Question Backup-Restore one computer using another computer

Feb 10, 2023
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I have a friend overseas who occasionally needs his Windows 7 computer (Thinkpad X220/240) restored to factory settings. He mails me the computer and I use the discs from Lenovo to reinstall Windows and then mail it back.
All of the backup/restore software I can find requires that you have the computer in your hands.
Is there a way I can create a backup of his drive on my desktop computer and have him mail me only the hard drive (without the computer) and restore onto his hard drive the image of it (from a fresh install) that I have saved on my desktop computer?
Note: I have a USB connector for 2.5" drives that I can use to connect a drive to my computer.
 
There are ways of operating someone else's computer from a distance. Maybe you have rejected that.

Do you want to return to him:

1; a hard drive with a clean install of Windows and nothing more

or

2; a hard drive with Windows and all installed applications, configured exactly as it was at some earlier date when it was working well?
 
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I have a friend overseas who occasionally needs his Windows 7 computer (Thinkpad X220/240) restored to factory settings. He mails me the computer and I use the discs from Lenovo to reinstall Windows and then mail it back.
All of the backup/restore software I can find requires that you have the computer in your hands.
Is there a way I can create a backup of his drive on my desktop computer and have him mail me only the hard drive (without the computer) and restore onto his hard drive the image of it (from a fresh install) that I have saved on my desktop computer?
Note: I have a USB connector for 2.5" drives that I can use to connect a drive to my computer.
How much data is contained on his hard drive after you restore it? If its not a lot, it would seem that it might be easiest for you to create a self-booting usb stick that he could boot and then restore his drive from the image on the usb stick. Any backup program would be suitable for this; some of the prominent ones are Macrium and Acronis. That might make him self-sufficient and there would be no future need to mail anything. We can discuss this further if you are not familiar with backup software and procedures.
 
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DSzymborski

Titan
Moderator
This whole setup is extremely confusing. It would seem like a far better idea to actually teach your friend how to reinstall Windows, not simply find a slightly less ludicrous method. The idea that someone is sending a $100 laptop back and forth overseas repeatedly to perform a basic Windows function just blows my mind.
 
Feb 10, 2023
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This whole setup is extremely confusing. It would seem like a far better idea to actually teach your friend how to reinstall Windows, not simply find a slightly less ludicrous method. The idea that someone is sending a $100 laptop back and forth overseas repeatedly to perform a basic Windows function just blows my mind.
He's 88 years old. New tricks are not on the menu for this old dog. I need a way to be able to send him a drive that he can plug in and go. I guess I could make several back-up drives when I have the computer in hand, but it seems that someone might have a way to restore a drive from a different computer if they possess a backup.
 
Feb 10, 2023
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There are ways of operating someone else's computer from a distance. Maybe you have rejected that.

Do you want to return to him:

1; a hard drive with a clean install of Windows and nothing more

or

2; a hard drive with Windows and all installed applications, configured exactly as it was at some earlier date when it was working well?
The latter would be far preferable. It seems if I restored his computer from a backup on his hard drive that it would interrupt me operating his computer from a distance.
 
He's 88 years old. New tricks are not on the menu for this old dog. I need a way to be able to send him a drive that he can plug in and go. I guess I could make several back-up drives when I have the computer in hand, but it seems that someone might have a way to restore a drive from a different computer if they possess a backup.
So you making a backup onto a usb stick or your hard drive which you could save until needed would probably be easiest in your situation. A self-booting usb could be used by someone helping your friend if there is someone there who could boot it for him. Is there no one there to help him with something as simple as booting his computer into bios, then booting the usb and running the restore program?
 
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Feb 10, 2023
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So you making a backup onto a usb stick or your hard drive which you could save until needed would probably be easiest in your situation. A self-booting usb could be used by someone helping your friend if there is someone there who could boot it for him. Is there no one there to help him with something as simple as booting his computer into bios, then booting the usb and running the restore program?
I tried something like that and failed.
Let me rephrase it. I have a desktop computer. I want to connect via USB a hard drive from a laptop and produce an image of the laptop HDD on my desktop computer. Then I want to use that image on my desktop computer (of a laptop HDD) to plug in another drive using USB into my desktop computer and send the image of the laptop HDD made before to make a functionally identical HDD on the USB connected drive. I am willing to image a 500GB drive onto a slightly larger drive because I know they love to complain about not having enough sectors, etc.
 
