How to create my own bootable restore media (drive image)?

r00tb33r · Jan 17, 2015

I did a clean install (non-factory) of Windows 7 on a new laptop that came with Windows 8.1 originally. The installation boots with UEFI and the hard drive is partitioned as GPT volumes.

Because it was extremely difficult installing Windows 7 on this machine using UEFI (major compatibility problems), I wouldn't want to go through that installation again in the future as I had to create a lot of customized resources to make this installation possible (which merits a guide writeup). I need to image this system in the sort of way OEMs do it, so it can be restored from a bootable DVD or USB drive. Of course, it has to restore all of the partitions.

Once more, the hard drive is partitioned as GPT, and the machine boots using UEFI.
Also note that the hard drive can't/won't be removed for the following two reasons:
1. There is no access panel on the bottom of this laptop, the bottom is monolithic.
2. I got it like three days ago. It's on warranty!

Which software tool(s) can create this kind of restore image for me?

My wishlist includes running it as portable, meaning I don't have to install it on the target machine, so it doesn't end up on the image, and the other thing is compression. On this system the page file and hibernation file take up over 10GB, stuff like that can probably be skipped or compressed to make the image smaller. The hard drive is 750GB, if that's of any relevance, of course the image needs to be much smaller than that.

Thanks in advance!

Darkbreeze · Jan 17, 2015

Acronis True Image can do this. You can create any number of backup images and also create bootable media that will allow you to completely restore a system to any saved image. You can also choose to opt for various backup methods such as full disk or sector by sector backups. I've used Acronis for years and have always had 100% success.

There are also free utilities but the features found on True image are worth the investment.

Darkbreeze · Jan 17, 2015

You can also do this: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/4241/how-to-create-a-system-image-in-windows-7/

r00tb33r · Jan 17, 2015

I used Acronis True Image a few times, but never had to create bootable media and I always had the benefit of being able to just hook up the drives I was imaging into an external dock. This time it won't be possible.

Can True Image be run as portable, like from a USB stick, so the program itself doesn't end up on the image of the drive I'm imaging?

Darkbreeze · Jan 17, 2015

You can save image backups to any external source that has sufficient space, AND creating the bootable media that the program allows you to create will give you the ability to boot the system and initiate the restoration of the image from that external source in the event something happens to the system which doesn't allow you to get back into windows in order to do the image restoration from there. So long as USB stick or external USB drive is large enough to fit the disk image, it should be fine.

When creating disk images I don't recommend using compression methods higher than standard compression as I have run into corruption issues with extremely compressed images that have sat for a long time. Whether that was due to over compression or the media itself, I don't know. On my system a typical OS and desktop folder image backup is about 50GB, less if I don't include my desktop folders, which I have backed up to other locations anyhow but sometimes include in the image in the even something happens to my other backups like drive failure or corruption.

r00tb33r · Jan 17, 2015

I think you misunderstood what I mean by "portable". Portable means you just run an *.exe from an external drive, no installation to hard drive, or Program Files, no shortcuts, no registry keys, etc.

Does True Image run as portable so it doesn't end up on the image?

You said external source with sufficient space... Does True Image not slice up the restore image into DVD-sized chunks? In all honestly I trust DVDs more than flash drives. So far all but one 16 and 32GB USB sticks I had could never hold data up to capacity without corruption.

USAFRet · Jan 17, 2015

r00tb33r :

There is (almost) no Windows install that will run easily from a 'portable' drive.

WIn2Go, as a part of Windows 8 Enterprise, maybe.

You seem to be looking to build a full copy of an existing installed Windows OS, easily restorable on some other hardware.
That is not going to happen.

r00tb33r · Jan 17, 2015

USAFRet :

No, I don't seem to be looking to do that. Nonsense.

I want to be able to restore this very same machine in the future, the same way OEM restore media works.

USAFRet · Jan 17, 2015

r00tb33r :

So then create an image of the existing install, with whatever tool you want.
Save that to another drive.
In case of need, boot from whatever tool you created it with, and use that image to port back to whatever drive.

Darkbreeze · Jan 17, 2015

According to the US National Archives, CDs and DVDs have very similar lifespans. Generally, unrecorded (blank) CDs and DVDs have a shelf-life of five to ten years. The experiential life expectancy of recorded CDs and DVDs is between two and five years

Flash storage comes in three different common storage media: Flash drives, SD cards, and solid state drives (SSDs). eHow says flash drives can last up to ten years, but as mentioned on NYTimes.com, flash memory doesn’t usually degrade because of its age, but rather because of the number of write cycles, which means the more you delete and write new information, the more quickly the memory in the device will start to degrade. Since all these devices are similar in that they all use flash memory, they’ll all degrade in a similar fashion. However, one thing is certain: better hardware will pay off. Given the variety of manufacturers, lifespan might differ quite a bit from one device to another, but flash memory devices rated for more write cycles will usually last longer. When it comes to flash drives and SD cards, you’ll likely lose them or ruin them in the washing machine before anything else happens.

