I think I've ALMOST solved a huge problem, but I ran into what's probably one final snag, so if someone could PLEASE help me I would very much appreciate it! Thanks. I've provided very detailed descriptions - I know it's a lot to read, but it's easier than if I were vague and you can't figure out what's going on, right?

The problem is this:

I have a computer running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (I think with SP1), and it currently works fine, but for technical reasons (don't ask me why because it's a long story and not really relevant to what I need to do), I still need to reformat and reinstall Windows or recover it from an image, or whatever.

Anyway, I got a lot of information from here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/239312/how-to-restore-system-image-backups-on-windows-7-8-and-10/

So you can follow along to see what I did, and how it turned out differently than it was supposed to.

Since I don't seem to have a Windows 7 CD/DVD (I could have sworn I did, but apparently I was given a partition to do that for me, instead of an actual copy of Windows) I'm going to try to reinstall Windows from an image of the partition on which it is installed (even though Windows calls it an image, it's not an ISO, but a collection of files in a few folders that Windows created for that specific purpose, stored on a separate partition).

Here's the configuration of the three partitions on the hard drive:

C: the main partition, and the largest one, which holds Windows in its current state

F: a small partition which was included with my computer, and seems to hold backup files for restoring it to its default state (or at least the state that it was in when I first got it, with only the programs included with the computer installed). Basically it's a folder called WindowsImageBackup, which contains another folder which is the username, which contains a folder called Backup followed by the date that it was created, and also a folder called Catalog and a couple of other things (I hope this stuff sounds familiar so someone).

H: a new small partition that I made only for testing purposes, which is large enough to restore Windows from the "image" on the F drive (if I could only get it to work!)

I think there's also another special partition for booting purposes or something, but I can't access it directly and I don't think it's needed for what I'm doing, anyway.

Any USB drives that I plug in show up as I, J, etc. and I have one with a copy of the backup folder from the F partition, and another one with a backup "image" which I just made of the current state of my computer, in the same files-in-folders format as the stuff on the F partition, except with a bunch of extra stuff that I've installed since I first got the computer, in case I need it again.

Drives D and E are just DVD-RWs and I don't have a drive A or B.

So now that that's all out of the way, here's what's going on:

First of all, in the "Backup and Restore" section of the control panel, I've done both of these things:

- "Create a system image" option, as it says on the page that I provided a link to above, the heading "How to Create a System Image Backup" (which is how I made the backup "image" folder that I put on drive G and a USB drive, and I'm guessing that it's also how the initial backup on drive F was made, because it's structurally identical, and really the only difference is the file sizes)

- "Create a system repair disc" option, which is seen in the same image shown in the heading listed for the item above, but I think I found the information of how to do that elsewhere (I put it on a DVD, and I use it to boot so that I can access the command prompt outside of Windows, because ultimately when I'm finished testing and I'm sure that I can do this safely and still be able to properly restore, I'm going to want to use the DOS format command on the C and H partitions, and I want to erase everything before I proceed to reinstall Windows)

Anyway, the repair disc seems to have been created fine, and it boots and runs fine, and as far as I can tell, even the backup "image" was created correctly, because it looks pretty much the same as the one that was included with my computer on the F partition.

I've tried to restore the one on the F partition onto the H partition (it's the only one that will fit there, because the backup that I made of my current system is far to large, and I'm not entirely sure whether I'll use it in the long run anyway - I may just revert to factory settings from the F partition and then go from there). I've tried the restoration in two ways:

- One way was through the control panel Advanced Recovery Methods, as described in the link I provided under the heading "How to Restore Your Backup from the Control Panel (Windows 7 Only)". When I did this, I was able to get all the way to the point with the options shown in the image, and I chose "Use a system image you created earlier to recover your computer" (because the other option would be to reinstall Windows from a disc that I don't have). But when I clicked that option it said "Windows could not find any file backups on this computer. Click "Back up now" to create a file backup." When I click that button it seems to just want to go through the long process of creating the backup the same way that I already did, but it doesn't seem to want to do anything useful for me. Anyway, it says this error even though the F partition is clearly there and I also have the USB drive plugged in, which contains another copy of it!

