Create A System Image of Windows 7

In Windows 7, selecting the option to create a system image is actually choosing to create a virtual hard drive or what is commonly called a .vhd file. The process takes a complete snapshot of the system at a single point in time. It can be composed of a single drive or more than one drive provided you have the space to store the image. What you cannot do is select individual folders or files for the image. It's all or nothing for the selected drives. Most often images are created right after a clean installation of Windows 7 or after a clean installation of the operating system along with a selection of updates and applications but without any personal data files.

Remember that this is an image at a single point in time. The image doesn't care what's on the system or what condition it's in when it's taken. If you image a poorly running system that's loaded down with malware, spyware, and viruses or is missing drivers and just crammed full of junk, the image will replicate all those problems faithfully if you use the image to recover the system. That said, an image of a well running system is certainly a valuable item to have if there is a catastrophic failure and you need to recover as much of the system as possible.

• Launch [Backup and Restore] as shown in Fig. 01 and in the left hand pane click the [Create A System Image] link. In this case, [Backup and Restore] has not been set up at this point. It isn't necessary to go through the setup routine if all you want to do is create a system image or a system repair disk.

• The system will perform a search for available backup devices.

• Once the search is complete and the list of available devices is populated, use the drop down box to select a hard disk location.

  • Hard Disk - this is the most common option and can be either an internal or external hard drive. If the primary hard disk (the one where Windows 7 is installed) is partitioned, as many of the larger size drives are, it will be possible to store the backup on one of the non-Windows 7 volumes, but it would be foolish to do so because if the drive crashes the backup will be lost. The best choice is an external USB or E-Sata drive devoted exclusively to backups. They are cheap, portable, and come in many different capacities to fill most any backup requirement.

  • DVD - You 'could' use the DVD option but it just isn't practical for a system image. Even the smallest of system images would require quite a stack of DVD's. The only practical scenario for using DVD's that I can imagine would be immediately after a clean install, but even then you're going to end up with a lot of DVD's that really serve no purpose if you have the original installation media. Once you start adding applications and data the practicality of a DVD based system image fades quickly.

  • Network - Storing the image on a network is a viable option, but only if you're running Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise. It's likely a network location is going to make for a slower data transfer and increase the overall time it takes for the imaging process to complete. You also need to make sure the network location selected is online and available at the time the backup is scheduled to run. Finally, a password will be required; either the one you use to log on to the system being backed up or the username and password for the network computer depending on how you have things configured.
    

• Select the drives you want to include in the system image. The volume where Windows 7 is installed and the System Reserved (if present) volume will be automatically selected. Both are mandatory and cannot be deselected. Any additional drives you want as part of the system image can be checked for inclusion, provided the backup location has enough free space to hold the image.
  

• Before the system image is created there is an opportunity to review the selections. A guideline to how much space may be used for the image is provided. If you want to make any changes use the back arrow in the upper left of the window. If all looks as intended, click the [Start Backup] button to create the system image.
  

• A progress indicator tracks the backup as it is created.

• After the image is complete the prompt appears to create a System Repair Disk. I strongly suggest you make the disk, even if you have the official Windows 7 installation DVD. It only takes a couple of minutes to create and provides an extra layer of protection.