-1

Possible Duplicate:
Backup an installed software

I have a newly installed SSD in my system (with OS etc installed on it), but I'm not too happy with the boot up time (1 min 15 s). So I am planning to look over the BIOS settings (mainly thinking of setting AHCI-mode for my SSD) and then make a clean install to see if that helps things out.

I do however have a whole lot of programs, custom settings (registry changes etc) and custom drivers installed, and the thought of reinstalling all these is not very tempting. There for I want to make a backup that I can use after the clean install to get all these back. (All my files, media and such, are on a secondary drive - no need to back them up).

However I am a little bit worried that restoring my system from a complete system image will result in a corrupt system. Like if I change something in BIOS that is critical for example. A clean install of Windows 7 would be fully working, since it adapts into the current configuration. But if I then restore to a complete system image of my earlier system I am afraid that it would behave like if I did these changes to BIOS without any reinstall.

So: is there a way to backup and restore all my programs (and preferably drivers too) without risking of restoring into a corrupt system?

If it is possible with the built in windows backup/restore I am glad, but of course third party programs works as well.

Thanks!

Community
  • 1
lindhe
  • 235
  • 1
  • 3
  • 14
  • @Karan IMO it should not be a dupe of that as its about **backup from corrupt drive** while the other post is asking for only backup. – avirk Jan 11 '13 at 04:40
  • @avirk: He doesn't want to restore a full system image since that will simply bring his system back to the way it is now (i.e. corrupted). His *actual* question is about how he can backup and restore all his programs and drivers to a fresh Windows install (that will no longer be corrupted). Thus this question does seem to be a duplicate of the one I linked to. – Karan Jan 11 '13 at 04:58
  • 1
    @Karan, Avirk Actually, is the question not "can BIOS settings prevent my back up succeeding?". I think the use of "corrupt" in OP title is wrong, it should be *non-compatible*. I have closed being off topic, this is a mistake as should be "not a real question" as it's not clear as to what is being asked! – Dave Jan 11 '13 at 09:13

1 Answers1

0

You can backup the whole drive to a file (and restore it from one) using programs such as Norton ghost, CloneZilla, Acronis True Image etc. etc.

However just changing a BIOS setting should not change anything in the OS. Worst case it will not boot anymore and you will have to revert the BIOS change.

As for AHCI:

  1. Yes, do enabled it. Esp. with an SSD.
  2. Do it in the right sequence: 1) enable AHCI drivers. 2) Shutdown. 3) Change BIOS setting to AHCI. 4) Boot succesfully.

For more details, search this site for posts such as these: should-ahci-be-enabled-for-an-ssd

Hennes
  • 64,768
  • 7
  • 111
  • 168
  • Looks like he wants to backup and restore only programs without completely imaging the system, which is obviously not possible. – Karan Jan 11 '13 at 03:49