How DO I test a system Image made with WIn 8.1

cybor462

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Hi All
Ok first I am not a techie so I apologize up front.
  • :confused:
I just had my Win 8.1HP desktop crash after a power blip on shutdown. Our power down here in Florida goes out for a 5 sec. period quite often. Just happened as my machine was shutting down updating. When I tried to restart the next day it would not boot, just went into the boot loop. Any attempt to try to restore met with a drive locked error. I did get some help and was able to get a clean 8.1 install. I had a backup that I made using Backup Maker free version but it would not restore. Im guessing because the orig system had an HP restore partition and the clean install did not have one. That changed the physical makeup of the drive and I guess that is why the backup would not restore. I was however able to use file explorer to grab a good bit of data off the drive before I wiped it out with the clean install. That's why I am here. I want to be sure my new image will restore because I am going to grab the Win 10 free upgrade and I am told it is much better than 8.1 I want to be sure my images will work if I need them if something goes wrong with the update. I was able to get 90% of my software reinstalled on my system and all is working like a charm.

Here is what I would like to do if possible. I currently have a Windows made image file made within Windows. I also have an image made with Macrium Reflect (just happen to have a purchased version). I want to test both of these without actually restoring them to my system drive and without either adding another internal drive or removing the internal drive and swapping it out.
I would like to restore these images on an USB external 4tb drive to test them and was wondering if that is possible.

Please if you can help remember I will need to be treated almost as a child. I was good with XP but never kept up with technology and I am stupid with 8.1 so I would need to be led like a child (almost)

  • :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
1st thing you should do is get a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) so the short power outages will no longer have an effect on your computer.

I don't know of any way to validate a backup image other than restoring it, though Macrium does have a Verify capability though all that does is verify the backup image has all it's bits and pieces, not that when restore all will work.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Ztruker
I got a UPS don't want to deal with that again. I won't mind restoring it but I just want to restore it to an external hard drive because I don't want to take a chance on messing up the system now because it's working so good and without knowing if the backup will restore I didn't want to take that chance
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
I was wondering if a Restore can be done to an external hard drive I'm thinking that it almost has to be a system disk and I didn't know if there was any type of workaround to be able to restore to an external hard drive make it like a boot drive
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
I don't think Macrium cares as long as the disk is large enough to hold the restored data.

To complete the test you would need to then install the drive in the computer to see if it will boot or not.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
HI
To complete the test you would need to then install the drive in the computer to see if it will boot or not

That's what I am trying to avoid. I have all external drives so they cant be put into the system. I read somewhere about Virtual disk. Is that possible and how might that work? Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Ztruker
Thanks a bunch for sticking with this. Funny I just noticed your in Fl too. I am in Ocala a bit north of you.
I looked at that thread. It sure is very detailed and I could do it. I want to ask about whether that would be a boot drive since it says it is a secondary drive. Would that be seen by the system as a boot drive? It seems if I have figured it out correctly they are also doing this on tablets or a system with SSD drives. My system still uses SATA HD. Not sure if that matters.

I know I should go ask over at that thread but those guys are a dozen pay scales above me and I tried to follow the posts but got lost very quickly. I do not know if they would have the time to deal with a dumbass that has been using computers since the IBM clones first hit the market but after XP I lost touch with technology and it has passed me by and buried me in the sand.


  • :think: Coming from the era of low tech not seeing my first computer until I was 35 I sure had a late start compared to the newest generation. I still have not embraced social media and just recently started texting because my kids think a cell phone/smartphone is not for talking but it can only text and surf the web. If I want to communicate with them I was forced to text.

    I can read but when I start reading terms that are 100% foreign to me I quickly lose interest and as they say....you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him recycle the bottle!

PS Just hit me..... if I did the VHD drive would my image even restore on it since my system HD is 1 TB and wouldn't the VHD have to be the same size for the restore to happen? If so it would not restore because I can't make a VHD drive that large.

