Capture, Prepare, and Deploy a System Image

System Image

A system image is a copy of the current state of your computer’s hard disk. It includes all the system settings, files, and the Windows configuration. You can use a system image to recover your data and computer settings in the case of failure of your hard disk drive. But you cannot restore individual files or settings with this process, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced with the contents of the system image.

Creating a system image on Windows 7 computer

1.       Click Start and type back up in the start search bar. Click Back up your computer from the search results.

2.       In the left pane of the Backup and Restore Center window, click Create a system image.

3.       Choose a medium to store the system image. You can back up the system image on an external drive, on DVDs, or on a different computer in the network.

4.       Select the drives you want to back up. Click Next.

5.       On the Confirm your settings page, select Start backup.

6.       After the process is complete, you get the option to create a system repair disc. Click Yes to create the system repair disk. Insert a blank CD or DVD to create the image.

You can now find the system image folder named WindowsImageBackup.

Recovering your computer using System Image

You can only do a system image recovery to a hard disk drive that is the same size or larger than the one the system image was created from. You will not be able to do a system image recovery to a smaller hard disk drive. If your backup image is on an external device, then connect the external drive before starting. A system image recovery will format everything on each hard drive that was included in the system image, and will only restore what is in the system image. To start the recovery of the system, perform these steps:

1. Connect the external drive on which you have stored the system image.
2. Click Start, then click Control Panel, and then click Back up your computer.
3. Click Recover system settings on your computer.
4. Click Advanced recovery methods.
5. Select Use a system image you created earlier to recover your computer.
6. If you want to create the backup immediately, select Back up now, or click Skip  and continue the system image recovery without backing up any of your current files. Click Restart.
7. Select a language to be used for your keyboard input and click Next. 
8. Select the system image for recovery using either of the two options:

• To use a latest system image for recovery, select Use the latest available system image and click Next.
• To select a system image for recovery, select the location of the backup image for the computer you want to restore from the list, and click Next. Then select the date and time of the system image to restore, and click Next.

9. After selecting the system image, select the Format and repartition disks box.
10. If you want to recover only those drives that are required to run Windows, select the check box Only restore system drives. Click Next.
11. Click Finish and then click Yes.
12. Windows will now start restoring your computer from the system image. Once the restoration is complete, click Restart Now.
13. If you chose to create the backup immediately in step 6, you will see the option Restore my file after the computer restarts. Select this option to restore the files.

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