reinstalling w7 frm backup image

[alchemist]

hi i had created windowsimge backup in a driv on my pc, then due to a virs had to format c drive, though i have xp now but how do i get w7 back from the imgebackup

[Allan]

Depends on the imaging software you used. In most cases you would boot to the recovery cd created with the imaging software, navigate to the backup image in the "restore" option of that sofware, and restore it.

[alchemist]

i didnt use a software for that, i did it by using w7's basic facility of creating backup, it is saved on my hard drive spacing more than 6 gb,

[JJ 3000]

You will need a Windows 7 install disk or a repair disk. If you don't have an install disk or a repair disk, you will need to make one.

To make a Windows 7 repair disk you will need a computer that is running Windows 7 and a blank CD. If the computer you're repairing is 32 bit Windows 7 you will have to create the disk from a computer running 32 bit Windows 7, if it is 64 bit you will have to create a the disk from a computer running 64 bit windows 7. You cannot use a 32 bit installation to create a disk that will repair 64 bit windows and vice versa.

To make a Windows 7 repair disk, in Windows 7 click start and type create a system repair disc in the search box and press enter. Insert a blank CD and follow the prompts on the screen.

Once you have the disk made, you will have to boot to it and choose System Image Recovery from the list of system recovery options. Follow the prompts on the screen to restore your image.

[alchemist]

i understand the point u r making, when i had w7 in my pc,  to make sure i can install it again i went for creating image backup, howevr it gave me the option to make a repair disk as well but i rather saved it in my harddrive, and then when my systm goofed up, i had no other option but  to install xp for which i had a boot cd, now my questn is what shud i do with the image backup saved in my harddrive

[JJ 3000]

what shud i do with the image backup saved in my harddrive

Do whatever you want to do with it. It's yours. Whatever you think will make you happy, do that.

[Salmon Trout]

what shud i do with the image backup saved in my harddrive

You can legally buy a Windows 7 recovery disk image for $9.75 from Neosmart, and burn it and use that to boot the computer and then restore the image that you previously saved, or you can borrow a Windows 7 install disk and legally boot to the recovery environment and do the same thing. Check that you have the right version (32 or 64 bit)

JJ3000 already told you this, more or less. Read his post.

[hartbeatmr]

Hi alchemist

Did you have any success yet.

I can help you but i would need some info.

How did you put XP back on. Was this from a hidden restore partition on your HD (ie like Dell, HP etc have) or did you use a cd/dvd and format the HD clean.

So to help you i would would need some answers to better help you. Manufacture of PC and how you re-installed XP etc. Did you make the restore CD/DVD when you saved the W7 image on your hard drive.

Please let me know so i can help you.

[Squashman]

Since you didn't create the system repair disc when you were told to during the Image Backup you can still easily create one if you can just find someone with a Windows 7 computer.   But I bet since you didn't have an install disc the System Recovery boot was probably sitting on a small hidden partition that you could access during bootup.

 I really hate it when I see people selling the system recovery discs online because they are charging way too much for something that most people can make themselves for the price of a CD.  People did that on ebay years ago when Windows 98 came out as well.  They would sell simple floppy discs as Windows boot disc and people would buy the stuff when you could easily make it yourself.

Microsoft has forced websites to take down the free download of the ISO image of the disc yet you still see people selling it on eBay and Amazon.

[alchemist]

apologies for the late response, @hartbeatmr  i installed xp by using a boot cd(formatting only c drive)
and i got the pc assembled , it says Intel core i3 CPU 540 @3.07GHz 3.06gGHz  in the processor tab , not sure if this infor is enough , and certainly i didnt make the restore cd when i created the backupimage(reason for all the troubles :-))


@Squashman , thanks for the valuable information, one question though , wud it be okay if i use somebodyelse's computer to make w7's recovery disc and then use it on my pc to get w7 back on,
 becuz as far as i know, u cant have same version of w7 running on two pcs , they wud ask for the
key wudn't they?
pls answer,


p.s. , this website is of great help

[JJ 3000]

wud it be okay if i use somebodyelse's computer to make w7's recovery disc

Yes. If you will go back and read my post, I mention that. Let me clear it up for you. You can use ANY computer running windows 7 to create a system repair disk. It doesn't matter if it's Ultimate, Professional, or Home edition. ANY of those can create a Windows 7 system repair disk.

If the computer you're repairing is 32 bit Windows 7 you will have to create the disk from a computer running 32 bit Windows 7, if it is 64 bit you will have to create a the disk from a computer running 64 bit windows 7. You cannot use a 32 bit installation to create a disk that will repair 64 bit windows and vice versa.

Let me state again: You can use any computer that has windows 7 to create that disk. This is not an install disk, it only has the system repair options that are part of the full install disk. It's just a repair disk.

Refer to my post above for instructions on making the disk.

[hartbeatmr]

Good evening alchemist and welcome back to CH

OK all the nice folks here are 100% correct about making the "Windows 7 repair disk"

     Hopefully this will make since to you (and I am not trying to be a wise guy)  . On your PC do you have (1) harddrive with (1) partition? or do you have (2) harddrives etc. This may give you an idea of what I mean as a partitioned harddrive if you have (2) physical harddrives in your PC will look something like this

    I know you bought this PC but is it a desktop or a laptop the reason I am asking is related to the items below. If it is a laptop more than likely you only have (1) harddrive but if you have a desktop you can and may have (2) or more harddrives. If you have a desktop please shut down the PC (unplug ac cord) and open the case and look inside.   

  The confusing part to this is (just in-case you don't know) you can have a "C" drive and say a "D" drive and they maybe (1) psychical harddrive split into (2) partitions if you are not sure open the case and look inside if this is a laptop you can't do this  . The reason for this is that if you have (1) harddrive with (1) partition and you formatted and installed windows xp onto this you may not have the "windows 7 image" any more. But if the "windows 7 image" was saved onto another partition or (2nd) harddrive then if you follow the instructions from "jj3000" you can have windows 7 restored back onto your pc once again.       

   But if I am understanding you correct you had XP, then installed Windows 7 and then at some point you made the "windows back up Image" which is good but if you saved that "windows image" to your only harddrive / partition" it very well may be gone.

Hopefully this helps you some more, please come back and let us know how things are going. Mike

PS just like "jj3000" said if you had windows 7 32 bit on your computer the repair disk must be made on windows 7 32 bit PC (even if the pc you are making the disk from is not your PC that's fine. But if you had Windows 7 64 bit the disk must be made from a windows 7 64 bit PC (even knowing the disk being made is not from your PC that's fine it is just a repair disk)

But here is the bad again just so you know if that windows 7 image you saved was saved on your only harddrive / partition & from formatting the hardrive you will need your original windows 7 disk and COA (25 digit key) to install windows 7 again.

 

[alchemist]

hello again and good evening nice folks!:-)

to answer your question Hartbeatmr , my pc is a desktop and i only have one harddisk currently, i have two slots
of harddisk as shown in the image, and previously I had two harddisks in them, later i removed one of them as it didnt wrk for me,  it was only 80 GB, so i rather unplugged it , and now with only one harddisk that is partitioned into 3harddrives , C D and E , and when i had w7 i saved the imagebackup in the drive E, though it gave me a sortof warning , "that the destination whr u r saving the backup is on the same physical disk, frm whr the backup is being created, " , but i overlooked it considering the fact that , when i had to reinstall another os w7 or xp, it's only the c drive that gets affected, the rest of the drives remain as they are , so when i installed xp , the backup is still saved in the drive E i can see,

so now i am planning to follow the your instructions jj3000, lets ask a friend who can let me make a repair disc, i know it's very easy for me , :-)

regards,