How to copy Windows and in what reliable, checked up program. Further, where to store a copy and on what medium, so that nothing happens to it. The thing is, our family uses the computer actively, creating accounts with limited rights does not help. From time to time, Windows with all the programs has to be reinstalled and configured again, it takes a whole day. I read your article, but it is too complicated for me, you have several hard drives and many partitions there. Could you give me some simple instructions, I only have one hard drive and two volumes (C:) and (D:). Dmitry.

How to copy Windows

Note: Hello friends, after reading this article, I recommend our newest article on working with the new version of Acronis True Image 13. . And further restore Windows 8 from a backup.

Many more users are interested in how you can transfer Windows to another computer using the tools built into the operating system, that is, without resorting to any programs, and in fact there is such a way, it is described in our article "".

In order to create an archive copy of the system, it doesn’t matter: Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, 10, first of all, you need to think about the program we need, I work with all such utilities and I can say that, for example, Acronis is quite suitable. Secondly, we need to think about where we will be copy Windows, there are many options, best of all on a portable USB hard drive, although many create a copy or correctly name a Windows backup on an additional hard disk partition. If the Windows system partition is not large, you can even use DVD discs.

There is also another partition (E) with a volume of almost 300 GB and you and I can copy Windows and place our copy of the system on it, it will take about 3 GB, in my case I can even use a DVD to store the archive or flash drive.
You can work in Acronis True Image Home from the operating system or from a boot disk. It is better to immediately learn how to copy Windows or, in other words, create a backup of the system, as well as deploy a copy of the system in place of a damaged Windows, working from an Acronis boot disk or flash drive. Why? Firstly, it is not difficult, and secondly, you will most likely use a copy of the system when Windows falls so much that it will not boot at all, and it is better to always be ready for this. In this case, you can immediately boot from the Acronis disk and restore your Windows with all the programs in a few minutes, isn't that great.
So we create a copy of Windows in the Acronis program and place it on disk (E). Creating a system backup in the Windows graphical shell and from a boot disk looks the same. Similarly, deploying a copy of Windows in place of a damaged one also looks the same, now you will see everything for yourself. You can create Acronis Bootable Media (disk or flash drive) in the program itself, you can read it here. How to boot your computer from or, also read from us.
Boot from Acronis media.

Select backup disks.

We see that our disk (C:) is 165 GB in size, designated as (E), put a tick on it and click Next.

In this window, click Browse

and select the hard disk partition where we will create a Windows backup, in our case we don’t have to make a special choice, since the letters are mixed up, so we select (C :), which is actually (E) 300 GB.
An archived copy of Windows is called, for example, No. 1

Proceed.

Windows is being backed up.

In a running Windows 7 operating system, it will look like this, the format of a copy of Windows made with Acronis always has the .tib extension.

Try not to accidentally delete this copy.
Now let's imagine that Windows does not boot up for you and none of our articles from the section helped, then we have only one hope for an archived copy of Windows 7. The recovery will be complete, that is, everything that is on your disk (C:) will be replaced by the contents of the archive. So if you have important data on the (C:) drive, you should use any Live CD and copy it to a safe place, otherwise it will be lost.
Boot from Acronis media and select Recovery.

After installing the Windows operating system with the necessary drivers and frequently used programs, it is advisable to make a backup copy of the OS.

This will save considerable time the next time you reinstall Windows, because after restoring the OS from this copy, we will get a clean computer with all the necessary drivers and necessary programs.

Windows operating system backup

First, we will show you how to make a copy of Windows using the system tools. To do this, go to the following menu: "Start" - "Control Panel" - "Backup and Restore". On the left side of the panel, we have the option "Create a system image".

When you select this option, a window will appear with a choice of the location where the backup will be saved. We can choose one of the partitions of our disk, or use an external disk or flash drive of the appropriate size for this purpose

After choosing a storage location, click "Next". Then click the "Start Backup" button. The copying process will begin, which can take up to several tens of minutes, depending on the size of the operating system along with the programs and the speed of your computer.

The next step we can take is to create a recovery disk. After completing the backup process, you will see a window asking you to create a recovery drive. Press the confirm button and insert a blank DVD into the drive. After burning the recovery disk, we got a ready-made set that will come in handy in case of a computer failure.

How to restore the Windows 7 system

Now suppose that the operating system has crashed and Windows 7 won't boot. We insert our disk into the drive, in the BIOS we set the computer to boot from the CD. The computer should then start booting directly from the CD.

