System Restore not finding my drives - error 0x81000203


TraceyW

Well-known member
Local time
10:27 AM
Posts
13
OS
Windows 10/11 (dual boot)
Hi

I have a system where I am dual booting Windows 10 and Windows 11. However, after not going into Windows 11 for a few days, today I found that Windows 11 System Restore is not working. Windows is coming up with the 0x81000203 error. I've checked that the relevant services are starting when System Restore is invoked and also gpedit.msc is showing that System Restore is Not Configured. I've also checked two registry keys that apparently have an effect on System Restore in Windows 10 (don't know about Win11) but by all accounts they are both fine (can't say what they are just now - can't find the website).

When I try going into System Restore, the dialogue comes up with another dialogue containing the error message - the dialogue itself says it is searching for my drives but is not finding any of the 11 I've got. Windows boots up just fine and anyway I've run SFC and CHKDSK and both find no problems at all. My question therefore is: what else can I do to try and get System Restore working. It HAS been working as I generally take a restore point before uninstalling anything (I use Revo Uninstall Pro on Win11). I just don't know what else to try.

Tracey
 
Windows Build/Version
Version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.194)

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11 (dual boot)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 3600
    Motherboard
    MSI MAG B550M Mortar mATX
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 2x16GB 3200MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTX1050Ti Mini
    Sound Card
    RTL ALC1200 7.1 HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer QG271 27" + Acer G276HLA 27"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (x2)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe 250GB (x2)
    Sandisk SSD 240GB; WD Blue HD 3TB
    WD MyBook 3TB Ext
    PSU
    Corsair CX550M 550W
    Case
    Fractal Design Define C Mini
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H80i v2 AIO
    Keyboard
    Logitech K520 (wireless)
    Mouse
    Logitech M310 (wireless) & M110 (wired)
    Internet Speed
    Approx 35-36Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox (main) & Edge
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Premium & MS Defender
    Other Info
    Printers: CutePDF, Epson ET-2500 AIO
    Wacom Tablet CTL-4100 (small)
    Canon 110 Scanner
Frankly, I have given up using restore points as too unreliable. I use image backups instead using Macrium Reflect You can backup both Windows partitions at same time if you like but only need to restore the windows partition that is playing up.

The thing to be careful with image backups is that if you restore an image backup, if you have valuable data on C drive that was not included in image backup, data can be lost. I store my data on a different drive to ensure that does not happen.

It is a good idea to make a differential backup just before you do a restore, partly so you can wind forward again if you decide to do so, and partly all the data on C drive is backed up.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
    Motherboard
    Erica6
    Memory
    Micron Technology DDR4-3200 16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC671
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster U28E590
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    SAMSUNG MZVLQ1T0HALB-000H1
Thanks for your reply cerebus. Quite frankly I've never used System Restore so I don't really know why I care so much about this. I suppose its a case of "its supposed to work so why doesn't it". Like you, I depend to a very large extent on Macrium Reflect (the free version - still on version 7). Several times I've made adjustments to my setting up and fouled things up and rather than use System Restore I've simply restored my previous weeks backup and continued from there. Whenever possible I refuse to put anything on drive C that is not associated with the OS. I have Windows on a drive all its own and all my programs and data are on a different drive drive in separate partitions. I don't think my husband can understand me but it seems logical to me to do things this way. My drive C is backed up every Saturday are my partitions for programs, data, audio and source files (I have a separate partition just for my program source files and any other files which are important to the operation of my PC). I also backup a variety of misc files as well.

I think I shall adopt the same attitude as yourself and to hell with System Restore. If it doesn't work - tough!!! But its taken your post to make me realise how little I use System Restore.

