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I have a problem with creating a system image of my laptop.
I have a Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Tablet laptop that runs on Windows 10 Pro (64-bit version). It does not have a CD drive. I have a 1 TB external hard drive that I want to save the system image to. Because the operating system was upgraded from its original Windows 7 to Windows 10, my laptop has Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
Every time I try to create a system image using Backup and Restore (Windows 7) and select my 1 TB external drive to save it on, I keep getting a message that it’s not a valid drive — but it doesn’t say why. I cannot use a thumb drive, since thumb drives are formatted in FAT, rather than NTFS.
I seem to be stuck. How can I create a system image when I have no place to save it to?
Welcome to TenForums @Skeeter Sanders
Thumb drives can be reformatted as ntfs (or ExFAT) neither of which have the 4GB file size limit of Fat32 that prevents you using them for system images. However, an HDD would be preferable. Thumb drive are less reliable and can fail unexpectedly.
What are you using to try and make a system image? Windows own built-in imaging, or third-party software such as Macrium Reflect (free)? Most here recommend avoiding Windows own system imaging as it can be unreliable - plus the fact that Microsoft have now deprecated it and recommend you use something else. Many here recommend Macrium.
Features removed or Deprecated in Windows 10 Fall Creators UpdateMicrosoft said: