What program to make an image of the system. Data archiving in Windows. Create a system image and recovery drive

Archiving is the most effective and best tool for ensuring the safety of data. Timely backup of information can not only save you from losing important files, but also allow you to restore your computer after serious failures.

Introduction

Purely theoretically, modern Windows operating systems should be able to work on computers without failures for a very long time. To do this, many software mechanisms are built into the OS that are responsible for the security and reliability of the system, designed to independently resolve various problems that arise during the operation of the PC. The same applies to the hardware component of a computer, the components of which, under normal operating conditions, should serve the user for at least several years.

But in practice, things look a little different. In some situations, Windows stability is not as perfect as the developers claim, and PC parts can fail after only a few days of operation. At the same time, all this can happen, as always, at the most inopportune moment. So sooner or later, an unpleasant situation can happen to any of you, as a result of which the operating system becomes inoperable or important data is lost. It is possible that both will happen at the same time.

In order to help users avoid serious troubles associated with the loss of information and the occurrence of failures in the operation of the OS, Windows has several tools that allow you to back up the necessary data, as well as create system restore checkpoints, a system image or a system recovery disk. In the future, the created copies can be used to reanimate certain information or the entire system as a whole.

All recovery and backup mechanisms can be found in Control panels system.

If in the computer settings window you have category browsing (by default), then you need to find the link Archiving computer data In chapter system and safety. If the view of all panel elements is set, then we are looking for the option Backup or restore.

After launching it, a window will open in front of you, containing links to various tools for backing up and restoring data.

Data archiving

Archiving data is the periodic creation of copies of files and folders that you work with most often, as well as your account settings. If in paragraph Archiving you will see the inscription Data archiving is not configured, then this means that archiving was not performed earlier in this system, and in case of data corruption, you risk losing them once and for all.

To correct this situation, click on the link Set up backup, after which the archiving setup wizard will start.

At the first stage, the utility will scan and identify all storage devices that are connected to your computer and display a list of them (except system disk) in a new window. From this list, you should select the disk on which you plan to store the created archives.

The most optimal storage for backups is external (removable) HDD, which can be stored separately from the computer. At the same time, portable magnetic drives, in fact, being ordinary HDDs, dressed in a case with a controller, can store the same large amounts of information as their internal ones. And this means that, if necessary, in many cases you can make a complete copy of your disk and transfer all its contents, for example, to another computer. In cases where the archived data is small, you can choose USB flash drives, memory cards or writable optical discs (CD, DVD) as storage objects.

In addition to external drives, you can store archive copies of files on any non-system partitions of internal hard drives. For example, this is advisable when several hard drives are installed on the computer at once. If, however, a logical partition physically located on it is selected as the place to save the backup copy of data from the disk, then in the event of a hard drive failure, you will still say goodbye to all your information. So it is better to store data and their backups on different physical media.

Also in Windows it is possible to save archive files in local network on remote computers.

After selecting the location to save the backup copy, press the button Further, after which a window will open in front of you.

Here we are invited to make a choice between automatic and manual selection of archiving objects. In the first case, the system itself will back up files from key user libraries and folders. In the second - the choice can be made independently.

• Data files saved in folders and libraries: Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, AppData, Contacts, Desktop, Downloads, Favorites, Links, Saved Games and Searches.
• A system image that is an exact copy of the system disk partition and includes the system itself and all its parameters, user settings and files, as well as installed programs.

Of course, many users (especially beginners) will find this type of backup easier, but it still has its drawbacks. First of all, this concerns the automatic creation of a system image archive, which can be very large and lead to a rapid overflow of the drive intended for storing backups. At the same time, individual elements cannot be selected from the system image during data recovery, for example, only a library with documents, and therefore it is poorly suited for restoring individual files or folders. So it is better to take the process of preparing a planned archive under your own control, and do the image of the system partition manually, as needed.

After selecting an item Give me a choice a window will open in front of you, where you can independently check the necessary objects for archiving with the help of checkboxes.

