How to backup windows 10 laptop?

Hey all. I am going to do this soon and want to confirm a few things after reading everything again.



I want to do the image backup so that if i save it to external hard drive, then i have the exact copy image of it. I know people say they do this in case something happens to their laptop. Or if they restore it on a new laptop.



I got dell xps 15 9550 bought years ago. It came with a 2.5 inch 250gb ssd and also a 32gb m.2 ssd. Its like a 2nd h
ard drive that is in this laptop. In this dell xps 15 9550 model, you had option of having this... or just havin one hard drive slot that is a m.2 ssd and also a bigger laptop battery. Back then i did not know this when i bought my laptop.



Because of this, i want to


1. Replace my smaller dell 56whr battery with a bigger 84whr or 97whr battery


2. In order to put the bigger battery in my laptop, the 2.5 inch ssd has to be removed from my laptop to make room for the bigger battery. I also would remove the 32gb m.2 ssd since well that is going to be useless since its too small.

I would be buying a bigger m.2 ssd that is either 500gb or 1tb to replace the 32gb m.2 ssd that is currently in that slot.


3. I also will upgrade my ram from 8gb to 16gb. I want to do all these upgrades.



I was told that if i do the backup windows copy image with macrium, put it in external hard drive and download something into a usb... that would mean when i have the parts removed from my laptop and new parts put in... then when i power my laptop on... i could boot it from the usb stick/external hard drive which has the image... then once i do this... my laptop with the new m.2 ssd will boot up and look exactly like how it does now... correct? As of now, i only have about 30gb free of 232gb on my laptop so im running out of space.


So this would mean when i start my laptop, i would have like 760gb free out of 960gb or so if i get a 1tb m.2 ssd?


The other question I have is this. I have windows 10 pro. I do have bitlocker installed. I also have a windows 10 password as well but i heard that is relatively useless. Does bitlocker need to be turned off and the windows 10 password need to be turned off when i do the backup imaging? Would this be an issue when backing it up?


I don't mind turning off bitlocker temporarily to do this. But when i have the full image copied to the usb or external hard drive...does it have to be unencrypted? Such as bitlocker has to be turned off?


I like bitlocker because you put a pin and it protects your laptop if anyone has access to it.

I’m replying only in case those who know lots more than I do don’t see this and reply themselves.

It would help if you clarify how these two drives are used – i.e. where are the various boot partitions? Where is the system drive (C:\)? Where do you keep application software? Where is all your data?

Windows default action is to keep everything on C:\, because everyone (nearly) has a C: drive, and very few have a 2^nd HDD. I suspect your present system may use the 32GB SSD only for paging, virtual memory management and temporary files. If so, it should still run in a single drive, with the 32GB SSD totally removed from the system.

You want to reconfigure the hardware because you’re running out of space, so let’s ignore Bitlocker until the dust has settled. I'll also ignore the battery until afterwards. You don’t need a bigger battery to make the system run; it just gives you longer between battery re-charges.

So Step 1 is to move from a 2 drive system (1 x 32GB + 1 x 250GB) to a single drive system (1 x 500GB).
Step 2 will be the battery
Step 3 BitLocker.

Before you start, I recommend you

• Create new Reflect Rescue media on CD or USB
• Switch off Bitlocker;
• Install MiniTool Partition Wizard (free)
• Take a full system image backup (Image 1 - insurance policy)
• Browse this image (Reflect in Restore mode) to understand the purpose & contents of every partition on each of the 2 drives. This should tell you what you need to change so it can become a single drive setup – which is what our new setup on the 500GB SSD will be.
• Move any personal data you want to keep from 32GB to 250GB and test it reboots OK.
• Take a full backup at this point. (Image 2)

The aim is that the registry should not need the 32GB drive to be present in the system to boot & run.

As I say, I can’t think what the 32GB SSD may be doing other than memory management. If you have no personal data on that drive, I would check if there are boot partitions on it, and if not, I would try a reboot with the 32GB removed. If Windows boots and runs as a single drive, as it might well do, you can just use the MiniTool Partition Wizard Migrate OS function onto the new 500GB M2. Otherwise...

