Backed up my computer with to small of a flash drive i think?

[hdcurt]

Okay, so. I tried to back my laptop the other day (maybe 2 weeks ago) to a 128GB flash drive.  I dont know if it back up the whole computer or not.  Is there a way to tell?  I did go buy a 256GB flash drive today.  I tried to back up the computer again but it will not let me. It was aking me to reinstall the 128 GB drive. I did  but i dont know what i need to do. I would like to remove/ or reinstate all files from the 128 drive and back up the computer on the 256GB drive. Help when it comes to computers i am not the smartest person

[CherylG]

Normally a backup program will give you an error message if there wasn't adequate space to complete. It depends on what program you used to do the backup whether the 128gb saved it all.

For instance

Windows 7 has builtin file backup to just backup documents, photos,music,etc. 

There is also an option to Create System Image which takes an full snapshot of the laptop hdd with everything included. With an image you also must create a bootable cd/dvd to boot from and restore the image in the event of a no-boot machine.

Then there is HP Recovery Media backup which is a full copy of the OS and all drivers/software that shipped on the laptop. Can be used to reinstall Windows on a new drive if needed.

[ieee488]

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@hdcurt wrote:

Okay, so. I tried to back my laptop the other day (maybe 2 weeks ago) to a 128GB flash drive.  I dont know if it back up the whole computer or not.  Is there a way to tell?  I did go buy a 256GB flash drive today.  I tried to back up the computer again but it will not let me. It was aking me to reinstall the 128 GB drive. I did  but i dont know what i need to do. I would like to remove/ or reinstate all files from the 128 drive and back up the computer on the 256GB drive. Help when it comes to computers i am not the smartest person.

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Windows is very particular about the backup media.

It will not perform a backup to a USB thumb drive no matter how large.

It wants an actual external hard drive.

That's been my experience.

That being said, you should use a 3rd-party software such as Macrium Reflect Free or EaseUS Todo Backup Free because they are highly recommended.

[WAWood]

@hdcurt 

Personally, I do not use built-in backup/recovery methods because I find them too limiting.

I personally prefer to use third-party Backup solutions as they tend to be both more flexible and more reliable than any built-in solutions.

Macrium Reflect (MR) provides a FREE version that can be used to image and restore partitions or entire drives.

What I recommend is the following:
1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from here: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
2) Run MR and choose the option: "Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows" to write a full backup to an external drive or USB stick
3) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD

My experience is that MR, when using the High Compression option, typically can compress the saved image file to about 50% of the USED space in the OS partition. This means if you have an 80GB OS partition, and 40GB is used, MR only needs about 20GB to store the image file.

I use this all the time and it typically takes less than 15 minutes to do the image backup and about the same time or less to do a restore.

Plus, MR has the option to Add a Recovery Boot Menu entry. This allows you then to boot into WinRE, and you can then use that to do a restore -- when you can't boot into Windows!

NOW, you have the means to restore a full working system from the external drive or USB stick in only a few minutes.