Proposal: Preinstalled Bare-Metal Recovery App for Windows 11 (Feedback Hub Link)

I have submitted a feature request in the Windows Feedback Hub proposing a new preinstalled backup and restore application for Windows 11 and future Microsoft operating systems.

The Problem
The current point-in-time restore feature in Windows 11 is ineffective if a hard drive is completely wiped and left with no operating system. Even if you perform a clean installation of Windows 11 on the wiped drive, the point-in-time restore remains useless for recovering your previous setup.

Proposal
To address this gap, I am proposing a new preinstalled application capable of handling bare-metal restores directly, which would be highly beneficial for users dealing with wiped hard drives.

Feedback Hub Link
If you agree that Windows needs a better built-in solution for this scenario, please upvote the suggestion here: Join Windows Insider – Get early access to Windows 11 features & updates

JHDHD said:

The current point-in-time restore feature in Windows 11 is ineffective if a hard drive is completely wiped and left with no operating system.

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PITR is not meant to do that anyway.

What you want is already handled by backup images made with something like Macrium, Hasleo or other imaging programs.

What that guy said. Windows had a backup utility, but it's basically abandoned, like when I was a kid and my dad went out for cigarettes.

Just use some recommended imaging software (Macrium is my backup software of choice) and make regular images. I make a backup every day

when i said about PITR, i meant to say it does not capture your current factory state because if you upgrade a computer to Windows 11 and use this feature, i think it only saves the current setup but not the factory running state

BrianInEngland said:

Just use some recommended imaging software (Macrium is my backup software of choice) and make regular images. I make a backup every day

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but if your system is wiped, Macrium won't capture the factory state though

JHDHD said:

but if your system is wiped, Macrium won't capture the factory state though

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It will if you make an image as soon as you power on for the first time, you can always go back to the factory state then

BrianInEngland said:

It will if you make an image as soon as you power on for the first time, you can always go back to the factory state then

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How will it do that? can you explain this?

JHDHD said:

How will it do that? can you explain this?

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The first time you boot a new system, boot from your recovery drive for Macrium, Hasleo, etc. Create a disk image. You now have a backup of the system in exactly the factory shipped state.

hsehestedt said:

The first time you boot a new system, boot from your recovery drive for Macrium, Hasleo, etc. Create a disk image. You now have a backup of the system in exactly the factory shipped state.

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This is the way

hsehestedt said:

The first time you boot a new system, boot from your recovery drive for Macrium, Hasleo, etc. Create a disk image. You now have a backup of the system in exactly the factory shipped state.

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i think you are talking about the time when you first turn on your computer. but i am talking about when hard drive is wiped with no backups before wiping. and in this case, i have two computers with no backups and they have hard drives that are wiped exactly right now

Just to add to this, here is the strategy that I use with any new computer....

I make a backup using Macrium (or some other backup solution) of the original factory state, "just in case". I only keep this image a few hours until I know that I can successfully perform a clean install.

Next, I make a backup of all drivers. This can be done with a single command.

Next step is to do a clean install of Windows and restore the original drivers. If this all works ok, I delete my factory image backup as I will never ever need it again.

Finally, I do one more backup of my custom installation. This is like my own personal factory configuration.

I do a lot more than this, but this is the short version of what I do.

hsehestedt said:

Just to add to this, here is the strategy that I use with any new computer....

I make a backup using Macrium (or some other backup solution) of the original factory state, "just in case". I only keep this image a few hours until I know that I can successfully perform a clean install.

Next, I make a backup of all drivers. This can be done with a single command.

Next step is to do a clean install of Windows and restore the original drivers. If this all works ok, I delete my factory image backup as I will never ever need it again.

Finally, I do one more backup of my custom installation. This is like my own personal factory configuration.

I do a lot more than this, but this is the short version of what I do.

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I have two computers made 2012-2014. I am not completely sure if this using Macrium or another app with no backups of anything while having a result right now of two wiped hard drives will work or not. Also, please let me know if you do not understand what i am talking about. i'd rather have a factory state installation rather than a clean, generic Windows installation as drivers are missing. For example, i upgraded my TOSHIBA SATELLITE C70-A-16L part number PSCE2E-08M04SEN to Windows 11 around 5-12 months ago with the audio so low even at 100 when watching a YouTube video, and this is when i realized that the audio driver was missing like nearly a year after this happened. I'm sure other people had this exact issue as well which is why i am proposing this app

It is a good suggestion. They threatened to remove windows system image from the consumer editions a while ago. They haven't done it yet.

SIW2 said:

It is a good suggestion. They threatened to remove windows system image from the consumer editions a while ago. They haven't done it yet.

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if you like my suggesstion, would you mind upvoting it at Join Windows Insider – Get early access to Windows 11 features & updates

JHDHD said:

I am not completely sure if this using Macrium or another app with no backups of anything while having a result right now of two wiped hard drives.

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I hope that I am understanding correctly. If you are saying that the drives of those computers are wiped right now, then you need to do one of the following:

1) Restore a factory image. I dislike this method because invariably it will install a very old build of Windows along with all the factory crapware. Also, for most manufactures, the process of installing the factory image can take hours. This is why I never keep the original factory install. Besides, if I ever need the factory image, it can be downloaded from the manufacturer (yes, this is true for even cheap Chinese laptops and Mini PCs).

2) Restore a backup that you have previously made.

3) Perform a clean install, then install all the drivers for the system one by one.

4) Perform a clean install, restore previously backed up drivers or let Windows install them for you (ask me how)

5) Perform an unattended clean install that includes all drivers. This is my preferred method. I can go from bare metal to a fully completed install along with all drivers already installed in under 15 minutes. If I really want to go all out, I can use a modified Windows image so that after installation I already have all my apps and Windows customizations in place. That may add another 5 minutes or so to the installation.

As for built-in backup solutions, my only problem with this is that Microsoft seems to never polish up such utilities. The previous disk image software was cumbersome at best and very buggy. You could use it in a pinch, but I would never ever in a million years trust it as my only backup solution.

JHDHD said:

i upgraded my TOSHIBA SATELLITE C70-A-16L part number PSCE2E-08M04SEN to Windows 11

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So you upgraded a laptop made around 2013 that originally came with Windows 8.1?

KevTech said:

So you upgraded a laptop made around 2013 that originally came with Windows 8.1?

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Yes i did. That's the exact laptop i upgraded to Windows 11 and found out the audio drivers were not installed.