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Test Restore of System Disk

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To restore my system disk backup I have to boot from Acronis Bootable Media, and then wipe my perfectly good system disk to restore what may or may not be a good backup. Obviously not a problem if you have an unusable system as you've nothing to lose, but worth the risk to test a backup?  Yes I know testing backups is important but can anyone suggest a way of testing without quite as much risk? 

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Sure, Mr Mopp,

NEVER NEVER risk your working disk with a test.

I test all the time to make sure all will work when I need it.

Create a verified image of a disk or partition you wish to restore from and then REMOVE your good, working OS.

Replace the disk with an inexpensive HDD, boot your system with the bootable media and test away.

This method will make for a great learning experience and by the time you have all the bugs worked out you will be super ready to recover from disaster with a known working method that worked for you.

Regards,

Steve F.

 

Hi, and thanks for the reply, your method is fine in theory but hardly practical to open up a laptop (potentially voiding any warranty in the process) remove the HDD and replace with another disk, do a test restore and then reverse the procedure, on a regular basis.

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

If the testimonies by I don't know how many forum members (me included), including the experts, that this is INDEED working does NOTHING to pacify your paranoia, then I could only advise you to get a same model VAIO from somewhere for a day or two, obviously one that is not in use, and run a restore onto that one. OR, you get any other new computer and try the Universal Restore on that one ... which also might be a good exercise when you buy the next new machine.

Speaking of paranoia: do you keep a safe copy somewhere / in the cloud ? Because all your diligence won't help you a bit, if the thief runs away with your computer AND the backup, or the fire burns down the house AND the backuop archive ...

Just my 0.02$ worth ... 

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

Right, that's settled then, no more backups for me as they're a waste of time - and no more testing as it's a sign of paranoia!  $0.02? way overvalued.  

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

Be good to hear from any of the real experts on here who have been helpful in the past.

DrMopp,

If your PC can run VM's you can convert a full disk backup to a WM within the TI app, setup a virtual machine and point it to the converted file and test that it works. For more details look HERE

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

Thanks for something constructive. OS is Win 10 64 Home though so according to that article no Hyper-V.

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

>>Right, that's settled then, no more backups for me as they're a waste of time <<

Where did I say that ?

Also, I did mention one or two points for your consideration which you DELIBERATELY chose to ignore ... since you don't want to restore to the original disk, which is fully understandable, and, as you say, VMs are not an option ... well, then what are you going to do ?

DrMopp,

You might have a look at some third party solutions for running VM's.  For some suggestions look HERE

A good free way is VMWare Workstation Player HERE

Workstatiion Player documentation HERE

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

@Enchantech - OK will look into them, thanks for your help.

Your welcome.