After downloading the files, a window will appear with the ability to select the location of our file with a copy of Windows 7. After specifying the location of our copy, click the "Restore the computer using the previously created system image" button, after which the recovery process will begin.

If everything goes well, then after restarting the computer, we will have a fully working Windows operating system. Unfortunately, the Windows 7 backup utility doesn't have many options, and so the backup takes an average of 14-18 GB.

Another Windows 7 backup method is using Acronis, which is much better than the Windows system tools. First of all, the copy is created much faster, and we have the choice to create an image of the entire C: / partition or just Windows. In addition, restoring Windows from a previously created backup is much faster, and we can do without using a CD.

Creating a copy of Windows 7 with Acronis

Launch the program, and then select "Create an image" or "Create a copy" depending on the version of the program. As a rule, at each stage, the program tells us what needs to be done. So you just carefully read the instructions displayed on the screen.

The program will ask you to select what should be included in the image (copy). Select "My Computer" and click next. Select the C:\ drive and click next, do not check anything on the file exclusion tab and click next.

A window should appear with the ability to select the location where our copy of Windows 7 will be saved. First, on the left side, select a location, for example Drive D:\. After that, below we enter the name of the file of our copy, click the button next.

Select "Create a new image" and click next. The program will ask you to use the default settings - check "Yes". Then a window will appear with the ability to enter comments about the copies (you don’t need to write anything), click next, and the creation of a Windows backup copy will begin.

No matter what anyone says, but carefully setting up a new OS takes an order of magnitude more time than it takes to figure out the process of creating its image and then transferring it to another PC.

Windows 7: backup and restore. Built-in tool in OS (Windows Transfer)

The easiest way. Porting Windows 7. Location in the operating system of the backup tool: "Start | All programs | Service | Archiving and Restoration. The menu in the column on the left is "Create a system recovery disk" and "Create a system image"

Creating a system image

You must specify the location where the data will be archived: select another disk partition, external HDD or optical disk (DVD, Blue Ray). It also has the ability to save a backup to a network drive. Optical media is not practical, so use a logical drive with enough storage space or an external HDD to store the backup. Select a location and click the "Archive" button. After the archiving procedure is completed, boot on another computer from the Windows 7 installation disk (or from the ERD Commander 6.5 boot disk, I described how to create such a disk or how to make a bootable flash drive with ERD Commander), after disconnecting it from the old one, and connecting the USB HDD or any other media of your choice containing the system image. Select System Restore and select the disk with the Windows 7 image. Now wait for the recovery process to finish and reboot, remembering to set the BIOS to boot from the hard disk.

This built-in tool in Windows is not without drawbacks, such as a long time to create an archive and the lack of a compression function. However, there are other, more functional products.

Cloning the operating system

A bootable copy of an old hard drive can be transferred to a new computer using a backup utility or through virtualization. In this case, Windows and applications will be available immediately, without reinstallation.

You've got a new PC running Windows 7, but you don't want to part with your old PC's customized Windows XP and all your applications. Then you need a copy of the system partition, which includes the boot sector (boot sector), which is necessary to start the OS.

To physically clone an old computer's hard drive, install Paragon Drive Copy 11 on it - this is a solution for backing up, restoring and migrating systems in physical and virtual Windows environments, that is, move windows from one computer to another won't be difficult.

Paragon Drive Copy 11 supports all existing technologies Reserve copy. As a result, the user has more than seven ways to create backups and a whole range of archive storage options: from CD / DVD / Blu-ray media to FTP servers.

Functionality expanded in line 11 system recovery, which now allows you to return the PC to working capacity not only using boot disks based on Linux / DOS and WinPE 2.1, but also by migrating and deploying the system to another hardware platform (P2P) or to any virtual environment (P2V). Paragon Drive Copy 11 functions correctly in all popular types of virtual machines, including MS Virtual PC, VMware Workstation and VMware Fusion. There is support for USB 3.0 devices.

Transferring Windows with Paragon Drive Copy

Open the program and call "Backup disk or partition". Select the partition you want to clone and check the "Change backup settings" box. In the next dialog box, under "Archiving settings | Compression level ”, you must select the entry“ No compression ”and check that the option“ Direct access to partition sectors ”is activated in the“ Copy settings ”section.

It is more convenient to transfer data using an external HDD, but if you do not have one, you can use network drives or burn data to Blu-ray discs.

