Recovery Image For Windows

In this article I will discuss Windows recovery images (aka system images) for your desktop or laptop computer. If you take the time to generate one then in the event of a serious problem any experienced computer technician should be able to recovery your computer using the image subject to obvious limiting factors.

So that you fully understand what can and cannot be done with the recovery image I will explain further.

What A Recovery Image Contains:

The recovery image contains all of your data, programs, and the operating system as of the date it was created. Thus if you created your system/recovery image today and next week decided you wanted to restore it then the entire computer image would be rolled back to today. Any new programs installed, any files you changed, deleted or added locally since the backup was created would be lost. Data stored on the cloud would not be affected. However! If a competent computer technician did the job they would ensure that prior to using the image they secured the files and they would not be lost.

Recovery images are not the solution to backing up your data as you need a different process to achieve this.

Windows only allows one recovery image to be stored on a given backup device. (some fancy foot work can bypass this limitation but you need to be familiar with the process to do so)

What A Recovery Image Cannot Fix.

A recovery image cannot repair a hardware problem. Thus a faulty hard drive, faulty memory or faults with the motherboard will NOT be repaired by using your recovery image. Obviously this means if your computer suddenly stops working you should consult a computer technician and NOT rush into using the recovery image.

There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that if you have created the image you are in a much better position than if you have not.

Caution: There is no way back once you recover your computer with the recovery image so exercise caution on using it.

What Hardware is Needed

A recovery image requires an external hard drive (it may be possible to use a large memory stick but I’ve never tried it) and a working DVD drive. The DVD drive is an optional part of the process and a computer technician will have their own bootable recovery media. 

Creating The Image

The following Youtube links provide instructional videos on how to create a recovery image for windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10.

Windows 7 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7Uu0eFqauM

windows 8/8.1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULzQClXFcB4

windows 10 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtPrM3-k0jQ