how to recover my windows 8.1 installation

babis49

New Member
Messages
7
hello ,
I have bought a HP laptop with windows 8.1 (x 64) installed and a recovery partition (16 GB) instead of an installation DVD .
I added myself a second partition (~100 GB) for my personal files and especially for a Windows Image Backup renewed every month including new updates and files changes etc.
I created a recovery USB stick (16 GB) and an installation DVD from Microsoft using the " Create installation media for windows 8.1 " and reserved the free upgrade for Windows 10 .
Now , how I could create a double boot installation ( windows 10 - windows 8.1 ) using all this stuff in case I wouldn't like Windows 10 ? I'm thinking of creating an unallocated space , booting from installation DVD to install windows 8.1 and finally to use the existing System Image Backup in order to recover my previous windows 8.1 installation ? am I right or wrong ?
Please help . Thanks for your anticipation .
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
Why are you reinstalling Windows 8.1? If Windows 10 installs like every other Windows, clean install it onto a free partition. Setup should recognize Windows 8.1 and setup a dual boot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Apple MacBook Pro
    CPU
    Core 2 Duo 2.4
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce 320M
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 PRO 250GB SSD
hello Apples555

Your suggestion is obvious but I'm trying to avoid to reinstall all these programs (office , antivirus . firefox , chrome , Java etc),
that's why I refer to system image which includes everything .

thanks anyway
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
I'm thinking of creating an unallocated space , booting from installation DVD to install windows 8.1 and finally to use the existing System Image Backup in order to recover my previous windows 8.1 installation ? am I right or wrong ?
A system image back up is a bit for bit copy, so it would just over write the re-installed OS.
A disk image creates an exact copy of the data on your hard disk. This includes the structure of the partitions on the disk and the file system format on the partition. A typical Macrium Reflect image file only includes the parts of the disk that are used by the file system, this is then compressed to reduce the image file size. An image using standard compression will be around 60-70% of the size of the used space of the imaged partition. A full image creates a new Image Set complete with a unique Image ID.
For more information about images see Reflect_v5 It's by Macrium but pretty much explains in depth.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
With images you are safe - either Windows images or Macrium images would be my choice. I would not bother to double boot. Just upgrade to Windows 10 and if you don't like it roll in your latest 8.1 image.

Btw - there is a neat command with which you can make a Windows image:

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:X: -include:C: -AllCritical -quiet

Where 'X' is the drive letter of the drive where you want to store the image.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Vista and Win7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    2xHP, 2xGateway, 1xDell, 1xSony
    Hard Drives
    5 SSDs and 12 HDs
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