- The other method that I've tried is to boot from the recovery disc and try to restore it from there, as described in the page that I linked to, under the heading "How to Restore Your Backup with a Recovery Drive". Actually, a better link for that is here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/7702/restoring-windows-7-from-an-image-backup/

I follow the steps as indicated and get to the screen that says "Select a system image backup", and at that point it DOES show the F drive, so I know it's found it! But then when I choose it and click next, it says "The system image is on a hard disk, but Windows needs to format that disk to restore your computer. Choose a different image to restore." How dumb is that?! I'm not going to tell it to reformat the F partition, so why should it care, and why have a backup there if it can't be used?

Anyway, I also have the USB drive plugged in (though I'm not entirely sure whether it's recognizable outside of Windows, or if it's configured to be, or how to do so, but it might be), so I tried the option called "Select a system image" and it let me choose one, but the only one listed is the same one on the F drive, and when I choose it I get the same error. However, there's also a button that says "Advanced...", and when I click it then it lets me choose "Search for a system image on the network" (the computer isn't connected to any network, including the Internet, and I wouldn't have an image on a network, anyway), or "Install a driver" which doesn't seem very relevant.

So frankly, I'm not sure what to do at this point. Either method would work for me. I had initially thought that I'd prefer to use the recovery disc method, since I can do it outside of Windows right after reformatting the drives, but now I think that even if I could just do it through the control panel that would work fine, because I could reformat the H drive, restore Windows onto it, then boot into that, reformat the C drive and restore Windows onto that as well, and then reformat the H drive again. I think if it came to that, it would have the same effect. It would require a lot of rebooting, but by now I'm used to it, so either method is fine.

I am sorry, I got bored after first paragraph. It boils down to one simple question, do you have a valid windows 7 license key and product key, and if so, for what version?

If not, you will have all kinds of hoops to jump through, and probably only an own version. Me I am not going there, buy a real copy, they are dirt cheap, or just get a win 10 one.

If you do however, then simply pop over to M$ site, choose the right version for your license key, and download an image which you can then burn to a disc.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

Admit that I skimmed through the OP, but one thing about system images done with Windows' built-in feature is that it'll try to restore the exact partitions backed up. So you choose to create a system image, which by default will create it for the system partition (C: in your case) and the System Reserved one (normally no drive letter). So that's the entire contents of C: and System Reserved, and need a large enough destination drive to save all that. Then when you restore, it will restore the entire C: and System Reserved, overwriting anything currently on those partitions. And it uses IDs, so it will restore those specific partitions, not copy the data where you want it.
Also, when you try to recover backup, there's a checkbox to "format and repatition disks". You do NOT want that checked. If it is, it will do just what it says, format and repartition the HDD, as in all of it. So if that's checked, there's the reason for your error.

Restored from backups made like this quite a few times so far. Just make the backup for C: (which for me is just a system drive, Windows, user folders, Program Files where I have non-game software. All documents, games, media files and so on are on other partitions) and System Reserved on my external HDD, then connect that (may need to go into BIOS for it to be seen on boot, then reboot again), book from the recovery disk, check carefully which partitions will need to be restored (drive letters differ when starting from recovery disk), format those manually to be sure, then restore. One issue I noticed after restoring is that the space for system restore was set to zero, so had to set that back to what it was, but other than that, never any issues.

Edit: Just to be clear, if you make a system image, it makes an image of the partition exactly as it is at that moment, and it will be restored exactly to that state, it will not reinstall a "clean" Windows. If you want to do that, nightcraw1er.488's solution works. And the image on that partition should also work, restoring the system to how it was when you got it, that's how it usually is when you buy computers with preinstalled OS, but again, that'll restore the entire C: to that initial state.

Just to note that a OEM license key won't work there, at least the last time I tried it. I have Windows 7 (Home Premium) preloaded on my laptop and a sticker with the license key on the bottom, but I couldn't download a Windows 7 image from the MS site, apparently it lets you download an image only if you have a retail license.

