Best way for recovery USB

ronthai

New Member
Messages
28
Location
Pattaya
Hi,

I would like to know which software is the best recommended here for a FULL backup of the C-drive.(OS+Apps+Settings+Documents+anything on the C-drive)

Does Windows 8.1 recovery option do that or is it better to use an other software program?

I have all setup so any downloads and other stuff is always on a separate partition. Therefore once I am finished setting up my new computer, C-drive will basically never change again (beside updates and such of course).

I estimate that my C-drive will be between 40-50 GB once finished.

I have read that an USB flash drive (64GB 3.0) is not accepted by Windows. Is that true?
If so, that means it will have to be a removable USB drive, which come no smaller then 500GB, but since it is an recovery disk/image, no other files may be saved on it.

Which ever option is best, I need to buy an USB for this recovery setup, so advice is welcome.

Well is guess this should cover it, but any suggestions regarding a perfect and full recovery method are appreciated.

Thanks, Ron
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy 700-540d
    CPU
    Intel i7-4790 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Kaili 2
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 745 - 4GB
    Sound Card
    Internal 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal 2TB
    External:
    WD 3.0 (3TB - 1TB - 1TB)
    WD 2.0 (1TB - 500GB - 500GB)
    Vertabim 3.0 (1TB - 1TB)
    Old HDD 2TB with external 2.0 USB casing
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    AVG 2015
With Macrium Reflect Free you can use a USB drive to make a full system image.

I format mine as NTFS to get 1 big image file instead of a bunch of 4 GB files like if formatted as Fat32.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Can this be done a USB zip drive? How big is the file?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Haswell i5 4690
    Motherboard
    Asus Z97-A
    Memory
    2 x 8gb HyperX, by Kingston
    Graphics Card(s)
    None yet
    Sound Card
    Outboard USB DAC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung S24D360
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Actually a 500GB External USB HDD at about $50USD is about the same price as a 128GB USB Thumb/Flash drive at Amazon, might be close to the same at Wal*Mart, Staples, BestBuy, etc. A 64GB USB Thumb/Flash may run about half that but the capacity may in time not be enough, depending upon how you use your computer.

Also, I think a backup program would be best such as Acronis True Image, Macrium Reflect, etc. There's been a number of posts on forums about backup and what does or doesn't work.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WinXP, WinVista, Win7, Win8.1, Win10, Linux Mint 20
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Customs and 12 OEM/Brands
    CPU
    AMD and Intel
Can this be done a USB zip drive? How big is the file?

My image file is about 20 GBs shrunk from 50 GBs using high compression using a regular USB drive.
I have no idea what a USB zip drive is.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Zip drives [by Iomega] came out several years ago, consider them as Super Floppies. There were 3 sizes, 100MB, 250MB and 750MB, never had the 750MB but still have and occasionally use the 250MB, mostly to recover data clients have on them. The drives were available for Parallel Ports with a pass-through for a printer and as an internal drive using an ATA connection [now called PATA]. The latest versions were USB connected. The 750MB version could read/write the 250MB disk but could only read the 100MB disk.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    WinXP, WinVista, Win7, Win8.1, Win10, Linux Mint 20
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2 Customs and 12 OEM/Brands
    CPU
    AMD and Intel
With Macrium Reflect Free you can use a USB drive to make a full system image.

I format mine as NTFS to get 1 big image file instead of a bunch of 4 GB files like if formatted as Fat32.

Am download the software now

Maybe a stupid question, but will the backup on the USB be acceptable for Windows, when all fails, but the recovery message that comes with W8.1.
I have seen it already unfortunately, yesterday, but only had the standard recovery image that comes on the D-drive with the computer (off the shelf HP)

I saw on the website that Macrium supports GPT, since my HDD seems to be GPT (still don't know what that means), but after my first disaster yesterday (my stupid fault, should have known better), I tried to get in to the computer by installing my old W7 on a partition, but that was not accepted, due to GPT

Edit:
Stupid me, I should ask, if a recovery is needed, I should just use the standard Windows recovery image (as I did yesterday) and then afterwards install Macrium and restore the backup image created. Is that correct?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy 700-540d
    CPU
    Intel i7-4790 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Kaili 2
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 745 - 4GB
    Sound Card
    Internal 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal 2TB
    External:
    WD 3.0 (3TB - 1TB - 1TB)
    WD 2.0 (1TB - 500GB - 500GB)
    Vertabim 3.0 (1TB - 1TB)
    Old HDD 2TB with external 2.0 USB casing
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    AVG 2015
the standard windows recovery image recovery is just the Factory recovery...

After you install all your software, apps and settings, then use macrium to create a system backup..

If your system fails and you use the factory recovery - you get the factory setup
if you use the macrium image recovery - you get your system the way you set it up..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Well, unless I did something wrong with Macrium (90% of the options I really do not understand, so I just do standard stuff)
The backup which I guess should be a 100% C-drive partition.
Mine is now at about 42GB, Micrium also showed that, but the backup file is only 21GB, maybe compressed, and has an extension ".mrimg".

Well, my best guess is Windows recovery has no idea what to do with a .mrimg file, when the computer is unable to boot.

I am probably doing something wrong.

Lets make this simple for you experts here.

I know I ask stupid questions, because I have almost no real computer skills, besides using software I am used to.

