How to Restore a Windows 10 System Image from an External Hard Drive

Why create a system image on an external hard drive?

A Windows 10 system image is an exact copy of your operating system, boot sector, settings, programs, registry, and important files, usually from the C drive (in most cases). It ensures your computer is protected and lets you restore your Windows 10 installation quickly and easily.

The reason to create a system image on an external hard drive is that, in case your computer becomes unbootable due to damage, corruption, crash, or virus threats, you may not be able to access it, and you cannot perform system image recovery on the computer if you have backed up locally. Besides, creating a system image on an external hard drive can save a lot of space on your HDD/SSD.

How to Restore System Image Without Repair Disc

If you're worried about restoring a system image without a repair disc, it's possible. In this article, we'll introduce a professional backup tool - Todo Backup, which can create a system image on an external device and be used to restore it on your device.

How to Create a System Image Backup in Windows 10

Before you can restore a system backup, you need to create an image of your system on an external hard drive. Additionally, you must create a System Repair Disk at the end of the backup process, so you can access recovery options if your computer fails to start.

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer.

Step 2: Go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup > Go back to Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

Step 3: On the left, choose “Create a system image.” Under “Where do you want to save the backup?” check “On a hard disk,” and then select your destination USB drive from the drop-down menu.

Step 4. Click “Next” > “Start Backup.” Wait for the system to complete the full backup.

When it's done, you'll be prompted to create a System Repair Disk (CD/DVD). You can use this disc to access recovery options if your computer won't start up.

?RELATED: How to Backup Windows 10 to External Hard Drive

How to Restore a System Image Backup in Windows 10

If the computer will boot, you can restore from a backup image easily.

Go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. Under Advanced startup, click the Restart now button. After your PC restarts, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Image Recovery, and then follow the on-screen instructions to restore the Windows 10 system image you created earlier from your external hard drive.

If your PC won't start, you can reinstall Windows by restoring from a previous system backup.

Step one: Connect the external hard drive with the system image backup and the System Repair Disc to your computer.

Step Two: Restart your computer from the repair disc. You may need to change your BIOS settings by pressing “Delete/F2” to ensure that your computer boots from the CD/DVD drive.

Step 3: When the “Windows Settings” screen appears, click “Next” > “Repair your computer” in the bottom left corner > “Troubleshoot” > “System Image Recovery” > and choose Windows 10.

Step 4: Choose “Use the latest available system image” > “Next”.

Step 5: If you want to restore the image to a new drive, you can also choose to “Format and repartition disks” (Warning: This will delete all existing partitions and disks on your computer). Then click “Next” > “Finish” > “Yes” to start the restore process from the external hard drive with your Windows 10 system image.