How to Create System Image Backups of Windows 8.1 and Restore from it 

Sorry...forgot to mention your videos are professional and VERY helpful..

This method is not working if the current OS is running from a VHD file?

I keep getting "The backup of volume (EFI System Partition) (100.00 MB) could not be completed. Error: The specified backup disk cannot be found. Summary of the backup operation:" - How do I fix this?

Hi, nice and simple tutorial. I just want to ask about the license of my windows 8.1. If I backup, format my pc to a different version of windows and then restore it back, does it effect my license? I bought my computer that come with with win 8.1.

Thank you for your simple and clear explanations, I really liked your videos +AvoidErrors But this made me wondering ... Does this recovery partition contains only a copy of your windows or all other files and media saved on your drive C ? and also... about the windows registration key , will you need a new one or .. ?? I'll really appreciate if you answer me, thanks again :))

nice sir but is in this process any data like videos , softwares etc can lost or not

Miguel, nice tutorial, could I use this process to migrate to a diferent Drive?

Thanks! With Win10 coming out, I can imagine this video is getting a lot more views and this has been the only one that has helped me to back up my OS on my SSD instead of my HDD as well. Thanks :D

Hi to create an image, can you go to "Control Panel", "System and Security", "File History", and select "System Image Backup" from the lower left-hand side of the window?

Great Video, by any chance do you know any program to backup the drivers when you format the hard drive. Thanks

Very Helpful !!! Thanks. * Will this work with the Windows 10 Tech Preview? * Is there a way to compress the resulting .vhd ?

Thanks for the video, this is where I was stuck in 2:39 bec, the computer I'm fixing does not have the "latest available system image (recommended)" inside the computer. Is this laptop I have not fixable? Thanks

This was GOOD for a change BUT I need to do a "migrate wizard" type backup of my settings ONLY and w/o any cloud crap, how is that done?

Hi, This is Soumya. I have a Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop. And the hard disk Crashed 3 months ago. Can we create a recovery partition in windows 8.1 as it is coming in a brand new laptop. If yes then please link it to me. Please help.... Thank you.....

Hi, Miguel. I have an original from the store Lenovo laptop with a Windows 8 OEM system which in turn I upgraded to Windows 8.1, OEM as well. The problem is that I cannot get an official ISO version to make a bootable Windows 8.1 in order to make repairs or eliminate some neosmart grubs from Ubuntu. If I do as you show in this video, my own ISO version would be able to serve as USB bootable as the ISO version that Microsoft denies us?

This is a great "how to" on imaging and restoring my Dell's system. I paid for Dell's Backup & Recovery program, but it is clunky and cumbersome. This procedure beat it by far! Muchas gracias!!

Miguel, Respect man. You are the best and keep the videos coming. Proudly subscribed to your channel.

Hi thanks for this useful video I really appreciate it. But i have some issues with my installation of my windows backup files its shows backup on my external hard drive but as it starts i give error ems

The external drive has to be bigger than drive you're backing up? I thought it just needed to be bigger than the amount of data on the drive

hi nice video but i have a question , does this method backup programs and and regestery installed drivers? and if it doesnt how should i do it ?

I am now using windows 8.1 OS, I want to upgrade it on windows 10 pro. Did this method (System image backup) will help me to restore all my files when I installed the new OS?

Clear, concise, and to the point. It doesn't get any better. (and you didn't have any stupid background music playing)

i have some important data in my external hard drive so its safe to create system image in external hard drive ? another question is tht can i move tht image from one external drive to another ?

hi sir, how can I backup my OS including the cd key?? I just want to know. Just like the original cd key . . . ..or is it already included when creating system image backup/? :)

sir I have toshiba laptop but my hard disk had a prblm it always starts automatic repair and. it shows as your pc does trobleshoot options etc .my question is can I backup my all data from the bad hard disk to new hard disk in those given options by automatic repair.the things I have is bad hard disk external hard disk and brand new 1tb hard disk(this hrd dsk will arrive to me within 2 months) . I have win 10 home..??? sorry for bad english. thanks for helping.

Hi mr Miguel, I have a question for you. how to change my windows 8 language without an enternet?. sense I have already a ISO image of windows 8 language packs in my dvd. and I don't know how to install it to change my language operating system into ebglish without enternet. my windows 8 operating system is in Japanese. hope you can help me and show me how to do it. thank you.

Hey Miguel my question is can I use the same process to make a system image of my Raid 0 drive?, also in case to restore using the image that I made in the restoring screen do I have to select the format my drive since is a Raid set image, I won't conflict with the stripe size of the image? TIA guy

I have never created a backup of my system before (a windows 8.1 laptop), an I have 10GB worth of work and 40.8 GB worth of pictures on here. I have scheduled my computer to upgrade to Windows 10, but I want to create a quick back up of all the files, if the system crashes during the update. How do you create such a back up and if I wanted to restore all this information how do I do this? Also, how much disk space do I need? Thanks!

Is it okay to have included other drives in the system image backup that doesn't have the OS on it? Did I mess up?

when I typed that in on windows power shell it said commands supported and had START BACKUP below it but did not start the backup. do you know what is wrong?

