive make sure you are giving it enough power. I had issues with usb drives in the past if I used the front ports which dont have enough power like the ones directly on the motherboard. Lastly did you just try it on the drive with just windows on it.

[karib]

The backup drive is in ntfs format. It is an external usb hard disk.

The computer I want to backup is a netbook.

I also did not understand your last phrase "did you just try it on the drive with just windows on it."

[Gotenks98]

The backup drive is in ntfs format. It is an external usb hard disk.

The computer I want to backup is a netbook.

I also did not understand your last phrase "did you just try it on the drive with just windows on it."

I mean just the c: drive and not that system partition that windows creates during the install. That partition is usually like 100mb or so. The reason I say that because that partition just gets recreated anyways during reinstall so its not really that important.

[karib]

I wonder why I am not able to take a system image backup in windows 8.

What goes wrong?

[+jamwheat Subscriber²]

you may have to include the "recovery" partition also, as it is part of the disk structure.

[stumper66]

You can do a complete image which saves all drives in VHDX format. However you can't do it thru the GUI, you have to use command line.

To save everything to a d: drive, which should be external media:

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:d: -allCritical -include:c:

[aberg]

it seems like the error code 0x807800C5 mostly occurs if you are trying to backup to a NAS or network mapped drive.

I include the system partition in my backup and I have run several backups without any problem.

[karib]

You can do a complete image which saves all drives in VHDX format. However you can't do it thru the GUI, you have to use command line.

To save everything to a d: drive, which should be external media:

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:d: -allCritical -include:c:

How can I restore in case I need it?

What is vhdx format?

I prefer gui actions.

As I told above, I tried backup to external hard disk.

Am I having any other realistic option?

Usb flash disks not allowed.

Network backup I guess would be a nightmare.

Dvd? Dozens? No way.

So, what is better than a usb external disk?

I tried one more time to backup, with recovery partition too. That means backup everything, c, system, recovery.

Failure once again.

Same error.

Any ideas?

[karib]

We tried so many things, and no solution yet!

[nordmilch]

How can I restore in case I need it?

What is vhdx format?

If u did a Backup from c: on d: (maybe USB drive)

then the command is:

wbadmin start recovery -version:03/31/2005-09:00 -itemType:Volume -items:c: -BackupTarget:d:
[/CODE]

additional infos here

make sure ur Win Version is supported to run this recovery command, Win8 Standard doesn't :(

[Gotenks98]

Might want to do a search on something called recimg. This is another way of backing up. Its command line but some 3rd party group made a gui for it. I think the site is recimg.com

[JaredFrost]

@OP: All my problems were not in the backup process but in the restoring process, I was migrating everything from a slower 1TB hard drive to a faster 1TB hard drive, which happened to be a few MBs smaller

The recovery process threw a hissy fit and wouldn't restore it, I had to create an image using Acronis 2013 which can do partition resizing.

Use a real backup solution like Acronis True Image. I'd totally stay away from the Windows backup solution.

I agree, the Windows Backup solution gave me nothing but problems, though everything has at one point or another, I would love if it worked properly, one less thing to install

But at this point, nah, use something better.

On that note, the only version of Acronis True Image that can properly create a gpt based drive image is 2013.

No need to pay for something that windows can do natively. Just assign the drive letter and try it again and let us know if you can do it then. As for as the recimg thing you want to do a google search for it. Its essentially the same thing the OEMs use now with windows 8 to create a custom recovery image When you refresh your pc (not reset your pc) it uses that image to restore things. Keep in mind its not for your data but for applications and the OS.

Sure it does it, but it doesn't do a good job, if he wants to restore this image on this system again, say due to hard drive failure(the main reason for making a backup), he'll need to make sure the new hard drive is equal or larger than

the one he's replacing. even if the new hard drive is 1MB smaller the image will not restore, it cannot do any type of partition resizing, which makes it almost completely useless, unless you're just using it to restore on the exact same hard drive.

[primexx]

why don't you just use clonezilla?

[Gotenks98]

@OP: All my problems were not in the backup process but in the restoring process, I was migrating everything from a slower 1TB hard drive to a faster 1TB hard drive, which happened to be a few MBs smaller

The recovery process threw a hissy fit and wouldn't restore it, I had to create an image using Acronis 2013 which can do partition resizing.

I agree, the Windows Backup solution gave me nothing but problems, though everything has at one point or another, I would love if it worked properly, one less thing to install

But at this point, nah, use something better.

On that note, the only version of Acronis True Image that can properly create a gpt based drive image is 2013.

Sure it does it, but it doesn't do a good job, if he wants to restore this image on this system again, say due to hard drive failure(the main reason for making a backup), he'll need to make sure the new hard drive is equal or larger than

the one he's replacing. even if the new hard drive is 1MB smaller the image will not restore, it cannot do any type of partition resizing, which makes it almost completely useless, unless you're just using it to restore on the exact same hard drive.

I have never had issues restoring using the windows image using the built in software. It does a file by file image not a sector by sector so hard drive size does not matter nor will partition sizes.