Solved Win 8.1 Laptop Clone or Imiage Operating System on USB

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bluecat

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Hi, I have a Win 8.1 laptop without a disk drive which also did not come with a cd of operating system. What software, preferably free, can I use to copy my operating system to USB in case I ever need to reinstall Win 8.1?
How do I just copy the operating system without all the software I have added since acquiring this laptop?
Thanks for any suggestions.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
How do I just copy the operating system without all the software
Click to expand...

As far as I know, there is no way to just copy the OS.

My recommendation, based on my own experience, is to install Macrium Reflect and use that to image off your Win 8.1 install to an external drive. Choose the option to "Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows". That will ensure all the necessary partitions are included in the backup.

And, if you are going to use the free version, use the option to create and burn a Linux Boot CD. That will allow you to boot into it to do a full image restore -- should you need to do that later.
 

My Computer

System One

I do not have a external HD. This laptop does not have a cd drive so how would a Linux Boot CD work? Could I do this and store it on a win7 or xp pc? If so how would I transfer it to the Win8.1 laptop later if needed?
Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
What make/model is your laptop? You can generally order the restore disks from the manufacturer. It may also be possible to download the windows iso from Microsoft and in addition to that you may already have a recovery partition.

You can use USB pen drive instead of DVD to boot from.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
The laptop is Asus Q200E. OK was wondering if I could boot from USB, thanks for that info. With my Win7 I did make a boot disk long time ago but this is the first pc with out cd drive for me so I was left with questions. Thanks again.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
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