Tracey
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11 (dual boot)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 3600
    Motherboard
    MSI MAG B550M Mortar mATX
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 2x16GB 3200MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTX1050Ti Mini
    Sound Card
    RTL ALC1200 7.1 HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer QG271 27" + Acer G276HLA 27"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (x2)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe 250GB (x2)
    Sandisk SSD 240GB; WD Blue HD 3TB
    WD MyBook 3TB Ext
    PSU
    Corsair CX550M 550W
    Case
    Fractal Design Define C Mini
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H80i v2 AIO
    Keyboard
    Logitech K520 (wireless)
    Mouse
    Logitech M310 (wireless) & M110 (wired)
    Internet Speed
    Approx 35-36Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox (main) & Edge
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Premium & MS Defender
    Other Info
    Printers: CutePDF, Epson ET-2500 AIO
    Wacom Tablet CTL-4100 (small)
    Canon 110 Scanner
I had the same issue only yesterday, tried and tested all the online solutions to the problem but nothing worked for me.
Fortunately for me I'm a Macrium user and I had an image from only a few day before, restored my image and all is well again.
the online solutions worked for some users but not for me, hope you have better luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Dual Boot 10 / 11 Pro
Thanks for your reply cerebus. Quite frankly I've never used System Restore so I don't really know why I care so much about this. I suppose its a case of "its supposed to work so why doesn't it". Like you, I depend to a very large extent on Macrium Reflect (the free version - still on version 7). Several times I've made adjustments to my setting up and fouled things up and rather than use System Restore I've simply restored my previous weeks backup and continued from there. Whenever possible I refuse to put anything on drive C that is not associated with the OS. I have Windows on a drive all its own and all my programs and data are on a different drive drive in separate partitions. I don't think my husband can understand me but it seems logical to me to do things this way. My drive C is backed up every Saturday are my partitions for programs, data, audio and source files (I have a separate partition just for my program source files and any other files which are important to the operation of my PC). I also backup a variety of misc files as well.

I think I shall adopt the same attitude as yourself and to hell with System Restore. If it doesn't work - tough!!! But its taken your post to make me realise how little I use System Restore.

Tracey
If you really want to go one stage further, you can buy a Reflect licence and when yiubrestore an incremental backup, it uses Rapid Delta Restore i.e. instead of restoring whole drive, it restores by difference. Depending on how long since last backup, it may only take a minute or so. This is like system restore on steroids.

You can download a 30 day free trial of Macrium Reflect Home, to test RDR. If you choose not to pay for licence, it reverts to free version. I think there is currently 20% off at moment. Note: licence is a one-off paymentcand all updates of V8 are free.

You would have to pay for V9 in future (3 years between versions typically) but even then there is usally a 50% discount.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
I depend to a very large extent on Macrium Reflect (the free version - still on version 7).
MR v8 is now available in the Free Editiom
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro v 23H2 (Build 22631.3374)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Precision 3660 Tower Workstation
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900 5.10 GHz
    Motherboard
    64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
    Memory
    32.00 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel UHD Graphics 770
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell P2714H Monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1 x 512GB NVME PC801 NVMe SK hynix Boot
    1 x 1TB Seagate ST1000LM049-2GH172 Internal HDD
    1 x 1TB Seagate STGX4000400 External HDD
    1 x 2TB Seagate STGX4000400 External HDD
    1 x 4TB Seagate STGX4000400 External HDD
    PSU
    300 Watts
    Cooling
    Air
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wired Keyboard 600
    Mouse
    Microsoft USB Basic Optical Mouse v2.0
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender + Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell Inc.
    BaseBoard Product 0J1CP3
    BaseBoard Version A01
Both a backup and a restore can allow you to access lost data, and both can be automated by using different software included in your computer's program, but that is where the similarities end. It does not mean that one should be used instead of another, but simply that they are complementary in their differences, and together, they will help you recover lost documents and files. I would try & fix the system restore so i have both working. JMO
Chuck
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows11 23H2 (OS Build 22631.2428)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP HP ENVY TE01
    CPU
    2.90 gigahertz Intel Core i7-10700
    Motherboard
    Board: HP 8767 A (SMVB)
    Memory
    16214 Megabytes Usable Installed Memor
    Hard Drives
    1511.52 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
    1418.15 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless
    Mouse
    M 185 wireless
    Internet Speed
    12 ms Jitter 8 ms Download 10.5 Mbps Upload 1.7
    Browser
    Edge & FF
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Yes I know Macrium v8 is available and I've tried it. I hate it! Why? Because it insists on using these damned Image IDs. I hate the things. They mean nothing to me and they look ugly so I wrote a message about them but held off putting it up until the right moment - so here goes!

