Creating an image of a windows 10 system on a USB flash drive. Ways to create an iso image on windows. Using the installer

Good afternoon friends. In one of the previous articles, we examined how to roll back the system using the program. Now we will figure out how to create a Windows 10 system recovery image on a USB flash drive and an external hard drive using the utilities of this operating system. The advantage of this method is that there is no need to spend money on buying new software, since the system method is free.

This program is configured so that only folders and files of the system drive C will be copied. But, you can configure the program so that other PC disks that you want to save will be added to the copy area. When you roll back, programs and files will be restored in the form in which they were at the time of copying. Also, you can copy only the entire disk, and not its individual files.

Create a Windows 10 system image

Let's enter the phrase "Control Panel" in the search bar. Click on the found file.

File History command.

In the window that opens, select "System image backup".

Then we select "Create a system image".

Windows starts looking for space on GR for our backup. I advise you to choose a storage location on a flash card with a size of 32 GB or more. Also, you can choose an external hard drive for recording the system, or another physical hard drive.

Why exactly on a USB flash drive or other disk? Because if all the data from your drive, on which Windows 10 is installed, disappears, or the drive fails, the system can be restored from another drive.

If you install data on the same disk where your system is located, but in a different partition, you will receive a warning about this next to a yellow triangle. If you do not have a flash drive with a volume of 32 GB or more, the system can be installed on the system hard disk (but not on the system partition of this hard drive).

In this case, you can roll back the entire system if everything is in order with the hard drive and the computer can be started. Also, you can roll back the system if Windows is heavily cluttered with all sorts of system junk.

Let's say you have selected a USB flash drive, then the system will issue a warning.

In this case, we need to format the flash card in NTFS format. To do this, select your USB flash drive in the "Explorer", then, in the context menu "Format".

In the "File System" menu, select NTFS and click "Start". Our flash drive will be formatted in the format you need to create a Windows image.

Let's go back to archiving. We see that the system has identified the disk from which the information will be copied, and the approximate amount of data. In my case, this is 11 GB. Click "Archive".

We start archiving. On my computer, it lasted 30 minutes. You may have more. It depends on how much information you have.

Now on the disk that you assigned to store the system image, a folder will appear WindowsImageBackup. Do not rename it under any circumstances.

If you copied not to a USB flash drive, but to the system disk, the program will prompt you to create.

How to start a system rollback

When the system is running

If your system is working, go to the settings through Start, then click on the "Update and Security" shortcut,

In addition, to enter the "Advanced options", you can simply press Shift and "Restart computer".

After rebooting, click on the item "Troubleshooting",

After recovery, the program will ask you to restart your computer.

When the system is not working

We start the computer by connecting a USB flash drive (do not forget to check the "Start from a USB flash drive" item in the BIOS). Then we go through the path as if the system is running.

As you can see, creating an OS image is pretty simple. Let me remind you that you need to carry it out after reinstalling Windows and preferably once every two / three months (as often as possible). Good luck!

A Windows 10 system image is an exact copy of one or more disks (partitions) on your computer, and can be used for recovery in case of problems with the hard disk or the system.

By default, the image includes only the partitions necessary for Windows to boot and run, but if you wish, you can add other disks on your computer with information that is important to you.

When restoring the system using an image, the information on the disks is completely replaced, and its relevance will correspond to the time the image was created. Those. you cannot recover individual documents, programs, drivers, etc., only a disk backup fully.

Now let's break down this process step by step.

Create a Windows 10 image

1. Open the control panel. To do this, right-click on the menu " Start»And select the appropriate item.

5. In the menu on the left, start the item "".

7. Select a location to save your archive and click the " Further».

There is several options for the location of the system image :

• On hard disk... This means that the archive will be saved on an external hard disk, an internal additional hard disk or on one of the partitions of the archived disk. The first option is the most reliable and preferable, because if the hard drive on which Windows is installed fails, the backup archive will also be lost. And if you select a partition of the current disk, the system will display a corresponding warning. The image below does not show this message, because a separate hard drive is selected.
• OnDVD-discs... This option is for lovers of rarity. Not convenient, not reliable, but also has the right to life.
• In a network folder. This method is for advanced users. To use it, the computer must have a properly configured network connection and you need to know the parameters for accessing the network resource.

