Any backup tool to do a system state backup of Windows 10/11?

Frank15 · May 14, 2024

Any app (best if free) to do a "system state" backup of Windows 10/11 so that I can restore only the OS while preserving all installed apps and user data? I mean: to achieve something similar to what you can do with an In-place upgrade. The issue with an In-place upgrade is that Windows has to be able to boot in order to do it.

I'm looking for something like Windows Server Backup does with the "system state" backup.
I tried with AOMEI Backupper Standard free, but it doesn't offer this option (it backs up the full system drive).

Any help much appreciated

kelper · May 14, 2024

What's wrong with a full disk image? You can restore in minutes even if Windows won't boot. Perhaps could describe in more detail exactly what you wish to achieve. Another option would be to move apps and data to a separate disk or partition. This would make the OS partition a lot smaller.

cereberus · May 14, 2024

There is no app that restores the OS only but does not restore apps etc.

You can do a full system image backup of OS plus programs/settings etc. with many tools like Macrium Reflect, AOMEI Backupper, Hasleo Backup suite etc. You can include data drives/partitions as well.

Frank15 · May 14, 2024

cereberus said:
There is no app that restores the OS only but does not restore apps etc.

You can do a full system image backup of OS plus programs/settings etc. with many tools like Macrium Reflect, AOMEI Backupper, Hasleo Backup suite etc. You can include data drives/partitions as well.

Apparently, with AOMEI Backuper, that's only available in the paid version. That seems like an interesting option right? I mean, what can be better than backing up OS, apps and settings and then restoring them if the OS gets corrupted?. That should always work, right? you can then update Windows. I'm used to just reinstalling Winndows and going to the drudge of reinstalling apps, data, changing settings etc.

Frank15 · May 14, 2024

kelper said:
What's wrong with a full disk image? You can restore in minutes even if Windows won't boot. Perhaps could describe in more detail exactly what you wish to achieve. Another option would be to move apps and data to a separate disk or partition. This would make the OS partition a lot smaller.

well, a full image backup would wipe your current data and get you back to the old data you had when you backed up.

OldNavy · May 14, 2024

As kelper says, have all of your documents and specific apps on another drive or partition.
I have my documents on a separate drive and so if i need to revert to a backup for some reason my documents and emails are still current and up to date.
It works well especially if you're a tinkerer and manage to break windows like i do (or at least crack the window).

Frank15 · May 14, 2024

OldNavy said:
As kelper says, have all of your documents and specific apps on another drive or partition.
I have my documents on a separate drive and so if i need to revert to a backup for some reason my documents and emails are still current and up to date.
It works well especially if you're a tinkerer and manage to break windows like i do (or at least crack the window).

but doesn't that have side effects? like you having to map the user's folders to the other volume? or something similar. I tried this before and eventually desisted, don't remember exactly why

wags1 · May 14, 2024

I went with Macrium Reflect (MR) years ago (don’t remember the exact number of years but it’s been a while). I have it set to automatically do daily images (full once a week with incrementals in between) to a Synology NAS. I have only had to do a restore twice but it was simple and took less than 20 minutes to be back up and running. I also use Carbonite for continuous cloud backup of all critical files so can also restore any file changes that are made between MR images if needed. So far it has worked well for my requirements.

johnlgalt · May 14, 2024

Frank15 said:
Any app (best if free) to do a "system state" backup of Windows 10/11 so that I can restore only the OS while preserving all installed apps and user data? I mean: to achieve something similar to what you can do with an In-place upgrade. The issue with an In-place upgrade is that Windows has to be able to boot in order to do it.

I'm looking for something like Windows Server Backup does with the "system state" backup.
I tried with AOMEI Backupper Standard free, but it doesn't offer this option (it backs up the full system drive).

Any help much appreciated

Frank15 said:
so that I can restore only the OS while preserving all installed apps and user data?

Technically, yes. It's called an in-place upgrade - and all you need is a Windows .ISO with the same edition (Home, Pro, etc.) that you currently have installed.

See our wonderful tutorial on the subject at:

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

Caveat: This only works from inside Windows 11, so it does need to already be a working install.

Frank15 · May 15, 2024

Thanks for your answers. I've created this post regarding this. I'd appreciate opinions

Best way to fix Windows 10/11 issues with a OS reinstall?

I’m thinking of the best ways to reinstall Windows when all other attempts to fix issues failed, when you want to avoid a wipe and reinstall that would require reinstalling apps and restoring user data. A good option to try one after the other: In-Place Upgrade > Windows Reset > Wipe and...

www.elevenforum.com

pparks1 · May 15, 2024

Images are what I have done in the past....and still do from time to time. However, I have found with Windows 7, 10 and 11 that honestly I run into very few problems that ever cause me to restore my images. I remember the old days with Windows XP and such where I would format and reinstall every 6 months or so to get my system back up to running clean and fast again. But my Windows 10 gaming box is 3.5 years old now and I installed Windows 10 on it, and haven't reinstalled since.

I'm like others, I try to keep as much data off my "c" drive as I possibly can. These days that's so much easier than it was 15+ years ago. My email is all in gmail (so nothing to backup). My browser bookmarks are all in my Google account, so nothing to backup. Most of my "files" are in OneDrive and in the cloud as well as my PC so less concerned about having to back all that up every day. My games are mostly all online and my stats and such are all tied to my game account in the cloud, so nothing to backup here.

I'm not aware of an application to restore just your OS, and have it find all of your apps and data and such and magically restore all of the functionality to make that work, registry settings, etc.

jimbo45 · May 15, 2024

pparks1 said:
Images are what I have done in the past....and still do from time to time. However, I have found with Windows 7, 10 and 11 that honestly I run into very few problems that ever cause me to restore my images. I remember the old days with Windows XP and such where I would format and reinstall every 6 months or so to get my system back up to running clean and fast again. But my Windows 10 gaming box is 3.5 years old now and I installed Windows 10 on it, and haven't reinstalled since.

I'm like others, I try to keep as much data off my "c" drive as I possibly can. These days that's so much easier than it was 15+ years ago. My email is all in gmail (so nothing to backup). My browser bookmarks are all in my Google account, so nothing to backup. Most of my "files" are in OneDrive and in the cloud as well as my PC so less concerned about having to back all that up every day. My games are mostly all online and my stats and such are all tied to my game account in the cloud, so nothing to backup here.

I'm not aware of an application to restore just your OS, and have it find all of your apps and data and such and magically restore all of the functionality to make that work, registry settings, etc.

There's a convoluted way of doing this -- The caveat is that it needs a full physical disk.

Simply attach your Windows drive to a VM as a "physical disk" and then snapshot the VM. Then exit the VM and you can use your Windows disk as normal.
To restore simply restore the snapshot of the VM and the physical drive should be what it was when you snapshotted the VM.

Cheers
jimbo