Paragon Confusing

Hey all! This post is not intended to solicit sympathy, but we need help; my wife and I just got laid off (two different companies -- no income). Need our laptop functional asap. If you have constructive feedback on the steps to backup/restore a base Win8 image, please read on, then respond. Thanks in advance. The details:

I'm an very advanced IT dude who is a bit confused with Paragon's backup software. Originally tried v12 free to backup my laptop, but the restore left it in a boot loop. So, I bought a download copy of Paragon Backup and Recovery 12 home -- 6 files w/ no simplified installer (which isn't usually a prob). Prior to the purchase, I called Paragon support and was told the following:

• No need to disable Secure Boot in Bios anymore
• No need to change UEFI boot mode; latest release accommodates

I bought the prog. and was presented with six files to download. My goal is to:

• Restore original Toshiba Win 7 factory image, upgrade to Win 8 Pro.
• Backup entire HDD and all partitions to a local USB drive.
• Create a bootable CD to restore backup image from USB HDD should the need present itself.

Installed Win MSI and ran backup. NO errors.
Installed Boot media builder MSI (package to create CD boot disk). Was prompted during installation to download/install MS Assessment and Deployment Kit.??
Created boot media. NOTE: NO ERRORS DURING ENTIRE ISTALLATION

Tried to restore backup on latop (using both restore partition and restore hard drive). Had to disable secure boot and change UHFI to compatibility mode to get boot disk to read. Was then prompted to select source image (.pbf file) -- which I did from attached USB drive. Received error: "There is no possibility to restore disk or partition from itself. This image can't be restored on the current selection". Confused again: backup on the external drive, target is the main HDD, so how is this possible?

Instead of asking what I'm doing wrong, please write simplified instructions on how to back up ALL partitions (incl protected) of main HDD to connected USB drive, create bootable CD disk that doesn't require me to make BIOS changes, and quickly restore the image. I'll start over by restoring the original Win 7 image and upgrading. This laptop is a critical instrument in recovering from our stressful event.

I'm available if you want to work with me privately. Kind regards to all.

VGuitarist (yes I have one).

 

unfortunately i sold my flyin v

paragon is annoying try this free one instead aomei backupper

http://www.aomeitech.com/download.html

 

You do need the MS Assessment and Deployment Kit(WDAK) to create a bootable disc for W8. Not sure why you didn't get any errors if you don't have it installed. WAIK is for W7, I couldn't get WDAK to work on W7.

You can download WDAK here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30652

 

I have created WinPE 4 USB boot keys using WADK in Windows 7x64, with Paragon and other programs. They work perfectly and have integrated USB 3.0 drivers, so it´s not necessary to add them manually as in WAIK.

The only thing I don´t like is that when loading the WinPE, initially there isn´t any progress bar or similar on the screen, only the static Windows 8 logo. It´s not clear if the program is working or not. Later, the circular progress bar appears and the loading finishes.

 

My problem with WADK/W7 and the Recovery Media Builder was documented in another thread. I put in a ticket which was later deleted by Paragon. I don't need it so it's no big deal but the ticket deletion was rather annoying.