Solved Windows 10 backup image vs windows.old


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CatnipTea

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Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
I took some extra precautions this time before upgrading to 11. I made a Windows 10 backup image with Macrium Reflect. I also have the windows.old folder still. Will the image of 10 always work even after 10 days in case I ever need to go back? If I backup the windows.old folder too, will it be usable after 10 days on an external drive?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.59311th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GH...12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHzIntel Iris Xe
OS
Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Inspiron 3501
CPU
11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz-4.20GHz
Memory
12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Iris Xe
Sound Card
Cirrus Logic Superior High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.6 in
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768 x 60hz HD
Hard Drives
SK hynix BC711 256GB Solid State Drive NVMe
Internet Speed
43 Mbps
Browser
Chrome, Firefox
The windows.old folder is no use after 10 days even if you back it up, hence reason for using Macrium Reflect.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ16 GB solderedIntegrated Intel Iris XE
OS
Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS Zenbook 14
CPU
I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
Motherboard
Yep, Laptop has one.
Memory
16 GB soldered
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel Iris XE
Sound Card
Realtek built in
Monitor(s) Displays
laptop OLED screen
Screen Resolution
2880x1800 touchscreen
Hard Drives
1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
PSU
Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
Case
Yep, got one
Cooling
Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
Keyboard
Built in UK keybd
Mouse
Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
Internet Speed
900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
Got it. I'll just remove windows.old later.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.59311th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GH...12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHzIntel Iris Xe
OS
Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Inspiron 3501
CPU
11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz-4.20GHz
Memory
12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Iris Xe
Sound Card
Cirrus Logic Superior High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.6 in
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768 x 60hz HD
Hard Drives
SK hynix BC711 256GB Solid State Drive NVMe
Internet Speed
43 Mbps
Browser
Chrome, Firefox
To return to a prior version of Windows the default restore.old can be used for 10 days.

A command can be run to extend the default period up to 60 days.

It may be possible to extend multiple times before the expiration period expires.


If you save the Windows.old folder it can be used at any time to restore important Windows files.
It does not save applications or drivers.

The Windows.old may be able to be created when a computer is no longer bootable.
For those that have no restore points nor backup images this method allows the saving and restoration of important files.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 10Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz16 GB Total: Manufacturer : Samsung MemoryTyp...NVIDIA Quadro K3100M; Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
OS
Windows 10
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
HP
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz
Motherboard
Product : 190A Version : KBC Version 94.56
Memory
16 GB Total: Manufacturer : Samsung MemoryType : DDR3 FormFactor : SODIMM Capacity : 8GB Speed : 1600
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA Quadro K3100M; Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
Sound Card
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC; PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_111D&DEV_76E0
Hard Drives
Model Hitachi HTS727575A9E364
Antivirus
Microsoft Defender
Other Info
Mobile Workstation
zbook said:
To return to a prior version of Windows the default restore.old can be used for 10 days.

A command can be run to extend the default period up to 60 days.

It may be possible to extend multiple times before the expiration period expires.


If you save the Windows.old folder it can be used at any time to restore important Windows files.
It does not save applications or drivers.

The Windows.old may be able to be created when a computer is no longer bootable.
For those that have no restore points nor backup images this method allows the saving and restoration of important files.
Click to expand...
How do you extend the grace period to 60 days - I have never heard of this. In the end, reverting to an older version via windows.old is somewhat unreliable, and I have had several failures of it. Image backups are far more reliable and not time dependent.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ16 GB solderedIntegrated Intel Iris XE
OS
Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS Zenbook 14
CPU
I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
Motherboard
Yep, Laptop has one.
Memory
16 GB soldered
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel Iris XE
Sound Card
Realtek built in
Monitor(s) Displays
laptop OLED screen
Screen Resolution
2880x1800 touchscreen
Hard Drives
1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
PSU
Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
Case
Yep, got one
Cooling
Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
Keyboard
Built in UK keybd
Mouse
Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
Internet Speed
900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow
DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:60

www.tenforums.com

Set Number of Days can Go Back to Previous Version of Windows

How to Set Number of Days can Go Back to Previous Version of Windows in Windows 10
www.tenforums.com www.tenforums.com


