How-To Geek

Hi All,

just got a new laptop with windows 7 on it, and I'm looking for backup advice.

My old laptop runs on Vista and I used BounceBack to create a complete image of the HD about once a month. I'd then unscrew the bottom of the laptop, remove the 'original' drive, and replaced it with the freshly copied one. If this booted up ok and worked I'd leave it in the laptop and store the original drive somewhere safe.

The next month I'd do it all again - copy the entire drive, swap drives, check it all works and then store the drive safely.

Here's my question....
BounceBack doesn't appear to work on W7 (from what I've read). But can I use the built in back-up facility in W7 to do the same thing? (i.e. create an image, swap drives, and then carry on)

Or do I, as I fear, need to create an image in W7 but leave the original drive in place?

The reason I say 'I fear' is that by doing things the way I have up to now I know for sure I have a workable drive at my disposal should the worst ever happen. If all I'm doing is creating a backup elsewhere I have to hope it will work if ever needed, and I'd rather not go down that route.

Thanks for any help,

dazp1970

To add to that, you might want to have a look at the Macrium tutorial I made. It also contains a link to a tutorial that my friend Keith made which shows the recovery steps using the WinPE disc that Xhi has linked.

I would work with images, not clones.

Simple reason is that I saw that clones do not work at times. An image restore is always a sure thing. But, of course, an image you have to restore. It does not boot by itself.

I have restored Macrium images over 50 times and it never failed. But for those who prefer a clone, they should try it. As you say, they will know instantly whether it was a success - but testing the clone asap is essential. I just have seen too many clones (made with various programs) fail. That's why I am a bit leary about clones.

Hi all,

quite a discussion - thanks for the input!

Xhi, you're right - I use the clone straight away to make sure it all works as it should. I prefer to go down the clone route because, as has been pointed out, if it's simply restoring from an image I'll never know if it's going to work until I need it. And if it doesn't work, I've had it.

It seems I'm looking for a clone, not a copy (or image), so ... to ask my original question in a slightly different way ....

Is there software that will clone the drive on Windows 7?

dazp1970
Couple of suggestions.
Check and see if your system will boot from a USB HDD
If it can then you might want to purchase an adapter something like this http://www.amazon.com/Vantec-C.....ta+adapter
so the pins on your mobo don't get sloppy since your making a monthly backup. These small pins are slightly fragile and you don't want to to be replacing your mobo.
You should still be able to clone your drive and test it if that's your preference vs an image. You would have to change your BIOS boot settings each time to verify your backup.