Shadow copies not included after a Windows 7 system restore from system image using Backup and Restore

Question

I want to transfer a Windows 7 install from a 500 GB HDD to a SSD, including the shadow copies (and thus the restore points, previous versions of files, etc.).

The source disk has 4 partitions, and before making a system image, I checked the disk usage including the shadow copies through Disk Management and through the vssadmin list shadowstorage command:

Partition on disk	Total size	Total used (incl. shadow copies)	Used Shadow Copy Storage space
SYSTEM	2.00 GB	0.40 GB	0.00 GB
OS (C:)	229.00 GB	208.52 GB	113.51 GB
DATA (E:)	227.90 GB	216.52 GB	0.00 GB
HP_RECOVERY (D:)	6.85 GB	6.02 GB	0.00 GB
Total		431.46 GB

Thus, partition C: contains 95.01 GB of "actual" data and 115.51 GB of shadow copies.

I made a system image of the whole disk via Backup & Restore > Create a system image. It warned me that the system image might take up to 432 GB (indicating that it will include the space containing the shadow copies—so far so good).

But in the end, the system image took only 318 GB. And after the restoring the system, check with Disk Management and with the vssadmin list shadowstorage command indicated that the shadow copies were gone.

Partition on disk	Total size	Total used (incl. shadow copies)	Used Shadow Copy Storage space
SYSTEM	2.00 GB	0.40 GB	0.00 GB
OS (C:)	229.00 GB	90.18 GB	0.00 GB
DATA (E:)	227.90 GB	216.52 GB	0.00 GB
HP_RECOVERY (D:)	6.85 GB	6.02 GB	0.00 GB
Total		313.12 GB

Using the native Backup & Restore tool of Windows 7, is there a way to make a system image and to restore while keeping the shadow copies on a partition? Is there a way to force system images to include those shadow copies? Or maybe by now it is just as simple as using Acronis on the sole C: partition or doing a dd of the C: partition from one disk to the other...?

Note: I am trying to use the native Backup and Restore tool of Windows 7 because when I used using Acronis WD Edition I got a "Not Genuine Windows!" message. Also, in the past when I tried to use the dd command in Linux to clone a backup disk to a new larger disk, the Backup and Restore system were then not be able to recognise the new disk as the destination for backup. I also tried to simply clone the 500 GB HDD to the SSD using a cat command in Linux but then trying to boot from the system on the new SSD generated blue screen errors. So I have now became reluctant to use third party tools (but maybe wrongly so).

Answer 1

You can use a free third-party utility, such as Macrium Reflect, to clone the entire disk (also available at MajorGeeks in both 32- and 64-bit executables). Reflect and similar utilities should install on Windows 7 without checking if it's "genuine".

However, even if the imaging software cannot be installed on the Window 7 machine, make a rescue USB, such as Macrium Reflect rescue media, which creates a bootable device with which one can clone the desired drive. These application can perform direct disk I/O, and happily chug through copying partitions that Windows cannot handle well, such as ext4. Though I usually create just a functional image of a disk, ignoring empty sectors, one can create a full clone, e.g. for forensic use.

Answer 2

Here is what worked for me:

1. Used Backup and Restore from Windows to make a system image of the whole disk. (This was to ensure genuineness of the system and preserve continuity with backup sets and backup schedules on the current backup disk—but it also deleted all the shadow copies.)

2. Booted on a Live USB key with a Linux system to make partition images of the partitions containing shadow copies. (This was to clone the partitions with their shadow copies, by copying all blocks of the filesystem.)

3. Used a Repair disk for Windows to "recover" the system from the system image.

4. Booted again on the Linux system with the Live USB key and restored the partitions containing shadow copies from the partition images.

In the end, everything was restored as before, including shadow copies and backup schedules.