Data archiving. Choosing a location for data recovery: creating a partition

Created with Paragon Drive Copy operating system clone(or system partition) is best saved on an external drive (USB, E-SATA)

Once the copy has been created, transfer it to the new computer. If you want to keep the modern OS installed there, create a new partition for Windows XP and integrate it into the Windows bootloader selection menu. To do this, first install Paragon on a new computer. Run and select "Advanced Archiving Operations". Paragon Drive Copy will show the partitions available on the disk in a new window. If there is an area that satisfies the size and is not partitioned into disks, right-click on it and select "Create Partition". Its volume should not be less than the copied archive from Windows XP. If the new computer has only one large Windows partition, it must first be made smaller. In the Paragon program, unfortunately, you will not be able to do this. Therefore, use an additional utility for working with partitions, such as Partition Wizard Professional Edition 5.0

When the partition for a copy of Windows XP is ready, click on it in the "Backup & Recovery" program and select "Restore a logical drive from an archive." Click on "Switch to File Viewer" and select the desired archive. Follow further instructions. Finally, copy the clone to the new system using the "Run" button.

Now you can start your old computer through the Windows bootloader - a utility from Paragon brought it there under the name "Microsoft Windows". It's better to rename it with the EasyBCD program. Click in its interface on "Edit Boot Menu" and select the above entry. The "Rename" function will allow you to set a more informative name.

Data archiving. Alternative Solution: Virtual Cloning

Use the Virtualization Operations section of the program to turn your old PC into a virtual machine and run it on your new PC. Select "P2V Copy" to create a virtual copy of your computer. In the wizard, be sure to select the "Microsoft Virtual PC" option, even if you're using VirtualBox. Launch "P2V OS setup". On the new PC, install the VirtualBox utility and double-click on the VMC file to launch the copy.

Online storage for PC. Image of your system on the network

If you have a fast Internet connection, it is possible to place a copy of your old computer on online disks. You will not only transfer data to a new system, but you will be able to restore it after a failure.

Notebook users who are concerned about the safety of their data should save them online: if the device and external hard drive are stolen, this will help you restore the system on another computer, but before you put your data in web storage, you need to take care of security.

The most important factor in the successful implementation of the plan is a sufficient amount of free space for a clone of the system. For small partitions, free online storage of 25 GB is quite suitable. .

Learn more about Windows Live Skydrive storage from Microsoft

With SkyDrive tools, you can create three different types of folders that can be accessed over the Internet (these folders are stored on a server managed by Microsoft):

• personal folders to which only their creator has access;
• public folders with restricted access assigned by their creator to certain individuals to whom files are provided;
• public folders with unlimited access, which can be opened via the Internet by anyone.

After registration, the following options are available:

• Access free 25 GB storage from any computer connected to the Internet or from any web-enabled mobile device. With an additional program, you can even drag and drop files directly from your computer to SkyDrive. The presence of this application provides convenient downloading and synchronization of files to the server. Some do not accept the ubiquitous web interface and prefer to use the familiar win-shells.
• Free. To date, almost all services of this type are free to some extent, only a few resort to micropayments for expanding functionality. Nevertheless, in the age of capitalism and the global financial crisis, the absence of any payment for such a service can be safely attributed to the merits.
• Own folder structure. Storage of any types of files. Ability to link accounts. Direct links to folders.

To create a copy, you can use the Paragon Drive Copy program presented in the previous section. You can repeat the above process, and also use the proposed backup archive compression function - this will significantly reduce the upload and download time. You can also clone your old computer with Paragon's Virtualization Operation by creating a virtual copy of the system and then hosting it online. The generated image can be downloaded at any time and run in VirtualBox. But before that, it does not hurt to encrypt a copy using the TrueCrypt program.

Secure data encryption

Some online storages offer their own encryption feature. I recommend that you perform this operation on your computer in order to initially exclude the possibility of access to an unprotected clone during the download or immediately after it for particularly cautious users.

After successfully creating a copy of the old computer, install TrueCrypt and the corresponding localization file. Create an encrypted folder image, or

disk by placing it on a local or external HDD. To do this, launch TrueCrypt and use the "Create volume" menu item to place the encoded file container on the selected disk. Choose a medium strength algorithm such as "Serpent" as too strong encryption will negatively affect upload and download speeds. To place files in a ready-made container, you need to connect the latter as a disk. In the main window of the TrueCrypt interface, select any letter and use the "File" button to navigate to your container. Click "Mount" and enter the password. In Windows Explorer you will see a new local drive where you can put your PC clone. Terminate the connection with the TrueCrypt program and navigate to the new computer where you want to install the system clone. Install TrueCrypt on this PC and connect an external drive with an encrypted container to it. Then mount the file container as a new local drive as above and open it in Windows Explorer. Now you can import the clone.

