Which backup type (full or image) if you need to swap hdd?

[omega3]

If you need to replace your hdd, can you only get a full restore including OS, apps etc (so not needing to re-install anything) if you have an image backup?

My question, why can't you do such a full recovery on a new drive from a full backup instead of image? If every file is copied in the full backup, isn't that enough to do a full recovery without needing to re-install anything? Why does everybody say this only works with an image?

Also, what do you need to install on the new hdd so that it will recognize the full backup or image?

 

[corkyg]

I would just clone the old drive to the new one and march on.

 

[Billb2]

Backup:
A backup copies you data only (My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, etc.). It doesn't copy everything on you computer though you can add locations other than those where you may have stored your data. It doesn't keep any information about where on the drive the data was actually located.

Image:
An image isn't a "copy" it's more like a "picture" of your drive.

An image, besides copying everything on a drive, also saves information on where on the drive everything was located. Windows and some programs don't look for file names when they need something. They look at a particular location on the drive for what they need. Often this is for copyright reasons, so that you can't just copy a program to another drive and have it still work. The information the copied program needs won't be where it looks for it and the program won't run. If you could just copy programs nobody would buy them, they'd just get copies from their friends.

 

[Smoblikat]

If you need to replace your hdd, can you only get a full restore including OS, apps etc (so not needing to re-install anything) if you have an image backup?

My question, why can't you do such a full recovery on a new drive from a full backup instead of image? If every file is copied in the full backup, isn't that enough to do a full recovery without needing to re-install anything? Why does everybody say this only works with an image?

Also, what do you need to install on the new hdd so that it will recognize the full backup or image?

Probobly has a lot to do with an image also copying over the MBR (hidden partition) as well as any other information relating to the location of files.

Get yourself a copy of Clonezilla (free) or acronis (might not be free, I forget) and save an image of your current drive, then apply it to the new disk. Though to be honest I would never recommend doing this, your best bet is to just start over from scratch on a new disk. I always prefer to reinstall everything rather than trying to get windows happy and stable on a cloned disk.

 

[omega3]

Is it possible to make an image file in which you can still see the files and folders and maybe even copy a single file if necessary?

Also, when making an image file with easyus todo backup or similar app, do you also need to make a recovery drive in windows to use the image on a new hdd?

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

[corkyg]

I refer you to this article to understand the differences and particulars about imaging.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/2029832/backing-up-your-entire-drive-cloning-vs-imaging.html

 

[Smoblikat]

Is it possible to make an image file in which you can still see the files and folders and maybe even copy a single file if necessary?

Also, when making an image file with easyus todo backup or similar app, do you also need to make a recovery drive in windows to use the image on a new hdd?

Thanks again for the feedback.

Read the link CorkyG sent, it offers a decent intro to the world of imaging. Basically what youre asking for cant easily happen, when you capture an image of a drive is usually compresses it into a single file (you can set compression options with clonezila) which is then read back by the imaging software and unextracted in real time to apply it to a disk. If youre truly interested in this topic I would highly suggest playing around with clonezilla. Its a fairly low level program, has a lot of cool features with none of the fluff, and generally offers a more raw experience condusive to learning the fundamentals of what youre actually doing. Honestly you could grab a copy of Virtualbox, create a VM with an image on it, then try and capture it through Czilla, just to get more familiar with the process. This is probably something youre going to do a million times if you ever get into an onsite IT role.

As far as windows needing a recovery drive, the answer is no. Depending on how the image was captures (did you sysprep it or not?) windows wouldnt even know the difference between the 2 drives, and would happily carry on as if nothing had changed.