How to Create and Restore System Image Backups on Windows 8.1?

Description

Now, you can easily create and restore a system image backup without using third party tools. This is something interesting for system administrators.

Solution: 

Create a System Image Backup

Connect an external drive to your system which will serve as the backup drive. After that, open a “PowerShell” window as administrator. For doing so, press Windows key + X and select “Windows PowerShell” in the menu that appears. Also, you can search the PowerShell from the Start screen, right-click it and select Run as Administrator.  

In the PowerShell window, run a command like the following one to start a backup:

wbAdmin start backup -backupTarget:E: -include:C: -allCritical –quiet

This command tells the Windows to back up the C: drive onto the E: drive including all critical volumes containing the system’s state. The -quiet switch tells the cmdlet to run without prompting you. Replace the values with your own preferred values.

If you wanted to back up several drives or partitions in the system image, include them as a comma-separated list:

wbAdmin start backup -backupTarget:E: -include:C:,D:,F: -allCritical -quiet

Also, you can back up to a shared folder over the network:

wbAdmin start backup -backupTarget:\\remoteComputer\\Folder -include:C: -allCritical –quiet To get further information on the cmdlet’s syntax, consult the Wbadmin start backup page on Microsoft’s Technet site. You can also run “wbAdmin start backup” without any switches to view the command’s options. This command will take some time to run. Then you will find a “WindowsImageBackup” folder containing your backup images on the backup drive you specified.

Restore a System Image Backup

1. For restoring system image back up, you need to boot from Windows 8.1 installation media, recovery drive or system repair disk. Just insert the installation media or recovery drive and reboot your computer. After the installation process starts, click the “Repair your computer” link.

2. Click the “Troubleshoot” tile to access the troubleshooting options.

3. Click the “Advanced Options” tile to access the options intended for advanced users.

4. Choose the “System Image Recovery” option to re-image your computer from a system image.

5. You will reach to restore a system image back up. By connecting external drive to your computer, you can restore directly from it. This external drive contains the system image backup.

 This is how you can create and restore system image back up on Windows 8.1. For more from the XpertCrew^TM team, please follow us on Twitter @Techvedic or contact Techvedic’s computer support helpdesk, as per below contact-details:

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