Windows own recovery tools doesn't work, need a better solution

Cerawy said:

I tried system restore which didn't work. I previously spent a whole weekend trying to fix system restore, and microsoft didnt have a working solution on microsoft answers. It didn't help, and windows kept creating system restore points that didnt work, without offering a solution. I tried reseting windows, but got an error message saying that it didnt work, which isn't very helpful. I tried booting in safe mode which didn't work as well. So i had to wipe my ssd and install windows again,

I am not a beginner, but had the same type of experience. It turned out to be caused by an update forced on us by MS that broke computers running AMD processors. I had to do a clean install to overcome the problem after wasting weeks. It was only later that MS understood problem and stopped sending that update to AMD users.

Macrium or any other backup program might have got you back to some point that worked, but at least in our case, it would have just got broken again until MS stopped sending the Update. But to use those backup programs you have to make some decisions on how you will use them. The free versions don't have all the features you might need and I find that I use them so infrequently that when a problem arises, I have to re-learn how program works

RolandJS said:

Relearning those programs is bad enough, however, how bad will it be if all the data is gone and/or the OS along with all 3rd party stuff has to be reinstalled from scratch?

It's easy enough to use a cloud storage like Dropbox, GDrive or Onedrive or others to store all data. Then it is never all "gone". Copying the operating system just gets you back to an OS that may have errors and may have been cause of failure. Often better to do clean install. 3rd party stuff? Depends on how much is used, but doesn't take that much effort to re-install. If system is tested after each 3rd party program is installed, it might narrow down cause of failure. Email should be set up as iMap and it will also magically all be back on the new install :)

I have just been through this twice and just wish I had gone to clean install immediately on both computers.

Cerawy said:

Which is exactly why i want to take back up, but i dont have the knowledge to use a program like macrium.

How about AOMEI ?

I've become a big fan and find it simple and effective to use. Little more than one click to back up your system. Macrium is fine but I agree its over complicated for an average user when all you want is a simple interface.

I suggest Aomei Backupper. It is very simple to use. The free ( standard version) will be fine.

Under the backup Tab, click System backup, then at Step 2 , browse to the location you want to save the backup image. Then click "Start Backup"




Download it from here:

Best Windows Backup and Restore Software | AOMEI Backupper