Can I Restore a System Image backup after I did a system recovery?

[Susie50]

I have an HP Notebook 15-ba020nr that I purchased 8/2016.  Windows 10 OS.  I ran into a problem doing a System Restore and Technical Support walked me through a number of things but in the end I was told I needed to do a System Recovery.  I am doing that now.  

I asked Technical support if After doing the System Recovery, if i could restore a System Image Backup that I have on an external HD (USB) that I created in September.  I created the System Image from: Control Panel > System and Security > Backup and Restore (Windows 7) > Create a System Image. 

They said "no" I could not do that.  I really would like to be able to do that because I do not want to manually reinstall all my software (I mean the software I purchased later--not the pre-instaled software).  I thought the System Image  backup was just for this purpose.

So, I am asking if I can restore a System Image Backup after I do a System Recovery?  If not, an explanation would be nice.  Thank you in advance.

Susie

[Daniel3800 · Accepted solution]

Because your system image is on an external hard drive, there shouldn't be anything stopping you from restoring it. I recommend that you have made a recovery drive or recovery discs using HP recovery manager first in case anything goes wrong. With the computer at the desktop and the external drive connected, open the start menu and click the power button. While holding down the shift key, click restart. On the Choose an Option screen, click troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, then System Image Recovery, then Windows 10. The window that comes up should show that it automatically selected the image you created. Click next and confirm that the hard drive will be wiped and replaced with your backup image. When it's done the computer will restart automatically and you should be back up and running.

[Susie50]

Oh, thank you.  I will try that. 

Question:  I have multiple images, from 4 computers, saved on my external hard drive.  Is that going to be a problem or shoudl I put my September image on a flash drive by itself and use that?

Thank you again.

Susie

[Daniel3800]

The program should select the newest system image for your computer. The "re-image your computer" window should show when it was created and the name of the computer it was made from. If it shows the wrong backup, select the option "select a system image" and click next. You should see a screen with your 4 backups in a list. Select the September backup and click next. You should have HP recovery media created for your computer, that way if you make a mistake or it doesn't work, you can get back to where you are now.

[Susie50]

Daniel3800, Thank you for all your help--fast replies and clear instructions!!

[Daniel3800]

You're welcome, Susie50.  I'm glad I was able to help!