Particular attention should be paid to the fact that the system separates the data of different accounts, as well as data on hard drives. That is, you can choose to archive both libraries of all computer users at once, or individually. Also, for each user, it is possible to select the necessary archived components. In addition, you can add the necessary files and folders located on hard disk partitions to the backup. To do this, simply expand the desired section (click on the triangle on the left) and select the necessary objects. If you want to create a complete copy of any logical drive, check the box next to it without expanding it.

Under the list of libraries and components for archiving, in the lower part of the window, there is a separate item for creating a system disk image. At the same time, if your computer has several operating systems installed in different partitions, then Windows will include all of them in the created image. This is just clearly visible from our screenshot, which was taken on a computer with two installed operating systems.

True, we agreed that in this example we will not create an image of the system, but leave this matter for later. So for now, uncheck the box Include disk system image.

After you make a selection of the necessary components and click the button Further, a control window will open, in which you will be asked to check all the main archiving parameters again.

Here you can also change archiving schedule by clicking on the link with the talking title.

In the schedule settings window, you can select the frequency, days of the week, and time for automatic archiving. When choosing a time, do not forget that the computer should be turned on at that moment and it is better not to be used by you, since the archiving procedure can seriously slow down the workflow. In addition, in this window, you can completely disable the automatic creation of scheduled backups and subsequently do it only manually.

Finally, when all the parameters are specified and the settings are made, to start the procedure for archiving the selected objects, press the button Save settings and start archiving. Windows will immediately begin the process of creating a backup copy according to the created rules. At this moment, you will be able to visually monitor the progress of archiving using the indicator located in the window.

To view more detailed information, you can click the View details button, after which an additional window will open in front of you, which will reflect the progress of the running procedure.

The duration of the archiving process directly depends on the number of objects you specified, as well as their total volume, and can take from several minutes to several hours.

After the completion of the backup, in the archiving window already familiar to us, information about the size of the created archive and its contents, the time the next copy was created, and the date of the last archiving will appear.

Here you can also change or disable the schedule, perform an unscheduled backup (Backup button), create a system image or optical boot disk restore the system, as well as manage disk space for archiving.

From the same window, you can access the general list of backups by clicking on the button View archives, as well as change the parameters of the system image.

In order to free up disk space in case it is full, you can delete unnecessary (outdated) copies in the archive list display window by selecting the required entry and pressing the button Delete.

So, we have just reviewed the planned and manual archiving of information, which allows you to systematically save the necessary data, including personal files and folders, on selected media, thereby ensuring the possibility of their quick recovery. But do not forget about the operating system, which is the main and most important tool for the user when working with a computer.

There are frequent cases when, under the influence of various external factors, the normal operation of the system is disrupted. For example, this can happen when a computer becomes infected with a virus or there is a sudden power outage. In certain situations, with serious failures, restoring Windows to working order can be very difficult, and sometimes it can not be done at all. In this case, users not only have to completely reinstall the system, but also configure its settings, reinstall device drivers, as well as all programs and applications.

To avoid such unpleasant troubles and make life easier for yourself in the event of an OS crash, Windows has a standard tool that allows you to create exact copies of the partitions in which the system is installed. By creating an image of the system partition, in the future you can restore the entire operating system from it with the settings already configured, personal libraries and applications you installed in a matter of minutes.

As you may have guessed, the same tool is used to create a disk image in Windows. Backup and restore, which we discussed above when studying the procedure for archiving data. Having opened this component, in the left column of the window, you can see a link with a telling name, by clicking on which the mechanism for creating a copy of the system disk will start.

First, as in the case of regular data archiving, you will be prompted to choose a location to store the created image. The most preferred option here is On hard drive. In this case, it is better to store the system image on a separate internal or external drive, and not on another logical partition of the hard drive with the installed system. Only then will you provide yourself with the opportunity to restore the OS in the event of a mechanical failure of the HDD.

The option of storing the image on DVDs is also not bad. But here everything will depend on how much space your backup copy of the system partition takes up. For example, in our case, archiving two system partitions may require about 145 GB. This means that to burn such an image, 31 regular (single-layer) DVDs are required.

If the system image does not exceed 30-40 GB, then optical disks can be used to store the system. Although messing around with 8-10 carriers will also seem like a burden to many users.

A final alternative for storing system images is a network location. Frankly, this option can not be called optimal. Indeed, in order to pull a backup copy from a remote resource, it is necessary to connect the computer to the network, which can be very problematic or simply impossible without a fully installed operating system.