I have been using the free version of Macrium Reflect for many years now and it has always served me very well. I've also installed it on my husband's PC and on a spare PC we have and both are backed up on a regular basis, again with no problems.

When version 8 was released I jumped at the chance to install it and see what may have changed. One thing was immediately obvious, Macrium strongly recommend the use of an ImageID in the filename and make sure it's included. WHY!!! I hate the damn things. So much so that since I could not, as far as I could see, reinstall 7.3 (somehow I seemed to be locked into 8), I restored my previous weeks system backup and reinstalled version 7.3. Then, when alerted to the fact that 8 was available, I selected to NEVER update to 8. Quite frankly I would like to see a user selectable option to either INCLUDE or NOT INCLUDE the ImageID in filenames (as in v7.3) - and I don't see the current system of deselecting the Image ID for each and every file as particularly satisfactory.

Why my hate of ImageIDs? I always like to use a name I can relate to and which means something to me. Since I've been using Reflect I've NEVER had any problems using filenames without an ImageID - at least I know I've got the right file if I need to restore it. ImageIDs mean nothing to me. They're just a jumble of numbers and letters. Maybe the program knows what they mean, but me(?), no way. Nevertheless, I'm curious enough to want to know what is so magical, so special about ImageIDs? Why are they so strongly recommended and why don't other programs insist on you using them if they are so special? Yes I know v8 gives the option of giving the filename a meaningful name as well as preceeding it with the ImageID - but I hate it. So! Can anyone please educate me and explain what is so magical and special about ImageIDs?

Well that's my post. If anyone can explain why ImageIDs are so special I would appreciate it.

Tracey
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10/11 (dual boot)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built
    CPU
    Ryzen 5 3600
    Motherboard
    MSI MAG B550M Mortar mATX
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 2x16GB 3200MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GTX1050Ti Mini
    Sound Card
    RTL ALC1200 7.1 HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer QG271 27" + Acer G276HLA 27"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (x2)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 NVMe 250GB (x2)
    Sandisk SSD 240GB; WD Blue HD 3TB
    WD MyBook 3TB Ext
    PSU
    Corsair CX550M 550W
    Case
    Fractal Design Define C Mini
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H80i v2 AIO
    Keyboard
    Logitech K520 (wireless)
    Mouse
    Logitech M310 (wireless) & M110 (wired)
    Internet Speed
    Approx 35-36Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox (main) & Edge
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes Premium & MS Defender
    Other Info
    Printers: CutePDF, Epson ET-2500 AIO
    Wacom Tablet CTL-4100 (small)
    Canon 110 Scanner
What I do is to create a folder on the external drive I image to and name it with the laptop description, date and any other info needed. Then select that folder to image to. Image is then easy to recognise for me.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro & 🐥.
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS VivoBook
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx
    Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. X509DA (FP5)
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RX Vega 10 Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080@60Hz)
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB NVMe 1.3
    Internet Speed
    25 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
  • Operating System
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ACER NITRO
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5800H / 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    CZ Scala_CAS (FP6)
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4 SDRAM 3200 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6 GB GDDR6 SDRAM
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio. NVIDIA High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15.6" LED backlight 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 144 Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB NVMe M.2
    PSU
    180 Watt, 19.5 V
    Mouse
    Lenovo Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    25 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
I make folders and subfolders. Using my Desktop as an example. I made a folder named New Powerspec. Then I make folders named for the date made 1-10-22. Works great for me.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec B746
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-10700K
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z490 Phantom Gaming 4/ax
    Memory
    16GB (8GB PC4-19200 DDR4 SDRAM x2)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 TI
    Sound Card
    Realtek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SAM0A87 Samsung SAM0D32
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    NVMe WDC WDS100T2B0C-00PXH0 1TB
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    PSU
    750 Watts (62.5A)
    Case
    PowerSpec/Lian Li ATX 205
    Keyboard
    Logitech K270
    Mouse
    Logitech M185
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge and Firefox
    Antivirus
    ESET Internet Security
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Canary Channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PowerSpec G156
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
    Motherboard
    AsusTeK Prime B360M-S
    Memory
    16 MB DDR 4-2666
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Speptre HDMI 75Hz
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe
    Mouse
    Logitek M185
    Keyboard
    Logitek K270
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge and Edge Canary
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Again... System Restore is NOT a backup program, nor was it ever designed to be or compete with "backup" programs!