...When you’re happy the 32GB SSD contains only system partitions & system data, I recommend you do the following

1. With only the new 500GB M2 drive installed, re-install Windows from scratch, removing ALL partitions first, so as to get a bootable default install on a single drive, with no apps and no data.
2. If you need a drive D: for data, use MiniTool Partition Wizard (free) to resize C: and create an empty D:.Ensure the new C: is at least as big as the C: partition on Image 2.
3. Install Reflect.
4. Take full backup – Image 3: (Plain vanilla Windows)
5. Reboot into Reflect Rescue and restore the C: partition from Image 2 into the C: partition on 500GB SSD.
6. If Image 2 has a D: partition as well, restore that as well
7. On completion, a normal boot should be successful, with all your data present.
8. If you need to recover data from the original 32GB M2, you can browse the partition in Image 2 and recover individual files into C: or D: as needed

I think that will do the trick.

I'm no bitlocker expert, but I would only use bitlocker if it's really needed. I THINK I have read somewhere that Reflect can't optimise backups as efficiently on account of the encryption (that may be incorrect).
Even so, I would only use encryption if the data is both really important and at real risk e.g. the baddies would make several tons of money if they got access AND you have reason to believe the baddies are likely to attack YOU in preference to others.

My guess is that more problems are caused by lost BitLocker passwords than by lost data - at least in the non-business realm.

I'd hasten with great caution if I were you. Good luck

spilly said:

I’m replying only in case those who know lots more than I do don’t see this and reply themselves.

It would help if you clarify how these two drives are used – i.e. where are the various boot partitions? Where is the system drive (C:\)? Where do you keep application software? Where is all your data?

Windows default action is to keep everything on C:\, because everyone (nearly) has a C: drive, and very few have a 2^nd HDD. I suspect your present system may use the 32GB SSD only for paging, virtual memory management and temporary files. If so, it should still run in a single drive, with the 32GB SSD totally removed from the system.

You want to reconfigure the hardware because you’re running out of space, so let’s ignore Bitlocker until the dust has settled. I'll also ignore the battery until afterwards. You don’t need a bigger battery to make the system run; it just gives you longer between battery re-charges.

So Step 1 is to move from a 2 drive system (1 x 32GB + 1 x 250GB) to a single drive system (1 x 500GB).
Step 2 will be the battery
Step 3 BitLocker.

Before you start, I recommend you

• Create new Reflect Rescue media on CD or USB
• Switch off Bitlocker;
• Install MiniTool Partition Wizard (free)
• Take a full system image backup (Image 1 - insurance policy)
• Browse this image (Reflect in Restore mode) to understand the purpose & contents of every partition on each of the 2 drives. This should tell you what you need to change so it can become a single drive setup – which is what our new setup on the 500GB SSD will be.
• Move any personal data you want to keep from 32GB to 250GB and test it reboots OK.
• Take a full backup at this point. (Image 2)

The aim is that the registry should not need the 32GB drive to be present in the system to boot & run.

As I say, I can’t think what the 32GB SSD may be doing other than memory management. If you have no personal data on that drive, I would check if there are boot partitions on it, and if not, I would try a reboot with the 32GB removed. If Windows boots and runs as a single drive, as it might well do, you can just use the MiniTool Partition Wizard Migrate OS function onto the new 500GB M2. Otherwise...

...When you’re happy the 32GB SSD contains only system partitions & system data, I recommend you do the following

1. With only the new 500GB M2 drive installed, re-install Windows from scratch, removing ALL partitions first, so as to get a bootable default install on a single drive, with no apps and no data.
2. If you need a drive D: for data, use MiniTool Partition Wizard (free) to resize C: and create an empty D:.Ensure the new C: is at least as big as the C: partition on Image 2.
3. Install Reflect.
4. Take full backup – Image 3: (Plain vanilla Windows)
5. Reboot into Reflect Rescue and restore the C: partition from Image 2 into the C: partition on 500GB SSD.
6. If Image 2 has a D: partition as well, restore that as well
7. On completion, a normal boot should be successful, with all your data present.
8. If you need to recover data from the original 32GB M2, you can browse the partition in Image 2 and recover individual files into C: or D: as needed

I think that will do the trick.