8. In the next step, you can select the drives to back up. After that, in the window for confirming the archiving parameters, press the button “ Archive". The approximate amount that will be required to create a backup will also be indicated here.

10. After completing the process, you will be prompted. If you don't have it yet, take this opportunity or you can record it later.

Where is the system image stored?

If you are interested, you can see the location of the archive files and their size. The system image is saved on the previously specified media in the following format:

Drive letter: \ WindowsImageBackup \ Computer name\ Backup year-month-day hours minutes seconds

For example, for the archive created for this article, the location of the image is as follows:

E: \ WindowsImageBackup \ site \ Backup 2016-02-03 065439

You can also see how much space the image takes.

Features of creating an image

Finally, I will give a few nuances that you need to consider when recording a Windows 10 system image:

• Only disks formatted in the file system can be included in the archive. NTFS.
• You cannot include in the image a disk partition to which the archive is saved.
• You cannot recover 64-bit image on 32-bit system.
• If you save the archive to a network share, then only the latest version of the data is recorded. When creating a new image, the old one will be overwritten.
• An image created on a computer with UEFI cannot be restored on a classic computer BIOS.

Friends, hello everyone! In this article, we will continue the topic of computer security and data preservation. Therefore, now I will tell you about creating an image of the Windows 10 system using standard tools. And we will try to copy it even to a USB flash drive.

By the way, the method described below is quite suitable for Win 7 as well, since the whole procedure is done by complete analogy. Now a few words about the essence of the image being created. Its difference from the fact that it can contain a complete copy of the PC disk.

So let's go. Remember, our task is to copy the system partition to a USB drive. To do this, first of all, go to the Control Panel and follow the path "Small badges-Reserve copy and restore (Windows 7) ":

And look, it says here that this recovery archive can be used even if a hard disk or computer breaks down. I wonder if it is really possible to raise the system on new hardware with regular means? If so, respect and respect to the guys from Microsoft. But to be honest, I strongly doubt something. Though...

Now about saving to a USB flash drive. As you can see in the picture below, it is available in the device selection list. But there is one caveat - it must be formatted in NTFS:

And one moment. In this way, only the standard system directories are copied, which are necessary to restore the functionality of Windows and programs. Arbitrary custom folders and files are not taken into account. At least that's what I understand. But below we will still consider the option of a full backup.

So, since I did not know about such requirements for the file system, we will copy the archive to the second partition of the hard drive. In my case, it is called "Multimedia":

Well, we press the "Archive" button and wait for the completion of the creation of the Windows 10 image. I must say that everything here depends on the amount of information being saved, but in any case, you will need to wait a decent amount of time.

Upon completion of the process, a folder will appear on the disk indicated by us WindowsImageBackup with a backup image:

Now a few words about how you can use such an archive in practice, for example, in a critical situation. It’s very easy. If the system is obliquely crooked, but it boots, use the "Restore" function of the Win 7 backup partition:

Now let's take a look at another section of this panel called "Configure Backup":

Please note that copying to a USB flash drive is not available here at all. Only external or internal hard drive can be selected:

But the user is given a choice. It is possible to archive not only the system partition, but absolutely any user data. By the way, about the latter. note on the one highlighted in the picture below is a snippet.

It says that the program will back up only those files that are saved in the user's libraries (folders Pictures, Music, Videos, etc.), the desktop and standard system directories:

Therefore, by clicking "Give me a choice", you should specify either the entire C drive as a whole, so to speak, with all the available goods, or only the necessary directories:

Hope you can see the difference now? But keep in mind one more point. If yours is divided into only two sections, for example, like mine is now, then the second one cannot be copied in this way, since it will be selected as the place to save.

Move on. At the next step, another nice option awaits us. You can configure scheduled imaging. Agree, this is very convenient. Therefore, it remains only to click on the "Save parameters and start archiving" button:

That's all friends, now you all know about creating an image of a Windows 10 system on a USB flash drive using regular means. In your opinion, is this function conveniently implemented in the top ten?

