Getting back the image backup

Image backup, takes a full snapshot of your hard drive and stores it away so that you can restore your system in the event of a calamitous crash.

Unlike the other backup methods discussed in this tutorial, restoring a system image backup obliterates everything on your hard drive, replacing the whole works with the saved copy. It's a drastic, scorched-earth approach that most Windows 7 users should employ only in the most dire circumstances - typically, when malware has so completely taken over your system that you can't get it to work and you don't care whether you have to throw out all the data you acquired after the last good image backup.

To restore a full-disk backup, you must have either of the following two items, and your computer has to be able to boot from the DVD or CD:

• An original Windows 7 installation DVD
• A system repair disc (see "Creating a system repair disc," earlier in this tutorial, for instructions on burning a repair CD).

If you bought a computer with Windows 7 preinstalled, some manufacturers put System Repair hooks on the restore CDs or DVDs that come in the box. Other manufacturers add system repair options to their panic restore kits, which often live in a hidden partition on your hard drive. In either case, you may be able to do a full-disk image restore by following the manufacturer's instructions.

With the CD or DVD in hand, your next challenge is to wade through the lousy, inconsistent terminology. You may think that Windows has six different ways to back up an entire hard drive, but in fact all these terms mean exactly the same thing: image backup (the term you see in most parts of Windows 7), system image (which you also see in Windows 7), Complete PC backup (the term used in Vista), system backup (another one scattered throughout Windows 7), system image backup, and complete backup.

Personally, I prefer the term ghost, referring to the original Norton Ghost product, which set the standard in entire disk drive backup for many years.

If you went through the Windows 7 backup routine and accepted all the defaults, you already have a ghost image backup (at least one) hanging around. See the section "Creating data backups," earlier in this tutorial, for details.

If you have an image backup available - either on a network drive, a drive inside your computer, a bunch of burned DVDs, or embossed in cuneiform on a USB stone tablet, here's how to wipe out your hard drive and replace it with an older version:

1. Do one of the following, depending on whether you have a system repair disc:
   • If you have a system repair disc (see "Creating a system repair disc," earlier in this tutorial), follow the steps in the earlier section "Using the system repair disc" to open the System Recovery Options dialog box.
   • If you don't have a system repair disc but you have a Windows 7 Installation disc, boot from that disc, select your language preference, and then click Repair Your Computer. In the next dialog box, select Microsoft Windows 7 and then click Next.
   In either case, you see the System Recovery Options dialog box.
   If you bought Windows 7 preinstalled on a PC, the System Recovery Options, and the methods for invoking them, may have been changed by the manufacturer. If you don't have a system repair disc or a genuine Windows 7 Installation disc, you have to follow the manufacturer's directions, if you can find them.
2. Click the System Image Recovery link.
   Windows 7 System Recovery shows you the Re-Image Your Computer Wizard.
3. Do one of the following, depending on which one applies to your circumstances:
   • If you backed up your drive to another computer on the network, the wizard tells you, "Windows Cannot Find a System Image on This Computer." Click Cancel and then select Restore a Different System Image. Proceed to Step 4.
   • If the wizard finds the backup you want to use, select Use the Latest Available System Image. Then click Next and proceed to Step 6.
4. Click Next.
   The wizard asks you to select the location of the backup.
5. If your backup is on a different computer, connected to the network, click the Advanced button and follow the instructions to find the backup. Select the backup location you want to use and click Next.
   After you choose a location, the wizard wants you to choose among the image backups available in the location.
6. Choose the backup you want to restore and click Next.
   You can choose to reformat and repartition your hard drives at this point. Click Next, confirm that you have the right restore point, and then click Finish. The wizard chunks away - possibly for hours - and reboots the computer as soon as it's done.