I'm no bitlocker expert, but I would only use bitlocker if it's really needed. I THINK I have read somewhere that Reflect can't optimise backups as efficiently on account of the encryption (that may be incorrect).
Even so, I would only use encryption if the data is both really important and at real risk e.g. the baddies would make several tons of money if they got access AND you have reason to believe the baddies are likely to attack YOU in preference to others.

My guess is that more problems are caused by lost BitLocker passwords than by lost data - at least in the non-business realm.

I'd hasten with great caution if I were you. Good luck

Hey there thanks for that information. Excuse me for not replying back to this as i been busy with a lot of other things.


I will be doing this in 1 day.


All my information and data is in the 250gb 2.5 inch ssd. It shows about 230gb total and i used up like 180gb or so. The 32gb m.2 ssd... it always had 29.3gb free of 29.3gb. But i transferred about 7gb from my 2.5 inch ssd to it to have more space on my 250gb ssd. I can immediately move it back etc.


Yea someone else mentioned the 32gb m.2 ssd... if you remove it, the computer would still work without issues etc. So that isn't an issue.


Yes i read i have to turn off bitlocker while doing this process. Because macrieum would have issues copying an encrypted hard drive. I have no issue with this. Thus i would copy everything to external hard drive. But i do want my ssd at the moment encrypted.


You say you want me to completely reinstall windows... so you want me to start brand new? Im confused with this. At the moment, i have windows 10 pro and bitlocker enabled. Someone mentioned what i should do is


When you take out the 2.5 inch ssd and m.2 ssd... then put in the 500gb or 1tb m.2 ssd... then take out smaller 56wh battery and put in bigger 84wh or 97wh battery, then you power on your computer. But when you start it up, press like f2 or f8? Then they want me to boot from my usb as the option. So you say do not do this? Because you say do a complete reinstallation... you mean like set it up like how you normally set up your computer when you buy a new laptop? If i do this, would i then be able to copy the usb to the computer and then when its done... when i start up laptop... everything would look exactly the same as my computer right now? That is what i want... for it to look exactly the same etc...


Well i have bitlocker key backup. But i know i need to turn off bitlocker to do this process. Then afterwards if everything is good and my new m.2 ssd looks the same as right now... then i turn bitlocker on etc...


Thoughts on this?


Also... at the moment, i did not buy the bigger m.2 ssd yet or the battery yet. But as of now, i can just do macriem reflect copy to usb or external hard drive now? I don't have the parts at the moment.

- - - Updated - - -

Hi there. Okay so you want me to put new m.2 ssd into the laptop and then install windows like a new computer. So after this process, then boot it from the usb/external hard drive. But when you do this, it will recognize i have windows 10 pro right? Because i don't want to buy it a 2nd time.


The thing is a while back ago, the computer shop i went to where i needed them to take out the 2.5 inch 7200 rpm hard drive and put in a formatted old 2.5 inch 250gb ssd of mine... when he did all this, he also said he installed a copy of windows 10 pro for me. Thus i want to keep pro since i want to have bitlocker. Thus if once everything on my laptop is copied fully and it looks like now... then i would set up bitlocker again for the new ssd... correct?


But do i need to buy any other parts?


I'm planning to buy


bigger battery
500gb/1tb m.2 ssd
16gb ram


I might/might not get more ram but the battery and the ssd... that is what i really want to do.

spilly said:

If your laptop is currently running a legit activated copy of Win 10 Pro your licence allows you re-install the same version of Windows onto the same device even if the system disk is totally replaced.

Look at Disk 1 (250GB) partitions:
- you've got a recovery partition, the EFI partition, the main C:\ partition and an OEM partition at the end
Disk 1 looks to me like a typical windows single drive system.


I note you say you copied 7 GB to E: to recover space on C:
Obviously you could expand that to take about a further 20GB, that's the limit
My plan below takes this into account.

First, before you spend hard earned money, think hard. (Hard thinking costs nothing!)

