Hello to everyone,Ineedto restore a windows backup image from a 500GB diskto a 160GBSSD disk. Of course, the 500GB disk is 80% empty.I can do this operation without problems?Any advice?pcero

Unfortunately I don't think that is going to work (I haven't tried it on Windows7, so feel free to give it a shot.) You can try defragging the drive and then shrinking it, but for 500GB to 160GB you'd be pretty lucky if you didn't have some non-movable file in the way.

One thing to consider is the size off the backed up image. Search in the windowsimagebackup folder for the .vhd files which are the actual backups.Right click on any of themto get the size information before expanding. If more than80GB probably won't fit.Seasons greetings!

The total size of windows Image Backup directory is 27,2GB. This must relate to systemmain disk: hidden system partition (100MB), Windows partition (38,9GB), but not to the third partition also in the main disk that is Outlook and Virtual PCdata (86GB).Karl, I have 12GB ram and do not use swapping file nor hibernation file. It is possible...DEFCON1, according with your post an the size of windows backup image, I think that also is possible...Any additional advice?And of course, trial and error.Seasons greetings for all.pcero

You are not able to restore the system with this image, because your hard drive is changed. However you can install a clean system, and load the image as a virtual drive to pick up your important data. 1. Open Disk Management. 2. Click Action, Attach VHD. 3. Browse to the location of the system image backup. Note: You may see an access denied error when trying to open the WindowsImageBackup folder. If so you will need to click Continue on the prompt to gain access. If that does not enable you to access the folder, you will need to take ownership of the folder, and grant Administrators permissions to the folder. 4. When you open the \WindowsImageBackup\<Computername>\Backup <date and time> folder you will typically see more than one VHD files. One for the System partition and one for the Windows partition. 5. Start by selecting the largest VHD file and click Open. Then click OK. 6. The drive should now be available in Windows Explorer for file copy. Note: There is an option to attach the VHD file as a read only disk, but that may not properly mount the drive. Do not use this read only option. Important: If this VHD file is the only location where the data is stored, be very cautious of how you manipulate files on the drive.Arthur Xie - MSFT

The total size of windows Image Backup directory is 27,2GB. This must relate to systemmain disk: hidden system partition (100MB), Windows partition (38,9GB), but not to the third partition also in the main disk that is Outlook and Virtual PCdata (86GB).Karl, I have 12GB ram and do not use swapping file nor hibernation file. It is possible...DEFCON1, according with your post an the size of windows backup image, I think that also is possible...Any additional advice?And of course, trial and error.Seasons greetings for all. pcero 27 GB does not seem to represent the total size of the 500 GB partiton so indeed it does look like using it to restore the system will be possible. What is the size of the largest .vhd in "WindowsImageBackup"?Seasons greetings!

Arthur Xie: I know this procedure, but I'm trying to finda secure, clean and no manual procedure. Thanks.I think that these days isusual problem, because I'm only like to replace my mechanical Seagate 500GB main disk for an Intel 160GBSSD disk.DEFCON 1: It seems that Windows backup only create two .vhd images. The size of the first is 55.313KB (hidden system partition), and the size of the second .vhd imageis 28.562.512KB (Windows 7 partition). Nothing about the third partition (outlook and virtual pc data).The third partition (only data) of the main disk,and the full data of second disk (only photos) are stored out of the WindowsImageBackup directory. In a directory named like the name of my PC, like my old system (Vista x64).Xavipcero

Typically there should onlybe two .vhd, one for boot partion and the other for system unless the user selectedoptional partitions during backup. On a 50GB partiton my .vhd will be from 16 to 25 GB depending how many programs and documents. You canalways try butI suggest you unplug the seagate beforehand to fallback on.Seasons greetings!

It is cannot be realized with the image backup files. If you just want to move the system between hard disks, you can try the steps in the following article. Step-by-Step: Basic Windows Deployment for IT ProfessionalsArthur Xie - MSFT

Thanks to allpcero