How can I create a full disk image in Windows 7?

Question

I've just bought a new laptop, it came with Windows 7 installed, and I would like to install linux.

I know I can have both, but just in case I want to first backup everything. I want to copy an image to my pendrive (32gb) and keep a copy in my desktop.

How can I create this image?

Solution 1

XXClone will perform this task for you for free:

http://www.xxclone.com/

Alternatively O&O Disk Image is a paid for program:

http://www.oo-software.com/en/products/oodiskimage

Solution 2

Windows 7 has a builtin image backup facility. It's the second item under System and Security in the Control Panel.

Comments

[Canadian Luke]

In Super User, and all the StackExchange sites, shopping or product recommendations are considered off topic and open ended, and sometimes even too localized. Try to reword your question in a way that you are not asking for products, but more of processes; this will help keep it on topic

[ChocoDeveloper]

@Luke Shopping or product? I just asked for a program. Go home, you are drunk.

[nhinkle]

ChocoDeveloper, FYI @Luke is completely correct here. In its original form, your question was not a good fit for how our Q&A style works. Laurent's edits are a good example of how a question like this should be asked. We discourage questions asking for specific programs, and encourage questions that ask for solutions to a particular problem. If the answer involves a program, that's fine. Please refrain from making rude comments to users just because you disagree.

[JustinD]

Try this software. runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

[ChocoDeveloper]

@nhinkle Luke is not completely correct, a program is not a product. A program could have been a simple home-made script for the command line, like the ones we usually share in linux. About the format of the question, whatever, I can't keep up with the rules and the never-ending fragmentation of stack sites (there comes laurent, who fixed it instead of being obnoxious). I have seen thousands of questions with this format (eg: which C library can I use for X?), and I don't remember seeing stupid comments about shopping.

[Canadian Luke]

@ChocoDeveloper See this Meta post

[laurent]

in windows 7 backup there is an option to make a full bootable image. Anyways, comments on other answers should go in their proper place, not in another answer.

[laurent]

sorry, not bootable but restorable through windows restore or an installation disk.

[uxout]

Laurent's right, and more importantly the question doesn't say anything about it needing to be bootable. If you just want an image of a configured system that you can reload at will, and won't be doing it with regularity to justify installing 3rd party software, the built-in Windows utility is actually REALLY useful.

[Nicole Hamilton]

@Shinrai Yes, the Windows backup facility is pretty good. The only problem I have with it is that while it can do file backups to a 4K Native drive (i.e., one of the new 3+ TB drives) the image backup part will only work with a 512 byte sector drive. (It's fixed in Win8, not Win7.) For the Seagate 3TB I just bought, I had to use Seagate's supplied version of Acronis to make the image. But Windows file backup works great with the 3TB drive. Since the OP is using a pendrive, he shouldn't have a problem.

[ChocoDeveloper]

This doesn't let me store the image in disk first, it asks for a dvd/pendrive. I have the pendrive, but windows says it can't backup the system in this type of device, only my files.

[Nicole Hamilton]

You said your pendrive is 32GB. How big is your C: drive? Is there anything more to the message?

[nhinkle]

I've gotten windows backup to successfully run on a lot of different computers, with all sorts of external hard drives.

[Scott Chamberlain]

@nhinkle I have gotten the backup to work too, however I have never gotten the full system image backup to work on a (destination) drive with 4K sector sizes.