Do you really need 1TB of SSD?
If you're going to occupy that much, you'll need a 4TB external backup drive as well
It's worth checking before you spend there is no restriction on the capacity of the M2 port in the XPS 9550.
- I'm 100% sure it will be OK - but it's your money

Have you done a proper disk clean up?
Recycle bin? Downloads folder? Temp folders?
Holiday pictures - 20 shots of the same scene on the same day? We all do it
Above all, video clips gobble space


Do you really need 16GB of RAM?
I would do a deep study of the paging rates in Task Manager and Resource Monitor
SSD has no rotation delay, but does have other overheads - understand them first
Do you do lots of video editing? or CAD work? What apps need all that memory while they run?
How many apps do you run simultaneously? And how many app windows (e.g. Chrome windows)?
Can you make less memory demands by the way you use the system?
I find Chrome is far and away the most memory hungry app I use, esp when I keep opening new tabs & new windows
Closing these extra windows restores performance immediately at zero cost
Do you have a vacant memory slot?
if not you will need 2 x 8GB memory sticks for an 8GB upgrade

Bigger battery
- probably a good idea if you use it on battery, especially if you have a backlit keyboard
(I use my own on mains 99% of time)


If you follow the advice below, it is YOUR system, and YOUR responsibility. OK?
I would do the following.
There are shorter & quicker methods,
but I believe these steps are least risk and assume least knowledge by you.
Each step will reboot; AND you have a recovery path for each and every step

1) Create & test a bootable Reflect Rescue USB stick.
Continue until you can restore if you really want to... and then reboot normally at this point
2) Do a full Reflect image backup to external USB drive, with bitlocker off.
Include BOTH disks in this backup.
3) Create a Win 10 Pro install USB on a 2nd USB stick (Media Creation tool)
4) Remove M2 32GB and HDD 250 GB; Install physically ONLY the new M2 of size 500GB or more
5) Reboot with the Media creation tool and let Windows install itself and reboot into the famous OOBE.
6) Create a new 10GB partition as drive E:. It will receive the 7GB you saved on the small M2.
(You may want to install and use the free mini Tool Partition wizard for this).
7) Attach your external backup USB and reboot from the Reflect Rescue USB stick
8a) In the Reflect recovery environment, recover the C: partition from backup at Step 2)
Source: = Partition 3 from Disk 1 (250 GB)
Destination: = Partition 3 on Disk 0 (M2 SSD) replacing the plain vanilla Windows C:\ you just created.
Check and double check you've got source and destination correct before you commit
If anything falls over, you still have your two original disks (32GB & 250GB) and a Reflect backup, so you're safe

8b) Still in Reflect rescue, recover the old E: volume into the empty 10GB partition created at step 6.
9) After reboot, you may need to play around with partition sizes and drive letters, but it's easy from here on.


Do the battery and the RAM (and the bitlocker) afterwards
The old 250GB motherboard slot is now empty, so the new fatter battery will fit
Offer your old 250GB mSATA SSD for sale ( I could send you my home address if you like ???)

good luck

Hi there. Well few years ago when i went to a computer repair shop to have the original 1tb 7200rpm hard drive removed and have my old samsung 250gb ssd put in... he did all that... then installed windows 10 pro for me. So does that mean it has to be legit? I did pay over $100 dollars i remember for the windows installation etc. Could it be possible the guy put a bootleg version of it on my computer?


Yea the 7gb is basically music i copied from my 250gb ssd to the 32gb m.2 ssd as i wanted to get more space. Well all the music is 7gb. If i could move other things... i would. What other things could i even move from my 250gb ssd to the 32gb m.2 ssd where it doesn't affect my system? Because besides music/videos/pictures... that is really it right?


I honestly don't think i will need 1tb of ssd. I think getting 500gb is more than enough. But then i thought... hey if i want to do an upgrade later in the future... might as well do it now right? Yea i rather spend 90+tax for the samsung m.2 ssd 500gb as oppose to over 170 dollars plus tax for the 1tb one. But back years ago, i remember i got 250gb ssd as i thought... no way i would ever hit anywhere close to that. Previously my hard drive never even came close to 100gb ever.


