How to make an image from Windows 7. Creating an iso from your installed system. Creating ISO images

An ISO image of a system is the lifeline of a user whose computer has been hit by viruses. Of course, no one wants to suddenly lose all their personal data without the possibility of recovery, and therefore it is very important to perform backup all files, that is, create a system image.

No installation of additional software

1. Click on the "Start" button and select the "Control Panel" menu item. Set the viewing mode to “Small icons” and open the “Backup and Restore” section.
2. In the window that opens, select “Create a system image.”
3. In a new window, the user will be asked the question “Where should the archive be saved?” You will be asked to choose from the following options - removable hard drive, internal drive, DVD or network storage. The safest and most reliable way to store information is on a removable hard drive.
4. Next, we solve the question: “Which disks should be included in the archiving?” You can create an image of at least all volumes of your system, but the more partitions you tick, the more space, of course, they will borrow.
5. Now we confirm the archiving parameters and click the archive button. This procedure will take for a long time. The average computer archives 15 GB of information for about 20 minutes.

Once the backup procedure is complete, the system will prompt you to create a recovery disk. We agree and wait for the recording to take place. This concludes our work.

Creating an image using Daemon Tools

1. Download, install and launch Daemon Tools.
2. Insert the disk (flash drive) on which the image will be created into the drive/USB connector.
3. In the program, click the “Create disk image” icon.
4. In the settings window, specify the path to the disk on which we want to create the image. In this case, you can choose the image resolution - .mds or .iso
5. After specifying the necessary parameters, click the "Start" button.
6. All that remains is to wait for the recording process to complete.

Creating an image using Alcohol 120%

1. Download, install and launch Alcohol 120%.
2. In the "Basic Operations" section, select "Image Mastering" and click "Next" in the window that appears.
3. A window will open in which you can specify a name for the image, as well as select all the files that you want to include in the image.
4. Next, you will need to select the folder in which the image will be placed. Additionally, you need to make sure that "ISO Image" is selected in the "Image Format" field.
5. Click "Start".
6. Upon completion of the procedure, click the “Finish” button.
7. The image is ready, and you know where it is stored, which means you can copy it wherever necessary, for example, to removable hard disk.

As you can see, there are many ways to create an ISO, and they are all quite simple. You can find even more information in our articles

A disk image is a file in ISO format, which stores all the contents of the original media. There are other formats, but this is the most popular.

The computer recognizes virtual image just like physical disk. Even if related files were stored on the original media, they will work correctly as an image. Therefore, most often they create disk images with installation files games, programs and operating systems.

Modern OSes read ISO files without additional programs. On older operating systems, you can use utilities like Daemon Tools for this. You can also open the image and view its contents using a regular archiver.

Why create disk images?

Let's say you bought a DVD/Blu-ray with a game or movie. Over time, scratches appear on it, which is why you can lose the recorded information. And the disk itself is easy to lose. In addition, it makes noise as it rotates in the drive, and the speed of reading data from it is lower than from computer memory. All these problems can be solved by creating a virtual disk image.

If the disk is copy protected, most likely it will not be possible to create an image of it.

Another example: you have a Windows distribution disk. It can be used for or OS, but a flash drive is much better suited for these purposes. Moreover, many modern computers They don't have disk drives at all. But you can create a disk image and make a .

How to create a disk image in Windows

Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE is one of the most convenient utilities for creating disk images. Its interface has been translated into Russian, it takes up little space and is also free. During installation, the program asks license key, but you can receive it by mail after quick registration account.

Immediately after launching the utility, select “Disk Image” → “Create Image”. Then insert a physical disk into the drive and wait until the program recognizes it, then click “Next”. Then specify the folder in which the image will be created and select the ISO format. Click “Next” again and wait for the copying to complete.

The disk image will appear in the location you specified in your computer's memory.

If for some reason you are not satisfied with this utility, you can use similar free programs like BurnAware Free or CDBurnerXP.

On a Mac, this can be done in the standard " Disk Utility”, available in the section Finder → “Programs” → “Utilities”. Once you have launched it, insert required disk into the drive and press in top menu“File” → “New image” → “Image from [your disk name].”

