{"id":52145,"date":"2015-11-23T20:43:54","date_gmt":"2015-11-23T20:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=52145"},"modified":"2015-11-23T20:43:54","modified_gmt":"2015-11-23T20:43:54","slug":"what-your-backup-isnt-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/what-your-backup-isnt-for\/","title":{"rendered":"What Your Backup Isn’t For"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/br><\/p>\n

Understanding the limitations of image backup.–PC Pitstop<\/i><\/font>.<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

What Your Backup Isn’t For<\/h4>\n

By Leo Notenboom<\/p>\n

\nIf I want to restore an image backup from a previous computer, complete with its operating system, onto another computer with a different operating system, will the operating system on the backup be allowed to install and override the operating system on the other computer? If so, how do I get around this?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s not a question of \u201callowing\u201d.<\/p>\n

By definition, restoring a full image backup will completely overwrite everything that exists on the hard disk, replacing whatever was there before, no matter what it was.<\/p>\n

So, sure, the previous operating system, along with everything else on the hard disk, will be overwritten and replaced with the contents of the image backup.<\/p>\n

The real question is: will what you\u2019ve just restored then work?<\/p>\n

Most of time, the answer is a very short \u201cno\u201d.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll explain why that is.<\/p>\n


\nWhat your backup is and isn\u2019t for<\/strong><\/p>\n

What you\u2019re asking is an extremely common question \u2013 so common that I discuss it in each of my \u201cSaved!\u201d series of books on backing up.<\/p>\n

Since an image backup contains the entire system, many people would like to use it when moving to a completely new machine. The concept is simple: restore that image backup to a new or replacement machine, and carry on where you left off.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not what image backups are for.<\/p>\n

Image backups are a snapshot of a specific machine, and are designed to be used in either of two scenarios:
\nRestoration of the entire system to a known good state on the same machine \u2013 for instance, in case of malware infestation.
\nRestoration of the entire system to a replacement hard drive on the same machine, as in the case of a hard-drive failure.<\/p>\n

Because image backups contain everything on the machine, they are also very conveniently used for one additional purpose:
\nRestoration of specific files, typically data files, onto any machine, anywhere, at any time (even the files you didn\u2019t know you needed), because the backup contains everything.<\/p>\n

Restoring a complete image backup to different hardware isn\u2019t on the list.<\/p>\n

Article Continued Here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Understanding the limitations of image backup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":51611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[685],"class_list":["post-52145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leo-notenboom","tag-backup"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Your Backup Isn't For<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What Your Backup Isn't For - 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