Help creating a system image in a multi-boot Windows environment

Discussion in 'Paragon Drive Backup Product Line' started by Richard Grandbois, Oct 12, 2015.

  1. Richard Grandbois

    Richard Grandbois Registered Member

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    Hello community,

    I am a new user and am running a full version Paragon backup v12. I need some help from the experienced use community please. I am running a dual boot system Windows 7 Pro and Windows 10. I simply want to back-up my system creating a system image once I have installed and updated the OS so that I can go back to a clean image when I want to and image it to a new hard drive in the next 6 months. Win10 is installed on a 128GB SSD in a 50GB partition and Win7 pro on a 600GB RAID 5 disk array. I have browsed through the user guide and searched this forum but can’t seem to find the back-up method/process required for a system disk so that it boots once restored. Can some take me through the steps, please? I assume a sector based backup. Can I backup the partition only or do I need to do the whole disk? What process to I use to ensure it will be bootable when restored? Thanks for your help.
     
  2. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    I can´t give you specific advice, only some general remarks.

    The Paragon programs of the "12" series aren´t compatible with Windows 10, I think it would be better to use one "15" program and create a PVHD image. It may be not necessary, but it´s safer to backup the whole disk. And the program should make the necessary adjustments automatically so that the restored image boots. Or, during the restore process, it may present some options related to this and you choose the pertinent option to assure boot. I don´t know it the RAID could cause any problem.
     
  3. Rolo42

    Rolo42 Registered Member

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    It depends if your MBR or UEFI.

    You can image the entire thing and only restore the bits you need (I use v15).

    50GB is a bit small for Windows; the side-by-side directory will keep growing (I had to expand my 55GB Windows 7 partition, ran out of space after about a year).

    If you have actual RAID5 hardware for your Win7, ensure you include its drivers on your backup boot media (which Paragon 15 does a really good job, you just have to configure it and test it).

    If you don't (including using on-board RAID5), you may want to check your throughput as these are really, really slow; you may want to use RAID1/1+0 instead.
     
  4. Richard Grandbois

    Richard Grandbois Registered Member

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    Thanks Robin. I did try backing the disk but when I restored it did not see as a bootable drive so I thought you needed to back it up a certain way. What is PVHD?
     
  5. Richard Grandbois

    Richard Grandbois Registered Member

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    Thanks for your advice. I am using MBR. I keep the partition to 50GB sine I assume the backup image will be samller than if I included the whole disk. Once restored I extend the partition to the size I need.

    I am not keen on spending money on upgrading to V15 unless I absolutely have to. The main one to back up is win7 anyway as it is tedious and time consuming to reinstall and apply a couple of hundred patches. Win10 10 re-installs fresh quite easily and quickly for now.
     
  6. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    About the boot problems with version 12:
    [Issue] Windows 8.1 not bootable after restoring or copying with HDM 12
     
  7. Rolo42

    Rolo42 Registered Member

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    Keep an eye out for a giveaway. ;) (How I get mine)
     
  8. Richard Grandbois

    Richard Grandbois Registered Member

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    Thanks for your advice everyone. Let's forget about Windows 8 and windows 10 for now. What's most important for me now is to backup my windows 7 system. I will worry about Windows 10 later. And I said before rebuilding windows 10 from scratch is painless at this early stage.
    Can someone guide me with the proper settings and best backup type to use in order to backup and recover a bootable windows 7 system partition using Backup and Recovery 12.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2015
  9. Rolo42

    Rolo42 Registered Member

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    The HDM12 manual or help file doesn't walk you through it?
     
  10. Richard Grandbois

    Richard Grandbois Registered Member

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    I made a mistake with the acronym. It is not HDM that I have but Backup and Recovery 12. I presume HDM is the Hard Disk Manager product. I did read the manual and on-line help with backup and Recovery 12 but nowhere does it mention in the case scenario of backing up a system drive. So the questions I have are:

    1. Should I use copy disk or copy partition?

    2. Do I use Smart backup and backup the hard disk or separate partition?

    3. If I use option 2, under General copy and backup options it has the choice copying each partition sector by sector. Should I use that? Can I Skip OS auxiliary files like pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys to reduce backup image size or will this affect its ability to boot.

    4. Should I enable hot processing

    5. My preference is to back up a small 50G partition to save space and restore that on a larger drive. Will that work? Or do I have to do the whole disk so that it is bootable when restored?

    Of course, I can experiment but I wanted to benefit from the user experience out there since this must be something people have done before.

    Thanks
     
  11. Rolo42

    Rolo42 Registered Member

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    1. Disk
    2. I don't know what that is/does but yes, skip pagefile, et. al. unless you want forensics for some reason
    3. Generally no; you would if you have data stored in sectors rather than through the file system (some copy protection does this) or want to preserve deleted data (forensics)
    4. Isn't that for Win2K?
    5. It will work if it is a data partition; otherwise, copy the disk and resize it
     
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