Using Windows 7 to back up my data Can't use external Drive

I tried using the Windows 7 backup for my user data.
It says I cannot use an external drive. Why would I want to use my internal drive for backup?
Windows 10 that was not a problem.
I was able to make a system image to an external USB drive.

Even Microsoft says to no longer use that feature but to use a 3rd party backup solution. To protect your data, please consider using one of the free or paid backup and imaging apps available. Some are as follows. I can recommend only the first 2 since those are the only ones I have personally used.
Haselo Backup Suite - free (this is my secondary imaging app. It works very well and is simple to use. It is recommended a lot here)
Macrium Reflect - paid (this is my primary go-to imaging app. IMO is the best there is and many users here use it.)
EaseUS ToDo free
Aoemi Backupper - free
Paragon Community Edition - free
+ others
You may also want to sync your data to one of the cloud storage providers.

Douglas G said:

I tried using the Windows 7 backup for my user data.
It says I cannot use an external drive. Why would I want to use my internal drive for backup?
Windows 10 that was not a problem.
I was able to make a system image to an external USB drive.

Click to expand...

As @glasskuter mentioned, don't use Windows backup, use a 3rd party option.

Bold decision to use Windows 7 backup!

Never thought of trying to use something like that for backup! I'd rethink that... As others have said, there are so many excellent and free backup solutions, I can't see fooling around with a 15 year old backup application!