real system snapshot like in vmware?

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by Sweet Clyde, Aug 23, 2012.

  1. Sweet Clyde

    Sweet Clyde MDL Novice

    May 14, 2012
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    #1 Sweet Clyde, Aug 23, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2012
    Hi, I like how with vmware you can take a snapshot of the virtual system and revert to it.

    Is there a way to do this with a real install? I have a pesky piece of trialware I'd like to reset.

    I have a spare partition I can install a system on. Is there a way I can have the system reset itself upon reboot? Anyone have suggestions on how to do this? Thanks.
     
  2. urie

    urie Moderator
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  3. PhaseDoubt

    PhaseDoubt MDL Expert

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    #3 PhaseDoubt, Aug 23, 2012
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2012
    Windows 7 has a built in system image creation function and it's right there as a part of the OS. Open the control panel and click "Backup and Restore". The link is at the upper left: "Create a system image". It's been hiding there all along. Just be sure and create the repair disk after the image is made.

    With this image you can completely restore your entire system to the point in time when the image was created. Same is true for Acronis True Image Home. I like the 2010 version.
     
  4. coolbuddy

    coolbuddy MDL Member

    Aug 6, 2011
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    Try Rollback Rx.
     
  5. R29k

    R29k MDL GLaDOS

    Feb 13, 2011
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    Exactly what I do, I stopped using Acronis, don't know why people don't use system restore when they want to try out software it is a quick restore solution too? :eek:
     
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  6. urie

    urie Moderator
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    System restore don't know how many times I've had that fail, windows Backup and Restore fair enough it works but image is the Full size of your partition no compression unlike Acronis :biggrin:
     
  7. Sweet Clyde

    Sweet Clyde MDL Novice

    May 14, 2012
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    Thanks very much for the info, I'll give your suggestions a try.
     
  8. PhaseDoubt

    PhaseDoubt MDL Expert

    Dec 24, 2011
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    I very much like the process that restores a system image. System Protection that uses a restore point has never worked well for me in XP, Vista or 7. May just be me, but when I need to get back to a good, stable OS I restore an image.

    My default location for user data files is on a different internal drive and I backup often for data security. That way, when I restore C:, or the entire disk the C: partition is on, my user data is not overwritten.