ACER ONE Windows 7 Backup

Hi

Just got myself an Acer One netboook running Windows 7 Starter. As it is normal these days there are no disks supplied.

Been reading through various articles (Google search) warning of the need to make a backup of the OS on netbooks. From my first look the Acer software expects to write to a CD/DVD writer by default (haven't seen any alternative storage option) but I don't have a CD/DVD writer attached. It also looks as if there is no recovery partition (need to check further) although my experience of these hasn't been good as I've failed to do a recovery on 3 separate machines.

I understand that Windows 7 allows backup of the OS but I'm unsure if this would also include all the drivers etc.

Would appreciate any advice on how to create an image of the drive, including drivers, which can be written to one of my external USB drives so I can restore the systdem restore in the event of an emergency, I need to be able to restore from the same USB drive too or have some other way of starting Windows 7.


PS

Have used XXCLONE in the past but this seems quite old now and I don't think it supports Windows 7.

Thanks for the help.

 

Use Win7 builtin system image backup (this stores the whole hd as is). This is in addition to backup of files
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/backup-and-restore.aspx

 

Thanks Cudni, that's just the info I needed.

Hve bookmarked the link and will read it properly before starting.

 

Have no created a system image on my external USB hard drive following the instructions on the link given.

Had prompt to create system recovery disc but as I don't have an optical drive connected couldn't do that.

This prompts me to ask how I can boot the system in order to restore the image file from the hdd without a bootable W7 disc if the system completely crashes??

 

Create a boot USB stick. The general procedure is:

1. Download the Windows 7 Recovery (or "repair") disc, http://neosmart.net/blog/2009/windows-7-system-repair-discs/

2. "Burn" it to a USB stick to create a boot USB stick. There are several ways to do this (I use a module included in Paragon imaging programs).

3. If you need to restore the system, boot from the USB stick and follow the screen instructions carefully.

 

The recovery partition on an Acer is hidden.

With most laptop computers, you can restore the operating system back to factory settings by using a recovery disk. The Acer Aspire One series of netbooks do not have an optical CD or DVD drive, so a recovery disc is not an option. Instead, the Aspire One series includes a built-in partition on the hard drive that already has all of the recovery information. You can quickly restore your Acer netbook back to its original condition by accessing the partition and running the recovery tool.

more here:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5833609_restore-acer-aspire-one-series.html

 

Hi, thanks for the replies.

I have now downloaded the W7 iso image but unsure of the next stage i.e if I just copy iso file or do I need to extract the individual files to usb stick and how do I make the usb stick bootable.

I don't have any imaging software installed but I do have Nero 8 would that do the trick. I assume in all this that the ACER BIOS will allow booting from a USB stick??

Regarding the hidden restore partition. My own experience of restore partitions on other machines is not very good. I tried it on a couple of times before when trying to help friends/family but never been successful.

 

Why not try Shadow Protect on a USB stick.
If it works you could have a copy of the original OS and as many copies as you want of your own configurations.
Contact them for a full evaluation key.
Then see if it can work with your set up. Put everything on USB or discs.
Good luck.

 

Now you have a bootable ISO image for the Windows 7 repair disc. Next step: search for "How to make a bootable USB stick", select a procedure and follow it.

The bootable USB stick will allow you to restore an image previously created with the Windows 7 backup program, without a DVD boot disk and without buying another imaging program. How to do this was your original question.

 

Thanks for the replies, think I have everything I need to get started other than the following.

How do I tell what size usb stick I need to store the windows 7 backup and iso image. When I looked at the backup folder it doesn't give any size, same with the sub-folders.

Thanks

 

Use your image burning program. Click on the backup folder as the source and your image burning program should tell you the size.

 

Thanks

 

With Win 7 backup if C drive is wiped or reinstalled can you restore from a backup made before the wipe/reinstall as I think the info pointing to the backup is stored within the original Win 7 install and booting from the install dvd for a restore won't be able to see it?

 

Hi, just seen your post.

Are you suggesting that if the original W7 install gets corrupted then it's not possible to reinstall the system image from a usb memory stick or disk

With most imaging software i.e Norton Ghost/XXclone the image file can be restored even if the originating hard drive has been formatted or if you have installed a completely new hard drive.

 

The boot USB stick must contain only the restore program (Windows 7 repair disc). The space used on the USB stick is the same size of the downloaded ISO image. The images that you create using the Windows 7 backup program must be stored in an external USB disc.

 

Yes I know that with most other imaging apps you can select to restore an image from any recognised storage.

But with Win 7 I think the Win 7 install itself keeps track of where backups are stored so if Win 7 is wiped or badly corrupted then booting from a Win 7 repair/recovery disk might not be able to see the path to the backup for a restore.

Could be wrong on that though?

 

The Windows 7 repair disc searches automatically the attached devices and offers to restore the most recent image that it finds.