So instead I downloaded a Windows 7 torrent image from the shady parts of the internet, installed it, and activated it with my valid license key. Naturally I didn't feel quite comfortable to download a "pirate" Windows version because I couldn't be fully sure it doesn't include some third-party malware, but I tried to find an install media which didn't seem altered

Just reminds me why I like Linux so much better, none of this "nah ah you have the wrong kind of license, we don't let you download an install media from here, just to spite you, after all we are Microsoft!". With Linux, I just download an image and that's it, no if's or but's or however's.

To be fair though, with Windows 8 and 10 Microsoft made it less aggravating. Just use the Microsoft Media Creation tool to download and create an USB install media, it doesn't have similar ifs and buts either (other than when you try to activate the installed OS, of course).

Well, it looks like nobody read the whole thing. I was afraid of that, but I didn't know how to boil it down to something smaller without leaving out crucial details.

First of all, thanks for your suggestions so far, but I'm not sure that they'll do much good for my particular problem (though it's good to know not to check the box for re-partitioning, but I don't remember ever being asked that, anyway). There's no convenient way for me to buy another Windows CD and Linux isn't going to be compatible with what I'm trying to do.

But I'll see if I can try to summarize my first post much more briefly, and then you can just refer back to it if you need more details:

(EDIT: Crap! Even this one turned out about half as long! Well, I think it's at least much easier to read and less technical.)

Basically, I need to reinstall Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, and I really want to use the backup files that came with my computer when I got it (made using the Windows built-in backup mechanism, so they should be compatible). It would also include things like Office 2010, which is convenient because the newest version that I have on CD is Office 2000, and I'd really rather not downgrade it by 10 years, because 2010 is old enough. I'd also prefer to use it rather than anything hacked, because it seems to work better when it's legitimate, and so on.

Anyway, I've used a couple of guides to help me try to do this, which I'll provide here for reference, but ultimately I didn't get the results that they say I should have gotten:

https://www.howtogeek.com/239312/how-to-restore-system-image-backups-on-windows-7-8-and-10

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/7702/restoring-windows-7-from-an-image-backup

And I've tried restoring the backup "image" a couple of ways:

- I made a restore CD (or whatever they're called), and I've tried booting from that to restore the backup "image", but even though it allows me to choose the correct F partition to use as the backup from which to restore, when I do so I get an error that says "The system image is on a hard disk, but Windows needs to format that disk to restore your computer. Choose a different image to restore." This seems to imply that I can't overwrite the same drive that the backup files are on, while using them to do the overwrite, which makes sense, except that they're on different partitions; I'm trying to restore the H partition (a small one that I'm using for testing) with data that was originally on the C partition and is now in an "image" stored on the F partition. It it wasn't possible to do that then why would the manufacturer have put the data on the F partition in the first place? I also have a copy of the "image" on a USB drive, but it doesn't list that as an option while I'm using the restore CD (and I'm not entirely sure whether it's configured to be able to recognize USB drives before it loads Windows, but I know that it can use them in Windows).

- The other method that I've tried is to use the Windows control panel in the Advanced Recovery Methods section, which gives me an option to "Use a system image you created earlier to recover your computer", but then it won't list any options for me as valid backups - not even the F partition which is listed when I boot from the restore CD. Again, I have the files on the F partition and also on a USB drive, but it doesn't seem to find any of them automatically, nor does it let me browse to them.

One thing that I didn't say before because I didn't know if it was entirely relevant is that I also have the backup "image" on an extra hard drive, which is an external drive plugged into the computer, and contains only one partition: G. It has a bunch of other stuff on it besides that, but it does have the backup, and neither method finds it there either. The reason why I don't like this option is because ideally, I REALLY want to have this particular drive unplugged at the specific time that I do the reformatting (long story and technical reasons, etc.). But it may be a moot point anyway, since it doesn't find the backup "image" there.

So, I hope this one wasn't too long. Does anyone have any ideas, given my specific situation?

You don't have to use a "hacked" Windows 7 installation media. You just need to obtain a valid and correct (in your case Pro 64bit apparently) Windows 7 installation media from somewhere, be it from the MS site, or your friend, or a torrent site, and install it.

Then you activate it with your valid Windows 7 code that you hopefully have somewhere. I have it on the bottom of my laptop in a sticker, but I recall it is possible to dig out from somewhere from your existing Windows 7 installation too.

