Windows 7 Backup & Restore Useless

[fcrem]

A long time ago I tried using Windows Restore & it never worked so I didn't use it any longer. Now I have W 10 & it still will not work. My PC would try & load the image but it would not be successful. Also System Restore did not work. It also would run & then say it did not work. It is a real shame that Microsoft cannot have these two programs work as they should. There are many posts stating the same things I am writing about. Just thought I would post this as a warning to not trust Windows backups.

Fred

 

[Wolfie]

HI Fred,

a few tips here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/220986/how-to-use-all-of-windows-10’s-backup-and-recovery-tools/

 

[T_J]

I have a 2012 Dell i3 desktop that came with Windows 7, then got the free Windows 10 upgrade in 2016. Since November 2017 I have used 'Backup and Restore (Windows 7)' to restore images maybe 10 times (probably more), with zero problems. I have also made several images, with zero problems. I save my Images to couple My Passport USB drives (one is 500 GB & other is 1 TB).

'Backup and Restore (Windows 7)' makes 2 images for my hard drive each time; volume 3482--- [recovery partition] & (C ) --- [OS partition]. This Dell has 3 partitions: 39.2 MB Dell Utility / 18.2 GB Recovery / 913 GB OS. I'm not exactly sure if the Utility deal is a partition? Ghost does make 3 image files for system image of the hard drive.

I normally don't use the file Backup system, I just save things where I want them myself; but I did make a Backup Set on Dec 7, I selected no image, backup has 75 zip files, and it finished with no errors and is on my 500 GB USB drive. Only reason I ran the backup was because when I connected my 1TB drive, Backup showed that USB drive was connected and when I connected the 500 GB drive, Backup showed the USB drive was not connected. Turns out it will show the 500 GB is connected if you start a Backup, guess 2 USB drives threw it a curve ball, but can back up to either drive.

I also have Norton Ghost 15, which makes three .v2i image files each time for my hard drive (utility, recovery, OS). Ghost 15 (XP, Vista, 7) is no longer supported, and the Ghost installation from my Windows 7 got corrupted during the Windows 10 upgrade, can't run or uninstall or install. Ghost seems to run ok with the CD boot disk. I've made a few images; but have not attempted to restore any images yet.

November - I would try something with McAfee to get 1703 to 1709, and have problems, so would restore image, and try something different. Had a 1703/LiveSafe image and a 1709/Defender image. Would keep trying things and restoring images, until I finally had 1709/LiveSafe. Thread on this site. I've noticed several threads about problems reinstalling LiveSafe on the McAfee forum lately. McAfee was preventing 1703 to 1709 upgrade, people uninstall McAfee and couldn't get it reinstalled. I finally upgraded to 1709 by not uninstalling McAfee, but turning every feature OFF.

Yesterday - I ran Linux Mint 17.3 off the DVD, then I had to download an update for Firefox because my LM DVD had v42 Firefox and needed v57 to play HTML5 YouTube videos. Since I had no idea where all the download files went, I restored my Windows 10 image when I was done.

 

[T_J]

I've never had any Image Restore failures yet for first 2 below, I don't recall if I've restored any Ghost images.
Drive Image 5.0 on my 2000 p3 Dell triple-boot desktop (98se, 2k, XP), about 7 partitions from 2001 to now.
Backup and Restore (Windows 7) on my 2012 i3 Dell W7 W10 desktop (has 3 OEM partitions) from 2012 to now.
Ghost 15.0 on my 2012 i3 Dell W7 W10 desktop (has 3 OEM partitions) from 2013 to now. I found a Ghost hard drive image from Jan 2013 on my 1TB My Passport, when my W7 Dell was couple months old. ​

 

[T_J]

On Dec 15 I used a Ghost 15 boot CD to create hard drive images (similar to above). Used Ghost boot CD to restore Dec 15 OS_D_Drive.v2i on Dec 15 & 19; restored OK both times (just checking if Ghost would work in W10).

 

[T_J]

I'm just testing Flickr.
G15W10 by T J, on Flickr
*******
I restored the (H) XP partition image (shown on right, below) on my 2000 Dell P3 desktop triple boot (98se, 2k, & XP) this week with Drive Image 5 (bought DI5 in 2001).

DI_PM by T J, on Flickr