Please tell me, should we need to install drivers again!!?

Would the personal programs that I downloaded also replace or the files system only

hello Miguel, i want change the windows version to win10 and currently i am on windows 8 core edition which is unable to upgrade, does this image recovery works if i had changed the windows version. and what about the data on other drives ? can that data is too recoverable ? and how much space is required to backup 400GB data

Hi Miguel! Nice video, I hope you can help me. Windows 8.1. 2 SSD disks (1 windows 8.1, 2-windows 7) 3-data disk. Lets talk about 8.1 ssd disk and data disk. I have w8.1 on SSD (C:) and data disk (D:). I install EVERYTHING on C:. Usually the command you showed worked fine but from some time now the command is including the D drive on the backup (that´s because -allCritical), and I cannot use drive D as target, because the command is including this drive on the backup. But I don´t have any System State or windows files on D drive... Have you ever seen this behaviour? Thanks.

Is this really necessary? I just go to File History > Create system image

Can I use the drive which has data on it? Will I loose any data if I do so?

This is exactly what I needed. Thank you.

Will this make my recovery partition work? I'm moving from a HDD to a SSD. I really don't want to reinstall Windows, which is what people have told me. I can create my own recovery partition using a 3rd party software, but I rather just have my old OS and everything intact.

my laptop is run by windows 8.1 and I like it very much. but I don't have iso of it ( windows 8.1). can I make iso to my laptop installed window. it's possible.if yes can you suggest me how can i

i have some data in external drive is that data will be deleted

I have 2 systems and they are both tablets Lenovo and Microsoft surface they came preinstalled with windows 8, could i just use any windows 8 disk to restore a back up, and does it matter if its a uefi Bios.

very nice and helpfull video tutorial again miguel....

Hi would this help for a all in one built in computer if the desktop in black ?? im trying to get help from hp support people but they are taking so long to get back to me and do not wish to touch anything im at the stage of troubleshoot?? i was told to do a factory image recovery?? would you know the steps for this please???

what should be the minimum size of the disk for backup

Hi I have already activated windows installed but in case if i require to install windows again i do nor have key so if i please tell how to create a factory image of OS. Will it ask key again during installation or activation ?

Can we do this without losing any data? I just want to restore all drivers and important dll files on my system

Hello . Is it ok to restore the image to another computer?

thank you it's a good idea to have a backup plan in case windows caught viruses

I have a laptop and a PC and both have windows 8. Right now I'm having a problem with my PC and it can't seem to update due some problem with window 8. Can I backup windows 8 on my laptop and use it on my PC to repair it?

Can we create a partition and say that as an external drive?

I am using sony vaio s eries (SVS13A25PXB), I would like format this book with, when I boot from usb/dvd its saying no os found, even though there is bookable 8 usb/dvd . please help

system image backup and restore means new os installation sir "C " drive deleted files are recovery sir

The specified backup location could not be found or is not a specified backup location . I formatted my pen drive to NTFS too. Please help

hi sir i have asus laptop tp300la touch screen ram 4gb hard drive 500gb pre installed windows 8.1 i upgrade to windows 10 and a month period finish for go back and my old windows is now removed i have a recovery partition on my system i never touch it i want to restore my windows 8.1 from recovery partition but unable to access i search on internet lots of method there but not any work for me when i go to winre environment or reset it always ask for installation media guide me ho to access that partition

Does the system image disk work on a completely new drive? (In case the old dies completely?

what is the procedure to create recovery drive like HP provide when we buy it

hey i put in the command prompt in powershell as advised, then a the response says Runs a one time backup and nothing else happens......confused.

Hi, Thanks for a great video, it was really useful! :) I was wondering if there is any way to restore the system if I don't have an image backup?, I say this because my Lenovo G50 crashed and now is stuck in an infinite loop trying to automatic repair but always failing, which leads it to restart, and then fail again and so on... So i can't actually access my home page to back up. Do you know of any way of fixing this problem, preferably without having to lose all of my information? (I've tried resetting, restoring and most of the options from the advanced menu) Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!

What happens if I create a recovery image in my internal hard disk itself ??

Could you do this with a USB when transferring OS from a PC to a brand new laptop hard drive? *newb here.

I know this video is really old but can you help me? I went through the system image backup to an external drive and when it finally finished an error message came up!! The backup failed. New bad clusters were found on the source volume. These clusters were not backed up. (0x8078007D) Now what do I do? Is the entire image backup no good now? Do I need to to resolve this error and then try to back it up again? I already did complete a File History backup on the external drive but wanted to do the image backup as well. URG...I'm doing all this because my laptop supposedly detected a "Hard disk" problem and told me to backup everything. I was scared that I would lose all my pictures and documents etc but hopefully the File History backup saved those. Can you please HELP me...I can't afford to send it out right now, times are really tough. Thanks in advance.

hi, I had done it already and the first time it went well but the second time which my Asus T100 have some issue but not really crash so i tried to do it again to have a fresh windows with all my programs, but it didn't go as it should, i mean when i try to restore it, it says that i have to format the drive that the windows recovery environment is currently running on, what should i do please help....