Share your opinion in the comments, and ask questions, if any. And finally, as always, I suggest watching another interesting video.

Today, many people are interested in how to create an ISO disk image of the Windows 10 operating system. Let's make a reservation right away that it is quite simple to do this, however, to create an image, you will need a special utility that was developed by Microsoft. Moreover, this program allows not only to update the current system, but also to write it to removable media (CD or USB stick).

You should start with preparing a removable drive - it is important that its volume is at least 8 gigabytes; the creation of such a drive is available for the following versions of the described OS:

• Windows 10 Pro;
• Windows 10 Home.

Now we proceed directly to the process. Below is an algorithm of the required actions.

Step-by-step guide to creating an ISO disc in Windows 10 using the installer

First, connect a disk (it is quite obvious that it should be a DVD-R) or a removable drive to the computer, and then check if the storage medium has the required amount of memory. Then follow the instructions.

Step one... Click on the Windows 10 Setup icon. Then a window will appear in which you need to select the second item ("Create installation media ..."), as shown in the image below. Then click the "Next" button.

Step two... In the next window, this utility will prompt you to set the required parameters, including architecture, language, etc. After selecting everything you need, click the "Next" button again.

Note! It is imperative that the chosen ISO image architecture matches the parameters of the computer itself where you plan to install it. Tellingly, the program allows you to choose not only a 32/64-core system, but also both options at once.

If you chose the first option, then you will have two paths:

• burn to DVD;
• first create a disc.

In the second version, respectively, recording is possible only immediately to a removable drive.

Step four... When you select the appropriate item, click "Next". If the recording will take place directly to the USB flash drive, the operating system will show the available media.

Note! Who does not know, during the recording, all information on the flash drive will be deleted.

Step five... When you click the Next button again, the installation or recording will continue.

Step six... In the first option, that is, when it comes to selecting the "ISO file" item, several folders will be attached at once, where the image will be saved, or the drive. It is quite obvious that there should already be a DVD-R disc that has the required amount of memory. Having saved it, you can later burn it to any convenient medium.

Note! Such operations are possible only on those computers on which the operating system is Windows 7 or higher.

Features of installing Windows 10 from an image

Installing an operating system is straightforward; no special skills or skills are required. To start the installation, insert a USB flash drive or disk, and then, when the computer restarts, press any button after the corresponding message appears ("Press any button to boot ..." or something similar, it all depends on the specific type of system). Before that, you need to click in the BIOS settings to boot from a disk or flash drive.

The next step is that the system will ask you to enter a product key. You will find this key on the package, or if you are just updating the OS, select "I do not have a key".

Accept the user agreement and decide on the type of installation. If you do not belong to "advanced" users, then it is better not to use the custom installation.

Then you will find yourself in the window for selecting the partition where the operating system will be installed.

When all the required actions are completed, the system will be installed, after which it will ask you to customize it "for yourself". More specifically, these settings include:

• installation / configuration of standard programs;
• creating your account.

Here you can decide on your own whether to keep the basic settings or adjust the parameters again. That's all, now you know how to create an ISO image of Windows 10. For more detailed information, we recommend watching the thematic video below. Good luck!

One day Windows 10 may not start. Fortunately, a system restore will take a maximum of a day if you use backups and the right arsenal of programs.

Why you need to back up Windows 10 with disk contents

A backup is creating an image of the C drive with all installed programs, drivers, components, and settings.

A backup copy of the operating system with already installed drivers is created in the following cases:

• it is necessary to effectively restore a Windows system that has undergone a sudden crash, with minimal or no loss of personal data, without spending extra time on it;
• it is necessary to restore the Windows system without re-searching for drivers for the PC hardware and OS components found, installed and configured after long searches and experiments.

How to create a copy of Windows 10 and restore the system using it

You can use the Windows 10 Backup Wizard, built-in Command Prompt, or third-party applications.

Backing up Windows 10 using DISM

The Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) utility works through the Windows Command Prompt.

