Best Disk Image Creator to Image SSD/HDD/USB in Windows
What does disk image creator do?
A disk image creator takes a snapshot of your hard drive so that you can restore it to the normal state whenever you need. This is helpful for system or disk recovery in case of hard disk errors like error 0x80071AC3. The term “image” is used because most such kind of software copies the hard disk sector by sector when making a snapshot. Anyway, among numerous different Windows disk image creators, which one is appropriate for you?
Choose a worthy Windows disk imager - Qiling Disk Master
Compression, encryption, backup schedule and so on are taken into consideration when you look for a good disk image creator for Windows. You may also expect the disk imager to be able to create an incremental and differential backup, which will help to save storage space occupied by disk images and increase backup efficiency.
Qiling Disk Master Professional, all-in-one backup and recovery software equipped with many advanced features, could be your option.
- It offers System Backup, Disk Backup, Partition Backup, and File backup. You can not only use the features to backup a physical computer but also backup VMware virtual machine.
- You are allowed to perform automatic backups using the Schedule Backup feature.
- You are also allowed to compress, split, or encrypt backup images.
- Its intuitive interface makes the imaging process easy and fast even for those users who are not computer experts.
Besides, it supports both 32 bit and 64 bit of Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP. Download this handy tool and learn how to create a disk image in Windows step by step from the next part.
How to create a disk image in Windows 11/10/8/7 step by step
If you plan to save the disk image on an external hard drive, you may connect it to your computer and make sure it is detected before you start.
Step 1. Install and run Qiling Disk Master. Click “Backup” on the left pane and select “Disk Backup”.
Step 2. You may name this backup task using the “Task Name” field. Click “Disks” to select the hard drive you want to image.
Step 3. Click the second column to select a destination path to save the disk image. You are allowed to save the disk image to local disks, USB drives, NAS devices, etc.
Step 4. Click “Proceed” to run the task.
- Options: You can write a comment for the backup. You can also compress, split, or encrypt the backup image here as well as set email notifications.
- Schedule Backup: you can set the backup task to run at fixed intervals. There are five schedule modes available: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Event triggers, and USB plug in.
- Backup Scheme: It allows you to choose incremental or differential backup method to perform the scheduled backup. Since incremental backup are more demanding to restore, we recommend that you choose the differential backup method.
About disk image restoration
As mentioned before, Qiling Disk Master is not just a disk image creator for Windows, but also a recovery tool. The disk recovery process can also be done within several steps. There are two main situations when you need to do restoration:
1. Restore the disk image when the system crashes and your computer fails to boot. In this case, you need to boot from a bootable drive and then perform restoration. It requires you to create bootable media in advance.
2. Restore the disk image to a new computer. Luckily, Qiling Disk Master is capable of performing dissimilar hardware restore which effectively avoids boot errors caused by different hardware.
FAQs about disk image creation
1. What is a disk image?
A disk image is a file that contains an exact copy of a storage device, such as a hard drive, SSD, or USB drive. It includes the operating system, applications, and data stored on the original device.
2. Can I restore individual files from a disk image?
Yes, Qiling Disk Master allows you to mount the image as a virtual drive, enabling you to browse and retrieve individual files.
3. Can Windows Backup and Restore create a disk image?
Yes, but Windows Backup and Restore offers limited options for creating disk images. You can enjoy additional features, flexibility, and better performance if you pick Qiling Disk Master.
Wrapping things up
You have got the best disk image creator for Windows—Qiling Disk Master. Actually, it can not only create images for disks but also for the operating system, partitions or files. What’s more, it is still a disk cloning utility. You can use it to upgrade C drive to larger drive. Don’t hesitate to have a try!
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