Until people understand that fact there will always be confusion on posts mentioning issues with System Restore and those posting back that they should use an "alternative "backup" program (Macrium). That does NOT solve System Restore issues cause one is not the other.
A "backup" deals with personal files and folders. System Restore only deals with the registry (backup) and system files. I use System Restore for driver updates where if something goes wrong, I can revert back to the system file and registry before a driver or software package update.

Also be aware anytime a new OS upgrade, example: Win 10 1809 > 1903 is done, the System Restore points get deleted as they no longer apply to the new OS. So, if you had Restore Points in Win 10 1809. In Win 10, 1903 those restore points will be gone cause they applied to 1809, not 1903.

Hope this clarifies/helps :)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (Build 22631.3296)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    Intel i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Aorus Z390 Xtreme
    Memory
    32G (4x8) DDR4 Corsair RGB Dominator Platinum (3600Mhz)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon VII
    Sound Card
    Onboard (ESS Sabre HiFi using Realtek drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    NEC PA242w (24 inch)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    5 Samsung SSD drives: 2X 970 NVME (512 & 1TB), 3X EVO SATA (2X 2TB, 1X 1TB)
    PSU
    EVGA Super Nova I000 G2 (1000 watt)
    Case
    Cooler Master H500M
    Cooling
    Corsair H115i RGB Platinum
    Keyboard
    Logitech Craft
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    500mb Download. 11mb Upload
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
    Other Info
    System used for gaming, photography, music, school.
  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro 22H2 (build 19045.2130)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel i7-7700K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-Z270X-GAMING 8
    Memory
    32G (4x8) DDR4 Corsair Dominator Platinum (3333Mhz)
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R9 Fury
    Sound Card
    Onboard (Creative Sound Blaster certified ZxRi)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U2415 (24 inch)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    3 Samsung SSD drives: 1x 512gig 950 NVMe drive (OS drive), 1 x 512gig 850 Pro, 1x 256gig 840 Pro.
    PSU
    EVGA Super Nova 1000 P2 (1000 watt)
    Case
    Phantek Enthoo Luxe
    Cooling
    Corsair H100i
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Keyboard
    Logitech MK 710
    Internet Speed
    100MB
    Browser
    Edge Chromium
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
    Other Info
    This is my backup system.
Yes I know Macrium v8 is available and I've tried it. I hate it! Why? Because it insists on using these damned Image IDs. I hate the things. They mean nothing to me and they look ugly so I wrote a message about them but held off putting it up until the right moment - so here goes!

I have been using the free version of Macrium Reflect for many years now and it has always served me very well. I've also installed it on my husband's PC and on a spare PC we have and both are backed up on a regular basis, again with no problems.

When version 8 was released I jumped at the chance to install it and see what may have changed. One thing was immediately obvious, Macrium strongly recommend the use of an ImageID in the filename and make sure it's included. WHY!!! I hate the damn things. So much so that since I could not, as far as I could see, reinstall 7.3 (somehow I seemed to be locked into 8), I restored my previous weeks system backup and reinstalled version 7.3. Then, when alerted to the fact that 8 was available, I selected to NEVER update to 8. Quite frankly I would like to see a user selectable option to either INCLUDE or NOT INCLUDE the ImageID in filenames (as in v7.3) - and I don't see the current system of deselecting the Image ID for each and every file as particularly satisfactory.

Why my hate of ImageIDs? I always like to use a name I can relate to and which means something to me. Since I've been using Reflect I've NEVER had any problems using filenames without an ImageID - at least I know I've got the right file if I need to restore it. ImageIDs mean nothing to me. They're just a jumble of numbers and letters. Maybe the program knows what they mean, but me(?), no way. Nevertheless, I'm curious enough to want to know what is so magical, so special about ImageIDs? Why are they so strongly recommended and why don't other programs insist on you using them if they are so special? Yes I know v8 gives the option of giving the filename a meaningful name as well as preceeding it with the ImageID - but I hate it. So! Can anyone please educate me and explain what is so magical and special about ImageIDs?