1. Press and hold the Shift key before restarting Windows 10. Restart your PC.
2. Give the command "Troubleshoot" - "Advanced Options" - "Command Prompt" in Windows 10 Recovery Environment.

   Windows Recovery Environment has a full arsenal of startup fixes

3. In the Windows command line that opens, enter the diskpart command.

   The slightest error in Windows 10 commands will lead to re-entering them

4. Enter the list volume command, select the label and parameters of the partition on which Windows 10 is installed from the list of disks, enter the exit command.
5. Type dism / Capture-Image /ImageFile:D:\Win10Image.wim / CaptureDir: E: \ / Name: "Windows 10", where E is the drive with Windows 10 already installed, and D is the drive to which the backup will be written OS. Wait for the copy of Windows to finish recording.

   Wait for the Windows disc copying to finish

Windows 10 and the contents of the disc are now written to a different disc.

Create a copy of Windows 10 using the backup wizard

Working with the "Command Line" is the most professional way from the point of view of users. But if it doesn't work for you, try Windows 10's built-in backup wizard.

1. Click "Start" and enter the word "reserve" in the search bar of the Windows 10 main menu. Select Windows 10 Backup and Restore.

   Run Windows Backup from the Start Menu

2. In the Windows 10 Log File window, click the System Image Backup button.
3. Confirm your choice by opening the "Create a system image" link.
4. Select the option to save the created Windows image.

   Choose for example to save the Windows image to an external drive

5. Confirm saving the Windows 10 disk image by selecting the partition to save (for example, C). Click the start backup button.
   

   Confirm the backup image by selecting a disk from the list of partitions

6. Wait until the copy of the disk is written to the image. If you need a Windows 10 rescue disk, confirm the request and follow the prompts from the OS Rescue Disk Burn Wizard.

   Windows 10 rescue disk can make OS recovery easier and faster

You can start restoring Windows 10 from the captured image.

By the way, saving on DVD discs is the most irrational way: you will inevitably consume 10 "discs" of 4.7 GB in size with a 47 GB C drive. A modern user, creating a section C of tens of gigabytes, installs 100 large and small programs. Especially "gluttonous" to disk space games. It is not known what pushed the Windows 10 developers to such recklessness: CDs began to be actively displaced already in the days of Windows 7, because then sales of terabyte external hard drives increased sharply, and the 8-32 GB flash drive became the best solution. Burning to DVD from Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10 would not hurt to exclude.

Video: how to create a Windows 10 image using the backup wizard and restore the system using it

Creating a Windows 10 backup via Aomei Backup Standart and restoring the OS from it

To create a copy of your Windows 10 disc, do the following:

The application also helps to create not just an archive image, but a clone of the disk. It makes it easy to transfer all content from one PC drive to another, including Windows bootloaders. This function is useful when there is significant wear on the old media, and you need to transfer all its contents to the new one as soon as possible, without having to reinstall Windows 10 and separate, selectively copying folders and files.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive Aomei Backupper Standart

But to restore Windows in Aomei Backup, you need a different tool. Let's take the Russian-language version of Aomei Backupper Standard as an example:

1. Give the command "Utilities" - "Create bootable media".

   Select the entry in the Aomei Backupper boot disk

2. Select the Windows bootable media entry.

   Windows PE bootloader will boot into Aomei Backupper

3. Select to write media with UEFI support for PC motherboard firmware.

   Assign PC support with UEFI firmware to recordable media

4. The Aomei Backupper application will check the writeability of the UEFI disc and allow it to be written.

   If it is possible to write a UEFI disk, click the continue button

5. Specify your media type and click the continue button.

   Specify your device and media for recording the Windows disc

Recover Windows from a Windows 10 Aomei Backupper flash drive

Do the following:

1. Boot your PC from the USB stick you just burned.

   Wait while the PC loads the Aomei Backupper recovery program into memory

2. Select Rollback Windows 10.

   Enter the Windows 10 Aomei Rollback Tool

3. Specify the path to the archived image file. The external drive on which the Windows 10 image was saved must be connected, as it must be removed before restarting Windows 10 so that it does not interfere with the Aomei bootloader.