After you select the location of the system image, a window will open in front of you, in which you will need to select the disks included in the backup.

In fact, the figure clearly shows that in addition to system partitions, images of other logical disks can also be included in the backup. True, there is one condition here - you cannot include a disk image in the archive if it is selected as the storage for the system copy.

Having selected the sections necessary for archiving, click Further. Finally, a control window appears in front of us with confirmation of the archiving parameters. The most important thing here is to pay attention to the size of the required space for the archive. If the predicted volume is at least slightly higher than the amount of free space on the media or almost equal to it, then it is better not to start archiving. Otherwise, you risk wasting a lot of time.

After making sure that the selected parameters are correct, click on the button Archive to launch the system image creation procedure directly. If something does not suit you during the archiving process, you can click the button Cancel and set all parameters again.

After the backup of the system partition is completed, the wizard will prompt you to create system recovery disk. This disc it will be very useful to you in those cases when you need to restore the system from an image, but at the same time it will be impossible to start a previously installed copy of Windows, which means that it will not be possible to launch the built-in standard recovery tool. At the same time, keep in mind that during the occurrence of failures or virus infections, it is the boot area of ​​the system or the components responsible for starting the OS that is often damaged. So the likelihood that you will encounter just such a situation is very high.

What is a recovery disk? In fact, this is a boot disk (you can boot a computer from it) containing basic diagnostic tools and Windows recovery, with which you can reanimate a computer after serious failures, including from a previously created system image.

If you don't have a blank optical disc after you've finished creating the system image, you can postpone the creation of the recovery disc until later. Subsequently, this can be done from the already familiar system component - Backup and restore by clicking on the link in the left column Create System Recovery Disc.

The process of creating this disc is very simple. In the window that opens, you select the desired drive (if you have several), insert a blank DVD into it and press the button Create disk. The system will do the rest for you automatically.

Conclusion

Remember that regular archiving of data (backup), which is very important to you, is a guarantee that one day you will not have to mourn for irretrievably lost personal documents, photos, family videos and other unique files.

Also, do not forget about your main working tool - the operating system. After all, having a backup copy of the system partition, in case of critical Windows failures or even a breakdown hard drive, you can always quickly restore not only the working state of the computer, but also all your personal libraries, installed applications and system settings.

Restoring from an image means replacing all personal data on your hard drive with files from the image, or in other words, if you created an image of a local disk (C :) using the Data Archiving tool, then deploying this image in place, you will replace all your existing files on this disk with data from the image.
The article is written as a continuation, where we learned how to create an Image of the Windows 7 operating system in case of a serious malfunction, but here we will restore our data in place, even when our Windows 7 will not boot at all.

Restoring from an image

According to my observations, serious users install Windows 7 and divide the hard drive into two volumes and call them names, for example (C:) and (D:). On the drive (C:) they have the Windows 7 operating system, and on (D:) all personal data. Next, they create a disk image (C:) and save it on another partition of the hard drive, that is, on (D:). The disk (D :) is not archived, since according to users, it is usually rare with it, which happens and this is actually the case.

And then there was a problem with Windows 7, the system takes a long time to load, freezes and is unstable, our users, in the language of motorists, kick the wheels for a while (apply a rollback using restore points), but the car still does not drive, and Windows 7 does not work ok then they restore from image drive (C:) and a working Windows 7 from the archive replaces the inoperable one, that's all.
The most serious ones create an image of both the disk (C:) containing the files of the operating system, and the disk (D:) with personal data. You may notice, if you have one hard drive, where then to store the image of two partitions (C:) and (D:)? Purchased specifically for this additional hard drive SATA or portable USB hard drive, which must be formatted with the NTFS file system. Restore your data from the image in this case, you need to be careful, along with the faulty Windows 7 located on the disk (C :), you can replace all your files on the disk (D :), so you first need to copy everything you need, for example, to the same portable USB hard drive .
All this is written and shown in the article Creating a system image, now let's restore.

• Note: how to create and how to use a Recovery Drive, you can learn from our article How to restore a Windows 7 system. Also in this case, the Windows 7 installation disk can help, it also contains the recovery environment.