In the next window, enter in Latin short name future image. Specify the desktop as the destination and select the “DVD/CD Master” format. After that, click “Save” and wait until the copying is completed.

The created image will appear on the desktop and will have a CDR extension. If you plan to use it only on , then you can leave this format. But for Windows computers to read it, you need to convert the CDR file to ISO.

To change the image format, run the Terminal utility. Type cd desktop and press Enter. Then enter the second command hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o [name 1].iso [name 2].cdr, after replacing [name 1] and [name 2] with the names of the future ISO file and the already created CDR file, respectively. Then press Enter again - after a while the ISO image will appear on the desktop.

Let's say we first created a CDR file called olddisk. Then we choose, for example, the name newdisk for the future ISO image. As a result, the commands for our case will look like this:

You may need Windows 7 installation or boot media to reinstall, install from scratch, roll back, or restore your system. You can also create media not with the operating system, but with regular applications, files or games. But first, you will have to create a disk image so that in the future you can copy it to third party media: disk or USB flash drive.

How to create a bootable Windows 7 disk: ISO image

A disk image is a file in ISO format that contains all the necessary elements. You can create it using third party program. Another way is to download finished image from the Internet. But be careful, there is a high chance that you will come across a broken or viral image.

Ultra ISO

There are several programs that allow you to create and burn disk images, but one of the most multifunctional and convenient is UltraISO. Buy or download trial version The application is available from the developer’s official website - http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/.

1. After installing and launching the program, you will see its main menu. In the left block you will see a disk icon with a specific name, which you can rename.

   Disk image

2. At the bottom of the application there is an explorer that allows you to work with files. Select the files and folders in it that will be sent to the disk image, and transfer them to the block located above, opposite the disk image.

   Moving files to a disk image

3. Once all the necessary elements have been transferred to the disk image, expand the “File” menu.

   Expand the “File” menu

4. Select the "Save As" function.

   Select “Save As”

5. Name the file and select the .iso format for it.

   Select the .iso format

6. Wait while the program creates the desired image V automatic mode.

   We are waiting for the end of the process

7. Once the process is complete, expand the file to make sure it contains all the necessary elements.

   Checking the result

How to burn Windows 7 installation media

Once you have created a disk image, you can start burning it to third-party media. This can be done using standard Windows tools or through a third party program.

Via Windows Tools

Through a third party program

1. Let's use UltraISO applications. You can buy or download a trial version of the application from the developer’s official website - http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/.

   Download the program

2. After launching the program, expand the “File” menu.

   Expand the “File” menu

3. Select the “Open” sub-item.

   Select “Open”

4. Specify the path to the disk image file.

   Specify the path to the image

5. Returning to the program, click on the icon that looks like a disk on fire.

   Click on the icon with a burning disk

6. Set the Maximum parameter in the Write Speed ​​line to increase the speed of writing the image to the media. But this may reduce the recording quality, which will subsequently lead to installation problems. Therefore, it is better to set the Minimum parameter.

   Setting the disk image writing speed parameters

7. Specify which media to record to.

   Select a flash drive or disk for recording

8. Click on the Burn button to activate recording. Done, wait until the end of the process, which can last from 5 minutes to half an hour: the speed of the procedure depends on the number of files in the disk image.

   We wait until the program writes the image to the media

Creating multiboot media

Multi boot disk- a disk image containing several programs simultaneously. It makes sense to create such a disk if you need to load several applications onto your computer at once, but you don’t want to do it from a separate file each time.

1. Download the installation archive with the Xboot program from the official website of the developer - Error: 06/07/2017, 15:11
   %D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C%20%D1%81%D1%81%D1%8B%D0%BB%D0%BA %D1%83
   ">https://sites.google.com/site/shamurxboot/download">https://sites.google.com/site/shamurxboot/download .

   Download Xboot

2. Unzip the downloaded archive and install the program.

   Let's unzip the archive

3. Please note that ISO files with necessary programs you must create in advance.

   Create program files in advance

4. Transfer the .iso files to the Xboot main menu.

   We transfer ISO files in Xboot

5. It will accept some applications that do not cause suspicion to the program silently, but during the transfer of applications unknown to it, a window may appear green, meaning Xboot cannot determine the application type from the ISO file.

