What safety measures could one do to start / boot / repair Win 10 (e.g. bootable USB-Stick, repair DVD / USB-Stick for Win, creating images to always get Win started (if problems)? What programs should one use?
Here's my write-up on the value of disk imaging.
Everyone who contributes regularly here uses and recommends disk imaging.
If you use it, you can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)
Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.
You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.
Can be used with Laplink software to transfer your build automatically to another PC
Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.
Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your imaged disks and partitions to a previous working state from compressed copies you have created and kept updated on external storage media, quickly and probably without technical help.
Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.
It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.
There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.
How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)
Once you've created your first image, keep it updated with e.g. differential imaging- which images just changes from the first image, more quickly, and creates a smaller image file.
You need a backup medium - say- twice as large as the total amount of data you are imaging to keep a reasonable number of differential images. This will vary dependent on the number of images you keep, so is only a rough practical guide.
Some comment that system restore isn't always reliable; if it works and solves the problem, great. But sometimes restores won't work or fail. And of course a restore point only covers a limited number of aspects of the system. That’s where disk imaging comes in.
(There's a tutorial on Macrium in the Tutorials section, and a couple of videos in the user videos section on this forum)
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials
Windows 10 instructional videos by Ten Forums members Solved - Page 69 - Windows 10 Forums
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Tools: @Kyhi's boot disk (from the top of the Software and Apps section)
This includes a good range of tools including Macrium, but best have this installed and up to date.
Thank you very much!
Alright, that sounds very good / easy, so such an image (respectively more of them) is all one needs and a single program, Macrium Reflect making them.
It appears to be unbelievable but I cannot find the download link of the free version.
There are other such programs, some with simpler GUI's, but this is one many people here prefer, being the most robust.
Yes, I just will try it, that program cannot be wrong preferred by the people here.
Many thanks again
Link to Kyhi's Windows 10 Recovery Tools and Bootable Rescue Disk mentioned above in post # 2.
Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums
Many thanks for the link.
Very much to do and download there, looks very complicated / effortable to set up and to use in an emergency, very many programs and files.
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