All I want is in some way to back up my WHOLE C-drive.
Because when all fails, I can use it to set all back as it was before (a year, month, week), without having to re-install all software again and all that boring time consuming stuff.

Plain English Please.

Thank you, Ron
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy 700-540d
    CPU
    Intel i7-4790 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Kaili 2
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 745 - 4GB
    Sound Card
    Internal 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal 2TB
    External:
    WD 3.0 (3TB - 1TB - 1TB)
    WD 2.0 (1TB - 500GB - 500GB)
    Vertabim 3.0 (1TB - 1TB)
    Old HDD 2TB with external 2.0 USB casing
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    AVG 2015
Actually a 500GB External USB HDD at about $50USD is about the same price as a 128GB USB Thumb/Flash drive at Amazon, might be close to the same at Wal*Mart, Staples, BestBuy, etc. A 64GB USB Thumb/Flash may run about half that but the capacity may in time not be enough, depending upon how you use your computer.

Also, I think a backup program would be best such as Acronis True Image, Macrium Reflect, etc. There's been a number of posts on forums about backup and what does or doesn't work.

Thanks for the prices, but I do not live in the USA (the world is bigger then that)

Can I make a backup on a flash USB and W8.1 will accept and use it?
That was one of the unknowns, thereby a question.

Talking about prices here in Thailand, see my FLAG,
The cheapest 500GB USB drive I can find would still be around 60-65 USD
The cheapest 64GB flash drive would be about 20-25 USD,

but until now nobody has told me out of experience, if anything would work.
Please guys, I do not want to be rude or anything, but you experts, geeks, out there, help and try to reply in English, so us/me "computer idiots" also understand what you talk about. Isn't that what this forum is for, or is it just for non-English geek talk?

Thank you, Ron

PS. Sorry long day(s) on the computer and bottle of Rum is almost empty.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy 700-540d
    CPU
    Intel i7-4790 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Kaili 2
    Memory
    8 GB DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 745 - 4GB
    Sound Card
    Internal 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal 2TB
    External:
    WD 3.0 (3TB - 1TB - 1TB)
    WD 2.0 (1TB - 500GB - 500GB)
    Vertabim 3.0 (1TB - 1TB)
    Old HDD 2TB with external 2.0 USB casing
    Browser
    FF
    Antivirus
    AVG 2015
The backup which I guess should be a 100% C-drive partition.
Mine is now at about 42GB, Micrium also showed that, but the backup file is only 21GB, maybe compressed, and has an extension ".mrimg".

Well, my best guess is Windows recovery has no idea what to do with a .mrimg file, when the computer is unable to boot.

No "ms windows" refresh and reset will not know what to do with the Macrium image - you would need to launch a macrium recovery boot disk
selecting refresh and reset via any "windows" options - will only restore the factory windows..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
Well, my best guess is Windows recovery has no idea what to do with a .mrimg file, when the computer is unable to boot.

The cheapest paid version of Macrium has a boot time recovery environment.
Restart & select it to install your image.

screenshot_263.jpg
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
OR he needs to create bootable rescue media - using macrium - in order to restore the marcium image
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 3.1 > Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8700
    CPU
    I7
    Memory
    24 GB
You do have to learn by doing. Sometimes things cannot be explained in very simple terms, that can take an eternity.
If you want to learn about making an Image of your Hard Drive (which is what you are asking in your first paragraph and in post #9) then look that up as to what that exactly means. I don't suppose people on here want to spend many hours educating people on a plethora of subjects when the information is already there for you to look up yourself using Google or whatever.

Windows 8.1 Hard Drive Image:
Control Panel(All items) > File History > System Image Backup.
That link "System Image Backup" is on the bottom left of the File History page.

You can use alternative Applications like Macrium Reflect free to do the same job, however the Bootable rescue discs/USB keys you may need are rather tricky to make, you have to do additional downloads and copy driver files and so on, so not quite so straightforward, much testing is involved.

Only the Application you used to make the original Image can be used to recover that Image.
The Images made cannot be used by another Application.

N.B. You are confusing the manufacturers Recovery partition which is a different thing, that restores the Laptop/PC to the state when you bought it. Thus loses all the Applications you have installed and your personal files etc.
 

My Computer

Windows 8.1 has its own called System Image Backup and it will allegedly do as you wish.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1, x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Build
    CPU
    Intel i5 4690K @ Stock
    Motherboard
    ASUS Z97-K
    Memory
    Corsair XM3 DDR3 1600MHz @ 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS 760 OC @ Stock
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    [1] ASUS, 23", AH-IPS, 16:9 [2] Samsung TV, 20", LCD TFT, 16:9
    Screen Resolution
    [1] 1920 x 1080, 60Hz [2] 1680 x 1050, 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Internal: 500GB, 1TB, (plus SanDisk, SATAIII, 120GB SSD)
    External: 250GB USB2, 1TB External USB3
    PSU
    Corsair TX750 Enthusiast Edition
    Case
    Zalman Z11
    Cooling
    Air - 9 Total Fans
    Keyboard
    Xebec Media Line
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical
    Internet Speed
    Approx. 550KBps DL, 100KBps UL (EE)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky Internet Security
    Other Info
    It's "tower," not desktop!
Are you search an ease of use hard drive imaging software ? Recommend EaseUS Todo Backup, which enables you to backup your whole c-drive or partition to an image and restore it .
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
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