To restore important files within windows.old :
www.tenforums.com

How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10

How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10 When you refresh, upgrade, or custom install Windows 10 on the same partition as the previous Windows installation without doing a clean install, then you will have a C:\\Windows.old folder in you
www.tenforums.com www.tenforums.com
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 10Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz16 GB Total: Manufacturer : Samsung MemoryTyp...NVIDIA Quadro K3100M; Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
OS
Windows 10
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
HP
CPU
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz
Motherboard
Product : 190A Version : KBC Version 94.56
Memory
16 GB Total: Manufacturer : Samsung MemoryType : DDR3 FormFactor : SODIMM Capacity : 8GB Speed : 1600
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA Quadro K3100M; Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
Sound Card
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC; PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_111D&DEV_76E0
Hard Drives
Model Hitachi HTS727575A9E364
Antivirus
Microsoft Defender
Other Info
Mobile Workstation
zbook said:
DISM /Online /Get-OSUninstallWindow
DISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:60

www.tenforums.com

Set Number of Days can Go Back to Previous Version of Windows

How to Set Number of Days can Go Back to Previous Version of Windows in Windows 10
www.tenforums.com www.tenforums.com


To restore important files within windows.old :
www.tenforums.com

How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10

How to Restore Files from Windows.old Folder in Windows 10 When you refresh, upgrade, or custom install Windows 10 on the same partition as the previous Windows installation without doing a clean install, then you will have a C:\\Windows.old folder in you
www.tenforums.com www.tenforums.com
Click to expand...
Thanks.

Btw - I was not questioning that you can extract files from a backed up copy of windows.old but seems rather pointless if you have an image backup as you can do same with an image backup (at least most image tools can)

One great feature of a Reflect image backup is yiu can run it as a VM using Viboot (now available with virtualbox as well as HyperV).
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ16 GB solderedIntegrated Intel Iris XE
OS
Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
ASUS Zenbook 14
CPU
I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
Motherboard
Yep, Laptop has one.
Memory
16 GB soldered
Graphics Card(s)
Integrated Intel Iris XE
Sound Card
Realtek built in
Monitor(s) Displays
laptop OLED screen
Screen Resolution
2880x1800 touchscreen
Hard Drives
1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
PSU
Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
Case
Yep, got one
Cooling
Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
Keyboard
Built in UK keybd
Mouse
Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
Internet Speed
900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Defender
Other Info
TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

Macrium Reflect Home V8
Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
cereberus said:
Thanks.

Btw - I was not questioning that you can extract files from a backed up copy of windows.old but seems rather pointless if you have an image backup as you can do same with an image backup (at least most image tools can)

One great feature of a Reflect image backup is yiu can run it as a VM using Viboot (now available with virtualbox as well as HyperV).
Click to expand...
I got my new SSD couple of days back. I partitioned it the way I want and then used DISM to create and apply the image of existing OSes from the current boot disk (I have a dual boot system).

While the new disk booted from one of the images, it failed to boot from the other image.

I then tried creating a clone using AOMEI Partition Assistant, but it was creating a 8 MB partition to the left of the partition where I wanted the clone. I didn’t understand the purpose of that 8 MB partition.

So I used Macrium Reflect to clone and it did the job perfectly.

My question: The image that I created using DISM (which failed to boot): Can I use it to create a backup using Macrium and then subsequently use it on a VM using ViBoot?
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11Intel Core i7 3630QM16 GBIntel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
HP Envy dv7
CPU
Intel Core i7 3630QM
Motherboard
HP
Memory
16 GB
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD Graphics 4000 & Nvidia GeForce GT 635M
Sound Card
IDT High Definition
Screen Resolution
1080p
Hard Drives
1 TB Crucial MX500 on bay 1.
1 TB Seagate HDD on bay 2.
Antivirus
Windows Defender
Like you I had both. I used the DISM command to increase the 10 days to 40 and also had Macrium to fall back on. I only ever did it once on my old machine and using Settings> Recovery> Go Back worked perfectly. If you need any files from Windows.old have a look at the Shadow Explorer program, old but works with 11
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro13th Gen Core i9 13900HX32GB DDR5 @4800MHz 2x16GBGeforce RTX 4090HX 16GB
    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

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro10th Gen i-9 10900 K32Gb Dual Channel DDR4 @ 8843MHzNvidia RTX 2080 Super
    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
Hi,
Although the upgrade process has been greatly improved restoring I would not trust it to go back.