If you use online storage to host an encrypted container, then in order to prevent it from being constantly downloaded by TrueCrypt, in the "Settings - Options" item, you must check the "Save modification date for container files" checkbox.

Situation #1: new computer, identical operating systems

If you replaced your old (previous) PC with a device with a similar OS, data transfer is carried out very quickly using the backup protocol created by the Ocster Backup program.

Since standard folders such as My Documents are the same in old and new versions of Windows, you only need to select the desired copy in the Ocster utility and restore it using the wizard. If the computer failed before you created the current backup, use the program calendar to refer to an earlier version of the backup. Be sure to activate the "Use default access permissions" option. Otherwise, the new OS will not get access to the data due to the lack of the necessary rights for this. In addition, in the wizard, you can click on the backup folder and selectively restore files.

Situation #2: new computer, different version of Windows OS

If you are upgrading from a client PC to a more modern device with the latest OS version, you will have to reckon with its peculiarities. For example, in XP, your profile files are stored in the C:\Documents and Settings\username folder, while in Vista and Windows 7 they are stored in C:\User\username.

For such cases, Ocster Backup offers a small number of settings, so you will have to download the Windows Easy Transfer program (link above). However, it is worth mentioning some limitations. You will not be able to transfer personal data using this utility if the versions of Windows on the old and new computers have different localizations, and there may be problems with transferring data from a 64-bit system to a 32-bit one.

Windows 7 already has this program built in. This way you will be able to seamlessly import all settings to a new computer using the same wizard.

How to move Windows to an SSD drive

Special situation: migrating Windows from IDE or SATA to an SSD drive

Conventional hard drives store data on tracks divided into sectors. There is no such breakdown in SSD. When you install Windows 7 on a solid state drive, the operating system takes into account the peculiarities of flash memory, but when you import a clone of an old computer, such a drive will be about half as slow, since most backup utilities save the clone according to the old sector logic.

Program to transfer Windows to SSD

Paragon offers the Drive Copy 11 Professional utility, which allows you to correctly transfer a system clone (system image) to a solid state drive. It's very tempting to take advantage of the latest, faster and quieter SSDs. But the capacities of affordable SSDs are limited, and in most cases, your system partition will be larger than you'd like. The Migrate OS to SSD option of this program is a unique way to migrate only the files you need to run Windows, eliminating everything else, in order to migrate the system to an SSD or any other smaller drive.

Using a 3TB disk (the system does not see the entire volume of a 3TB HDD)

If you own a hard drive with a higher capacity - more than 2.2 TB, you may encounter the inability of your system to use all the free space (full volume). Reason: The traditional MBR partitioning method does not provide for this possibility. But Drive Copy 11 Professional will come to the rescue again, which will allow you to transfer the system and use the new 3TB hard drive for the entire volume.

Not all users know that a full backup of the Windows 7 operating system is possible, which can greatly help in case of computer failures, virus infections, etc. While the Seven is working fine, it is advisable to use this convenient Windows backup function and provide yourself with a Windows 7 backup.

Of course, Windows also has a system restore function, but this tool sometimes does not allow you to fix the consequences of serious failures or damage by malicious applications, since some files are often simply deleted in the OS, and when restoring Windows, these files may not be restored.

One of the main advantages of resuscitating the OS from a Windows 7 backup is the simplicity of the procedure compared to reinstalling the system, and besides, you don’t have to reconfigure the operating system for the user, because all settings and installed applications will be saved in the restored Seven. Below are detailed guides on how to back up Windows 7.

Why do you need a copy of the system?

The copy that is created is an archival backup of all the information of the owner of the computer and the operating system. From it, an image file of the entire system is formed, which can be written to a disk or any other suitable external media. With the help of the saved image, it will always be possible to quickly restore the computer after OS damage, as well as restore all applications, profiles in computer games, drivers, etc.