I did a proper disk clean up last time but not sure if i did it correctly. Can you tell me how to do all this? Last time i did this, it freed like 500mb only.. Recycle bin is empty. I don't know about temp folders.


I basically don't have any videos at all on my computer. I have very little photos at all.


Well 8gb ram seems fine. But it sometimes does lag a little a bit. And because i hear ppl say right now 16gb should be the standard for RAM.


I have like over 40 chrome tabs opened on my computer almost always. They are tabs i don't always use but i look at it sometimes so i keep it there.


I mostly play online poker and run this program called holdem manager 2 on it. That is what uses up some space on my ssd. I don't do any video editing or stuff like that.


Yea i heard chrome is very memory hungry. So you suggest i no longer use it.. and switch to what? Microsoft web browser? Opera? Firefox? Safari?


Im pretty close i have 2 sticks of 4gb in my computer for total of 8gb. So if i get 16gb ram, i would get 2 identical sticks of 8gb for 16gb total and remove my ram.


The thing is i use my laptop in my apartment connected to 2 external monitors like 99% of the time. I have it connected via ac adapter. The reason i want a bigger battery is because where im located, we will occasionally have power outages. Because i play poker, that cost me money if the power is out and im still playing. But i do have a powerbank that gives me i assume 2 to 2.5 hours of backup battery. I also have a UPS as well... i haven't tested it yet fully but i assume connecting it to my laptop would give me 1.5 hours. My laptop battery gets max 1 hour at the most. I think its more like 45m. The battery is over 2/3rd worn. I checked and that is how much it is used up. I bought it almost 1.5 years ago. If i get a bigger battery.... i might 2.5 to 3 hours on it while playing. But if i don't play, i assume i get many more hours than that. But that to me is not important.


Also in the last 5 months or so, there was just 1 or 2 power outages that was not more than 30 minutes. But if its longer than say 5 hours... that is problem for me. I can't just stop playing etc if you get what i mean. Imagine playing tournament and you have to play to the end. But the point is i want a new battery for laptop as well because it doesn't get more than 1 hour max. Now if where im located doesn't have any power outages, this would not bother me at all and i wouldn't care about battery backup. My xps laptop has backlit keyboard... i turned it off because i read it gives you more battery.


At the moment, i did not order the battery or the 500gb/1tb m.2 ssd yet. But right now i can just follow the first few steps first until i get the new m.2 ssd right?


From looking at your flag aren't you in europe? Im from north america so that would be pretty far to ship. Also my 250gb msata ssd i don't think is worth much that now. Back then it cost over 150 dollars i believe for the 250gb one.

Hi Pauly

Yes I'm in the UK, and no, I was joking about sending me the drive - hence the smileys

---
About Chrome. I recommend you change the way you use the browser
- it doesn't matter which browser you use; they will all be the same in this respect.
If you have 40 tabs open at once it WILL be memory hungry and CPU hungry
You must be a genius if you can keep 40 different things in your mind at once and keep track of which tab is which
Don't change the browser; change the way you use the browser

But if the 40 tabs are 40 hands of poker - well, that's not me.
You and your gaming forums are the experts there

---
Legit? If Settings says Windows is activated, it is legit. Period.
---

Moving data.
You can move any file or folder you choose from within the standard user folders
So don't try to move the entire Documents, Pictures, Music or Videos unless you know what you are doing and how to do it
But you can safely move any subfolder inside those folders to any other available Drive letter.

Right now, without making any change at all, you still have 20-25GB free on E:

Right click/Properties on each of Docs, Pics, Music, Videos. That'll tell you where your space is used.
Then work your way down the folder tree of the biggest folder, and ask yourself if you still want to keep these.