   Tell Aomei where to get Windows 10 rollback data

4. Confirm that this is the exact image you need to restore Windows.

   Confirm Aomei's request for the correctness of the Windows 10 archive

5. Select the operation to be prepared with the mouse and click the "OK" button.

   Highlight this line and press the "OK" button in the Aomei Backupper

6. Click the Windows Rollback Start button.

   Confirm Windows 10 rollback in Aomei Backupper

Windows 10 will be restored in the form in which you copied it to the archived image, with the same applications, settings and documents on the C drive.

Wait until the end of the rollback of Windows 10, it will take up to several hours

After clicking Finish, restart the recovered OS.

Video: how to create a Windows 10 image with Aomei Backupper and restore the system using it

Working on Windows 10 recovery in Macrium Reflect

Macrium Reflect is a good tool to quickly restore Windows 10 from a previously recorded backup image. All commands have been translated into Russian due to difficulties with the availability of a Russian-language version.

To copy data from a disk where Windows 10 is installed, do the following:

1. Download, install and run Macrium Reflect application.
2. Give the command "Save" - ​​"Create a system image".

   Open Windows 10 Archive Tool in Macrium

3. Select the Create Image of Partitions Required for Windows Recovery tool.

   Go to the selection of logical drives important for Windows 10 backup

4. Macrium Reflect Free will automatically select the required logical drives, including the system one. Give the command "Folder" - "Browse".

   Click the browse button for files and folders on your PC in Macrium Reflect

5. Confirm to save the Windows 10 image. Macrium Reflect saves the image by default without giving it a filename.

   Macrium also suggests creating a new folder

6. Click the Finish button.

   Press the end key in Macrium

7. Leave both "Start Copy Now" and "Save Archive Information to Separate XML File" checked.

   Click "OK" to start saving a backup copy of Windows

8. Wait until the end of recording the archive from Windows 10.

   Macrium will help you copy Windows 10 and all programs with settings into an image

The Macrium app stores images in MRIMG format, not ISO or IMG, unlike most other programs, including Windows 10 built-in backups.

Creating bootable media in Macrium Reflect

In case the system cannot start without external media, you should take care of a bootable USB flash drive or DVD in advance. Macrium application is also adapted for writing bootable media. To speed up the process, the teams have been translated into Russian and popularized.

1. Launch Macrium Reflect and give the command "Media" - "Disk Image" - "Create Boot Image".

   Go to Macrium Reflect Rescue Media Creator

2. Start Macrium Rescue Media Wizard.

   Select the media type in the Rescue Disk Wizard window

3. Select Windows PE 5.0 (versions based on the Windows 8.1 kernel that include Windows 10).

   Version 5.0 is compatible with Windows 10

4. Click the Next button to continue.

   Click the go to further Macrium settings

5. After creating the list of drivers, click Next again.

   Confirm the action by clicking the same button in Macrium

6. After determining the bitness of Windows 10, click Next again.

   Press the continue button again to proceed to further actions in Macrium

7. Macrium will offer to download the necessary boot files from the Microsoft website (preferably).

   USB disk support must be enabled for Macrium to start recording

8. Click the Finish button. The Windows 10 bootloader will be written to the USB stick.

Recover Windows 10 using a flash drive with Macrium Reflect

As in the previous instructions for Aomei, boot the PC from the USB stick and wait for the Windows bootloader to load into the RAM of the PC or tablet.

Windows 10 startup will be fixed. After that, you can continue to work with Windows.

Video: how to create a Windows image using Macrium Reflect and restore the system using it

Why and how to delete Windows 10 backups

The decision to remove redundant copies of Windows is made in the following cases:

• lack of space on the media for storing these copies (storage disks, flash drives, memory cards are full);
• irrelevance of these copies after the release of new programs for work and entertainment, games, etc., deletion of "spent" documents from the C drive;
• the need for confidentiality. You do not leave behind secret data, not wanting them to fall into the hands of competitors, and promptly get rid of unnecessary "tails".

The last point requires clarification. If you work in law enforcement, in a military plant, in a hospital, etc., storing Windows disk images and personal data of employees may be prohibited by regulations.