See lost in the sand!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
Ok I have been reading about VHD and so far I have read that without Win 8 Enterprise or Pro it won't boot natively. If I am trying to see if the image is a good one I guess I can't make a VHD that will boot Windows if all I have is Home Edition.

Guess I have no other choices unless I am wrong as I normally find myself.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
Read this one, looks like it can be a bootable drive: Windows 8 VHD - Create at Boot to Dual Boot with

Pro or Ultimate is required it says though.

Edit: I think for your testing purposes a new 1TB hard drive would be a better choice. Restore to it, boot it and see if it's okay.
You can get a 1TB Seagate SATA drive for $49.99 with free shipping.

Once you satisfied your backup is good, use the new 1TB for additional storage or as an external drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Well I have a couple of one terabyte internal drives I have a Mac computer and I used to do video editing so I have a number of 1 terabytes that I can probably reformat and use if I had to I kinda wanted to avoid having to swap out drives every time I want to test a stupid image file because I would like to keep on making a fresh image maybe like once a month or so to make sure I have a good backup because I definitely don't trust incrementals I've had so much problems in the past with those not restoring correctly I always like to use the image because if you get a good image when you restore it everything's back and it's much easier
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
I restored full and incremental backups from Macrium with no problem. No idea why some people have problems and others don't. There has to be a reason but I'm not aware of it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
In my case on my XP system it was incompatible USB ports and drive roms. I had 1.0 + 2.0 USB drives. After loads of research and much smarter people than I on forums like this one we found that the Western Dig drives I had were blessed with flaky adapter bios/board.
I am sure my computer USB ports may have been flaky too.
The bottom line is you just don't know if the backup will restore unless you test it.
After losing a few systems and then having trouble restoring a backup I finally decided to find a way to verify them.
Straight full image is the best chance of getting a good one because making a total image that's successful eliminates all the hassles of incremental files because so many things can cause issues running incremental backups. Of course this is my laymen opinion for all its worth. :confused:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
To clarify my external hard drives had the problem USB boards on my old XP system backup failures. I still use them today just not for backups.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
A single test should suffice then. Do one restore and verify all is well, no need to do any others since the hardware will remain the same.
When you create the backup, have Macrium verify the image.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
I agree 100% the only problem is if I try to restore the backup and it screws up then I've just lost my system again because I have no way to restore it
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
That's why I suggested using a different 1TB drive to restore to and test with. Since it will only have to be done once this should not be hard to do.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
Ok I got that now. Once and done. I still find it so hard to believe that there is no other way.
How bout Win 10 ? I plan on updating right away. Any known issues upgrading? Would I have same issues with that verifying an image?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    maybe 8 and XP
Hi All
Ok first I am not a techie so I apologize up front.
  • :confused:
I just had my Win 8.1HP desktop crash after a power blip on shutdown. Our power down here in Florida goes out for a 5 sec. period quite often. Just happened as my machine was shutting down updating. When I tried to restart the next day it would not boot, just went into the boot loop. Any attempt to try to restore met with a drive locked error. I did get some help and was able to get a clean 8.1 install. I had a backup that I made using Backup Maker free version but it would not restore. Im guessing because the orig system had an HP restore partition and the clean install did not have one. That changed the physical makeup of the drive and I guess that is why the backup would not restore. I was however able to use file explorer to grab a good bit of data off the drive before I wiped it out with the clean install. That's why I am here. I want to be sure my new image will restore because I am going to grab the Win 10 free upgrade and I am told it is much better than 8.1 I want to be sure my images will work if I need them if something goes wrong with the update. I was able to get 90% of my software reinstalled on my system and all is working like a charm.

Here is what I would like to do if possible. I currently have a Windows made image file made within Windows. I also have an image made with Macrium Reflect (just happen to have a purchased version). I want to test both of these without actually restoring them to my system drive and without either adding another internal drive or removing the internal drive and swapping it out.
I would like to restore these images on an USB external 4tb drive to test them and was wondering if that is possible.

