The screen also includes an approximate indication of how large the backup will be if you've got a lot of files on your system drive, this could be hundreds or thousands of gigabytes.Ĭlick the 'Start backup' button to begin creating the system image. The final screen confirms where the backup will be saved to and lets you check the drives which will be included in the system image. You'll ideally need a large external hard drive or network share. System image backups can have extremely large file sizes, as they contain a replica of everything on your hard drive. Windows supports network drives, external hard disks or a set of DVDs. This way, you can easily recover your files, while also ensuring you can restore your operating system if you fall victim to malware or your hard drive fails.īefore following this guide, you'll need to have a storage medium to save the disk image to. A system image is only one aspect of a complete backup plan it's best used alongside a system such as File History to handle your personal files.

Windows installation media on a DVD or USB can be used to clone the contents of the disk image back to your hard drive.ĭisk images only include your operating system drive, so if your device has multiple drives – such as an SSD for the system and a hard drive for your files – you'll need to remember this.

In the future, you can use the disk image to recover your PC, even if it's unbootable or Windows won't start. Whereas File History is designed to only backup your personal files, a system image backup creates a recoverable clone of your operating system's drive.

Windows 10 disk image creator