If W-10 crashes beyond repair, how does one restore without purchasing NEW?

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J

Just Lou

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I'm about ready to update a couple PCs to Win-10, but haven't really satisfied my question yet.

All my PCs and laptops are IBM/Lenovo machines.  They have a restore partition that can be used in the event of a need for a complete restore to original.  If I use that function after Win-10, I would be restoring to the original Win-7.

Does the current download process for Win-10 include such a disaster restore capability?

Will the fact that this Win-10 is an upgrade package complicate the possible restore process?

Thanks, to anyone who has thought this one through....
 
Once you have installed the Windows 10 upgrade, MS has stored your activation key and you can then do a clean install to the same hardware and it will be activated automatically.  This is a very different system than MS used in the past for activating Windows.  Once 10 has been activated on a set of hardware, it will always be activated, even if reinstalled.

I would expect that if you did use the restore partition, then did another upgrade, it would be activated automatically as well.
 
Ned, I was thinking a year or two down the road.  Will I have a restore file (or disc) available to do a restore?
 
You can make a DVD or bootable flash drive from Windows 10 to use in the future with the Windows Media Creation tool.  Better yet is to make an image backup of your Windows 10 system, and update it periodically, so you can always do a bare metal restore in the future and not need to worry about the activation.
 
Speaking of making an image...it probably doesn't make any difference, but the "backup and restore" link says "Backup and restore (Windows 7)".  Does "Windows 7" mean anything?  I've never had Windows 7 on this machine.  It was Windows 8 when I purchased it new.
 
Where do you see the "backup and restore" link?
 
OK, that's if you had made a backup with the Windows 7 backup utility, you could restore the system using that.  I think it would also work with a Windows 8 backup.  You would use that if the rollback should fail and you had a backup.  Most people won't have a backup made from within Windows 7 (or 8).
 
Tom, that's the same Backup and Restore menu that has existed since, at least, Win-7.  It may not be valid ??
 
Yes, that's what it's for.  As Lou says, it's been around for awhile.
 
Ned said:
Yes, that's what it's for.  As Lou says, it's been around for awhile.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'm aware it has been around for a while.  I updated from Windows 8.1 (Windows 7 has never been on this computer).  Just wondering if it will work with Windows 10.
 
Certainly, I recommend everyone should make an image backup of their system when first set up as they like it.  It's the ultimate backup if everything else fails in the future.  It's a known, good, starting point.

It should work with Windows 10, it's part of Windows 10.
 
What software would you use to make an image backup of your Windows 10 system?  Thinking about maybe upping my Win 7 laptop and DW Win 8.1 desk top to Win 10.  Not sure yet.
 
The easiest is to use the backup software that comes with Windows.  If all you want is a backup image file for disaster recovery, it's more than adequate.  Do use the built in backup for your Windows 7 and 8.1 systems before upgrading so you have a recovery position.
 
Ned said:
The easiest is to use the backup software that comes with Windows.  If all you want is a backup image file for disaster recovery, it's more than adequate.  Do use the built in backup for your Windows 7 and 8.1 systems before upgrading so you have a recovery position.
Click to expand...
I upgraded my new laptop from 8.1 to Win 10 and then followed your advice to make a system image and a repair disc. When I tried to use a thumb drive for the system image, I got a message saying I was trying to use a device with a FAT32 file system and I needed to use a device with the NTSF file system, so I used one of my WD external drives.  My thumb drive is brand new, so why does it have a file system incompatible with Win 10?

Also, I tried to view the files in the image folder and I was denied access. Is the image just the operating system and program files, or does it contain the data files too? Is the repair disc a boot disc?

 
You can format the USB drive with NTFS or FAT.  Right click on it and select Format from the menu.  FAT isn't incompatible with Windows 10, just not with the image backup program.  You can't view the contents of an image files, it's intended for a restore to a clean drive.
 
I've never been able to successfully restore one of those back-up images, whether from the Windows service or a 3rd party product. There is always some glitch that results in a "Sorry..."
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
I've never been able to successfully restore one of those back-up images, whether from the Windows service or a 3rd party product. There is always some glitch that results in a "Sorry..."
Click to expand...
My experience as well :)

I just tried a "Back-up" of my newly installed Windows-10, and it says,"Back-up did not complete successfuly".  When I look at the details, it says, "some files were skipped".  Looking at further details, it says, "Music files, and some other files..." were skipped, because they exist on the "target device".

This is impossible, because the "target device" is a brand new from the box, Seagate Drive. ??? :-\ 
 
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