So I'll show you how to restore Windows 7 from an image using a recovery disk. We insert it into the drive, reboot, the BIOS should be set to boot from the drive, then the System Recovery Options program starts.

We quickly press Enter, otherwise the offer to boot from the disk will disappear.

The recovery environment starts, again you need to select the keyboard layout,

usedownload the latest system image and our Windows 7 is restored.
The system image is always created with the extension vhd and is in the folder Windows Image Backup.

To use a system image as a simple hard disk partition, for example, we need to extract some file from the image, and not restore the entire image, we just need to connect our image as a virtual hard disk in Disk Management.

Start->Computer->right-click and select Manage->Disk Management->Action->Attach VHD from the context menu,

Our image is being converted into a simple hard drive accessible in the Computer window.

Disadvantages of the System Imaging tool: You cannot set up automatic archiving without the help of additional software.
How to transfer an installed Windows 7 system to another computer.

Hello dear friends!!! In this article, I would like to touch on probably the most important and integral part for all users of computers and laptops, it will be about how to create an image windows systems 7 for a safe, complete recovery of the system and all data on a computer or laptop. In our time, probably everyone already has a computer and more than 80% use the Internet, every day we all look for some kind of information on the Internet, go to different sites, download games, music, videos, install the programs we need and don’t need , we store important data on our hard drives, and of course we all want the system to work stably, so that if the system fails, it does not need to be reinstalled and all information is not lost in vain.

Imagine this situation: you bought a computer or laptop with installed operating system, Everything suits you, time passes, a year, or maybe two, you have already accumulated a large database of various, important information, files: for example, a large collection of photographs, installed games, movies, documents, and at one point the system crashes, there can be a lot of reasons, ranging from viruses to the fact that they just turned off the light, and you don’t have an uninterruptible power supply to safely shut down the system.

Tell me what to do, how is it that the system does not work correctly, everything slows down, half of the desktop is gone, and even worse, windows 7 does not load at all, do you really need to reinstall the windows 7 system, but you don’t even know, and installation disk no, is everything lost and you need to start all over again? Don't worry, everything is fixable and now we will consider it!

To produce, we will use the program Acronis True Image Home 2013, believe me - this is the best and high-quality program for backing up and restoring a windows system, of course, every quality product is paid and if you value your windows system and you have extra money, then of course it's better to buy a product once and protect yourself, but if you feel sorry for the money, then you will need to carefully search the Internet (just be careful), otherwise a broken product can play a cruel joke on you. Well, if you yourself didn’t find anything on the Internet, then write to me through the feedback form, I will try to help.

So, let's begin. I want to say right away that we will not deal with the description of the program and the global settings in this article; for this, there will be separate articles on this program, so I think it’s worth subscribing to updating articles through the subscription form. We open the Acronis True Image Home program, the main window with prompts will open in front of you in order to create windows 7 system image, click on the "System backup" button.

In the window that opens, we look at the items that I marked with numbers.

1. We select partitions for backup, be sure to select (The partition without a name is the system boot loader) and (Local disk "C"), if your hard drive is divided into several partitions, you can select them or then create a separate backup of these partitions.
2. Choose a place to save the backup - it can be a hard disk partition or various drives, of course, to store the system image, it is better to use a removable hard drive or second hard disk if you have more than one.
3. You can enter a backup name or leave the default.
4. Be sure to open the Disk Backup Options tab. In the settings window that opens, check the "Validate backup after creating it" checkbox and click "OK".
5. After all that has been done, click the "Archive" button.

The whole process has begun and you will need to wait until the program executes. It took me about 40 minutes, but it was worth it.

After finishing creating the windows 7 system image, you can go to the section where the copy was saved and look at the system created by Beckup. Now, with the help of the created backup, you can easily restore the entire windows 7 system with all the information and settings in the form in which it was, by pressing just one button.

But that's not all, system failures can be different, okay, if the failure was not significant and windows 7 booted up, you can easily open the backup and restore the system, but what if the download does not occur? This is where a little tweaking comes in handy. Open the "Tools and Utilities" item and open the "Startup Repair" tab.

That's it friends, now you know how create a system image windows 7.