There's a few in the market, such as Acronis True Image, AOMEI Backupper, and so on, varying from free (limited) to paid options.

I'm looking to improve my backup processes for my multiple machines, and as a result also speed up any fresh reinstall processes too. Therefore, I'm looking for ones where it creates an image that you can then simply restore the backed up image, saving on having to do all the standard edits, tweaks, fundamental tool installs etc each time I do a fresh install.

Any recommendations for decent backup image solutions for Windows?

 

Why not use the built in image backup in Windows....control panel/backup and restore Win 7/ create system image

 

I use Acronis True Image 2019 and Macrium Reflect.
Search for "Sergei Strelec WinPE Boot USB" and make a bootable flash disk. It has all of the best disk imaging apps plus hundreds more useful tools already installed in a WinPE environment.

While you're at it learn about "Ventoy".

 

you said it..............Acronis is the best solution

 

I recently used Acronis True Image (for Kingston) provided with my new SSD, creation of fully functional bootable clone on bigger capacity target was quick and solid

 

I have tested many backup programs over 20 years and many have let me down. Acronis and O&O have failed completely; they couldn't even find the restore point. Nort Ghost was very reliable but is outdated and no longer available.

I have just bought and installed this one, it is also Windows 11 ready, you create an emergency boot disk in the program.

Ashampoo - Backup Pro 25
The ultimate fix for malware infections, hard disk defects and Windows crashes
www.ashampoo.com/en-us/backup-pro-25/languages

 

Clonezilla is a monster, bitmat cloning and never fails

Rufus it on a usb pendrive and follow default setting to start.

Both open source releases, you don't need more for pro & super fast cloning. (I use it for windows system images)

 

I generally use Clonezilla for OS partition backup of any OS, but have great experience with Acronis True Image, too. I guess you can't go wrong with either. I have "Sergei Strelec WinPE Boot USB", too. Very useful.

 

Said this many times. R-Drive Image is my go to imaging soft. It has never failed. Simplest and fastest. Does everything you expect it to plus more. Reviewed here:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/605046/r-drive-image-review.html
Homepage here: https://www.drive-image.com/
They have a 30 day fully functioning trial and there is a try before buy version in the interwebs too.
Cheers man

 

Acronis failed on my system once . Macrium free will not get any updates anymore but still works reliably here. It cannot do incremental though

 

I been using Acronis for years and still have the 2017 version which I bought for 3x PCs. Unfortunaley they changed to some annoying Subscription including Cloud Storage in the years following so avoid updating. Having looked at my receipt invoice this is what it cost in 2017

 

Last edited: Jan 17, 2025

The crucial question is, will your backup software restore your system in an emergency?

 

For one, the "windows backup" utility is junk. You cannot properly fully backup a windows system from a platform that uses the target OS in any way. Too many locked files and too much security protection on a live system to be trying to image it using itself as the platform.

I use TrueImage21 WINPE for win10 images. You use a bootable WINPE TrueImage iso platform (from optical or usb) which is completely independent of the current installed OS on the machine, and make the image of the entire system (and all drives/storages). Once you have the image you have the option of restoring individual files, drives, or the entire system as intact as it was when you imaged it. Just make certain that whichever backup imager you use that it runs a WINPE bootable image platform. Those ones that use proprietary or *NIX platforms to image windows systems are junk and to be strenuously avoided at all costs.

 

Last edited: Jan 17, 2025

An emergency being?;
- you messed around trying to get some piece of reverse engineering working that pooched the system and it wont boot to save its life
- You got hit with some sort of malware or virus that you cannot get rid of
- windows built in file corruption renders the system FUBAR
- faulty hardware corrupts the file system
or any one of an infinite number of scenarios that foo's the system...

Depending on the severity of the "emergency" you may want to wipe the target system completely of the old non-working bits, which can add to the restoration timeline. But, if you have done your due diligence generally you can have the system back up and running within 30-45 minutes of some catastrophic event. When I say due diligence I mean making certain you VERIFIED your backup images after you make them and checksum them before and after they get to their final storage location to make certain you have an INTACT image. I store all the backup images to my machines on a couple of large hard drives (one master and one backup master) and make certain the images are verified when they are made and check summed before and after moving to the final storage place.

 

I had troubles with Acronis : VERY unreliable when you REALLY restore backups.
Now i use Macrium, with his stable restore.

 

Been using acronis backup and trueImage for years and never had any "unreliable issues" with it. Restored many full systems from backup without issue. As I said, if you use a platform (any platform) that is NOT winpe based (acronis does have boot versions that use a *NIX platform) on a windows system or if you're trying to image a running windows system you WILL have problems if you're expecting a complete intact restore identical to the target.

On a final note. If attempting to run incremental backups with ANY sort of imaging tool you will run into issues when attempting a one-and-done restore. If there is not a previous understanding of exactly what differential and incremental backups are in reality then DO NOT USE THEM.

 

Last edited: Jan 17, 2025

AOMEI Tech

 

I don't often re-image my systems, but when I do, I use Macrium reflect.