Restore a System Image in Windows 7

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Restore a System Image in Windows 7

In this tutorial: How to restore your Windows 7 from a system image using the System Repair Disc or the Windows 7 DVD

Last modified: 2012-03-20 14:11:28 EET

In case you have a really-really bad day and your Windows 7 will not start no matter what, the bootable System Repair Disc will come in handy for restoring a system image. If you have even a worse day and you cannot find your System Repair disc for Windows 7, use Windows 7 DVD instead. If you can't find your Windows 7 DVD, you can borrow one from your friends - any version of Windows 7 DVD has Repair Your Computer option.
You can also download a copy of Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day trial DVD from Microsoft TechNet (this requires logging in with Windows Live ID) using your friend's computer and burn the ISO image to DVD with Windows 7 Disc Image Burner or CDBurnerXP.

Connect your external hard drive where your Windows 7 backups are, insert the Windows 7 System Repair disc or Windows 7 DVD. If your computer does not start from the CD or DVD, read the Computer boot order article to make necessary changes.

After your computer starts from the CD or DVD, a black screen with text Press any key to boot from CD or DVD appears. Press Enter or Space key on your keyboard within 5 seconds, otherwise your broken Windows 7 will start again.

Windows 7 will then load files from the disc. This will take some time.
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image. After booting from Windows 7 System Repair disc, Windows will load some files. This takes time.

For System Repair disc users, System Recovery Options window opens. Select your preferred keyboard layout from Select a keyboard input method box. Then click Next.
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - System Recovery Options. Select your preferred keyboard layout from Select a keyboard input method box. Then click Next.

For Windows 7 DVD users, Install Windows dialog appears. Select your preferred settings from Time and currency format and Keyboard or input method boxes. I suggest you leave Language to "English" here to better understand this article. Click Next to continue.

Now you will see a big tempting Install now button. Do not click it! Click Repair your computer in the lower left corner instead.

Windows installation(s) will then be located on all hard drives. This might take a minute or so.
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - System Recovery Options. After selecting a keyboard layout, Windows 7 installations will be searched on all hard disks. This might take a minute or two.

As you need to restore a System Image, click Restore your computer using a system image that you created earlier. Then click Next. Make sure your external hard drive with backups is connected first!
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - System Recovery Options. After finding all Windows 7 installations, click Restore your computer using a system image that you created earlier.

Re-image your computer window opens. If you want to restore the latest available system image (the date and time of the image are displayed in Date and time: field below), leave the default selection in tact and click Next.
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - Re-image your computer. To use the latest available system image for restoring, click Next.

If you want to select an older system image instead, click Select a system image and then click Next. In the following window click the external hard drive you use for backups and click Next. If the drive is not displayed, disconnect and reconnect it and then click Refresh button.

Now select the older system image you want to restore from the list. Please note that the backup time might be different, because all times are displayed for GMT-8:00 time zone. Click Next.

Normally, you do not need to select the Format and repartition disks option from Choose additional restore options section. Just click Next.
You might need this one only if you had a total hard drive failure and you are restoring Windows 7 to a new hard disk or you had to format the present one. The term "new hard disk" also includes a used hard disk bought from auctions or friends. Just make sure the new disk's capacity in gigabytes is at least as big as the previous one!
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - Re-image your computer, Choose additional restore options. Normally, just click Next. Select Format and repartition disks only if your old hard drive failed, you bought a new one and you are restoring your Windows 7 on it.

A summary screen will be displayed. Click Finish to start the re-imaging process.
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - Re-image your computer, summary screen. Click Finish to start re-imaging.

And here is the final warning that you will lose any data currently present on the hard drive selected for re-imaging. Click Yes.
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - Re-image your computer, All data on the drives to be restored will be replaced with the data in the system image. Click Yes.

Restoring a system image takes a long time - an hour to several hours, depending on the size of data on your hard disk(s). You can safely do something healthy meanwhile...
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - Re-image your computer in progress. Windows is restoring your computer from the system image. This might take from a few minutes to a few hours. Stand by.

After the system image has been restored, Windows 7 offers to restart your computer. It will not wait for your answer forever, just 30 seconds. If you happen to be somewhere near your mouse, click Restart now. Hold your breath... not really!
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image - Re-image your computer complete. Windows will offer to restart your computer for 30 seconds. If you have not clicked anything during that time, your computer will restart automatically. But you can also click Restart now button earlier.

Your Windows 7 should now start and work correctly. If needed, you can now restore individual files and folders from a later backup than your selected system image.

After a system image restore, Action Center icon in Taskbar Notification area will show a message "Solve PC issues: 1 message".
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image. After restoring a system image, Action Center icon in Taskbar Notification area will display "Solve PC issues: 1 message".

Click Action Center icon and then click Check backup settings.
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image. To remove Action Center message after restoring from system image, click its icon in Taskbar Notification area. Then click Check backup settings.

Windows 7 reminds you that your backup settings might be out of date because your computer was restored to an earlier point in time. Click Keep current settings to disable the Action Center message. But please double-check that an automatic daily backup has been set up after this!
Windows 7, Restoring from System Image. After restoring from a system image, Windows 7 reminds you to double-check your backup settings. Click Keep current settings to disable the Action Center notification. Still, please double-check your backup settings after this!