Well that's my post. If anyone can explain why ImageIDs are so special I would appreciate it.

Tracey
You can change settings to cal it what you like - even not append ids.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Yes I know Macrium v8 is available and I've tried it. I hate it! Why? Because it insists on using these damned Image IDs. I hate the things. They mean nothing to me and they look ugly so I wrote a message about them but held off putting it up until the right moment - so here goes!

Well that's my post. If anyone can explain why ImageIDs are so special I would appreciate it.

Tracey
I can't explain them -- but if you go into Advanced Options when you configure the backup, you will see the is a box you can uncheck to stop forcing these Image IDs.

Unfortunately, unlike other settings, there seems to be no way to configure this option to OFF all the time.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom built
    CPU
    Ryzen 5600X
    Motherboard
    ASRock Steel Legend
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GT 710
    Sound Card
    None
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23",24", 19" - flat panels
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    None - only M.2 SATA and NVMe drives
    PSU
    750W
    Case
    Antec
    Cooling
    stock Wraith cooler
    Keyboard
    Corsair gaming
    Mouse
    Logitech M720
    Internet Speed
    1Gb
...I don't see the current system of deselecting the Image ID for each and every file as particularly satisfactory....

You just have to configure it the once, then save your settings as a backup definition file. Then run the backup definition file whenever you need to make an image. You can edit it to change the image file name before you run it, if you like. That's what I do for my monthly Full images.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
I can't explain them -- but if you go into Advanced Options when you configure the backup, you will see the is a box you can uncheck to stop forcing these Image IDs.

Unfortunately, unlike other settings, there seems to be no way to configure this option to OFF all the time.
Yeah this is a pain and people have complained on the Macrium forum but once you have created an xml file, and use run definitions (as @Bree says), you do not need to select option every time.

In simple words use XML files.

Turn off image id by unchecking box.

1641892594411.png


Click curly brackets e,g, YY

1641891716262.png

select option from menu

1641891851606.png

repeat with options you want. Yiu can add text as well (I add minuses)

1641892322740.png


When you set up files using xml, I give a date in YY MM DD format at start of name as then the images sort in correct date order in explorer (This works in reverse EU format but not in illogical reverse US format which would be YY DD MM).

Then carry on and when you get to this page, create an XML name.

1641892888560.png

then once run, you see name in file explorer as

1641893034865.png


Then when you want to create additional backup, select definition tab, custom name xml, backup type.

1641893207146.png



resulting in

1641893288168.png


You can edit the custom xml file before you run it e.g.

1641893503293.png

1641893608293.png

If you do this to add comments, it will remember last comment which may not what you want, so remember to remove it next time
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Who cares about the filename as long as it does the job. you can add your own name at the end to help with reference. I agree they do look ugle and not even the same length
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware M18 R1
    CPU
    13th Gen Core i9 13900HX
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 @4800MHz 2x16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Geforce RTX 4090HX 16GB
    Sound Card
    Nvidia HD / Realtek ALC3254
    Monitor(s) Displays
    18" QHD+
    Screen Resolution
    25660 X 1600
    Hard Drives
    C: KIOXIA (Toshiba) 2TB KXG80ZNV2T04 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD
    D: KIOXIA (Toshiba) 2TB KXG80ZNV2T04 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD
    Case
    Dark Metallic Moon
    Keyboard
    Alienware M Series per-key AlienFX RGB
    Mouse
    Alienware AW610M
    Browser
    Chrome and Firefox
    Antivirus
    Norton
    Other Info
    Killer E3000 Ethernet Controller
    Killer Killer AX1690 Wi-Fi Network Adaptor Wi-Fi 6E
    Bluetooth 5.2
    Alienware Z01G Graphic Amplifier
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware Area 51m R2
    CPU
    10th Gen i-9 10900 K
    Memory
    32Gb Dual Channel DDR4 @ 8843MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Nvidia RTX 2080 Super
    Sound Card
    Nvidia
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Hard Drive C: Samsung 2TB SSD PM981a NVMe
    Hard Drive D:Samsung 2TB SSD 970 EVO Plus
    Mouse
    Alienware 610M
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Norton

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