Restoring O/S on a dual-boot PC?

Not 100% confident about what I have read browsing the internet, so may I ask here (my go-to site for many years for Windows questions)...

My PC (for flight sim only, in essence) is Windows 10/Windows 11 dual-boot. I lately installed all my software onto Windows 11 and the Windows 10 drive is now obsolete: I do like to have another method of booting on the PC, should on drive fail, so I shall leave it there.

My question is this: I made a drive image (using Windows 11 native tool) and saved it on an external HDD. If, heaven forbid, I need to use it to reinstall Windows 11, I am assuming that trying it in Windows 10 wouldn't work. Is that so? If I made another image of my Windows 11 partitions from within Windows 10, then...?

Just covering options, so I am 'armed' in case of the unhappy event. It does happen, needless to say - I only finally moved over to Windows 11 for my flight simulation because my Windows 10 installation broke a week or so ago, to the extent I had to reinstall it (luckily a software, not a hardware problem: I saw a CMD script suddenly appear (virus??? I'd had no indication from my anti-virus, and the gamin PC is very low-risk, not getting emails and so forth), deleting files from Windows/System32!!! It didn't last long, but the damage was done. I could have tried a repair with sfc or something, but it was time I moved to Win11 anyway, so I didn't bother.). I have also made a Windows 11 Recovery Drive, BTW, on a USB drive.

Thanks.

The Backup & Restore (windows 7) feature in WIndows 11 is deprecated. Even Microsoft suggests one uses a 3rd party imaging app instead.
If you want to protect yourself against an "unhappy event" I strongly suggest you use a 3rd party imaging app. Some are paid, some free. IMO the best free one out there ATM is Haselo Backup Suite. The best paid one is Macrium and is probably the one most used one by members here..

If you decide to go with Haselo, here is a guide written by one of our members, @antspants. antspants - Tips for using Hasleo Backup (Free) for the first time

You can use the forum's search feature to find the many discussions here about imaging apps, how to create images, and how to create emergency recovery media for the app of choice. It is this media one uses to restore images. For whatever app one uses, it is very important that one tests that he can boot from that recovery media.

The Backup & Restore (windows 7) feature in WIndows 11 is deprecated. Even Microsoft suggests one uses a 3rd party imaging app instead.

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Well, I didn't know that, although the 'Windows 7' epithet caused me a raised eyebrow (or two!). What does that mean exactly, in practice though; that a restore will likely not work?

I could certainly use Macrium instead - I have had it on my PC for years and have made backups before. My concern was that on occasion the programme didn't recognise its own backup: 'image not valid' - even though I always validate an image after I create it (the image had been made two or three years earlier and the software, which I had innocently upodated, had 'moved on', perhaps??) and I had to start from scratch.. very annoying. But that was several years ago.

I don't know Haselo: I will look into it.

You can use the forum's search feature to find the many discussions here about imaging apps, how to create images, and how to create emergency recovery media for the app of choice

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I am fairly OK with that (on the whole): my question was specifically about 'cross-platform' operations on a dual-boot PC, where the O/Ss are not the same (Win10/Win11 in my case). If I had the Haselo programme on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 and say the latter failed, would the Haselo (or Macrium) installation on Windows 10 be able to restore Windows 11 from a single drive image (made probably from within Windows 11)?

Thanks.

Yes, either app can be used to backup/restore an entire system with multiple disks, a single disk, an individual partition, or individual files and folders.

martinlest said:

the 'Windows 7' epithet caused me a raised eyebrow (or two!). What does that mean exactly, in practice though; that a restore will likely not work?

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It means use at your own risk. It was not dependable back in the Windows 7 days so it's even more questionable now in the days of 10 or 11..

martinlest said:

would the Haselo (or Macrium) installation on Windows 10 be able to restore Windows 11 from a single drive image (made probably from within Windows 11)?

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You don't restore an image created in either of those apps from within Windows. You restore it from the app's usb boot media that you create from within the app..

Both Haselo or Macrium can be used to backup/restore an entire system with multiple disks, a single disk, an individual partition, or individual files and folders.

My question is this: I made a drive image (using Windows 11 native tool) and saved it on an external HDD. If, heaven forbid, I need to use it to reinst all Windows 11, I am assuming that trying it in Windows 10 wouldn't work. Is that so? If I made another image of my Windows 11 partitions from within Windows 10, then...?

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I dont know if win10 bmrui will restore an image made by win11. I havent tested it to see.

If I made another image of my Windows 11 partitions from within Windows 10, then...?

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I expect that will work. Add the win11 partition when creating the win10 backup image.

You don't restore an image created in either of those apps from within Windows. You restore it from the app's usb boot media that you create from within the app..

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Ah, I see. My memory is that I did do that with Macrium, but it was many years ago, I may well have forgotten...

I'll have a go tomorrow at making the image - I have the Hasleo software now.

bmrui.exe (bare metal restore ui ) is only in windows in pe ( either ms boot.wim or winre.wim )

Diskgenius ( free version) can be used to restore windows backup images. It doesnt care what os created the image.

Diskgenius can load the .vhdx image and clone the win11 partition from the vhdx to the original win11 partition on disk. Job done

Disk>open virtual disk




browse to select the .vhdx file



The vhdx file loads in the left pane.

RT click the partition you want to restore

Select clone partition

select the original win11 partition as the destination for the clone

martinlest said:

I'll have a go tomorrow at making the image - I have the Hasleo software now.

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I think you'll like it. I've been a die hard Macrium user for years and it's still my main imaging app. But I do make a Haselo image for every 3rd image I make. That way I don't have all my eggs in one basket. Haselo is the closest one to Macrium I have found in speed and ease of use.

Note 1: Once you create its recovery media, test that you can boot from the usb you create. If it won't boot, you may have to temporarily disable secure boot in bios and try to boot from the media again. (This is true for any imaging app)

Note 2: Only if you have RAID or VMD enabled in your bios, you will need to inject your storage controller drivers into your recovery media. (step 3 indicated in antspants' tutorial for Haselo. Button says "add driver") (Again, this is true for any imaging app)
For Intel that would be Intel Rapid Storage Controller (IRST) driver. Otherwise, during a restore your drives will not be seen.

(I solved this second issue the last time I clean installed Windows. I changed disk mode fom RAID to AHCI in bios before the clean install. That way it defaults to Microsoft's storage controller driver so no additional ones have to be inserted during a clean install or image restore)

You don't restore an image created in either of those apps from within Windows

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The instructions seem to show that you do exactly that? I've made the image now, at any rate.

Thanks (both) for the advice.. over the next day or two I will 'digest' what you have said and make a restore/boot media, but I imagine it's going to be pretty much as it was with Macrium