The reason I am suggesting installing Windows 7 clean from an installation media is because I've never had anything but trouble trying to use those "recovery medias" or such to reinstall Windows. I created such recovery media on an USB stick according to the instructions back when I got this Windows 7 PC, but when I finally tried to "reinstall" Windows 7 from it, I just couldn't get it to work. Maybe I had similar problems as you are having now, not sure.

I've had similar problems on other PCs (laptops) with Win8/8.1 and 10 as well, and it always seemed more foolproof to simply wipe the whole system out (including the existing recovery partition) and reinstall the OS from an installation media.

With Windows 10 and 8.1 it is easier because you can make such installation media quite easily with the official MS Media Creation Tool, but with Win7 it is trickier nowadays to find such valid installation media. You can download them from MS site I guess, but as said, apparently it doesn't allow that with OEM licenses (ie. Windows was preinstalled on your PC, quite common especially with laptops). There used to be some third-party site (digitalriver or somesuch?) where you could download all the original Windows 7 installation medias (and then activate them with your own valid Win7 registration code), but I think Microsoft took that site down at some point, even though they had allowed it to exist for, I don't know, a decade? That is why I had to download the Win7 installation media from some torrent site, and then I activated that with my valid code.

EDIT: Well, apparently Windows 7 installation medias can still be downloaded quite safely, without having to resort to pirated versions. Maybe this is actually where I got my Win7 installation media the last time (not some "shady site" as I remembered wrong earlier):

https://techverse.net/download-windows-7-iso-x86-x64-microsofts-official-servers/

As for Microsoft Office 2010/2000, check if the free Libre Office is enough for your needs. I use it on my home PCs (both Windows and Linux), but frankly I have quite little need for e.g. a real word processor nowadays.

Yeah, I have OEM, so I don't think that would work, but I'm getting Libre Office, which I'll try, but I really like Office 2010 and would prefer to be able to use it, but I have NO copy of it other than what's installed, and in the backup (I have like 3 different CDs of Office 2000 and 3 more of Office 97, and I even have a Windows 95 CD! How the hell did I get so much old junk, but nothing new?).

In any case, if anyone knows how to get the backup to restore, that's really the whole issue. I mean there's got to be some way to do it, right? Otherwise what's the point of making the backup files at all???

If you're sure what you have there is the original image, then yes, you should be able to use it, but again, such an image is of the entire partition and will restore that specific partition. Granted, should be ways to restore on a different one, I think, but I never looked into it enough, so no idea. Normally, if you select that OEM image, it will overwrite the C: partition with that original image, it will not put it on H: or anywhere else and it will not keep anything you have on C:, so back up anything you want to keep off C: first and hope for the best.
As for that question to repartition, see the images in the article you linked to, that "format and repartition disks" option which in that screenshot is greyed out and checked automatically since it says the example uses a single-partition disk. If you have multiple partitions, that option should be available and you want to UNCHECK it. But, again, using that image WILL overwrite C:, not restore on H: or anywhere else.
So you're much better off getting a Win 7 image otherwise, see some of the ways suggested above, and using your license key to activate it.

Also note, if you use an oem copy, it’s probably loaded with bloatware, and out of date (I.e. you will need to download various service packs and updates). A nice clean install disc and wsusoffline can get a clean install up and running pretty quick (and you will save the space that partition is taking up).

Back in the day I had a lot of problems using the restore function. It is supposed to be straight foward but errors come eventually.
Newer versions of Windows, like 8 and 10 wich have a restore dedicated partition seem to be quite easy to manage.

If your restore pen drive is plugged on a USB 3.0 (or 3.1 or gen1 or what ever they call it now) trey plug it on 2.0 ports as WIN7 don't have native support for those.
Can't think of anything else at the moment.


Edit: On this link there is some trouble shooting with a problem similar to yours. Some solutions were the usb 3.0 problem and also, the image pen drive had other folder and files inside.

Now might be a good time to consider an alternative operating system.