   Xboot won't accept file

6. Explain to Xboot that this file should be perceived as universal - Add using Grub4dos ISO image Emulation.

   Specify the type Add using Grub4dos ISO image Emulation

7. Click on the “Add this file” button.

   Click the “Add this file” button

8. After all the files are formed into one archive, click on the Create ISO button.

   Click the Create ISO button

9. A window will open in which you will need to click the Browse button.

   Click on the Brawse button

10. Specify where to save the multiboot file.

    Specifying where to place the ISO file

11. Wait until the process of creating this file is completed.

    We wait until the file is generated

12. You will be prompted to check the functionality of the created file using the virtual machine built into Xboot. If you want to do this, then click the “Yes” button.

    Select the option “Yes”

13. Select Utility.

    Select the Utility option

14. Wait for the virtual machine to start.

    Waiting for the car to load

15. Check which programs work and which don't. Done, this completes the creation and testing of the multiboot disk.

    Checking whether programs from the disk image work

Creating a recovery disc

A recovery disk differs from a normal boot disk in that it contains an operating system that can be used for recovery, installation, or rollback. But for that disk you need a special recovery image with a system backup; you can create it using the following steps:

After you finish creating the image with the system recovery files, you can burn it to a disk or flash drive. How to do this is described in the previous paragraph of the article “Writing an image to a disk or USB flash drive.”

To boot from the boot disk or flash drive you created, you need to change BIOS settings: Your computer should start from the boot media, not the hard drive.

To have something to restore from operating system If Windows 7 fails, you must first create these recovery tools. How?

We press the Start button, then click “Control Panel”, there we open “System and Security” and, finally, we get to what we are looking for, namely “Backup and Restore”.

"Creating a system image" and
"Create a system repair disc."

The Windows 7 system recovery disk is a boot disk, you insert it into the CD/DVD drive, and the computer boots (!) from the boot disk, and not from the C: drive, from which for some reason it does not boot.

Using a boot disk, you can boot your computer if your PC operating system is not working. After booting your PC from the Windows 7 system recovery disc, you can restore your PC's operating system. And for this you will already need a system image.

A Windows 7 system image is an archive of the operating system in the state it was at the time it was archived. That is, a system image is an archived copy of the OS that allows you to subsequently restore an operating system that completely matches the operating system at the time of archiving. What was archived is what we got as a result of system recovery!

A Windows 7 system recovery disc only needs to be created once. The same cannot be said for the Windows 7 system image. Since the operating system is constantly changing and supplemented, the more often we create a Windows 7 system image, the more accurately we can restore the system from the image saved in the archive.

How to create a Windows 7 system recovery disc?

Click on the proposed option “Create a system repair disk” and follow the instructions displayed on the screen. To create a system recovery disk, we will need a CD/DVD device with the ability to record discs on it, and we will need one blank CD or DVD blank. It is better to use non-rewritable discs for this, so as not to accidentally erase this very important disc later.

The Windows 7 system recovery disk created in this way must be carefully labeled, as recommended by the Backup and Restore program, and placed somewhere where it can be retrieved in an emergency.

If you use mobile device(for example, a laptop or netbook), then it is better to carry a system recovery disk with you. You never know what can happen on a trip?!

If your PC does not have a device for recording CD/DVD discs, then you need to use an external device connected via . There is no other way!

This is the same external device It will also be needed when restoring the system in the event of a system failure. Therefore, it is better to take such an external device with you on trips if you intend to active work on a PC on the go and outside the home (or office) with possible disastrous consequences for the operating system.

Creating a Windows 7 system image

To create a Windows 7 system image we need external hard disk . Moreover, this may be the same disk on which the . The main thing is that this external hard drive has enough space to accommodate the system image and user data archive.

