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#11
To answer your question, the answer is yes. For security reason, the built in Windows Backup is picky about the location on the HD where you create the backup and save in log file somewhere and read back the info to determine the location.i created a system image. windows can't find it when i tried to load it. i've done 3 things since i created the image. i marked the systemimagebackup folder as hidden. i moved it to another folder. i shrank the size of the drive the image was created from and extended the drive size where the image was stored. i did some reading and found out you can't have the image in another folder it has to be in the root directory. i moved it back to the root directory and un-hidden the systemimagebackup folder. windows still can't detect the system image. i never renamed anything. did i wreck my system image by marking it as hidden or resizing my drive?
Can you salvage the backup image ?. The answer is also yes. However, it' a PITA to reconstruct the disk layout and you might have to rebuild the Boot Manager in order to boot. In the backup folder, you will find multiple files with .VHDX extension, each file is a copy of virtual disk partition for each partition such as System Reserved, C partition, Recovery partition, you would have to mount each as a virtual HD partition and copy to a physical HD so it's not worth spending time unless you have personal data file that you want to restore.
With third party software. It is a lot more flexible:
- backup image with only a single file, you can move to another folder/disk
- Selectively restore missing file(s) that you accidentally deleted by mounting the image,
- Selectively restore a single partition such as Boot partition in case you cannot boot into Windows.
- Restore C drive if Windows is infected by Virus.
- etc....
In addition, you actually don't have to install it. Just ask people in the forum to give you a free copy of a Rescue disk ISO (~250 MB) that you can build and boot from a USB/DVD and perform Backup/Restore from it.
There are reasons why people want to make a backup copy after a fresh install of Windows:
- Start fresh without going thru the pain of re-installing drivers, activation, customization etc...
- Isolate problem and determine if a third party software that would not run in current Windows whether due to conflict with other software that already installed or caused by Windows.
- Install evaluation software without affecting your current working Windows. Remember, evaluation software put things in the registry that is impossible to remove.
- Use the same copy to restore to another PC without fresh install. In which case, Windows will re-install the drivers.
- Sell your PC without any personal data left over. etc....