What is the best method of imaging Windows 7?
I have tried recovering the OS and reserve drive. Is there a proper guide on how to backup and restore a windows 7 image?
Colin's reference has a lot of material. (Thanks Colin for the reference.) I will try to be more specific.
1. Some users never install TrueImage and use only the TrueImage Recovery CD for both backups and restores. Their thinking is that as Windows is not involved, the backup has less chance of a Windows conflict.
a. If you want to use the CD for such a backup, click on link #3 in signature below and then look at link #6. Link 6 shows how to create such a backup via version 2010 illustrations but the 2013 illustrations would be mostly the same.
b. If you want to do the backup from inside Windows, you will need to create a backup task first. This is all illustrated in link #2 below. I prefer to have the backup be done in disk mode so all partitions are included--even the non-lettered partitions.
2. When restoring your system to the old or new disk, this needs to be done when booted from the TrueImage Recovery CD.
The recovery is illustrated in the items listed in link #3 below. The method used will depend upon what you are restoring and whether the target disk is old/new and if new, whether larger or smaller
a. If restoring drive C only overtop your current install, the item #3 inside that link is an example.
b. If restoring the entire system to an old or new disk, then use either item #2 or 1 of link #3--depending upon which is applicable to your restore intentions.
In my opinion, the most frequent mistake made when users create a backup of win7 is that some partitions are omitted (accidentally?) because some partition may not have drive letters assigned and thus do not appear visible in Windows Explorer. The disk mode view of TrueImage (figure 5 in link #2 below) illustrated all partitions included. I would suggest that you open the Windows Disk Management Console and look at the graphical view of your disk--(even print it out and retain). This view shows all partitions and note which partition is marked as Active (Act) and the sequence in which each partition resides. Any restore will need to restore those back with the same settings and sequence. User (often times) needs to know what is correct for their computer in order to make the correct decisions during a restore process.
Although it is not normally needed as part of a TrueImage Restore, user is encouraged to create/burn a Windows Recovery Cd which can be found on most Win 7 systems under the start/maintenance folder.