How to fully backup Windows 10 hard drive without having to boot from?

davewin said:

Again, I was talking about _using_ USB as the back up controller, not as the destination (which is why I mentioned it with CD and DVD when I clarified that's not what I'm trying to back up _to_).


I will have to use a USB external hard drive to back up _to_, but I don't want to use a USB thumb drive as the backup "controller" because even before booting to Windows, USB port firmware can be modified by the person who originally had the computer and install a virus on an operating system on the USB... I'm less concerned about it going to the backup drive because it's not going to ever boot any OS.

Actually, the USB recovery thumb drive is supported by the BIOS and loads its own Windows PE environment from where you restore usually or you can also create image backup from that environment. So unless your BIOS is infected the recovery thumb drive is safe from the OS that is installed Personaly I don't trust CD or DVD for recovery media especially in this UEFI environment It can be difficult to get them to boot and data on them is easily damaged. That's just me though.

Clintlgm said:

I would add that backing up to a USB or eSATA External hard drive is quite safe nothing can attack it if it's not plugged in and turned on.

Backing up through USB/SATA is quite safe as long as it's not plugged in and turned on? I don't know how you make a backup if it's not plugged in and turned on. Your quote here doesn't counter my point about USB infiltration to an OS on a USB thumbdrive.

Clintlgm said:

The USB recovery thumb drive is simple and also safe since you load it from the BIOS not windows. With the current MR Ver 7, your backups are protected and can't be altered The Guardian feature protects them and can only be removed from within MR. The Free version will restore as well as back up no differently than the Paid for version. You have more features and setting with the paid version which is well worth the cost for the security it provides.

I was talking about USB *firmware*, which is before BIOS or Windows... it's in the actual USB port. I guess you've never read about USB firmware being write-only: Don’t Panic, But All USB Devices Have a Massive Security Problem

So, because I noticed the hard drive contains a severly-hacked Windows version with pre-installed software that auto-runs that I don't recognize, as well as some files that showed up in a security scan as a trojan, I wouldn't put it past the builder to have possibly installed USB port firmware as well to hack a thumbdrive with an OS on it that will be run...

I'm not so worried about a dummy USB backup drive that's only going to be used as a backup, because it's not going to run an OS.

Make sense?

Thanks for the recommendation link for Macrium Reflect Free.

Now that is interesting.



Not going to ask where you got the system from, but maybe the best is to replace the hard drive with a new one and re-install Windows ?







But you maybe right, the BIOS could be hacked !



If that is where the problem lies, I would recommend:

CountMike said:

Methinks you are asking for too much. Every computer has to have a running OS and that' on the rescue USB or disk together with MR program to restore image with. If modifying is your concern, you can make it on a closed session CD or write protected USB.

I'm not sure which post of mine you're saying is asking too much (quote would have been appropriate), but I don't think me asking for a recommended free safe full-drive backup utility to run from a CD or DVD is asking too much... that seems completely reasonable especially from a security perspective (maybe you've never dealt with messed-up hard drives especially from non-technical people).

Again, I never said nor implied I wanted to avoid running an OS; the concern was running an OS *FROM* a USB thumbdrive (not backing up *TO* a USB hard drive that will not run an OS, just store a backup).

Also, typically the expectation of a burned CD or DVD is that they are finalized and therefore not continuing to be writable... a CD-RW or DVD-RW would be rewritable by default, which is not what I was expecting nor needing to use nor asking about.

A write-protected USB thumbdrive is a good idea though, thank you for that suggestion, though it's a bit more inconvenient and more mistake-prone than a burned CD/DVD.

davewin said:

Let me clarify because I think some wrong assumptions are being made:

I don't want to back up _to_ CD or DVD, I want to backup the drive _using_ a CD or DVD (as opposed to a USB drive, which can be compromised)... This of course means I need to boot from the disc with an OS that can make and restore the backup.

I need something free, safe, and accurate; if Macrium Reflect is it, great.

I suggest Macrium Reflect Free. It will create a bootable CD or DVD you can restore the system from.