PS:
When I last created that Recovery Drive , using Windows 10 "Recovery" ,I did tick in the option to backup the system files as well. So I was under the impression that I was actually creating a backup of the Windows 10 system. The creation of that drive did take hours, because it was backing up all those files. When the Recovery Drive was created, I got notified it was done successfully. But I gather from what's being said here that this may not do?
Yes, you did create a backup of the Windows system. The system image and the user files backup are actually two independent processes. The files backup has an option that if ticked will run the system image backup after the files backup has completed.
The two types of backup are stored in quite separate places on your backup drive. The files backup is in a folder on the root of your backup drive. This folder has the name of your PC and will hold a folder with a name in the form: 'Backup Set YYYY-MM-DD hhmmss' for each time you make a backup, the name showing the date and time of the backup. The backup set consists of multiple .zip files and a catalog to index them.
System images are stored in a folder on the root of the backup drive named WindowsImageBackup. This contains a folder with many index/catalog files and a .vhdx file (a virtual disk) for each partition that was backed up.
Thanks, Bree for those details.
Truth be told, its good to know I'm using Windows 10 to back up the system somehow, but I wouldnt know what to with this recovery drive in case there's serious mishap/crash. So there may not be a way around the Macrium solution after all..It would involve learning a whole new software. Which is why I've been putting it off
For the present, since a baseline RP of ~300Mb is not really that unusual and since I'm not finding SR or Volume Shadow copy errors in EventViewer, can I assume that this deletion of RPs is just the usual system restore quirkiness. and that SR continues to be functional on my PC?
You boot from the recovery drive. This boots you to Advanced Startup. If the system isn't too badly corrupted you can also boot to Advanced Startup from within Windows without the need for the recovery drive.
Boot to Advanced Startup Options in Windows 10
If the system image is on an external HDD, plug it in next. Then select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Image Recovery. The recovery software should find the image and be able to restore it.
@eliuri -
The reason why I posted is to ensure that the Volume Shadow Copy Service is working correctly.
Download Macrium (free) and give it a whirl. Check the verification option.
Let's see if that image creation works correctly.
Here -
Backup Internals: What is VSS, how does it work and why do we use it?
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Hi again Bree:
Just wanted to be sure that this 27.38 MB size shown in that image above for that one point you had created there was for the OS(C:) (System) Drive, and not the RECOVERY Drive in those System Protection-->Protection Settings. As there are two available drives generally listed there. The RECOVERY Drive points always take much less space than the OS (C:) Drive points. If it is in fact the (OS) (C:) (System) Drive that has such a small size after deletion of all your RP's and creating a fresh one , I'd feel much reassured about this issue of mine...
Sorry for all the nitpicking, but the SR service is very important to me..
Thanks again
-eliuri
Last edited by eliuri; 12 Sep 2019 at 11:05.
Thank you Bree for all the useful information!
It is quite possible then that those 30Gigs for the 20 or so RP's I had previously until they were all deleted a day or so ago were in fact bloated. And that the "flushing" of SR by Windows had in fact "fixed" that, since now they're taking up so much less space.
Thanks also for the information about that Win 10 Recovery Drive. I really ought to look into Macrium though. I'm not very techie and I find new software intimidating. But if I have questions about Macrium, I guess I'll just post in this section of the forum
~Eliuri
I am, and I don't, in that order
But if I've learned nothing else in a career in IT support, it is that anyone can learn to master new technology given the right information.
But if I have questions about Macrium, I guess I'll just post in this section of the forum
Ask away, we'll be here when you're ready..
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