How can I make a "screenshot" of everything on my C: drive and revert to it at any time?

[Fluxify]

Hey guys, I'm wondering how I can make sort of a "screenshot" of everything on my C: drive(SSD, Windows 10) and be able to revert to it at any time. An example would be getting a virus and instead of removing it just loading that "screenshot" instead. The only possibly place this "screenshot" could be stored would be my D: drive which has Windows 8.1 installed, some programs, and plenty of space.

Since this isn't a do or die situation, nor completely necessary, it would make no sense in me investing $50+ into an external drive and I would much prefer to do it the way listed above. After doing a little bit of research on the topic, it seems as if I use the Windows tool, it will wipe the drive it gets stored on or something.

If It Helps and TLDR:
C: drive: 387 GB free of 418 GB(the drive I want to make a "screenshot" of)
D: drive: 610 GB free of 914 GB(the drive I want to store the "screenshot" file, and at any time be able to run the "screenshot" and have it restore everything fully)

I know this may be a basic question but messing with partitions and storage isn't a place to mess around in.

 

[VincentP]

The word you are looking for is "snapshot" rather than "screenshot".
Windows can create a restore point and save this on D drive so that you can restore system files and installed programs without restoring data.
Tools like Acronis can create a whole image and store this to another drive.
Note that none of this really helps with a virus, or even worse ransomware, because any snapshot or backup can be infected or encrypted as well when it is stored on the computer. These snapshots are more useful where you have installed something and broken Windows.

 

[Fluxify]

The word you are looking for is "snapshot" rather than "screenshot".
Windows can create a restore point and save this on D drive so that you can restore system files and installed programs without restoring data.
Tools like Acronis can create a whole image and store this to another drive.
Note that none of this really helps with a virus, or even worse ransomware, because any snapshot or backup can be infected or encrypted as well when it is stored on the computer. These snapshots are more useful where you have installed something and broken Windows.

Good point with that, although virus problems wont be the main reasoning for this system image. I suggested a "snapshot" so when I want to reformat my C: drive, it'll have everything pre-installed, and optimized at ease along with some other reasons.

I also saw someone mention Macrium Reflect Free although the screenshots look a little intriguing for a first time user not trying to accidentally format their D: drive with important files.

 

[VincentP]

Not sure about Macrium.
I've been using Acronis and Norton Ghost for years, but these aren't free (legally).
If you want to image C drive and reformat, you want something that can run from a boot disk and create an image of the drive.