Well, I'm not sure that the problem is caused by me trying to install to the wrong partition (I mean, that might also be a problem, but I don't know), because the error message that I get implies that I can't have the backup files anywhere on the same drive (even a different partition) as the one that I'm trying to restore. As for why it would need to go on the same partition it was originally on, I have no idea, because as long as it's big enough to hold it, then ti shouldn't matter. Also, I've read that it can wipe and reset all of the partitions on the drive, but that doesn't make sens either, because when I made the new backup (and I'm guessing the old one was made the same way), it was just of a single partition, so why would the other ones be relevant? Well, I'll see if I can tell it specifically to put it on H. Ultimately I do want it on C, but the only reason I want to put it on H first is to test before I commit to overwriting C. But I guess if I get all the way to the point that I have to do it that way or not at all, then that's what I'll do; at the moment, I'm still trying to get it to accept that backup files at all, whether on a different partition or an entirely different drive. Well if there's out of date bloatware, I can uninstall stuff I don't need and maybe upgrade other stuff, but honestly it's probably the same stuff that I'm using now, anyway. I don't have a clean install CD for my official Windows and Office, for that matter, which is why I'm resorting to an image instead. I'm not sure what wsusoffline is. I'm not worried about the space of the small partition, because it's only 20 GB of an 860+ GB drive, and frankly, I like having it there in case I ever need to test anything with the OS or backup stuff like this.

Well I only have Windows 7, not 8 or 10 (actually, I have 95, 98, 2000, XP and Vista also, but I don't want to use those).

Hmmm, you're saying that it will recognize USB 2.0 outside of Windows but not 3.0, or do I have that backwards? I didn't know that, but I'm afraid that all of my USB ports might possibly be 3.0 - I'll have to check.

Thanks, I'll read that! But are you implying that the drive with the backup is not allowed to have anything on it other than the backup folder itself and the files within it? Like it can't have any other irrelevant stuff? Well I don't see why that would be, because couldn't Windows just ignore the other stuff and use only the backup? In any case, my F drive has only the backup, and that's the one that's giving me the error.

Nope. That wouldn't be compatible.

Activating a clean install of Windows 7 would work with an OEM license key (I have done it), but the problem indeed is that MS doesn't let you download the installation media with an OEM key, so you have to get it from somewhere else.

With Win 8.x and 10 MS doesn't seem to have similar restrictions, you can easily download the installation media from them with the MS Media Creator Tool, and then it gets activated on your PC even if you have a mere OEM license.

Anyways, I can't help further if you want to still use the recovery media version, as I've failed with the recovery medias several times myself. Plus, as someone pointed out, with the clean install you don't have to install all the useless crapware that OEM Windows many times have (my ASUS laptop had too).

Wsusoffline. It’s a bit of software which can download all the security, kb’s, c frameworks etc. To make your win 7 up to date without it needing to connect to the internet. I mention this due to your other post. You can, on one machine get all the updates, then copy to a usb and run on the non internet machine to get it up to date.
http://www.wsusoffline.net/

Just buy a proper copy, they are dirt cheap:
[url=https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Microsoft-Win-7-Ultimate-Full-Retail-Version-Ireland-32-Bit-and-64-Bit/114063608736?epid=7011036420&hash=item1a8eb88ba0:g:M2oAAOSwRjteG4Up]https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Microsoft-Win-7-Ultimate-Full-Retail-Version-Ireland-32-Bit-and-64-Bit/114063608736?epid=7011036420&hash=item1a8eb88ba0:g:M2oAAOSwRjteG4Up[/url]

I got ultimate some years back for only £80.

Windows 7 don't have native support for USB3.0, this means it need a separate driver to function properly. When you boot with the CD, only the bare minimum is loaded to be able to do the restore and possibly not the USB3.0 drivers.
From the fast reading I did, Windows cannot see the correct files if there is some other stuff between. Lets say Windows load the correct files as the nº1, nº2 and so on. If there is any other file there it might screw the correct work flow.
It could eventually ignore but it seems that's the way it's build.

Just check the links as it may have your answer.
If you want to try, you be able to do a complete clone of your drive. I use clonezilla for that but as far as I know, it can olnly clone to drives the same size or bigger than the original.