[SOLVED] Cloning freshly installed Windows 11 image for future back up

[HR_Luka]

Hi,
I am in the process of buying new laptop. I will install Windows 11 on it and then all of the programs I need.

I was thinking about cloning image (SSD state) afterwards. That would allow me to save time when i need to crash my system again.

I have a few questions.
1) Can I clone SSD image to USB? If yes, how big should USB be? SSD is 1 TB, but it wont be more than 100 GB after everything is installed.
If not, how big should a secondary SSD be? I have one 120 GB laying around.

2) I will also need to install Linux on it, so will I need to clone it from another bootable USB stick?
Software recommendation is appreciated.

Also, all tips and tricks are welcome.

Thank you,
Luka

 

[USAFRet]

"cloning" is not the concept you want.

Imaging is.

A tool such as Macrium Reflect, and have it create an Image,(or several Images) off to some other drive.Your USB thing, for instance.

Cloning is for changing to a different drive right now.
Imaging is for saving for later.


Also, within Macrium, create a Rescue USB or two. Small, 4 or 8GB flash drives.
Save these somewhere.

 

[dwd999]

When you image your ssd the Macrium software will offer you various compression options so that you will need less space on your usb for your backup image. For example, when I image my ssd the 50GB of material I have is compressed to 30GB using Macrium's default setting. There is also a higher compression setting available.

 

[USAFRet]

Imaging via Macrium is the basis for my entire backup routine.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[HR_Luka]

Thank you for your replies. It cleared up what I wanted to know.

I have one more question.
Short: If I were to buy big enough USB stick for 2 back up images, would I be able store them on it?

Long: I would like to create 2 back up images, one for my newly bought laptop and one for my main PC. Can I store both of those images on a single USB? Should I get 2 different USB sticks or maybe one external HDD/SSD?

 

[Lafong]

Thank you for your replies. It cleared up what I wanted to know.

I have one more question.
Short: If I were to buy big enough USB stick for 2 back up images, would I be able store them on it?

Long: I would like to create 2 back up images, one for my newly bought laptop and one for my main PC. Can I store both of those images on a single USB? Should I get 2 different USB sticks or maybe one external HDD/SSD?

Macrium images can be stored anywhere they will fit....EXCEPT on a partition that is itself part of the image. That is....if the image file includes the C partition, that image cannot be saved on the C partition.

You can store 2 images on the same drive or on different drives. It doesn't matter as long as there is enough space. Macrium images can effectively be treated like any other file.....although they are large. My image file of my system drive is about 28 GB...the system drive itself has about 45 GB occupied. So the size is usually around 60% of occupied space.

USBs would NOT be my ideal location due to their general flimsiness and slow speed. I'd use a standard hard drive or SSD.

 

[USAFRet]

Thank you for your replies. It cleared up what I wanted to know.

I have one more question.
Short: If I were to buy big enough USB stick for 2 back up images, would I be able store them on it?

Long: I would like to create 2 back up images, one for my newly bought laptop and one for my main PC. Can I store both of those images on a single USB? Should I get 2 different USB sticks or maybe one external HDD/SSD?

Yes.
The Macrium Image is a single file.

You can store it wherever, except on the actual drive or partition you are imaging.

BONUS: Unlike a full clone, you can use the rest of that drive for whatever you desire, and not affect the Image.