Backup and restore Win 10 drive to a different disk

Hi,

I read several posts (on this forum as well as on other sites), but I am still not sure which software should I choose. This would be my first time to perform a backup.

Briefly, I have a desktop pc with a 1TB HDD splited in 2 partitions: 150 GB for OS and rest for stuff.
I also have a 2TB external HDD.

I need to create a clone / image (not sure if I'm using the right terminology), that I could restore to a new HDD (even though it could be from a different manufacturer and not necessary the same size), or to even a SSD if in the future I'll choose to buy one. The purpose is not to have to re-install everything: IDE, JDK, app server, db and so forth.

there are a few programs presented here: 7 Best Disc Image Software for Windows to Clone Hard Drives | Mashtips

1) I noticed windows 10 still has the image backup capability that I know was present in windows 7. My only concern is: will that actually work in my scenario?

2) Should I use instead Macrium reflect?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
-Chris.

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Tutorials

Clintlgm said:

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Tutorials

Ok, already read that article.

Question, if I were to replace my HDD with another HDD / SSD that contains nothing on it , I would boot from the USB disk that has WinPE rescue media on it, connect my external drive that has the backup, browse the backup and this will work?

Haven't done such thing in the past.

ok, found this link: Backup, imaging and cloning - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

so, I'll give it a try.

Thanks for the reply.

Hi,
I was just about to clone my disk to an external drive when Macrium said that the process will overwrite the content of the disk I am cloning to.

Does this mean it will format it and I'll lose my data stored on the external hdd?

cereberus said:

YES! Make an image backup NOT a clone. Cloning is for making an identical copy of a drive. Image backups are a 'clone' of a drive stored in a compressed file (like a zip file) so original drive can be restored to state at time of backup.

Thanks for the clarification. But if I make an image backup can I restore that to a different HDD in case of failure?

chrisiac said:

Thanks for the clarification. But if I make an image backup can I restore that to a different HDD in case of failure?

Yes you can and Reflect is very reliable. You might find some useful tips from my guide.
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