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Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Backing up Windows 8.1 with GPartEd and Clonezilla

When I get a new Windows computer, I back up the OS so that I can revert to it should OS updates or other software make it fail in ways that are too complex for me to untangle. I generally don't trust bundled backup programs because they often don't back up system files in a predictable way or the restore process takes too long. After backing up, I run the latest OS updates and back up again.
  1. Disable hibernation:
    Running cmd as administrator, enter,
    powercfg /h off
  2. Disable swap:
    Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings > Advanced tab > Performance > Settings > Advanced tab > Virtual Memory > Change... >
    • Uncheck "Automatically manage".
    • Select "No paging file" for partitions to be backed up.
    • Click "Set".
  3. Re-partition drive:
    • Note: For the initial backup, do not execute this step and instead back up the entire disk to capture the factory restore partition if it exists.
    • Run GPartEd live CD and re-partition the drive to create a partition for user documents and data if one doesn't exist already
  4. Move user docs:
    • In Windows Explorer, open C:\Users and Documents\[Your User].
    • Move user folders (Documents, Downloads, Favorites, Music, Pictures, Videos, etc.) to the newly created user partition using Properties > Location tab.
  5. Clone partitions:
    Run Clonezilla with image mode (as opposed to partition mode).
To restore:
  1. Clone partitions back to drive.
  2. Re-enable swap:
    Virtual Memory > Select "System manage size".
  3. Re-enable hibernation:
    powercfg /h on

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