Best to remove windows.old and use reflect to go back if that's what you want.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Win-7-10-11Pro's10900k & 9940x & 5930kTrident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 36...Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
OS
Win-7-10-11Pro's
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Acer 17" Nitro 7840sn/ 2x16gb 5600c40/ 4060/ stock 1tb-os/ 4tb sn850x
CPU
10900k & 9940x & 5930k
Motherboard
z490-Apex & x299-Apex & x99-Sabertooth
Memory
Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 3600c16 4x8gb & 3200c14 4x8gb
Graphics Card(s)
Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
Sound Card
Onboard Realtek x3
Monitor(s) Displays
1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Screen Resolution
1920-1080 not sure what the t.v is besides 43" class scales from 1920-1080 perfectly
Hard Drives
2-WD-sn850x 4tb/ 970evo+500gb/ 980 pro 2tb.
PSU
1000p2 & 1200p2 & 850p2
Case
D450 x2 & 1 Test bench in cherry Entertainment center
Cooling
Custom water loops x3 with 2x mora 360mm rads only 980ti gaming air cooled
Keyboard
G710+x3
Mouse
Redragon x3
Internet Speed
xfinity gigabyte
Browser
Firefox
Antivirus
mbam pro
What I did was use Settings> Recovery> Go Back and it worked perfectly
If it had failed then I would have used Macrium
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro13th Gen Core i9 13900HX32GB DDR5 @4800MHz 2x16GBGeforce RTX 4090HX 16GB
    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

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 Pro10th Gen i-9 10900 K32Gb Dual Channel DDR4 @ 8843MHzNvidia RTX 2080 Super
    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
CatnipTea said:
Got it. I'll just remove windows.old later.
Click to expand...
You can use the built-in utility cleanmgr , or it's UWP alternative in the new control panel in the cleanup menu to do this for you.
No need to manually remove this folder, actually kind of difficult to manually remove. Much better to use the built-in routine.
Also worth to run the cleaner to clean up Windows Update log files, system restore points and other diagnostics and backup data that can be removed in case of a succesful update.

Welcome to Windows 11!
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two
No worries, I quickly abandoned that idea after finding out just deleting that folder manually will cause a lot more problems. I'll remove it through disk cleanup.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.59311th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GH...12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHzIntel Iris Xe
OS
Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Inspiron 3501
CPU
11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz-4.20GHz
Memory
12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Iris Xe
Sound Card
Cirrus Logic Superior High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.6 in
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768 x 60hz HD
Hard Drives
SK hynix BC711 256GB Solid State Drive NVMe
Internet Speed
43 Mbps
Browser
Chrome, Firefox
Hi,
I would also make a system image of 11 and restore it if I changed my mind in the future.
Only restriction is available offline storage.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Win-7-10-11Pro's10900k & 9940x & 5930kTrident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 36...Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
OS
Win-7-10-11Pro's
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Manufacturer/Model
Acer 17" Nitro 7840sn/ 2x16gb 5600c40/ 4060/ stock 1tb-os/ 4tb sn850x
CPU
10900k & 9940x & 5930k
Motherboard
z490-Apex & x299-Apex & x99-Sabertooth
Memory
Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb & Trident-Z 3600c16 4x8gb & 3200c14 4x8gb
Graphics Card(s)
Titan Xp & 1080ti FTW3 & evga 980ti gaming
Sound Card
Onboard Realtek x3
Monitor(s) Displays
1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Screen Resolution
1920-1080 not sure what the t.v is besides 43" class scales from 1920-1080 perfectly
Hard Drives
2-WD-sn850x 4tb/ 970evo+500gb/ 980 pro 2tb.
PSU
1000p2 & 1200p2 & 850p2
Case
D450 x2 & 1 Test bench in cherry Entertainment center
Cooling
Custom water loops x3 with 2x mora 360mm rads only 980ti gaming air cooled
Keyboard
G710+x3
Mouse
Redragon x3
Internet Speed
xfinity gigabyte
Browser
Firefox
Antivirus
mbam pro
Yep I already have around 5 Windows 11 images.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.59311th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GH...12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHzIntel Iris Xe
OS
Windows 11 Home 21H2 22000.593
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell Inspiron 3501
CPU
11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz-4.20GHz
Memory
12gb Dual channel DDR4 2666 MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel Iris Xe
Sound Card
Cirrus Logic Superior High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
15.6 in
Screen Resolution
1366 x 768 x 60hz HD
Hard Drives
SK hynix BC711 256GB Solid State Drive NVMe
Internet Speed
43 Mbps
Browser
Chrome, Firefox
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