Backup Image Software?

ste-sim2x9 · 1 Nov 2012 at 14:52

This week i've installed windows 8 and have it running with all my software and app so now i want to make a backup image of my system. What is the best software to do this. I was going to use the windows 8 image software thats built into the win 8 but fails on the drive size. My drive c is a 80gb ssd.

jbloggs · 1 Nov 2012 at 15:35

The Windows 8 Backup and Restore utility should work, but there is also Macrium Reflect (free or paid for) and Acronis True Image Home (which is paid for)...

KIA · 1 Nov 2012 at 16:51

What do you mean it fails on the drive size?

Burnsy2023 · 1 Nov 2012 at 17:15

Don't pay for any image backup software, the Windows one is actually very good. It even saves them to .VHD files.

thenewoc · 1 Nov 2012 at 21:52

I think I read somewhere that the inbuilt w8 refresh backup utility isn't a true disk image program, I think it saves the key aspects but doesn't that mean it relies on having a working os to make use of it?

If you have an msi motherboard with winki os, that has a hdd image utility.

Or you could look at clonezilla

Craig321 · 2 Nov 2012 at 00:12

Macrium Reflect is excellent.

bledd · 2 Nov 2012 at 02:43

Macrium Reflect is awesome at this, I bought the paid version because I was so impressed with it.

They're a UK based company too

Burnsy2023 · 2 Nov 2012 at 08:42

thenewoc said:
I think I read somewhere that the inbuilt w8 refresh backup utility isn't a true disk image program, I think it saves the key aspects but doesn't that mean it relies on having a working os to make use of it?

I don't know where you've read that from but it's not correct. You use a boot CD to recover the backup so you don't need a working OS. The images are in a really useful format too. Your backups could be booted straight from a virtual host if you wanted as they are saved as virtual hard drives (VHDs).

liamcrane · 2 Nov 2012 at 18:53

bledd. said:
Macrium Reflect is awesome at this, I bought the paid version because I was so impressed with it.

They're a UK based company too

Been looking at buying the paid version myself bledd what version did you go for mate?

ste-sim2x9 · 2 Nov 2012 at 19:27

KIA said:
What do you mean it fails on the drive size?

I started the win 8 backup and told it what drive to place the image but itsaid there was not enough space on the target drive.

Burnsy2023 · 2 Nov 2012 at 20:09

ste-sim2x9 said:
I started the win 8 backup and told it what drive to place the image but itsaid there was not enough space on the target drive.

How big were both drives?

ste-sim2x9 · 2 Nov 2012 at 21:39

Burnsy2023 said:
How big were both drives?

The target drive is 250gb and the c drive i wanted to image is 80gb ssd.

deadite66 · 3 Nov 2012 at 09:04

I won't use the built in backup if failed me first time i tried to use it, after that i bought trueimage and never had a problem.

Burnsy2023 · 3 Nov 2012 at 09:09

deadite66 said:
I won't use the built in backup if failed me first time i tried to use it, after that i bought trueimage and never had a problem.

How did it fail?

ste-sim2x9 said:
The target drive is 250gb and the c drive i wanted to image is 80gb ssd.

How much free space?

deadite66 · 3 Nov 2012 at 09:17

Burnsy2023 said:
How did it fail?

Quite a while ago now so i can't remember the exact error message but it refused to restore to a new drive.

Vimes · 3 Nov 2012 at 13:54

I have just tried out the free version of the Macrium Reflect utility on my fresh copy of a clean install of Win 8 x64 Pro.
It seems ok except when I go to make a rescue media and then W8 will close down with a new type of BSOD, and the problem causing this is...

psmounterex.sys

DRIVER_VERIFIER_IOMANAGER_VIOLATION psmounterex.sys

.... the mounting aspect of the Reflect software, I assume. I have tried this several times and each time it will fail with a BSOD when I attempt to create that rescue media.

I can't post about it in the official forums as I have not got the paid version and would not wish to buy it is the above can't be resolved.

Has it worked ok for anyone else who is on W8 x64 Pro...?