A dedicated HDD, not used for anything aside from storing your image will last longer than a DVD when it comes to degrading. An SSD or flash drive will probably last even longer. Plus, they won't ever get scratched and unless you're careless, broken or lost due to mishandling. I've got data stored on external SSDs and HDDs that I've been periodically been accessing for more than ten years. I popped a DVD into a drive about a month ago that had not been taken back out of it's sleeve since it was recorded and the data was corrupted. Better media obviously will result in longer life. A pack of 25 DVD's that costs ten bucks likely won't last as long without degrading as one that cost twenty, but that's no guarantee either.

So long as you periodically copy the data to newer media, to prevent long term storage corruption, any method should be fine. Personally, I like to do both, data I really don't want to lose gets copied to DVD and stored in protective sleeves, plus I generally store that data in at least one if not more secondary locations on either HDD or SSD.

Darkbreeze · Jan 17, 2015

r00tb33r :

OEM restore media works by creating a restore partition on the same drive, in almost all cases, as the drive the OS is installed on, just in different partitions. That way if the OS is corrupted, the restore image on the other partition is not. The restore or repair disks are only to boot the system in order to access the image stored on the drive, in the event that you can't boot the system and restore from the advanced boot menu for some reason.

On some older systems, there may be basic versions of the OS that can be installed in the event of OS failure, but they are not generally factory images of the original install that came on the HDD.

r00tb33r · Jan 17, 2015

Darkbreeze :

Interesting theory. I'm sure you would be able to explain why it takes a thick stack of DVDs to create the so-called restore media which you say "only" boots to access another partition on the hard drive.

Nice theory, but the reality is different.

Maybe there is one lonely OEM out there that did this, but I have luckily yet to experience that with any of the dozen or so laptops that I've purchased brand new in the past 10 years.

USAFRet · Jan 17, 2015

I recently did this with a friends brand new Toshiba laptop. There is the Restore partition, and there was a function to create a set of factory dvd's, in case the actual drive died.

It was 3 DVD's, not a 'stack'. It brings it back to as it was out of the store, crapware and all.

r00tb33r · Jan 17, 2015

Darkbreeze :

In theory maybe that would be true. However there are factors that are amiss in your long post. Like the fact that flash has become very dense, and when you've got 32GB on an area smaller than a fingernail on the pinky finger, you are looking for trouble. Forget write cycles. I'm talking about brand new USB drives or SD cards. All except one that I've bought have resulted in corruption having stored less than the full listed capacity written once.

The restore media I only need for the duration of the laptop's lifespan. Which I hope to be 3-4 years for this one. Considering that chances that I will actually have to use the restore media are not very high, DVDs will be more than adequate.

r00tb33r · Jan 17, 2015

USAFRet :

THAT was the point of the thread. Which tool(s) will do that.

USAFRet · Jan 17, 2015

r00tb33r :

CloneZilla, DriveimageXML. Macrium Reflect.
Save that image to another dive.
This is what I do with all my current boot drives. Save an image elsewhere. Redo that monthly.

Will that give you a clicky exe to restore from? Not quite.
You would have to run the application that created the image, and say 'that image', to 'this drive'.

r00tb33r · Jan 17, 2015

USAFRet :

That really isn't what I meant by portable, once again. [:r00tb33r]

The machine that I need to create image of, just once, needs not to have one of those tools installed in order to image it. The tool must be run from elsewhere to image the drive (like from a USB flash drive), and removing the hard drive to image it on another machine would also not be an option.

Anyway, forget it.

USAFRet · Jan 17, 2015

Right. That's what I figured.

I'm still trying to figure out the why of what you wish.

Darkbreeze · Jan 17, 2015

Acronis can be booted from a USB key and run without install. Imaging involves a reboot. But if you are still unhappy with that option, maybe one of these is what you want.

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/make-full-backup-of-your-ipod-usb-flash-drive-and-mp3-players-by-imaging/

http://www.pendriveapps.com/roadkils-disk-image-backup-image-software/

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/10-free-software-to-mount-cd-or-dvd-iso-image-file-as-virtual-drives/

r00tb33r · Jan 22, 2015

OK, I got Acronis True Image 2015, and it comes with a bootable *.iso to do imaging and restoring outside of Windows. From the look of things it's a Linux live-CD, which is fine by me.

I select the whole hard drive (all partitions selected) and the total listed backup size is 27.2GB. So I bought a 32GB USB flash drive to put that image onto. I was curious what it would do with a FAT32-formatted flash drive (if you still aren't onto what's going on, FAT32 has a 4GB file size limit), but True Image seemed to not be bothered by the filesystem. So I proceeded imaging the drive. After it finished there were four files on the flash drive, three 4GB files and one 500-something MB file, for a total of 12.5GB. Here's the part I don't understand: 12.5GB =/= 27.2GB.

What the hell is going on with the image size? There were no options for compression. Did it compress without offering compression or is my drive image incomplete?

Darkbreeze · Jan 22, 2015

It probably compressed. There are options for compression in the backup advanced options. I'm not 100% positive if the process is the same for the the method you're using but I imagine it is similar and should have similar options. The default option is normal compression. There are options for no compression, normal compression, high compression and max compression.

How to create my own bootable restore media (drive image)?

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