Windows 7 won't boot... Will restoring from an Image File fix it?

[soloalpinist]

I have a PC with Windows 7 64bit and I installed another 1TB hard drive and installed Windows 10... so I have a dual boot machine. I've had problems since the Dual Boot installation... among with a "Memory_Management" blue screens and "PFN_List" blue screens. Recently the machine has refused to boot in either Windows 7 or 10. The F8 command doesn't work to pull up Safe Mode or any other options (it never did work for some reason).

I unfortunately can't find my original Windows 7 Install Media... so I can't apply any of the repairs available on it.
I have a Macrium Reflect image of both my Windows 7 System and a Disk Image of the same. I also have a Macrium Reflect Rescue USB I'd created awhile ago. Will using the Rescue USB to restore an earlier image of the System work to correct my problems.

Any suggestions if this will work... or if there are other things I could try?

 

[Lafong]

I have a Macrium Reflect image of both my Windows 7 System and a Disk Image of the same. I also have a Macrium Reflect Rescue USB I'd created awhile ago. Will using the Rescue USB to restore an earlier image of the System work to correct my problems.

I'd expect the Macrium restore would work IF:

1; the image was made when the PC was using Win 7 ONLY and that it was in good running order at the time.

and

2; the image included ALL partitions on the boot drive.

and

3; the rescue USB will in fact boot your PC.

and

4; you are at least temporarily willing to go back to Windows 7 in a single boot situation with no signs of Windows 10 at all.

I have NO idea if any of those things are true.

Of course, you could have unrelated hardware issues, in which case the image restoration wouldn't help.

 

[soloalpinist]

I'd expect the Macrium restore would work IF:

1; the image was made when the PC was using Win 7 ONLY and that it was in good running order at the time.

and

2; the image included ALL partitions on the boot drive.

and

3; the rescue USB will in fact boot your PC.

and

4; you are at least temporarily willing to go back to Windows 7 in a single boot situation with no signs of Windows 10 at all.

I have NO idea if any of those things are true.

Thanks for the input. The Macrium Rescue media and the Images were all made before the Windows 10 install and the blue screens . I'm thinking I could open up the PC and unplug the drive with Windows 10 on it. And yes... I'm will to go back to Windows 7 until I can assemble the parts for a new PC build.
I have Macrium Images of the "C: System" and another of the "C: Disk". Which is better to use in this case?

 

[Lafong]

I have Macrium Images of the "C: System" and another of the "C: Disk". Which is better to use in this case?

The name reveals nothing.

In fact, Macrium image files should have default names like:

38xs833lms4ssx00sbbx2n.mrimg

Gibberish, random characters ending in mrimg.

You may have deliberately used another name for some reason.

What matters is what partitions were included in the image file. I have no idea. You named them. It's up to you to know or find out the differences.

You should be able to examine the images in Macrium to reveal which partitions are included. I have no idea how you may have partitioned the drive.

It may be that only one will "work". You may have to try both. Who knows which will lead to satisfaction. One may include data. One may be "only the partitions required to restore Windows".

Etc, etc.

Try both if you have to.

 

[dwd999]

For future reference, did you disconnect the Win 7 drive before installing Win 10? The installer works best when only 1 disk is connected at installation time; you can reconnect the Win 7 drive after installation is complete.

 

[soloalpinist]

For future reference, did you disconnect the Win 7 drive before installing Win 10? The installer works best when only 1 disk is connected at installation time; you can reconnect the Win 7 drive after installation is complete.

I did disconnect Win7 to install 10

 

[soloalpinist]

The name reveals nothing.

In fact, Macrium image files should have default names like:

38xs833lms4ssx00sbbx2n.mrimg

Gibberish, random characters ending in mrimg.

You may have deliberately used another name for some reason.

What matters is what partitions were included in the image file. I have no idea. You named them. It's up to you to know or find out the differences.

You should be able to examine the images in Macrium to reveal which partitions are included. I have no idea how you may have partitioned the drive.

It may be that only one will "work". You may have to try both. Who knows which will lead to satisfaction. One may include data. One may be "only the partitions required to restore Windows".

Etc, etc.

Try both if you have to.

Just to be clear I DIDN'T name them... Macrium software offers the option to do a 'System Backup Image" or a "Disk Backup Image" (in this case of the C: disk). I have a copy of each type.

 

[Lafong]

Just to be clear I DIDN'T name them... Macrium software offers the option to do a 'System Backup Image" or a "Disk Backup Image" (in this case of the C: disk). I have a copy of each type.

I'd hazard a guess:

"Disk" includes all partitions on the drive.

"System" includes ONLY the partitions needed to restore Windows.

They MIGHT be effectively identical and include ALL partitions, depending on your chosen partition layout.