Windows 7 system image

[Suradit69]

I wanted to create a system image after returning to Windows 7 because of problems with Windows 10.

I got a 1 TB Western Digital external drive. It's already formatted NTFS .

I started the Windows 7 backup app and clicked on the "create an image" tab.

After finding my external drive, it chose which drives to back up and I got this ( the first picture below) I don't know what the "unnamed drive (system)" refers to, I but continued on.

Then I get the error shown in the second image below. Is it referring to the unnamed drive?

Is there any SIMPLE way of dealing with this? I'd really like to get a system image after recently having a messy recovery from a meltdown, but don't want to tinker too much since everything is running well now.

Thanks for any advice ... and I can't emphasize enough, it needs to be fairly simple/not overly technical, or I'll just opt to leave well enough alone.

Edited March 7, 2016 by Suradit69

[chrisinth]

I personally would either delete the unnamed drive, or at the very least, if the system backup allows, un-check it and try the backup again. At present WIN_7 (C:) (System) is your boot drive, denoted by the windows flag.

An unnamed drive of that size (7.81 GB in this case) is normally a hidden OEM recovery drive, but it should show the label as such. My guess would be that this is for a factory reset and it contains an image of the shipping installation along with the OEM's bloatware. But, i could be wrong.

If you can go to Control panel\Administrative tools\Computer management\Disk management it will show you a better description of your hard disk and partition layouts.

On a normal Windows 7 install, you should also have one more hidden partition of 100MB which would be the WinRE.

Sorry, that's all the advice i can give at the minute without seeing a snap of the Disk management screen, and without un-hiding the unnamed partition to verify what it contains....................

[Suradit69]

Thanks for your suggestions. I can't uncheck the unnamed drive. Following your directions I came up with this below. I assume the problematic drive is the one with the FAT32 File System.

[KittenKong]

Rather than trying to do this from within Windows I would use alternative software to copy the entire disk, with all those partitions.

Have a look at these: https://www.google.com/search?q=full+disk+image+software+free&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Personally I like EaseUS and Clonezilla.

Whatever you do, dont delete that 7GB partition as it is probably the manufacturer's restore partition. Also the 450Mb partition, which is probably the restore software.

[Suradit69]

Rather than trying to do this from within Windows I would use alternative software to copy the entire disk, with all those partitions.

Have a look at these: https://www.google.com/search?q=full+disk+image+software+free&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Personally I like EaseUS and Clonezilla.

Whatever you do, dont delete that 7GB partition as it is probably the manufacturer's restore partition. Also the 450Mb partition, which is probably the restore software.

Thanks. Good idea about the software. I'm really reluctant to muck about with the status quo since everything seems to be running smoothly at the moment, but I do want a way to recover with less hassle the next time things fall apart.

[VBF]

Get Macrium Reflect (free version) and "Create an image of the partitions required to backup and restore Windows" - see attached screenshot. This may include the small recovery partition (partition 1 in my example) but it's small enough not to be an issue, important enough to be worth including!

Edited March 7, 2016 by VBF

[JaiMaai]

Whatever you do, DO NOT delete or attempt to modify that un-named partition. It contains the system boot information.

[chrisinth]

Rather than trying to do this from within Windows I would use alternative software to copy the entire disk, with all those partitions.

Have a look at these: https://www.google.com/search?q=full+disk+image+software+free&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Personally I like EaseUS and Clonezilla.

Whatever you do, dont delete that 7GB partition as it is probably the manufacturer's restore partition. Also the 450Mb partition, which is probably the restore software.

I would agree with that KK. However, if the OP is going to image his drive then the manufacturer's restore partition is out-of-date (it is anyway). Obviously everyone to their own, but after a successful image backup (I use Acronis) i normally delete these unnamed partitions and reclaim the space by expanding one of the working partitions.

Notice he also has another 4.0GB un-allocated that can be utilized as well.

Certainly agree that a 3rd party software is the way to go, preferably one with incremental backup options for a proper backup solution. Saves the tears later on and can be restored to the point where the disaster happened........................

Edited March 8, 2016 by chrisinth

[Suradit69]

Thanks everyone.