Connect an external hard drive and click on the “Create a system image” option. After some thoughtfulness, the computer will offer to select one of the possible disks on which you can burn the system image. Select an external hard drive (in our example, this is external drive E:), click “Next”:

Then a confirmation window for archiving parameters will appear, in which we must confirm the selected disk for archiving the system image. Confirmation is made by clicking on the “Archive” button:

After confirmation of archiving, the actual creation of a system image on the specified external hard drive begins. In the “Creating a system image” window, the green “Archive saving in progress” indicator crawls, showing how much archiving has been completed:

Before the system image is backed up, you will be asked whether you need to create a system recovery disk. We can answer “No”, since we have already made a system recovery disk using the appropriate option in the main “Backup and Restore” window.

If the system recovery disk has not been created previously, then it is useful to answer “Yes” to the proposed question in order to create this disk.

Let me remind you that a system image created on an external hard drive cannot itself be restored on a PC where the operating system does not boot. This is exactly what you need for a system recovery disk:

Once archiving of the system image is complete, the message “Archiving completed successfully” will appear in the “Creating a system image” window. All that remains is to close the system image creation window by clicking on the “Close” button:

Thus, we created a one-time system image - an archive of the operating system for possible subsequent restoration in the event of possible failures.

In order for this procedure for creating a system image to be performed regularly, when setting up automatic archiving, you must check the box next to the “Enable system image” option, as shown in the following figure:

We're safe now. We have a system recovery disk from which you can start your PC in case of OS failure. And we have a system image on an external hard drive from which we can restore the operating system to the time it was last backed up.

How is operating system recovery performed?

“You’re about to hear something that would be better if you didn’t hear it!” - said one of the heroes of the film “The Man from the Boulevard des Capuchins”.

What I mean is that it would be better for each of us not to encounter the problem of restoring the OS. But if we have to, we will know how to do it.

So, the PC is “dead” and won’t boot. Then we take the Windows 7 system recovery disc, insert it into the CD/DVD device and try to boot the computer from this disc. It doesn't always work out that easy.

Sometimes you still need to go into the PC BIOS to specify the “Initial boot from CD/DVD” option there. I won’t describe how to do this, since in every specific case, for each specific PC this is done differently.

This is described in the documentation for the PC or in the documentation for motherboard PC, or in the BIOS documentation. Because BIOS menu most often written in English, That keyword when searching for the corresponding menu options, there should be the English word “boot” (read as “boot” with a long “u” sound, and translated as “download”).

After booting the PC using the system recovery disk, connect the external hard drive with the system image saved on it to the USB port of the PC. Then select the appropriate options from the proposed menu for restoring the system from a system image. We indicate that the system needs to be restored, that the system image is stored on such and such an external hard drive. That's all. The recovery program does further work automatically. You just need to be patient and under no circumstances turn off the PC until the recovery is complete.

Upon completion of system recovery from the system image, you need to remove the system recovery disk from the CD/DVD device, mentally thank it for the services provided (!), and put it back in its original place until next case(It would be better if this case never happened again!).

And then you should restart your PC. If everything went well, then to our joy and satisfaction the system will return to the state in which it was at the time the archived copy of the system image was created.
What if not? So, no luck...

"Rounding"

It is impossible to complete the repair, it can only be stopped - so says popular wisdom. Also with issues of archiving and restoring the system and data. There is no end to the methods and methods of performing these procedures.
Therefore, we need to wrap things up.

What other ways are there to restore the operating system? There are a lot of things.

For example, some users go so far as to install two operating systems on their PC, such as Windows and Linux. And they work with Windows until it fails. After Windows fails, they boot into Linux and use its tools to manually restore Windows.

- Is that possible?
- Why not? If this helps in restoring Windows.

You can have two C: drives with Windows operating systems preinstalled on them. One stands inside the PC, the other lies on a shelf (in a drawer, etc.) and waits for its turn. If something happens, we remove one disk from the PC and insert another. Expensive? Yes, but it’s reliable and practical!

To protect user data, you can use the so-called, which allows you to store user data (all or part) on a remote server. Access this remote disk on the server is carried out via the Internet. All issues of data safety and recovery in case of possible failures are taken over by the company providing access to the cloud.

It’s a pity that you can’t store operating system files in this way, although who forbids, for example, recording a system image during archiving to a cloud disk? Please…

The list of ways and methods can be continued indefinitely. It is important for us not so much to understand the methods themselves as to recognize the fact that both the operating system and user data need to be archived. You need to do this periodically, don’t forget to do it, and don’t be lazy about doing it.