Procedure for creating an archive

If the user wondered how to properly make and record a backup copy of the Windows 7 operating system, then you will need to perform several of the following sequential steps:

4. Specify the location where you plan to create a copy of the OS and click "Next";

OS Disc Burning Procedure

You need to take the following few steps:

If system damage occurs, then using the disk, you can boot to restore the computer to working order. First, in the BIOS, you will need to specify the priority for starting the system from the drive.

Setting PC Startup from Optical Drive

It is necessary to carry out the following actions:

Few Windows 7 users know about such a very useful feature as creating a backup copy of the installed operating system. What is it and how to backup Windows 7, we will analyze here and now.

What is this function?

This is which, with the help of archiving tools, can create a backup copy of user information and the OS as a whole. There are a lot of benefits from it, since with its help you can make an image of the OS, thanks to which you can then restore the damaged OS. This will become a real lifeline in the event that it is not created, and it is impossible to roll back. Of course, it is also desirable to make a restore point in case the operating system is damaged, but there are different situations in which the good old rollback will not help. For example, when the system does not start, and the disk on which Windows 7 is recorded is not at hand.

Why not a rollback?

Unlike rollback (the restore function is different), which simply returns the system to a previously saved state, a backup saves the user's settings and the Windows 7 image as a whole. The benefits of this are huge. For example, you get the opportunity to restore all user data that was erased during the reinstallation process.

And in case the operating system fails, it can always be returned to its normal state using a backup copy, in addition, drivers, programs and personal data (saves and profiles in games, etc.) will also be restored.

How to back up Windows 7?

Creating a copy of the OS is carried out by a fairly large number of utilities. In addition, Windows 7 has enough functionality for this. Before you back up Windows 7, you need to do the following steps.

We step into the "Start" menu, where in "All Programs" we are looking for daddy "Maintenance". In it we find and click on the item "Backup and Restore". There are also a couple of alternative ways to open this function:

• open "Start", enter in the search line "Backup and restore" and go when it appears;
• We pass into the control panel, where the "Backup and Restore" section immediately catches the eye.

It does not matter which opening method is chosen, the main thing is that the window with this service is open. There you can use three functions:

• set up backup;
• create an OS image;
• create a disk designed to return to a normal system state.

Let's start with how to back up Windows 7, then look at the other two functions.

Backup

To do this, in the "Backup and restore" window, click on the hyperlink highlighted in blue "Set up backup". The backup settings window appears. At this stage, you will have to wait a bit. Patience will be rewarded by the appearance of a window called "Archiving settings", where you will be prompted to choose where to save the copy. Of course, a backup can be created on drive D, for example. But if all the data from the hard drive is deleted or damaged, then there will be no sense in the backup copy. Therefore, it is best to store a backup on an external hard drive. In addition, if you connect an external hard drive, the system will offer nothing more than to backup the Windows 7 system to it. When the choice is made, move on using the "Next" button.

In the next window, you need to choose whether to leave the choice of files for Windows archiving, or choose for yourself what data will be archived (individual files, folders, disks). By the way, this feature can help on how to backup Windows 7 drivers.

If there is no trust in the operating system, and it was decided to distribute the data manually, in the window that appears, be sure to click "Include disk system image: (C)" so that you can restore the failed system using a backup, and also mark the necessary data with birds. By tradition, click on "Next". Before making a backup copy of Windows 7, we check the correctness of all settings. After - "Save and run".

Creating an OS image

This time we click on "Create an image" instead of such a thing as how to backup a Windows 7 disk. In this case, an image is created that includes the disks necessary for the normal operation of the OS. We are in the window for choosing where to save the future image. It is best to prefer a portable (that is, external) hard drive, since the image can weigh several tens or even hundreds of gigabytes. Next, select the disks from which the image will be created. In the next window, we check again the disks that will be in the image, and then click "Archive".

Create a recovery disk

This is done in the same place, instead of such an item as how to backup Windows 7, only it is located next to the image creation button. True, this step is not necessary for those who have Windows 7 on the disk, and who can use it to return the system to normal. For those who do not have such a disk, it is useful to go through this procedure, since in case of serious damage to the OS, there will be something to restore it from.

To do this, you will need a blank DVD or CD, as the recovery files will be approximately 150 MB in size. In the "Backup and Restore" window, click "Create a system disk". We insert the disk into the drive, select it from the list and click on the "Create disk" button. We wait until the disk creation process comes to an end, after which we remove the disk.

Now this disk can be used if the operating system decides to live for a long time, and it will be impossible to enter it even from safe mode.