Question about backing up and restoring for upgrading to windows 8
I am going to be upgrading from the Windows 8 release preview to the full retail version of Windows 8. When in the installation process it told me I could only keep my personal files. I have about 350 gb of stuff that does not count as "personal files". I am going to try to use this program to back up my whole computer to an external hard drive and then restore my files and programs after upgrading to Windows 8. I was wondering if this would work, and if so, how it would work. If I can not do this, is there any other way I can keep my files when upgrading? I really do not want to have of re-install all of my Steam games and programs after upgrading. Thanks in advance and please respond soon.
I previously used the windows 7 to , and I wanted to go over on the windows 8.
I made myself with the acronis true image 2011 a full backup of the win7 - C: (( and i meen a full backup ))
and then I made a bootable rescue CD to , with the option of rescue media builder.
if I do not like it, the windows 8 , Then I use the bootable rescue CD boot ..to boot from and set back the backup of the windows7 ..
the condition is that : That the created backup was stored on an external HD, and that it is connected when you use the rescue CD
the created bootable rescue CD works on win8.
Well reinstalling 350 gb of programs is not going to be fun. Also, my windows 8 release preview is saying that it will automatically restart every hour until I install windows 8. I have purchased it, but not yet installed it. How am I going to backup my computer when it restarts every hour?
you've probably only have 1 patitie and that is the C .
I have my HD split in 3 partitions ..
1st partition is the C ( here is the win8 and all the programs)
the 2nd and the 3rd partition, only to store data
So I need only to backup the C partition. (its about 45gb)
that the windows8 itself, every hour reboot's ..
is precisely because you used the win8 Release preview u **which was previously announced by Microsoft !
**what you aim to achieve, is not gonna work!
**you can not upgrade to a full version Windows8 from a Win8 Release Preview
Well I can actually upgrade to a full version of windows 8, that is not a problem. I do only have one partition on my hard drive as you guessed, but that really isn't my problem either. I am just going to backup some of my important files and reinstall all my programs over the weekend. I don't think having multiple partitions would have solved my issue and I really don't feel like partitioning it. Thanks anyways though.
Tyler,
You can backup from the recovery CD. No need to have Windows running to backup :-)
I agree with Ronny, since you will have to reinstall your apps, you just need the C:\ partition (where the C:\users\ folder is) and whatever other user partition you have created. In your case, (equivalent to a fresh install), you can "lose" any other partition.
I also agree with Ronny that partitioning between OS+apps and data is a good idea. This allows you to produce "system" images, and to use other backup techniques for your data. For example, it is inefficient and uselessly risky to put files that do not change and are already compressed into a compressed proprietary archive: if you put your personal pictures and, for some reason the archives get lost/corrupted (and we know this happens regardless of the backup technology), you will have no way to restore your pictures.
But we can talk about backup strategy later.
Note that in your case, a simple file copy to a USB disk of your C:\Users directory (including all hidden files) is all what you need. Since Windows reboots regularly, you can definitely use the recovery CD based backup to create an Acronis TIB archive and get to the same result.
Just to be sure, you can on top of the Acronis archive, do a flat file copy of your irreplaceable content.
Sorry, I am kinda new to this. I have never upgraded an OS before and have never partitioned a hard drive. I am slightly confused by what you are saying. What I understood is that all I can do is backup my user folder and reinstall all my programs. Could you explain the CD a bit more possibly?
Tyler,
Let's forget about the backup strategy and the partitioning for the time being.
Use your ACronis serial number to register your full copy on Acronis.com (the trial version doesn't allow you to backup from the recovery CD). IN the product download area, download your Bootable ISO and burn that ISO to a CD.
Boot the computer on that CD, run ATI to do a full disk backup of your current disk.
Then let the Windows 8 install run the upgrade for you. It should leave your personal content (files in C:\Users\{your user}\*.* intact). You will ahve to reinstall your games, steam, and other apps. The backup will be there for you to (either go back to your old system if something goes amiss, or to get some content that the installer discarded -- unlikely, or to salvage content is something goes really wrong during the upgrade).
Ok, thanks for the help. So I have to buy the full version of Acronis to do this? It's shame that Microsoft is making it this difficult to upgrade... Well thanks again for the help guys, great support responding so quickly!
If you want to peace of mind to be able to go back to your system after the upgrade, and you *have* to backup from the recovery CD because Windows 8 makes you reboot so often, yes, you will have to get the full version of ATI.
I used ATI to go back and forth between Win7 and Win8 a few times before I settled on Win8.
Ok, well I found an easier way to do all this I think. It's basically just a hack to make life easier with all of this.
http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/sql-server/upgrading-windows-…
Have you heard of doing this? I think I'm going to do this and not have to spend all weekend reinstalling all of my programs even if it isn't entirely legal.