And then you can be almost sure that the system and data will be safe and sound. Almost? Yes, almost, since His Majesty’s chance cannot be discounted. You might get lucky, or you might not.

Those who archive the operating system and their own data have much better luck and much more often. Tested empirically by millions of PC users. Proven in practice.

I suggest you join the majority of lucky people.

– When was the last time you backed up your operating system and your data? Never?! Last year?! Last week?! Yesterday?!
– I’ll do it today!!!

Today Windows 7 is the main corporate system, de facto, taking over the baton from Windows XP. Therefore for system administrator the actual issue is its deployment, but since the last official image was compiled quite a long time ago, systems installed with its help require obtaining quite large quantity updates. You can avoid this if you assemble your own distribution containing all the current system updates. We will tell you how to do this in this article.

There are two ways to get the latest Windows distribution 7: Integrate updates directly into the image and use a reference system to download and install updates.

The first method is simpler and faster, but has serious drawback- you need to download everything necessary updates. And this, even with a list, is quite difficult to do. At the same time, there are already downloaded sets of updates available on the network, but we do not recommend using them, since installing system components from unverified sources is very bad idea. At a minimum, you could end up with an unstable system due to an untested or incompatible set of updates, and at worst, you could easily end up with unwanted or malicious software.

Using a reference system allows you to receive all the necessary updates automatically, install them, check the operation of the system, and only then proceed to creating a distribution kit. Therefore, we will consider this method.

Creation of a reference system

For these purposes, we recommend using virtual machine, in which we will create a guest system for Windows 7 and install the OS version for which we will create a distribution kit. If you need to create distributions for several versions or bits, then you will also need several reference systems.

Once the installation is complete, take your time; when the welcome screen appears, click CTRL+ SHIFT+ F3

This will reboot the system into audit mode, but if you managed to create a user and log in, then run the command as Administrator:

C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\sysprep /audit /reboot

When booting into audit mode, the utility starts automatically Sysprep, close this window, we don’t need it now.

It should be remembered that the system switched to audit mode will continue to boot into it until we start it again Sysprep and we will not change the regime. After downloading, open Center Windows updates and search for and install updates.

Important! On May 17, 2016, Microsoft released a cumulative update package for Windows 7 SP1 KB3125574, which includes updates from the release of SP1 until April 2016; in order to reduce the volume of downloaded updates, we recommend downloading and installing this package manually. Installation requires update KB3020369.

We reboot and search and install updates again. We reboot and repeat this operation again until the system installs all available updates.

If your goal was only to integrate all latest updates, then we can finish here. However, the audit mode allows you to install a variety of software, which will also be included in the distribution. This is widely used by OEMs; we think everyone has come across distributions (usually on laptops) containing, in addition to the OC, different quantities software of dubious usefulness.

Therefore, no one is stopping us from including in our distribution necessary software so as not to waste time on its subsequent installation. We usually limit ourselves to the "gentleman's set": archiver, Adobe Reader, Java, Silverlight. You can include the entire set necessary software, including office suite and other software. You should not include programs that install your own drivers and device drivers in the image, since all third-party drivers will be removed at the stage of preparing the system for image capture. Also, you should not activate the software; this information will also be lost.

Having finished preparing the reference system, we will delete all the files we downloaded and unnecessary software (if any), special attention should be paid to cleaning the system from copies of update files, for this use the tool Disk Cleanup:

Important! After cleaning be sure to reboot system to complete the updates, otherwise you risk getting a broken image.

Now let's prepare it for image capture using the utility Sysprep:

C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep /oobe /generalize /shutdown

Let's look at the utility keys in more detail:

• oobe- starts the computer in welcome screen mode. Screen Windows greetings allows end users set up the operating room Windows system, create new accounts, rename your computer, and perform other tasks.
• generalize- prepares the Windows installation before creating the image. If this option is specified, all unique system information is removed from Windows installations. The security identifier (SID) is reset, system restore points are reset, and event logs are deleted.
• shutdown - Shuts down the computer after Sysprep has finished running.

