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    Creating a "Factory" Disk Image

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by radam9, Dec 10, 2015.

  1. radam9

    radam9 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi there,

    I am waiting for my new AW17 R3 to be delivered :D :D , and while waiting i stumbled upon this gr8 thread ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...to-aftermarket-drive-alienrespawn-q-a.576732/).
    Without it I wouldnt have thought about creating a Factory Backup Image, but since i am new to this i have a couple of questions! :) , i hope they wont be too bothersome.

    I have read through the thread and apparently "Macrium Reflect" seems to be more popular than "Acronis" so based on that i am planning on using MR then.
    So for the question....

    1. Is there a difference between the "Recovery Media" mentioned by the OP and a "Disk Image" ?
    2. Is a "Disk Image" all i need to do when i get my AW17 or is there anything else you would advise me to do before i continue to use my AW?
    3. If i understand correctly, i can create a Disk Image which will be similar to an ISO file and i can store that in an external HDD, do i still need a USB?
    4. I am planning on replacing the 1TB HDD with a 500GB SSD Samsung 840 EVO (which i already own) and then adding a M.2 Samsung 500GB 850 EVO. Will this result in any problems when using the "Disk Image" to restore the system on the M.2 drive?
    5. If you could link to any guide or tutorial that could help me with this process it would be great (as i said i am a newb at this :p )

    Any other advice u have is greatly appreciated.
    sorry for the long read :S
    Sorry for posting this here, but i noticed that the reply time on the original thread is sometimes 1 month :D
     
  2. T2050

    T2050 Notebook Deity

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    Use Windows search and type in "create a recovery drive" have a spare USB flash drive 8GB or 16GB on hand that you dont need for anything, most likely will be the larger of the two, the app will tell you what size you need at least. Plug in USB flash drive, click next, let it build one for you. Very easy and build into Windows 8 to 10.