Windows 7 Image Backup

I have found that videos from Windows Media center are not backed, up everything else seems to be. You can restore your OS from the image backup, if your hard drive dies. Do not know about the last question.

to answer the last bit...
they kinda can, but deff. not recommended.
Its not that hard to create a new partition. Without one you run the risk of the two OSes interfering with each other.
Besides, having two partitions, (that look like 2 HD) makes sorting through files so much easier and less confusing.

Regarding the backup:

A "System Image Backup" will contain everything in the OS partition as well as the recovery partition. The backup program has an option to "Create a System Repair Disk" - you should use this option to burn a DVD. If your hard drive dies then you can boot from the DVD and use it to restore the backed-up partitions to a new hard drive.

Of course this assumes that you have a copy of the image backup you made. For example, you wouldn't want to put the image backup on the same disk as the OS, since if the disk dies then you're backup will be toast too. The best thing to do is to write the backup to an external disk drive.

Thank you all for your time and patience to answer my query. I 'm a little confused here.

- Last week somehow my HDD died was running Win 764Bit ultimate
- Reinstalled a fresh copy of the OS
- Tonight will perform a System Image Backup

Will get back to you once the backup is completed and restored successfully.

Meanwhile my last question: ' Is it possible to boot the system with the image file?' Or is the image file can be used as only for restoring the data ?

No, the backup file itself is not bootable. For example, if you make a backup to an external hard drive, then you won't be able to boot from that external hard drive.

That's why you need to use the "Create System Recovery Disk" option of the backup program to create a bootable DVD. You boot from the DVD, which then reads and restores the backup (from the external hard drive, for example).

So the first time you do an image backup you'll also want to burn the DVD. The contents of the DVD don't change from backup to backup, so you won't need to burn it again when you do additional image backups.

Thank you all for your participation. Sorry for the delay in response.
The windows image backup is not happening. It is asking for 1GB or more space, I am using a DVD R/W, damaged allmost 4 DVD's. the bakup fails

Windows "System Image" backup backs up your entire OS partition. There's no way that would fit onto a DVD - you need an external hard drive or a pretty large USB Flash Drive. Or it might bit on a Bluray disc. The backup media needs to be at least as large as the "used" space in your OS partition.

Even if i use an external HDD, the system don't give the option to select anything other than my Optical Drive or the backup partition.

If your drive is connected, powered up and you can see it in Explorer, and if Explorer shows that it has enough free space to hold the data from your OS partition, then it should show up as an option in the backup program...

Will try and update you