After completing the necessary actions, the system will shut down. You cannot enable it before the image is captured. This concludes our work with the reference system and moves on to creating our own distribution based on it.

Creating your own distribution

For further work we will need workstation under Windows control 7 with installed package automatic installation Windows (WAIK). The capacity and version of the system do not play any role.

Installing WAIK should not be difficult and is done using the default settings.

Now let's prepare the image Windows PE to capture an image of the reference system. The WinPE bit capacity must match the reference system bit capacity.

Let's open Start - All programs - Microsoft Windows AIK - Deployment Tools Command Line and run the command for 32-bit systems:

Copype.cmd x86 e:\win_pe

or for 64-bit:

Copype.cmd amd64 e:\win_pe

Where e:\win_pe desired location of the folder with the image. There is no need to create the folder first, as in this case you will receive an error that the folder already exists.

Now let's go to the destination folder and copy the file winpe.wim to a folder ISO\sources and rename it to boot.wim. Then copy it to a folder ISO from folder C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\amd64 or C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86, depending on the bit depth, file imagex.exe.

Then in Command line deployment tools give the following command:

Oscdimg -n -be:\win_pe\etfsboot.com e:\win_pe\ISO e:\win_pe\winpe.iso

The result of the command will be an image winpe.iso from which to download reference system.

If you did not perform additional partitioning of the reference system disk, the partition to be captured will have the letter D:, and the boot disk E:, just in case, we check with the team dir.

Now let's start capturing the image, since the image is created file by file, it can be saved to the same partition. Let's enter the following command:

E:\imagex /capture d: d:\install.wim "Win7_ULT_x64" /compress maximum /boot /verify

As parameters we indicate to capture disk D: and save it to an image D:\install.wim, in quotation marks we indicate our own name of the image, we also set the maximum compression, the ability to download and check the created image. After which we can go have coffee, this operation takes on average about half an hour.

Reboot the reference system into normal mode and copy the created image to a PC with WAIK installed. Let's go to e:\win_pe and empty the ISO folder, then copy the contents of the original there Windows disk 7, which we used to install the reference system.

Then we will replace the file install.wim in a folder sources to the image we captured. Now you can start building your own ISO image, to do this, run the command:

Oscdimg -u2 -m -o -lWIN7ULTx64 -be:\win_pe\etfsboot.com e:\win_pe\iso e:\win_pe\Win7_ULT_x64.iso

Let's look at the command keys in more detail:

• u2-creates an image that has only file system UDF.
• m- removes restrictions on image size.
• o- replaces duplicate files with one copy, allowing you to reduce the size of the image.
• l- volume label, entered without spaces, optional parameter.
• b- location boot file, also without spaces.

The image is assembled quite quickly, the only thing is that with a high degree of probability its size will exceed 4.7 GB and it will not be possible to burn it to a regular DVD disc. In this case, you can use double-layer DVD9 discs, but they are less common on sale and may not be supported by all drive models. In this case, you can split the distribution into two parts, each of which will fit on a standard-sized DVD. You should also remember the 32 limit bit systems, which cannot work with wim images larger than 4 GB.

You can split the image with the following command:

Imagex /split e:\win_pe\install.wim e:\win_pe\install.swm 3000

This will create two or more swm file maximum size at 3000 MB. Then delete it from the folder ISO\sources install.wim and place install.swm there, after which we will assemble the image of the first disk:

Oscdimg -u2 -m -lWIN7ULTx64DVD1 -be:\win_pe\etfsboot.com e:\win_pe\iso e:\win_pe\Win7_ULT_x64_DVD1.iso

After that, delete install.swm and copy install2.swm in its place. There is no point in making the second disk bootable, so we will assemble it with a simpler command:

Oscdimg -u2 -m -lWIN7ULTx64DVD2 e:\win_pe\iso e:\win_pe\Win7_ULT_x64_DVD2.iso

Installation from a split image is carried out in the usual way, starting from the first disk; during operation, the installer itself will ask you to change the disk:

This way you don't have to worry about the size created image, especially if, in addition to updates, it is planned to include voluminous software, for example, the MS Office package, etc. We also recommend that before moving on to deploying workstations from the created distribution, you thoroughly test its operation on a test system.

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