Bootable Usb Recovery Drive

Hello geeks,

I am going to be upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. I want to take my PBR Image and make it a bootable recovery USB, in case anything goes wrong with the upgrade and clean install after that. I already backed up my data using FabsAutoBackup 6, great program by the way, so I am not trying to clone the drive because the PBR Image is the Factory Restore Image. So if anything goes wrong then I can just go back to the factory image and try again. I assigned a letter to the hidden partition and used xcopy after making the USB NTFS and made it active so it's bootable through CMD > Diskpart. I was also think of creating an .ISO from the PBR Image partition and then using Rufus to make the Bootable USB but I am unsure if anything will work.

Thanks for all the help,
God Bless

 

I am a firm believer in having multiple fail-safe options should an upgrade, etc. go south.

Generally, the simplest option is the best. If I am going to do a major upgrade, I'll simply create a restore image of the existing drive, save it to two different media, and verify both copies with the program used to back-up the drive.

If your upgrade is to your "mission critical" computer, you could use two different programs to create a back-up image of your drive . . . though I have rarely had issues restoring an image.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/macrium_reflect_free_edition.html gets high marks, but I haven't used it extensively . . . the one time I did the restore went without an issue.
I am currently using

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/det...ge_seagate_edition_software_(discwizard).html

With a verified restore, if your careful plans outlined above fail, you have another option to fall back to and regroup for another try.

 

I was under the impression that Image Backups don't back-up critical boot files but Cloning does. I wanted to just Clone the PBR Image to a Thumb Drive because it's only a 18GBs, but if the Restore Image does the same then I'll just go with that. I was trying to do the PBR Image with Macrium but it didn't register the USB in the program.

Thanks
God Bless

 

Image backups contain the boot files providing your image includes the partition containing them, i.e. the partition marked Active in disk management. Sometimes the boot files are in the system partition and sometimes in a separate boot partition.

 

Ok, so it's safe to say I can do a Image Backup and still boot it via USB/CD/DVD?

Also a few other things:

• In Macrium under the Image selection I can only put it in a folder which would make one .IMG file?
• I just wanted to do the PBR Image that DELL provides for a recovery partition if that is a possibility.

This is how I have it so far I don't want to Image the Main Partition because it is too big for what I have at my disposal for storage devices e.g. 128GB and 16GB USB besides there is nothing on there that I haven't already backed up. I also have a 500GB but that is a 3.5-Inch HDD with no external case and I am using a Laptop. I was thinking I can make the Image file bootable through Rufus.

Last question, can I use VMware to test if it boots properly before actually doing it for real? Or is there a program that can test these types of things?

 

You don't boot an image. You boot the computer with the Macrium rescue CD and restore the image to the hard drive, then boot normally.

Whatever partitions you select you end up with a single image file. However when restoring the image you can restore just the partitions you want, you don't have to restore everything. This holds providing you haven't tampered with the disk layout in any way.

It may be, I wouldn't know as I can't see any point in retaining the maker's recovery partition so have never tried it.

The reason you should image the system partition is that it contains all the Windows updates and all your installed software and configuration. That's the whole point of imaging. You should get a 1tb external and store an entire disk image on it. Then you've got the whole system backed up prior to upgrading.

I've read that you can create a VM using a disk image though haven't actually tried it myself.

 

Would the Imaging be quicker if there was more free space? Honestly, I've never made an Image Backup, and I'm not sure if you've used Macrium Reflect but it seems to be rated pretty high as Spad stated above. Is there step by step instructions somewhere?

 

Yes, I use Macrium Reflect regularly, alternating my monthly backups with Acronis True Image. It is essential that you practice the backup and restore process until you are comfortable with it, as the chance of it working successfully without doing so are not good. You could practice with your PBR partition as that is small and it wouldn't matter much if you accidentally lost or damaged it - unlikely - as you will never need it again after upgrading to Win 10. If you don't have a decent sized external HDD you really ought to invest in one, not just because of the upgrade but for regular use. You shouldn't have too much difficulty If you keep in mind the basic steps you have to take -

- Attach a suitable drive to receive the image file
- Start the program
- Create and test boot the bootable rescue media, CD or USB flash
- Select the partitions to be included in the backup
- Select the drive and folder in which the image file is to be stored
- Add any comments
- Finish

 

I have a 1TB and a 6TB the 6TB is what I use to backup my files with Fab's Auto Backup 6. It just archives it into assorted folders. Should I just test the USB Rescue Media. or the actual process? If I do the PBR Image It will go back to the factory settings how then can I backup my current state if it doesnt exsit anymore?

 

Both, including the image restore process, but if possible test the restore process by doing a restore to another disk, so you don't write the backup over the original.

Creating an image backup of your PBR partition doesn't do anything, it just backs it up. There isn't any way it can cause it to run.

You will understand the imaging process better once you've done a couple of practice runs.

 

So I created the Rescue Media and the MRIMG file. I then booted the media and it worked and I started the the recovery process and it recongized the IMG file. I didn't do it because I figured that was all I need to do to to check and see if it worked. Let me know if that's what you meant when you said to test it.

Thanks Earthling
God Bless

 

That sounds pretty good, as long as you can also see the partition you would restore to if you were doing it for real. The importance of this practice can't be overstressed. Things are very different when you are actually faced with a non-booting or malfunctioning computer - you need to keep your calm and know exactly what you need to do. It's not often mentioned when imaging is being discussed but a good, clean image is not only a safety net when making major system changes, as you will be doing, but is also the perfect antidote to virii and all other forms of malware, even rootkits. Get in the habit of doing it monthly.

 

Everything went well thanks for all the help. I'm running on Windows 10 Home. I have some side effects that I'm trying to solve here is the link to the thread.

God Bless

 

Hello Earthling,

Since you're a tenured Macrium user, I'm wondering if you would give me some help.

Windows 10. I plan to use Macrium Reflect Free to create a System Image (not a Recovery Media) on a USB stick (not a removable USB drive). Macrium will create the Image as a .MRIMG file. The file will be approximately 74 GB. In the future, when I want to restore to the System Image, I plan to use Macrium to perform the restore. Because Macrium will be used for the restore, the USB stick does not have to be bootable.

Given this scenario, when I use Macrium to create the System Image, what format should be used for the USB stick? FAT32... NTFS... or some other format?

Thanks for your help.

 

74GB? Not FAT32.

 

I believe you could use FAT32 but would end up with an image consisting of 18 4GB files. No, as Just Playin says, use NTFS.