Restoring Windows images

[NoCforMe]

This is kind of an offshoot of my recent tale of down-converting from Windows 10 to Windows 7. I finally got everything in order, and even made backup images, using the Dism++ utility someone here suggested.

Well, this morning I got the dreaded "Cannot start Windows" message. I tried to restore from the image by choosing the "Restore from image" option in the menu, but goddamnit, there was no way to select the image I had made (which resides on another hard drive, identified as D: in my setup).

So my question is, how does one restore from an image should this happen? Can it be done through Windows (Windows 7, remember), or does one need some kind of 3rd-party utility to do this?

The image is too big to fit on a DVD.

Fortunately, this time I was able to use the "system repair" option. I wonder what the problem was; bad boot sector? some other disk problem?

[zedd151]

Hello NoCforMe. The Windows tools for 'restoring from image' (or whatever they call it) is for system images created with Backup and Restore feature in Windows 7. As far as I know, it is in a different format than the .wim image created with Dism++. I rarely if ever use Windows tools for that purpose myself. I have never used the Windows Backup and Restore feature.
First thing that I want to know, can your computer boot from a USB drive? You can check for this in the BIOS.

On my computer, I have a dedicated BOOT partition. It contains only the boot files and no operating system. It also has a custom WinPE image that I can boot into to run backup and restore tools, partitioning tools, et. al. I do not know how your system is configured. I assume that your boot files are on your C: drive along with your windows 7 installation.

I am working on something at the moment I will PM more details to you.

[NoCforMe]

1. Yes, can probably boot from USB. Don't know how.

2. So you're saying the files Dism++ creates aren't standard Windows image files? What the hell are they then?

The thing that mystifies me is how I could get a dialog during the "repair" process that says it wants me to select an image to restore from, but there's no way to select anything in it! The only option available is to somehow restore from a network, which isn't an option for me (no network here).

3. You mentioned "backup and restore tools". Do you mean like Dism++?

Let me put this another way: If one can somehow create a valid Windows image file (which is what I thought Dism++ was doing), how would you restore your system from it? And I don't see why I should need to mess around with booting from USB; after all, that file resides on a perfectly usable hard drive in my system.

Make this easy, please.

[zedd151]

2. So you're saying the files Dism++ creates aren't standard Windows image files? What the hell are they then?

Yes they are standard ".wim" image files. The files used by the Backup and restore feature uses a different format.

Now I'm wondering why I even bothered with goddamn Dism++ ...

I feel your frustration. It took me the better part of two months to figure out a way to painlessly reinstall backups from .wim image files.

[NoCforMe]

So now I'm totally confused.

There are 2 backup/restore file formats?

What are the standard Windows backup image files, how do I create them and how do I restore from them?

What are the Dism++ files if they aren't standard Windows image files?

[zedd151]

There are 2 backup/restore file formats?

Probably more. The .wim file format is a standard image format.

... how do I create them and how do I restore from them?

Using the Backup and Restore feature? I have no clue.

What are the Dism++ files if they aren't standard Windows image files?

Again, The .wim file format is a standard image format.

[NoCforMe]

... how do I create them and how do I restore from them?

Using the Backup and Restore feature? I have no clue.

Well, not sure why it's such a mystery: I just looked in Control Panel--> Backup and Restore, and it's right there. Even a dummy like me can figure out how to use it. I've got backup running right now. Even found out how to make a "repair" disc to restore from an image.

[zedd151]

Well, not sure why it's such a mystery: I just looked in Control Panel--> Backup and Restore, and it's right there. Even a dummy like me can figure out how to use it. I've got backup running right now. Even found out how to make a "repair" disc to restore from an image.

Well, I never said it was a mystery. I just never had a need for it.    Let me know how "Control Panel--> Backup and Restore" works out for you.

[zedd151]

And I don't see why I should need to mess around with booting from USB; after all, that file resides on a perfectly usable hard drive in my system.

In case of catastrophic failure. Always good to have multiple ways of booting up your system. I used to keep bootable CD's handy, but over time CD's/DVD's can get scratched up and rendered unusable. I always now have a bootable USB thumb drive handy for the worst case scenario.

[NoCforMe]

Sure, I'll let you know how it works: it fucking doesn't work! Started a backup 3 times now, backing up to D:, a 1TB drive that's 99% free space. Backup gets about 40% done, then says

The last backup did not complete successfully.

Click the tell-me-more button and it says:

Windows Backup skipped backing up system image because one of the critical volumes is not having enough free space.

"Is not having enough free space"? That's not even good English!

So far as I can tell the backup image should take up ~3GB. So I don't know what they're complaining about.

So fuck that bullshit.

So let me ask you again: if I create a system image file with Dism++, how do I restore from it?

You say it's a standard Windows format: does that mean that Windows Restore will recognize it if I try to restore it?

Aaaaaaargh!

[NoCforMe]

In the meantime I'm going to content myself with making a system repair disc.

Has anyone here ever used this successfully to fix a broken system?

[zedd151]

So let me ask you again: if I create a system image file with Dism++, how do I restore from it?

I run Dism++ from WinPE to restore backups. But my setup is quite different than yours so...

If your computer is bootable, run Dism++. Go to Recovery -> Run in WinRE. When you reboot, Dism++ will run in 'boot mode' you can restore by clicking File->Apply image it will take some time for this to complete. When you exit Dism++ your computer should now reboot into the restored OS.

After all this time I would have thought that you would be doing some research on this topic for yourself so you don't get stuck in a predicament such as this. I spent the better of two months perfecting the backup and restore system that I use.

[NoCforMe]

No, I mean, what do I do if my computer isn't bootable? Like what happened this am. Turned it on and it said it was unable to start. How do I restore from an image (which is sitting there on D:) in that case?

[zedd151]

No, I mean, what do I do if my computer isn't bootable? Like what happened this am. Turned it on and it said it was unable to start. How do I restore from an image (which is sitting there on D:) in that case?

Seems you need a rescue CD of sorts in that scenario. Get a hold of a program called PEBuilder from Aomei. That is what I used to create a bootable CD or USB with. It boots into a mini OS of sorts complete with desktop and Windows explorer capabilities. From there you can run Dism++ or any other tools needed. Thats how I started before my current backup system.

Alternatively, do a google search for "restoring from windows .wim images" for other methods ...

About 84,500 results

[hutch--]

David,

Acronis used to have a free version which I think was for Seagate hard disks. I always found the Windows backup a pile of crap but I have successfully used the Acronis backup for restoring a boot partition.

Have a look here.  https://www.seagate.com/au/en/support/downloads/discwizard/

I think you must have at least one Seagate HDD in your system. PS : Go to the US site, this one is for OZ.