Backup Windows that came with my PC

[m16ali]

Hi,

 

I'm planning to completely wipe my PC's storage, but I would like to be able to restore it back to the Windows version I have. I'm not interested in keeping the files or anything, I mean only the Windows itself. Now this would mean that I should just create a Windows installation USB that I can run the installer from to set up the OS, but I want the exact image that my PC came with, all the bloatware and stuff included. How can I achieve this? I know cloning is one option, but I'd prefer something like a `.iso` file that reinstalls the Windows version that came with the device. Is this possible?

 

Thanks!

 

SYSTEM DETAILS:

HP Victus 16

4H2B4EA#ABU

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 minutes ago, m16ali said:

Hi,

 

I'm planning to completely wipe my PC's storage, but I would like to be able to restore it back to the Windows version I have. I'm not interested in keeping the files or anything, I mean only the Windows itself. Now this would mean that I should just create a Windows installation USB that I can run the installer from to set up the OS, but I want the exact image that my PC came with, all the bloatware and stuff included. How can I achieve this? I know cloning is one option, but I'd prefer something like a `.iso` file that reinstalls the Windows version that came with the device. Is this possible?

 

Thanks!

 

SYSTEM DETAILS:

HP Victus 16

4H2B4EA#ABU

I'm confused, what would the purpose be to wipe it then restore it to exactly how it was before you wiped it?

Generally selecting the option to reset Windows to default (might not be exactly called that, I've never done it) is as close as you get to an "out of the box" experience I believe.  But then why would you do that when a clean install is generally better?

[m16ali]

52 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

I'm confused, what would the purpose be to wipe it then restore it to exactly how it was before you wiped it?

Generally selecting the option to reset Windows to default (might not be exactly called that, I've never done it) is as close as you get to an "out of the box" experience I believe.  But then why would you do that when a clean install is generally better?

I'm wiping it because I want to install a few Linux distros on that drive. I know I can dual boot to try distros but I would want to do this by clearing the drive fully for now.

 

The windows reset option that you are referring to works just fine and does exactly what I need. I tried it yesterday and configured it to remove all programs that I installed as well as any personal files, and it reinstalled the OS but importantly, kept all the software that came installed from the manufacturer. However the only reason it was able to do that was because it had that info saved in some partition of the drive, meaning it won't work that way if I completely clean the drive.

[Alex Atkin UK]

1 hour ago, m16ali said:

I'm wiping it because I want to install a few Linux distros on that drive. I know I can dual boot to try distros but I would want to do this by clearing the drive fully for now.

 

The windows reset option that you are referring to works just fine and does exactly what I need. I tried it yesterday and configured it to remove all programs that I installed as well as any personal files, and it reinstalled the OS but importantly, kept all the software that came installed from the manufacturer. However the only reason it was able to do that was because it had that info saved in some partition of the drive, meaning it won't work that way if I completely clean the drive.

I'd highly recommend dual-booting, its much less hassle as I'm not sure you can backup the recovery partition.  You'd have to clone some or all the partitions to a backup drive and by that point, you might as well install Linux on that drive.

[m9x3mos]

2 hours ago, m16ali said:

Hi,

 

I'm planning to completely wipe my PC's storage, but I would like to be able to restore it back to the Windows version I have. I'm not interested in keeping the files or anything, I mean only the Windows itself. Now this would mean that I should just create a Windows installation USB that I can run the installer from to set up the OS, but I want the exact image that my PC came with, all the bloatware and stuff included. How can I achieve this? I know cloning is one option, but I'd prefer something like a `.iso` file that reinstalls the Windows version that came with the device. Is this possible?

 

Thanks!

 

SYSTEM DETAILS:

HP Victus 16

4H2B4EA#ABU

You can use the built in option to create a recovery USB. That would be the best you can do short of imaging the entire drive.

[m16ali]

7 hours ago, m9x3mos said:

You can use the built in option to create a recovery USB. That would be the best you can do short of imaging the entire drive.

I don't see that option. Where should I be looking?

[m9x3mos]

2 hours ago, m16ali said:

I don't see that option. Where should I be looking?

Check out these steps

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-a-recovery-drive-abb4691b-5324-6d4a-8766-73fab304c246

[m16ali]

On 1/14/2022 at 9:08 AM, m9x3mos said:

You can use the built in option to create a recovery USB. That would be the best you can do short of imaging the entire drive.

This worked perfectly! thank you

[m9x3mos]

1 hour ago, m16ali said:

This worked perfectly! thank you

No worries. Happy to help.