System Image Backup Structure

System Image backups use a similar folder structure to file backups. When you create a System Image backup, Windows creates a WindowsImageBackup folder in the root of the backup media. Within that folder, it creates a folder with the current computer's name. It then creates a Catalog folder containing the GlobalCatalog and BackupGlobalCatalog files and a "Backup <year>-<month>-<date> <time>" folder containing the disk image file.

To back up an entire volume, System Image creates a .vhd disk image file, which is the same file format used by Virtual PC and Virtual Server. In fact, you can mount the .vhd files as secondary disks in either Virtual PC or Virtual Server, granting you quick access to individual files contained within the backup from a virtual computer. You cannot easily boot from a System Image .vhd file, however.

System Image backups also create several other files:

• A MediaId file in the <ComputerName> folder to identify the disk image
• GlobalCatalog and BackupGlobalCatalog files in the Catalog folder to track the System Image backup image versions
• Numerous XML files in the Backup folder, which contain configuration settings for the backup file