Please if you can help remember I will need to be treated almost as a child. I was good with XP but never kept up with technology and I am stupid with 8.1 so I would need to be led like a child (almost)

  • :D

I am forced to echo Ztruker's comments on getting a UPS. Florida is not only the lightning capital of the western hemisphere, but it's also possibly the Power Outage Capital of the US.
I have five UPS's in my house, because power outages can happen almost daily, and all it takes is a glitch sometimes, to cause a digital clock, digital answering machine or PC to do a reset or power down. The work bench where I work on other peoples PC's, is protected by a 600VA UPS. My main PC, which I'm on right now, is backed up by a 580VA UPS.
My TV, which I rely on for weather reports, is backed up by a 600VA UPS, which draws its DC power from two car batteries.
The charger in the UPS keeps the two car batteries well charged.

To validate every backup Image File I make (weekly) my Backup/restore program, Ghost 11.5, has a "Check" feature, so I can check the integrity of every backup I make. I don't do it (a restore) on my SSD, but when I was using a mechanical HD, I would first do a Backup to a second hard drive, then run "Check" to verify the backup and then do a Restore to the HD, to refresh the recording of all my data on the HD.
Since my backups are made one file at a time, the restore puts the data back on the HD the same way....one complete file at a time, leaving no spaces between files and of course, NO Fragmentation. So in that process the worlds best Defrag has effectively been done.

When my PNY SSD crashed last summer, I just installed another standard hard drive, did a Ghost Restore of my last backup and I was off and running again, as if nothing had ever happened. Later when I got a new SanDisk SSD, I did a backup off of the temporary HD and restored it to my new SSD, and in just a few minutes, I was back in operation with my new SSD.

For years, I've set up Backup systems for individuals, companies, corporations and even Banks. And I've always said, "the only bad backup is the one you decided NOT to make". Banks and municipalities make a backup of their entire database, daily, using a new backup media for each backup, and they store 30 days worth of backups in a fireproof vault. When a backup is 31 days old it will be recycled and used again for a new backup. I ran the mainframe computer for my County for two years, so I'm very familiar with the Backup process.

When I went to work for the County, not a single PC in the county was being backed up regularly. When I left, every PC was being backed up daily. I might have been gone, but not forgotten. :)

So, if your Backup/Restore program cannot do a Verification of its backup image files, then you're using the wrong program.:rolleyes:
A non-verified backup is almost as bad as NO backup at all.
Of course, the Backup/Restore program Must NOT be on your C: drive only *. It should be on a Bootable media, like a CD or Flash Drive, and you should also have multiple copies, just in case one should be damaged, or misplaced.

* If your Backup/Restore program resides ONLY on your C: drive and that drive crashes, then you've not only lost your data, but also the ability to restore it to a new drive.

Sorry this ran so long, but doing intelligent backups is not a short topic.

Good Luck!
TechnoMage :cool:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win-8.1/Pro/64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer X-1200
    CPU
    AMD 2 Core
    Motherboard
    Acer
    Memory
    Crucial, 4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDEA GeForce 9200
    Sound Card
    On Board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Acer
    Hard Drives
    Sandisk, SSD 500GB
    PSU
    Acer
    Case
    SFF Slimline
    Keyboard
    emachines 101 key
    Mouse
    Logitech Wireless
    Internet Speed
    5 Meg
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Using Classic Shell on Win-8.1 /pro/64
Excellent post, many thanks.

Macrium Reflect Free and Pro both have the ability to Verify the backup image. It also has the ability to create a rescue disc, either Linux or WinPE based.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo IdeaCenter K450
    CPU
    Intel Quad Core i7-4770 @ 3.4Ghz
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Integrated HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP h2207
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050@59Hz
    Hard Drives
    250GB Samsung EVO SATA-3 SSD;
    2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 SATA-2;
    1.5TB Seagate ST3150041AS SATA
    PSU
    500W
    Keyboard
    Wired USB
    Mouse
    Wired USB
    Internet Speed
    3GB Up, 30GB Down
    Browser
    SeaMonkey
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender; MBAM Pro
    Other Info
    UEFI/GPT
    PLDS DVD-RW DH16AERSH
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