***** Hi Miguel. i am a bit lost on the local disk C: can i ask how much space do i need to backup all? i got local disk D: too but with blank.. can i ask if i restore it will it be there? hope to see your reply :) thnks a lot.

I have done everything like you said but when I try to restore from my external harddrive I get an error that says that I have used a EFI and that I try to install it on a pc whit a BIOS but I have notting changend. Can you help me?

Hi. I am not gettjng the windows installation screen after pressing the image option. The screen goes black and that's it. Help plese.

recovering image in the same computer used to create image keeps windows activation or i need to do again after restore?

What can i do if my pc stuck on welcome notice ?

does this work without any errors if you installed windows 8.1 in UEFI mode?

is it necessary the external drive should be empty

Will this work if the system media files to reset is lost?

Will this backup my Windows 8.1 activation as well? If I will install a fresh windows and do a backup will the windows be activated?

will this work on a USB Flash Drive???

My machine is Toshiba and the OS was corrupted 15 days before, is there any way we can restore before system image?

I need to do this....yesterday my windows all the sudden got the whole "stuck at welcome" problem where you can't log in and I had to completely wipe it... now I got all the drivers back and ninite is doing it's thing... going to do this so that if it ever happens again I won't have to go trough installing all the drivers and essential programs again...

Sir, i want to create a system windows recovery so that if my windows get updated and i want to restore to the default settings and default OS, so is it possible with the method u described ??? plz reply me asap. thank u

I updated windows 8.1 from windows 8. My computer did not come with a Windows 8 installation disc and only came with OEM OS recovery media. How would I go ahead and install the system image then?

I have an old laptop, i am currently using a new laptop, but i want to fix my old one to give to my son... i tried to do a factory reset on it and it acted like it was going to and then when i tried to re boot the computer up it wouldn't start an error message kept popping up.

hi mate my laptop doesn't give an option for powershell, it is 8.1 upgraded from 7 then to 8 and now 8.1. When I click on backup it say windows can't find the disk network location for backup where files are saved, please help

A system image includes all the updates that where on the operating system. So, yes your updates will be in the image. IF for some crazy reason they are not there all you need you need to do is run your windows security and select "check for update". That should fix it, as far as drivers the updates should help as well. BUT for specific drivers like for graphics cards you need to go to the manufactures site.

Will this work if im replacing my harddrive with a SSD?

This is a very useful video, thanks for that. Can you do another video, the same, but for Windows 7 please? Thanks

Is this the same thing like create a recovery drive?....

How I can restore Win8.1 after this step??? (I want install win7 on my machine for some time, but I don't want lose my original win8. I haven't an original disc of win 8, I have only a damaged OneKey Recovery of Lenovo that not work)

Any solutions on automatic repair loop??

hi, actually i have installed windows 8.1 enterprise after formatting due to virus shortcuts in lenovo laptop which was pre installed with windows 8.1. when i do windows reinstallatin of factory settings from pc settings . Can i get my original windows 8.1 os

Nice tutorial, but what if the System Reserved partition is less than 500 MB? Mine is 100 MB and it doesn't allow me to back-up because the free space on System Reserved is 18 MB when it should be 50 MB. Any suggestions? Many thanks.

How long should it take to make a backup or system image on a flash drive for windows 8? Mine is taking forever so I am not sure if I should start over with a different drive. It has been 16 hours so far to make a system image after a full recovery

hi.. i create a system image backup, so how can i use full format my laptop drives and restore image backup

also, why do all that typing? doesn't going to "file history" and "system image backup" do the same thing? that is how I created my image and it restored perfectly.

Hi i want to know this method save the activation ?

it says "error - the specified backup location could not be found or is not a supported backup storage location"

Great job and easily explain, I have got it immediately. Thank you.

Help help please!! I'm trying to recover the image to a partition in my hard drive but I don't want it to format the whole drive so when I check the boxes of the ones I want to exclude, there's this option to exclude the same drive I'm in so I don't know if it's going to actually exclude the rest of the hard drive and just focus on the partition the target windows is. Also I can't known the outcome because this message appears when trying to restore: "Windows cannot restore a system image to a computer that has different firmware. The system image was created on a computer using EFI and this computer is using BIOS." a little help here will be appreciated, I'm kind of stucked here. How do I change the EFI thing to be BIOS

Can I split up the backup on two CDs?

backup of what type of things be created

Just watched your video. had the following problems. menu for powershell admin did not appear. I used the command prompt to enter your command. Got error stating I did not have permission. I figured that out and gave myself admin permission. Then ran command line. I worked as described but finished with statement saying " Backup could not be used for system recovery because all volumes included in backup did not include all of the operating system. Any Ideas?

Does it Delete everything on my External Drive when creating a System Image Backup on it?

Thanks for your valuable information.

My hard drive is starting to fail, so i am going to have to replace it very soon. If i do this and backup windows to my external drive, will i be able to completely restore everything to the new computer. And will i need a new os or will it just use the one from my hard drive? Sorry i am a complete noob when it comes to operating systems xD

miguel my windows 8 say the partition its missing can you help me with that please