Computer users from time to time are faced with a situation when the operating system does not load or is unstable with constant errors and freezes. There are many reasons for this condition. This is the result of incorrect installation of programs, and an unsuccessfully chosen driver, and the consequences of a virus attack or errors of the user himself. A pre-prepared image of the operating system will help you quickly restore performance.
How to create an image of Windows 7 using standard tools
If your computer is running Windows 7, you do not need to install additional software to create a system image. You can use the "Data backup and recovery" service.
To do this, you need to connect an external drive or USB flash drive formatted in NTFS to your computer, and then go to the "Control Panel" and select the "Backup and Restore" section. A dialog box will open, on the left side of which you need to select the "Create a system image" item.
Now you have to answer the question of the system "Where should the archive be saved?" Using local hard is not recommended. In the event of a virus attack or illiterate user actions, it is often impossible to recover the system from it. It is better to choose an external drive pre-connected to your computer. DVDs can also be used, but this is less convenient.
Under no circumstances should you edit the resulting archive copy. Any change to the obtained data will lead to the fact that it will be impossible to restore the system from this archive file.
Now you need to select the disks to be archived. If there is enough space on the external drive and you have a lot of free time, it is better to check all local drives. Then you can be sure that all your data will be recovered. Otherwise, select the system drive C for backup.
In the next dialog box, to confirm the selected parameters, you need to click on the "Archive" button. This will start the process of archiving the system and in the dialog box you can see the movement of the green pointer "Archive in progress". It shows at what stage the process is.
When the creation of the system image is completed, the next program window will appear with a proposal to create a "System Recovery Disc". If you have not done it earlier, then you must agree and click the "Yes" button. After all, if the operating system does not boot, then without this disk it will be impossible to restore the created image.
When the backup is complete, the "Backup Succeeded" notification appears in the "Create System Image" window. Click the "Close" button to close the program.
How to create an operating system image using Acronis True Image
Compared to a standard archiver, the application has advanced features. Run the program and in the main window click on the "Create archive" item. Now you need to choose which of the disk partitions will be saved. To create a copy of Windows, you need to click on the "My Computer" menu item and select the hard drive on which the operating system was installed. This is usually the C drive.
To ensure that the archives with the latest state of the operating system are always at hand, it is recommended to set an automatic backup schedule in the program settings.
The next dialog box will describe the various archives that can be created with Acronis. Just check out the program's offers and click the "Next" button. Now you need to specify the location for saving the future archive. It's better to take care of creating a folder for archive files in advance. As in the previous method, the best solution would be to write the archive to an external medium.
Next, you need to select one of the types of archiving, the description of which was in the previous window. The best option is "Create a complete archive" because it is completely self-contained and does not depend on the rest of the copies. In the Backup Options dialog box, check the first option, Use default options, and click Next.
Over time, you can accumulate different Windows images. For example, you can create an operating system archive with or without drivers, a "clean" image or with the necessary programs already installed. Therefore, in the next step, make a description of the archive so as not to confuse it with others. Click "Next" and Acronis will start executing the task.
