Aller au contenu principal

Help creating OS images for different computers

Thread needs solution

I just purchased Acronis True Image 2013. Ive created a couple images and they fail when booting after restore.

What I'm trying to do is create a master image of win 7 pro 64bit with all the OS updates etc from Microsoft completed. Then I want to backup that image to file on a hard disk to use it later to restore a completely different PC to win 7 pro 64 bit with all the os updates in a fraction of the time a fresh install takes.

I created the disk I want to image on a Dell desktop and pulled the drive and used a external hard drive cradle to back up the image to a different machine. Then I restored the image via external cradle to a separate hard drive and installed it into a different machine (HP desktop). Ive tried this numerous times now and the machine posts, flashes the windows logo likes it wants to start and then a BSOD flashed and it restarts. Loops over and over. Ive tried booting the win 7 disk and running start up repair and using CMD to fix the bootrec and all of those codes. No luck, same results.

Any idea how I can create a OS image that can be reinstalled on non-similar computers (Dell, HP, Acer)? I do have licenses for the OS and would just update the key once i can get into windows.

Also why does the Acronis program seem to freeze or not open a lot of times? This is my first experience with it and it seems a bit buggy. Am I missing a update?

Ask any questions and Ill try to elaborate if necessary. Thank you all very much for any help!

0 Users found this helpful

You can't restore an image of your Dell PC to an HP PC and expect it to work. That is different hardware, and possibly even a different disk structure is needed. You may be able to accomplish this by adding the Plus Pack, which allows restore to dissimilar hardware.

Also, what you backup makes a difference. You didn't specify what you backed up, and if you backed up on the C: (OS) drive, then it's likely that a restore of that alone may not be bootable, as boot may occur from a hidden partition. You should create a full disk backup.

I backed up the entire disk - all partitions available - keeping the boot partition in mind. I guess Im looking for advice - I even tried pulling the original drive that i created the image from and installing it into a different machine. BSOD as well. Keep in mind I don't install any hardware drivers just what Windows does to avoid conflicts.

So is there a way to create a windows (7, XP, Vista) disk image (or an updated install CD/DVD even) with all the (100+) MS updates and have ready to install on various, different systems? Ive looked at the plus pack but want to be sure this is possible before committing time and money. I bought true image under the impression it supports dissimilar hardware restore. Maybe I was mislead.

I cant be the first person to try and speed up loading windows like this. Thanks!

I already answered that. You may be able to accomplish this by adding the Plus Pack, which allows restore to dissimilar hardware. You would have to assemble the necessary drivers for the new hardware, in uncompressed format, and insert them at the appropriate point in the restore process.