I tried something like that and failed.
Let me rephrase it. I have a desktop computer. I want to connect via USB a hard drive from a laptop and produce an image of the laptop HDD on my desktop computer. Then I want to use that image on my desktop computer (of a laptop HDD) to plug in another drive using USB into my desktop computer and send the image of the laptop HDD made before to make a functionally identical HDD on the USB connected drive. I am willing to image a 500GB drive onto a slightly larger drive because I know they love to complain about not having enough sectors, etc.
What kind of software are you using for this? And is there any reason you can't just open up your desktop computer and directly connect the hdd from the laptop to the desktop? Many of us here use the Macrium software to perform operations like that and it works just fine. And using a usb connector may not provide enough power for the laptop hdd so a direct connection to the desktop would be better.
 
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USAFRet

Titan
Moderator
Step by step, exactly how you do this:

1 - Install Macrium Reflect on your system.
2 - He sends you the laptop
3 - Return it to Factory condition
4 - This includes all drivers, etc.
5 - Install all of his typical software applications
6 - Install Macrium Reflect on the laptop (free version works)

So here, we have a pristine laptop, ready to go

7 - Obtain an external USB HDD, of equal or larger size than what is in the laptop
8 - Obtain a small USB flash drive.
9 - Run Macrium, and create a RescueUSB (this is in the 'Other Tasks' on the toolbar)
10 - In the laptop, run Macrium
11 - Create an Image onto the external HDD. This results in a single file of <something>.mrimage

So now we have a Day 1 laptop, and a full drive Image of that.

12 - Save a copy of that Day 1 Image somewhere on your system. This is just for future safekeeping.
13 - Send him the laptop, the external drive, and the USB flash drive

He now has ALL the tools to do this procedure by himself.

14 - When he feels the need to return it back to Day 1 condition....
15 - Connect the external HDD
16 - Boot from the RescueUSB
17 - Tell Macrium what Image, and what drive to apply it to.
18 - Click the Go button
19 - Done.

If this last section is too much for him, he can send you the drive, and you can do it from the Day 1 image you have stored in your system.
 
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Feb 10, 2023
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Thank you! I used to do something similar with the built-in Windows restore, but it quit working long ago.
I really appreciate you taking the time to explain it in detail. I looked on google and was not able to find the information.
 

hulkbuster

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I tried something like that and failed.
Let me rephrase it. I have a desktop computer. I want to connect via USB a hard drive from a laptop and produce an image of the laptop HDD on my desktop computer. Then I want to use that image on my desktop computer (of a laptop HDD) to plug in another drive using USB into my desktop computer and send the image of the laptop HDD made before to make a functionally identical HDD on the USB connected drive. I am willing to image a 500GB drive onto a slightly larger drive because I know they love to complain about not having enough sectors, etc.
First of all, let me out ....hahahahhahaha
Am i failing to understand this but u have a fren's laptop that needs a backup and that too on a USB Ext HDD. OK
Thats not a huge deal. But after understanding ur problem and reading the suggestion from @USAFRet, he already gave u a good enough suggestion.
Or maybe ur failing to explain ur own problem. Whatever it is, if u r not happy with Macrium then try Image for DOS 3.32 (CUI & GUI) which is freely available from this youtube video, that i found few weeks back.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oQZnJEfVPc


Mind you this is only a iso file, so u need to burn it to a CD/DVD or a USB.
So i am also trying to understand the problem according to what u have written, u said.
I tried something like that and failed.
Let me rephrase it. I have a desktop computer. I want to connect via USB a hard drive from a laptop and produce an image of the laptop HDD on my desktop computer. Then I want to use that image on my desktop computer (of a laptop HDD) to plug in another drive using USB into my desktop computer and send the image of the laptop HDD made before to make a functionally identical HDD on the USB connected drive.
To produce or use that laptop image on ur desktop computer is technically not possible, if thats what u r looking for.
Because the audio,graphic and host of other software designed to work on a laptop will possibly not work on a desktop (there is a difference).
Let alone not forget the one time OEM license key that is required to work on a laptop will not work on a desktop. Are u understanding.
But i understood ur problem, i have been in this business of backup/restore for almost 15 years and i know thats not possible.
Hell its not possible with the image created by Win 7 default back image file.

So u need to make ur friend understand that is not possible in entire world right now, nor never will be. The term used is "Clonning", that is to make an exact copy of ur HDD to multiple HDD for future use in case of BSOD or other difficulties. Of course there is Amazon, u can buy something like from a company like "Oricho" that would do the job.
But if ur not happy with Macrium, do check the Image for DOS 3.32.

But what u want is not possible, so save ur time and make ur friend understand the situation.