Bootable Drive Clone?

[fr33]

I am looking to make an exact clone of my HDD, use Rufus (Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way) to make a bootable USB (yes, a large USB), and be able to use this USB as my "clean" OS install.

Basically I'm trying to allow myself to have a full OS install on a bootable USB that also includes extra programs like 7-ZIP, Notepad++, etc tagged along with the OS install. The Windows key does NOT have to stay intact (I prefer it didn't).

Can someone please point me in the right direction? I keep landing on OSX solutions with Google. I need a Windows 7 solution.

(I know there's a way of creating an image and a recovery disk, but I'm looking for an "all-in-one" solution)

Edit: This is for my laptop...but after running down the list of forums I'm guessing this belongs here: http://forum.techinferno.com/microsoft-windows/

[maxjohnson]

The program you are mentioning look like it's use to create live bootable drive, not create bootable OS running from a portable drive.

I don't think Windows allow you to run from a portable drive. (Yes I know there are mods and work around that attempt to do it, but it's not official.) Linux however can run and boot from a portable drive.

If you want, you can use Clonezilla, which is used to make 100% exact drives copy. I guess you can use Rufus to create a bootable drive of Clonezilla.

[fr33]

The program you are mentioning look like it's use to create live bootable drive, not create bootable OS running from a portable drive.

I don't think Windows allow you to run from a portable drive. (Yes I know there are mods and work around that attempt to do it, but it's not official.) Linux however can run and boot from a portable drive.

If you want, you can use Clonezilla, which is used to make 100% exact drives copy. I guess you can use Rufus to create a bootable drive of Clonezilla.

Oh, no I am looking to create a backup of my system's current state so I can recover it later should something go wrong. I want to be able to reinstall Windows 7 on my machine with programs pre-installed (like Notepad++, Handbrake, etc.).

I do not want to boot an OS off of a USB drive. I want to be able to install an OS (that has programs pre-installed) from a USB drive.

I already know how to create a USB bootable OS install; I just don't know how to include pre-installed programs with that. I ran into something called "Windows SysPrep" and I think that's what I'm looking for, but I can't seem to get a definite answer.

[wmcwmc]

You can follow this guide Back up your programs, system settings, and files - Microsoft Windows Help to make a system image of your current computer state.

[Afternoontea]

I use "AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard" for duplicating my clean install.

Free Partition Manager - AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard

It's not actually a tool to create bootable USB, but if your notebook has 2HDD/SSD bays you can put your backup HDD/SSD on the second drive bay and use this to duplicate. It can even migrate the OS to a larger or smaller drive (the amount of data will be the question for smaller drives). My friend has a 1TB drive on his 2nd HDD bay and has one partition the exact size of his primary drive (256GB SSD) so he can copy it back with the application any time. I don't mess with my OS that much so I have a duplicated HDD stashed in my desk so I can replace it with the drive in my 2nd HDD bay when I need to write back my clean install. Works like a charm. =)

[Guest]

There are tons of drive imaging programs you can use for this. You don't even need to use Rufus because the good drive imaging utilities include their own USB bootable Windows PE or Linux recovery environment. You can put the drive image anywhere there is space for it, be that a USB drive or internal HDD. Acronis True Image and Macrium Reflect offer this feature... to name just a a couple of options. There are free imaging programs that also do the same thing.

[ruggb]

I have been using Macrium Reflect free and I love it.

U create the image file on the USB drive, then make a bootable CD or USB stick which will access the file and clone a drive in the system.

OR u can directly clone the drive.

I have had no issues with losing the Windows activation.

[ashaw596]

EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition for windows and GParted for linux works for me

[Guest]

Quote

I have been using Macrium Reflect free and I love it. U create the image file on the USB drive, then make a bootable CD or USB stick which will access the file and clone a drive in the system. OR u can directly clone the drive. I have had no issues with losing the Windows activation.

Macrium Reflect is my favorite. I have the least expensive paid version and it has a bootable installation feature that uses Windows PE 5.0 much like a bootable USB recovery environment except that it can be selected from a boot menu at POST.

There are a total of 3 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Windows 7
Timeout: 5 seconds
Boot Drive: C:


Entry #1
Name: Windows 8.1
BCD ID: {4392db62-fd44-11e3-bb3c-86660da92e84}
Drive: E:
Bootloader Path: windowssystem32winload.exe


Entry #2
Name: Windows 7
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:
Bootloader Path: Windowssystem32winload.exe


Entry #3
Name: Macrium Reflect System Recovery
BCD ID: {bae7d74d-fd43-11e3-8c4e-543530a6933c}
Device: [D:]ootmacriumwa5kfilesmediasourcesoot.wim
Bootloader Path: windowssystem32ootwinload.exe

[monicabang]

Did you mean to clone the entire HDD, including installed OS and extra programs, to another hard drive? If that's what you are looking for, you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant, which can help you clone a disk sector by sector, or just clone a single  partition from one disk to another, or only migrate os partition to SSD or HDD. Also, you can successfully boot from the destination disk after clone.