Trouble making backup image or recovery USB

barryman · 31 Mar 2023

Can anyone help me with a puzzling problem, please ??? I use Windows 10 Home edition 64 bit build 10.0.19041.2130

I am desperately trying to make either a system image to store on an external USB hard drive or alternatively a System Recovery USB.

I used the built-in Windows 10 utilities and it creates the system image OK on my ext drive. The problem is that when I use same Windows utility to restore the image the image that I can see is on my ext. drive it does not show up in any list so I cannot restore from it. I’ve tried twice and the same thing happens – the utility does not recognise any image on the drive. Any ideas what to do ??

As the above didn’t work I tried going into settings / recovery and tried to make a recovery USB which was successfully transferred onto a USB stick, The problem here is that when I try to restart, the PC it starts up ok, opens in the blue screen to set it all up, but I cannot select or navigate around at all as my mouse cursor does not show on the screen and neither can I navigate using my keyboard arrows or anything else. They are completely inoperable so I cannot proceed any further. Again, any suggestions?? (the mouse/keyboard works perfectly fine other than this).

I have double-checked my boot up order and USB is the first item on the list for booting. I have also seen a message saying “NTLDR is missing” once or twice when trying to boot up.

Other things I have tried using Command Prompt are
* Checkdsk
* SFC Scannow
* Bootrec.exe commands - but I get a message saying that “bootrec is not recognised as an internal command”

Any advice will be greatly appreciated but I’m not a techie so please make answers in simple terms.

Thanks in advance
Barry

Paul Black · 31 Mar 2023

Hello @barryman,

Personally, I would stay clear of the Windows Built-In Imaging & Backup option for the reasons I have given below, because they just do NOT work most of the time. You might be better off considering a Third-Party [ FREE ] Imaging program.

Here is some information I put together regarding Windows Built-In Imaging & Backup.

Windows Built-In Imaging & Backup:

DOWNSIDE:

It is common knowledge that most of the time you CAN'T trust ANY of the MS built-in Backup or Image facilities because they just do NOT work. The System Imaging facility is a deprecated feature which is NO longer being developed or updated [ it used the same executables in every version of W10 ]. Even MS say that the built-in System Imaging facility should NOT be used . . .

System Image Backup (SIB) Solution
We recommend that users use full-disk backup solutions from other vendors.

SOURCE: > Features Removed or Deprecated in Windows 10

UPSIDE:

If you do use the built-in MS System Imaging facility, then a Recovery Drive USB from almost any version of Win 10 is capable of restoring any other version of a Win 10 MS System Image. A Recovery Drive USB and the System Repair Disk DVD are functionally identical. The only requirement is that it is the same Win 10 bit type [ x86 or x64 ] as the System Image to be restored.

I hope this helps.

barryman · 31 Mar 2023

Thanks for reply, Paul.
I have already tried the Windows Recovery Drive as you have suggested but I cannot get it to work because of the problem I outlined in my question ie. that I get the blue screen but cannot scroll through the settings /options as neither my mouse nor keyboard works when I am in this screen. If I could solve this then maybe it would wprk.....
I have an image made with Macrium Reflect free but I understand that they will be discontinuing this shortly. Are there any other third-party apps that would produce the same as Macrium ie. just the OS system image and not the whole C Drive ??

Bree · 31 Mar 2023

barryman said:

...I have an image made with Macrium Reflect free but I understand that they will be discontinuing this shortly....

They have discontinued offering Reflect Free as a download on their website. If you already have Reflect Free it will continue to work and will get updates until 1st Jan 2024. The Reflect Free licence is perpetual, so it should continue to work long after that.

Macrium Reflect Free Product - End Of Life (EOL)
Macrium Reflect Free v8.0 is the last version to receive feature, compatibility or bug fix updates.

Will future security vulnerabilities be fixed?
Yes, security patches will still be provided until 1st January 2024. After that date we will no longer provide any changes to the v8 Free code base.

Can I continue to use Macrium Reflect Free?
Yes, you can continue to use the software in perpetuity, your license to use the software is unaffected.

Macrium Software | Product Support Policy

dalchina · 31 Mar 2023

Are there any other third-party apps that would produce the same as Macrium ie. just the OS system image and not the whole C Drive ??

Macrium R is reckoned to be the 'best'- especially the advanced features in the paid version.
Plenty of options. Next would probably be Aomei Backupper (free/paid). O&O DiskImage (given away recently and periodically). Easeus Todo Backup....

Just search e.g.
best disk imaging program

Different ones offer a different split between free and paid versions. As far as I know all allow you to specify which partitions are to be imaged.

-------------------------------------------------
Considering your PC problem:

when I try to restart, the PC it starts up ok, opens in the blue screen to set it all up, but I cannot select or navigate around at all as my mouse cursor does not show on the screen and neither can I navigate using my keyboard arrows or anything else. They are completely inoperable so I cannot proceed any further. Again, any suggestions??

It sounds as if you're saying your PC has suddenly failed to boot properly - is that correct?

Do you have a disk image of any kind created whilst your PC was working properly?
If you don't, it's too late to create one that will help you repair your PC now. The only value would be as a backup of what you have.

What led to this problem? E.g.
Power outage...
My 5 year-old pressed some keys...
I turned it on today and it wouldn't boot...
...something else...

In your specs you quote
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 - this dates back to around 2007.

Is the PC you're having problems with really that old?

If so you need to start by checking the disk(s) - by
- using another PC
- a live boot disk (which you can create for free - Google) - Win 10 + tools you can use,
- using a command from the command prompt
How to Check Drive Health and SMART Status in Windows 10

Megahertz · 31 Mar 2023

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O&O DiskImage Professional License Code Free 2023

See nº 2

SIW2 · 31 Mar 2023

It doesn't support usb stick as a backup location because it is less reliable.

It is obviously intended to be a basic solution for the average user so they have a way to recover in the unlikely event of disaster. It isn't intended to have lots of bells and whistles, or for the users to muck around moving things about and renaming them.

If you want extra functions and features there are several 3rd party programs, a few of them use non proprietary image formats such as vhd(x) or wim, which have advantages over proprietary formats.

Aomei backupper , easeus todo, and hasleo are popular free versions. Though they use proprietary image formats, they do the job and are pretty straightforward.

some of the others are either a bit awkward or a bit odd. That doesn't necessarily mean they are bad but not very intuitive or user friendly.

I dont know how many of you have played with the funny little Qiling diskmaster
Best Free backup & recovery and ramdisk and partitin manager