I have downloaded the burning software 'ImgBurn'. Is it possible to create an ISO image of my operating system while it is running, using ImgBurn. The idea is to have a ready-made ISO with all the downloaded programs and some other personal files and folders for re-installation if and when necessary, leaving less work to be done when starting with a clean installation. Is it possible to do this with ImgBurn?
no, mel, you can't. you need a special sw in order to do that like mac-ref or ati. you can't just burn your live os to a disc with imgburn, and if you do, you can't restore your os from that image. it would not be bootable.
What you're asking for is called a disk (partition, volume) image , you can use software such as Macrium Reflect to do that
Now that I read it again, she's asking for a way to restore programs and such when doing a clean install (even though that's part of the reason you do one). Well, if you know how to write scripts and use command lines, you may be able to do that. Otherwise, you'd either have to do everything manually, such as installing the programs again, or keep using your current system and keeping in mind that a clean install won't be as fast as "importing" stuff, unless you use an image backup but that defeats the purpose of a clean install
I don't know about ImgBurn but you can make a customised installation Windows ISO with all the stuff you want. It's called slipstreaming and I did that with older Windows XP version when I got tired of the crap of reinstalling the same things over and over again. For that I used nLite but I don't know if things have changed since those times.... https://www.nliteos.com/
That looks like a bad knock-off of what one wants to do, I can write a better .bat file functionally-wise than that. In fact, tairiku okami has already done that - https://pastebin.com/u/TairikuOkami , except it's for his own setup
I used nlite long time ago, it worked quite well. For people who like clean installing it is quite useful. I may try it again.
Only drawback with nlite is that it cannot integrate programs into xp. Anyhow, I guess it was too much to hope for
@Melita mel, why don't you just install windows from scratch, customize it the way you like, install desired sw, create an image of the system with a tool like mac-ref or ati, and use it to restore your system when the need be?
Because you'll have to update the programs and the OS anyway, it really doesn't save time, assuming a decent amount of time passes from when you created the image. If more programs had an easy updater that didn't leave files and registry keys scattered everywhere from older versions, not to mention bugs and stuff not working, then yeah. But as it is now, if you're installing a new version of a program, especially big ones not something like notepad++ where really not much can go wrong, you pretty much have to first uninstall the previous version and then install the new one. And when you have trillion of stuff you use, whether installed or portable, there will be a loooot of updates. It's not that simple. Besides it's not like there is one image to rule them all, we constantly update our systems one way or another, and when you restore an old image, you'll see a lot of things might be missing because it's an old image, like tweaks settings etc.
Hum …………. If that's the objective, just download a .iso using Windows MediaCreator tool. Then mount it and run the setup.exe contained within to perform an in-place install. All your programs and data will be retained and you end up with a fresh OS install. Alternatively, create a bootable USB drive from the .iso and boot to that and run the repair installation option.
look i don't tested but worth try.(i read about it long time ago) search google for more info here good video https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRuxGKWiwY1zYVvbko-MJmA remember watch above video i may inaccurate telling you this staff first you need install virtualbox or vmware then create vhd file install windows on it(where ask you put key need some keyboard key to go sysprep windows7 ),tweak,software whatever you need then turnoff virtual box or vmware now in your real system with disk management you can mount your vhd file here you can delete locked file too then with dsim or other similar tool you have make wim image from mounted vhd now you should have already pe_image to able boot with usb now download ImDisk+WinNTSetup(extract and let download necessary file ) copy extracted file and wim image to same usb so you have it boot from windows pe image and install imdisk load wim file with imdisk open WinNTSetup program there are to tab one windows xp one 7 later locate drive mounted with imdisk then apply windows.thats it however i think you can skip imdisk and wim creation and just use vhd file
Well it's not actually a clean install. It can fix issues with Windows, such as corrupted or missing files and registry keys. But you've still got all the junk from the programs on your system and leftovers from previous software you've installed as well. As a result, it's nothing like doing a clean install.
I believe windows.old is created for rollback purposes. It obviously is when upgrading to a new Win 10 vers. I like in-place repair/upgrading since all your existing settings remain the same unless a new setting was added in the upgrade. There is also Win 10 Reset option which I have used in the past. This will actually download the most current Win 10 version and install it. It will keep all your existing files but your apps need to be reinstalled. Also, this will reset OS settings to install defaults. Well, sort of. I found a bug where AppData directories permissions were not reset properly. So anyone doing a Reset is advised to immediately afterwards run the DISM RestoreHealth bit.
May be I'm a bit confused, but I don't see the difference from an ISO: after an ISO reinstall all the programs should be updated, is it ?
no, black, you're not confused. you're clear and right. there's no difference and it's the only way to do it. floyd, however, seems to be the one who's confused here.
I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, difference between what? If you clean install windows, install your programs and stuff, then some time later you decide to restore your system from that image, your programs and the OS itself will now be outdated
On the internet we find some older windows operating systems customized by various 3rd parties, available for download as ISO files. Some programs are removed, others are added and many other alterations done to the original OS. Some examples are Windows XP black edition, gold edition etc. How are these ISO files created from the original OS? Is it a very difficult process?
You can use tools like Nlite to customize your installation disk. I've never done it but here is some more info: https://lifehacker.com/create-a-custom-windows-xp-installation-disc-286125
Thank you but my XP does not boot from a USB. I found much useful information and tutorials at this link. Thank you. I am confident of doing this now. Since you have never done this, you probably cannot answer this. I hope someone can advice me on this. The tutorials I looked at says 'if I want to include the drivers for the OS to the ISO file, to add the driver .ini files' to Nlite program when preparing the ISO. I know where the .ini files are. Each one of them is stored in the computer, in it's own folder. So, when I add the .ini files, do I add them to Nlite along with the folder in which they are found, or do I open the folders and add the .ini file only, without it's folder.
