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Is system image secure

Tags:
  • Image
  • Security
  • Windows 7
  • Portable Hard Drive
Last response: in Windows 7
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June 17, 2014 10:23:30 AM

I'm running Win 7 64 bit and i've had a major security threat today. I have been v.lapse with back-ups in past but I now want to get my act together and start to take this seriously.

Have been looking online and have installed Duplicati and AES encrypt to run regular backups to a portable hard drive. I have also downloaded Macrium Relfect Free to create a system image.

This is where i am now confused. It's a newbie question but is a system image secure? I mean if i put this on my portable drive unencrypted, couldn't someone effectively clone my computer and run it from another computer? I am stumped on the system image. I've also read about cloning a drive to make it easier to recover if the C drive fails but this sounds even more unsecure.

Would appreciate your help guys.

More about : system image secure

a b $ Windows 7
June 17, 2014 10:38:06 AM

sully888 said:
... is a system image secure? I mean if i put this on my portable drive unencrypted, couldn't someone effectively clone my computer and run it from another computer? I am stumped on the system image. I've also read about cloning a drive to make it easier to recover if the C drive fails but this sounds even more unsecure.


Not if the image isn't encrypt.
Yes, other can clone the image and run it.
Depend on your work environment, if the image contains financial/work/personal data I suggest you keep this image somewhere safe and secure.
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June 17, 2014 10:45:05 AM

i appreciate the info. I think i'll probably skip the system image in this case and just back up all of my folders and files. I don't even know what the system image does in practical terms anyway. I mean, if my latop crashed, surely the hard drive would be toast and then i'd have to go and buy a new laptop. I guess the system image wouldn't serve any purpose...
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a b $ Windows 7
June 17, 2014 10:48:14 AM

What if just the hard drive dies(which is common). Then you could easily and quickly replace the hard drive, and re-image it. But like you've reasoned already, in the long run it probably isn't really necessary.
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June 17, 2014 10:56:26 AM

yeah, i guess i am taking the practical angle. Ok, i might lose some software programs and what not, but it's my data that means everything. I'm happy to put in the legwork but i don't want to be backing up data only to leave it open to potential attack. This goes against my objective
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a b $ Windows 7
June 17, 2014 10:59:44 AM

As ss202sl mentioned, system image will help you quickly restore your system (exact copy of the drive) to previous point date/time in a short period of time (~10 mins for 100GB). System image mainly for System Management and Deployment.
Data Security Best Practices
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