OR Google for utilities to tell you where your storage space is being used: there's lots out there.
----
Gaming software. I see it uses a database of some size.
Personally I have zero experience of gaming apps.
I can begin to see why you have what I think of as a high spec pc, way above what is normally needed for the non-gaming public
I suggest you consult gaming forums on your best options
I consider Tenforums to be a site for good, technical advice on Win 10 issues
and this particular forum is specifically about backup and restore, and we are getting off topic now

----
From what you say here, I doubt if you claim to have advanced computer skills.
I would recommend you do understand temporary storage, what it is, how much space it uses and how to manage that space.
Just understand Settings/Storage and what you can do.
Here is the top report from my system, which is very simple - Win 10 Pro + MS Office + Reflect + Adobe Reader
(NB I have moved all my data to my D: drive)

Attachment 248538

---
Next steps
Of my recommended steps, you should be 100% confident to do step 1 at any time.
All the rest can wait until you have bought the new drive.

I think I have now contributed all I can to help you
so I'm now signing off this thread

good luck

Hey all. The computer place where i go to always seem to not be there anymore. That guy was my computer guy but he isn't there anymore.


I found a place where they told me they will take a look at my laptop. I asked them would they be able to do everything in front of me as oppose to me leaving it there and picking it up later.. and they said its possible.


So right now im going to turn bitlocker off. Download macrieum free and do the copy process. Then im going to order the dell bigger battery and the 500gb or 1tb ssd.


So when i go to the repair shop, bring all these things. But after he put in the new battery and new ssd... i most likely will not upgrade the ram... when he starts up the computer, do i make sure he boots it from the usb or does he start it up like normal. And then do that? I ask this because well if he was to boot it from my usb, i probably have to pay more for that right since he is sort of installing it for me? But he still has to power on my laptop to make sure my laptop works with the battery and the new ssd right?


Such as the cloning thing... to do the transfer... i can easily do this very quick after he put the new m.2 ssd and battery in it right?



Thanks.

- - - Updated - - -

Okay I want to know. Would this be fine as well.




Do the cloning and everything into an external hard drive and usb stick.




Bring the laptop and new m.2 ssd and battery there. Have them take out my m.2 ssd and the 2.5 inch 250gb ssd. Then put in the new m.2 1tb/500gb ssd. Take out the old 56wh smaller battery and put in the bigger 84wh or 97wh in.




Then when they turn on my laptop, it will show like windows installation right? So they would have to do the windows 10 installation on the spot? Or could the turn it off and then i turn it on at home and doing everything at home. Because i would not need them to install windows 10 for me as well i can do it on my own. Or i have to make sure i do the cloning transfer right on the spot the computer turns on and you boot from the usb or external?




The thing is i want my computer to turn on and look exactly how it is right now... with more space of course and the new battery.




Obviously you all say do all the cloning etc before you get the items online. But when i do get the items, i want to know exactly what i tell the computer repair shop.




Also, to those who done this, does anyone know the success rate? Some ppl mention cloning doesn't always work and always prefer a fresh new windows. But if your computer has issues and doesn't work, well your image backup would then make it look exactly how you want it right?




Also wouldn't that mean i basically will have them install windows 10 for me as normal when they set it up or i set it up? Then when i get back home, i then connect the external hard drive and/or usb and the boot it from there... then i restart computer... and suddenly my laptop now shows exactly how it is right now? I want to make sure of this because i need to know exactly what to ask/tell the computer guy i want to do since the macrieum reflect thing i will be doing that.

paulyjustin said:

I asked them would they be able to do everything in front of me as oppose to me leaving it there and picking it up later.. and they said its possible......................I need to know exactly what to ask/tell the computer guy i want to do since the macrieum reflect thing i will be doing that.

11 questions asked in your most recent post and over 150 in this thread alone.

Nothing answered to your satisfaction that I can see.

My sympathies to the computer shop if they do everything in front of you. How could that possibly be advantageous to you---or to the shop for that matter? That's only a rhetorical question.

There is about a zero chance of you being able to tell the computer guy exactly what you want to do. If you try to use a script (telling them "exactly"), you will go off the script in very short order.

And you still have a major can of worms to open regarding your choice of any new hardware, such as the SSD--which has already been the subject of major discussions in some of your other threads.

Those discussions have been to no avail because you don't know the detailed specifications of the current hardware and installation and apparently don't want to look inside your laptop when you are outside the country----if ever. Of course, actually looking inside won't ultimately lead to any solution--just additional questions.

Round and round we go. Where we stop, nobody knows.