SOLVED W10 Backup & Restore have major shortcomings.

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Microsoft has done a poor job of explaining just exactly what one has to do to first create and image backup and second use the system repair disc you are asked to create to do restores. The problems are almost insurmountable. I am sure others can and do use it without a problem but what follows will show just how difficult it was for me to use.
Here are the problems:
1. I chose to use a USB stick for the backups. The backup process would not notice the stick unless it had the necessary permissions on a folder to allow it to be shared and then make a share for it.

2. Once the backup image was done I thought I had a real way to restore. Wrong! I had a situation that some people are experiencing that made my start button not work and I wanted to restore from the backup I had made. I wanted to do the restore because all of the helpful stuff about getting out of the start button problem did not work. Windows 10 System Repair DIsc was booted and then I went to the restore. It could not find the stick even though its own little operating system could. I spent several days searching on the internet to find a solution for this. The restore apparently wants only certain names and then only in the root of the usb. Unfortunately item number one above makes this impossible. Further, if you drag and drop so that everything is in the root that restore wants you have broken an unwritten rule about leaving things alone in the backup or else restore won't find the image backup. Extra files were created by the image backup that many Google hits said should not be there. Isn't this wonderful?

3. The image process creates .vhdx files for W10 not .vhd. I had purchased Acronis TI 2016 just a few days ago and when I booted their rescue disc it is not capable of using the .vhdx files. It does not even see them.

4. Creating a new userid on the image that had the start button worked and its own start button worked. This was not an option to use all the time for me. Too many things to get right in the new logon.

The solution for me was found in a Google hit that described a way to convert the .vhdx files to .vhd and then Acronis would work. The hit indicated Windows 10 Pro, which is what I have, has a feature that can be turned on called Hyper-V and is used to run virtual operating systems under W10. One could use the Hyper-V Monitor to locate, convert from .vhdx to .vhd and save them somewhere. I was able to accomplish the conversion using Hyper-V. The .vhdx files were on the stick. I put the converted ones on an attached external hd. I used Acronis Rescue Disc, located the .vhd files, chose the correct image based on size, and did the restore. It worked perfectly and my system is back like it was before the start button problem reared its ugly head. I have made a good backup with Acronis now and won't use Windows create a system image again.
 

Trouble

Noob Whisperer
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I have made a good backup with Acronis now and won't use Windows create a system image again.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us and welcome to the forum.
I've personally been using Acronis since version 6.x and have 2014, 2015 and 2016 installed on three computer in my home.
While I'm not particularly fond of where the interface has gone with 2015 and 2016 (prefer 2014 myself), I will never use anything else for disk imaging.

Glad to hear that you got it worked out and you even got a little taste of Hyper-V as part of the process. How did you like it?
As a native feature in Windows 10 Pro 64 bit (assuming underlying hardware support), I find it an excellent product. I even stopped using VMware Workstation, which was costing me about a $100 bucks a year to upgrade continuously.
 
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I must admit I did not know Hyper-V was even a feature. I liked the Hyper-V Monitor. I am going to learn more about this feature. During my conversion of the .vhdx to .vhd process I ran across a note in the monitor that informed me the backup files created by W10 Create a system image can be used under Hyper-V and one can bring up the image underneath W10!. That will really be useful.
 

Trouble

Noob Whisperer
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That's true.
The system image utility native to Windows 10 does create .vhdx files and....
You can use Disk Management to mount and assign a drive letter to a .vhdx file which should enable you to browse it just like a regular drive.
Although again, I don't know why you would use the Windows utility when you own Acronis True Image, which allows you to do exactly the same thing. Just right click the .tib file and you should see your acronis true image archive mount option.
 

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