If Windows 10 archived images were saved separately, image deletion is performed in the same way as deleting any files on a properly working system. It doesn't matter what disk they are stored on.

Don't make yourself difficult. If the image files have been deleted, recovery from a bootable flash drive will not work anyway: there will be nothing to roll back Windows 10 in this way. Use other methods, for example, fix problems when starting Windows or a fresh installation of the Tens using a copy-image downloaded from the Microsoft website or from torrent trackers. Here you need not a bootable (LiveDVD bootloader), but an installation USB flash drive for Windows 10.

Windows 10 Mobile Backup & Restore

Windows 10 Mobile is a version of Windows adapted for smartphones. In some cases, it can be installed on a tablet, if the latter does not differ in impeccable performance and speed. Windows 10 Mobile has replaced Windows Phone 7/8.

Features of copying and restoring personal data in Windows 10 Mobile

In addition to working documents, multimedia data and games, Windows 10 Mobile archives contacts, call lists, SMS / MMS messages, diary entries and an organizer - all this is an obligatory attribute of modern smartphones.

To restore and transfer data to an image from the Windows 10 Mobile Management Shell, it is more convenient to use any external keyboard and mouse than typing long commands with numerous parameters from the sensor for 15 minutes: as you know, one wrong character or extra space, and the CMD (or PowerShell ) will throw an error.

However, not all smartphones with Windows Mobile (as is the case with Android) will allow you to connect an external keyboard: you will need to install additional system libraries and, possibly, compile the OS code in the hope of seeing the cherished cursor and mouse pointer on the smartphone screen. These methods also do not guarantee 100% results. If there are no problems with tablets, then with smartphones, due to a too small display, you will have to tinker.

How to back up Windows 10 Mobile data

Windows 10 Mobile, fortunately, bears a huge resemblance to the "desktop" Windows 10: it is about as similar as the Apple iOS versions for the iPhone and iPad.

Almost all actions in Windows 10 have something in common with Windows Phone 8. Most of them in Windows 10 Mobile are borrowed from the usual “ten”.

1. Give the command "Start" - "Settings" - "Update and Security".

   Select Windows Mobile 10 Update and Security Tool

2. Start Windows 10 Mobile Backup Service.

   Select Windows 10 Mobile Backup Service

3. Turn it on (there is a software toggle switch). Settings can include both copying personal data and settings of already installed applications and the OS itself.

   Turn on copying data and settings to OneDrive

4. Set up an automatic backup schedule. If you want to sync your smartphone with OneDrive immediately, click the Archive Data Now button.

   Turn on a schedule and define app-specific personal information to transfer to OneDrive

Since the size of the C and D drives on a smartphone is often not as huge as on a PC, you will need a cloud storage account such as OneDrive. The data will be copied to the network "cloud" One Drive with its help. All this is similar to the work of Apple's iCloud service on iOS or Google Drive on Android.

To transfer data to another smartphone, you also need to log in with your OneDrive account. Perform the same settings on it, the Windows 10 Mobile backup service will download all personal files from the cloud to the second device.

Video: How to Back Up All Data from Your Windows 10 Mobile Smartphone

Create a Windows 10 Mobile image

With Windows 10 Mobile smartphones, it's not as simple as it was with the regular version of Windows 10. Unfortunately, Microsoft never provided a working tool for creating backups of purely Windows 10 Mobile. Alas, everything is limited only to the transfer of personal data, settings and applications installed on a smartphone to another smartphone. The stumbling block here is the difficulty of connecting Windows smartphones to external hard drives and flash drives, despite the MicroUSB interface in many smartphones and OTG connections to it.

Reinstallation of Windows 10 on a smartphone is possible mainly by cable using a PC or laptop and a third-party program installed on the latter, for example, Microsoft Visual Studio. If you are using a smartphone that was running Windows Phone 8, you need official Windows 10 Mobile support for your model.

Backing up and restoring Windows 10 from backups is no more difficult than working with previous versions of Windows in the same vein. There are many times more tools for disaster recovery built into the OS itself, as well as third-party programs for the same task.