If you want to have a perfect backup copy of your Windows 10 computer so you can get
back on your feet quickly when disaster strikes, you need to make a System Image backup.
In this video, I’ll discuss why this may or may not be the best kind of backup for
you, and I’ll show you what kind of hard drive you’ll need, how to make the System
Image, and how to go about recovering your computer if and when the time comes.
Computer hard drives fail all the time, and yours could die when you least expect it.
It’s really cheap to buy a new hard drive, and it’s fairly easy to install it yourself.
The painful part is when you realise how long it’s going to take to get all your files
back, install all your games and apps, and get all your settings back just the way you
like them.
Now I’ve already made a video explaining how to backup your Windows 10 computer in
several different ways – whether it’s File History, OneDrive, or just manually dragging
your files over to an external hard drive.
Each of these kinds of backups is fast and easy, and let’s face it – if a backup
isn’t fast and easy to do, it’s never going to get done.
But there’s another way to make a backup that stores a copy of your entire computer.
A system image backup makes a clone of your main hard drive, and stores it on an external
hard drive.
Then, if you ever get a serious problem like a virus, or you need to replace a broken hard
drive, you can dig out the external hard drive and use the system image to restore the computer
to exactly the same state it was in on the day you did the backup.
There are some downsides to making a System Image.
It takes a good few hours to make, and if you want to get in the habit of making a regular
backup, which you should, you have to repeat the whole process every time.
Even if you’ve only worked on a couple of files since your last backup, you’d have
to wait for the entire hard drive to be backed up every time.
And if your computer completely dies on you, you’re going to have to buy something to
replace it.
A system image would be no good to you then, because it can only be used to recover the
same kind of computer that created it.
So as you might have guessed, a system image backup is only worth doing if it’s in addition
to another kind of backup.
WHAT DO YOU NEED So what do you need to make a system image
backup?
Well, you’re going to need an external hard drive like this.
You can find out what capacity you need by opening File Explorer on your computer.
Click on This PC and you’ll see the main hard drive.
Although my hard drive is only half full, I’m probably going to fill it up in future,
so I’ll need to buy an external hard drive the same size as this drive.
We can round this number 952 gigabytes up to 1000 gigabytes, which is 1 terabyte.
If you have any other hard drives listed here, you might want to include them in the backup,
so add up their capacities and buy a hard drive that’s larger than the total.
I would say look for a good brand, because you really need to rely on this thing when
the time comes.
I normally buy Western Digital or Seagate.
HOW TO MAKE THE SYSTEM IMAGE Now I’m going to plug in my 1 terabyte hard
drive, and wait for it to show up on the computer.
If you have any other external drives or memory sticks plugged in, it’s best to unplug them
at this point so you don’t risk overwriting any important data.
Now open Settings, and go to Update & Security.
Go to Backup.
Then go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7).
Don’t worry about the Windows 7 part.
Click Create a system image.
Select on a hard disk.
Then make sure this is set to the hard drive you plugged in.
Click Next.
Check that all the drives you want to back up have a tick next to them.
Don’t worry if these are greyed out, it means you only have one main hard drive to
start with.
Click Next.
Now my hard drive is encrypted, yours may not be, so don’t worry if you don’t see
this message.
It’s telling me that my hard drive is encrypted but the backup drive won’t be.
There is a way you can make the backup drive encrypted, and I hope to make a video in future
to show you how to do this.
Now click Start Backup, and you will want to go and do something else, because this
will take at least 2 hours.
You shouldn’t use the computer while it’s making a system image.
Once it’s finished, the computer will say The Backup Completed Successfully, but you
might not see that message because another one pops up over it, asking if you want to
Create a System Repair Disc.
Now you can do this, but your computer will need to have a CD or DVD drive.
A system repair disc contains the recovery tools, which you’ll use to start the recovery
if you ever need it.
But rather than making a System Repair Disc, I would recommend making a usb recovery drive,
and it just so happens that the next video I upload will be How to Make a Recovery Drive.
Anyway, now that you’ve made your System Image, you want to safely eject the hard drive.
Now unplug the drive, and keep it somewhere safe.
Don’t keep it near the computer, ideally you should keep it in another room.
Don’t forget to repeat this process at least once a year, because the more often you make
a backup, the more up-to-date it will be if you ever need to use it.
And if you use another backup like File History or OneDrive, make sure that’s kept even
more up-to-date.
HOW TO RECOVER THE SYSTEM IMAGE Now without tempting fate, let’s look at
what you would do in the future if some catastrophe wiped all the data from your hard drive.
First, let’s assume that your hard drive hasn’t actually failed, but you can’t
start Windows.
Just have your external hard drive with the System Image backup ready and plugged into
the computer’s usb slot.
If you have a usb recovery drive too then great, but you might not need it.
We want to see if you can get the automatic repair tools to start on the computer.
These kick in if Windows fails twice to start up.
So, turn on the computer, and wait for the ‘please wait’ graphic to start spinning.
Then force the computer to turn off by holding down the on/off button for 10 seconds.
Then wait a moment, and turn the computer on again.
Then wait for the ‘please wait’ graphic again, and force the computer off again.
This time, the computer should try to fix your computer automatically.
It will probably give up though, and when you see this message, click on Advanced Options.
Then click Troubleshoot.
If you’re on this screen, then great – wait here for a moment.
Of course, there’s a chance your computer will just turn on and give you a blank screen
– maybe your hard drive has failed, and in this case you’ll need a usb recovery
drive.
So check out my video on how to make a recovery drive.
You’ll need to borrow someone else’s computer, but don’t worry, the drive you make will
work fine to get your computer where we need it to be.
Once you’ve made the recovery drive, plug it into your computer’s usb, and also plug
your backup drive in too.
Boot the computer from the recovery usb, select the keyboard layout, then click on Troubleshoot.
Now we’re all on the same screen, and we should be able to restore the backup.
Click on Advanced Options first Look for System Image Recovery.
Click on System Image Recovery.
You should see your backup drive listed, with the date and time you made the backup.
Click Next.
Please be really careful here – you’re going to wipe all your drives clean, so you
should only proceed if you’re certain you’ve backed up all your data.
When you’re ready, click Next.
Then you just need to click Finish, then say Yes, and your computer will start the long
process of restoring your data.
This will take a few hours, and when it’s finished your computer will be working exactly
how it was on the day you did the backup.
So now you know how to back up your computer to a system image and how to restore it, I
really hope this saves you from stress and worry should you ever need to use it, but
more importantly I hope you never need it.
Let me know in the comments below this video if it helped you, did it take hours and hours
to do?
Have you ever had a complete catastrophe and lost all your data?
I’d really like to hear your stories, good or bad.
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Thanks for watching.