Create Windows 10 Backup to USB Flash Drive Easily
Can't create system image on USB drive
You're trying to use your HP 4GB USB flash drive to backup your Windows 7 system, but it's not recognizing it as a valid backup location. To fix this, you can try using the built-in Windows Backup and Restore feature, but it requires a minimum of 6GB free space on the USB drive. If your 4GB drive is too small, you can try using a third-party backup software that supports smaller drives, such as Acronis or EaseUS. Alternatively, you can also try using the Windows System Image Backup feature, which allows you to backup your system to a smaller drive, but it requires a 32-bit Windows 7 installation. If you're still having issues, you can try formatting your USB drive and then re-running the backup process. I hope this helps!
The "disk is not a valid backup location" issue has three main causes. Firstly, the disk may not be properly connected or recognized by the system, which can be due to a faulty USB port, a loose connection, or a corrupted disk driver.
- The drive is not formatted with NTFS file system.
- You'll need to free up space on your drive by deleting unnecessary files, emptying the Recycle Bin, or removing any unnecessary programs to make room for the system image. Alternatively, you can also consider using an external drive with more storage capacity to store the system image.
- Microsoft does not recognize USB flash drives as hard drives.
If your drive is formatted with NTFS and has enough space, the issue might be due to the last cause. You can try setting it as a network drive and then backup Windows 10 to it. For detailed steps, check my previous article: create a system image not working for USB drive.
If you're looking for an easier way to perform a Windows backup to a USB drive, consider using third-party backup software that supports this feature. I can introduce you to such software and provide a step-by-step guide on how to use it.
Best software to create Windows 10 image to USB flash drive
Qiling Disk Master Standard is considered the best free Windows backup software for Windows 10 and other systems. It allows you to back up the Windows operating system, programs, user documents, and other content on the system partition to a USB flash drive, providing several benefits.
- Backup system to USB drive automatically: It supports daily, weekly, monthly schedule backup and any devices recognized by Windows, such as a USB flash drive, allowing you to schedule backups to it.
- Backup only changed files: It uses Incremental Backup as the default backup method, which only backs up changed files, reducing backup image and disk space usage, and is often used with Schedule Backup.
- Other useful features: This software allows you to create a bootable USB drive that can restore your computer's system image to a new hard drive in case of a failure, enabling quick recovery of your computer.
Qiling Disk Master is highly recommended by users due to its intuitive interface and comprehensive features. To get started, download and install it on your computer, then connect your USB drive to the computer and ensure it can be detected.
Qiling Disk Master Standard works on Windows XP to 11, but for Windows Server backup, try their Server version, which offers a $70 discount.
How to do Windows 10 backup to USB flash drive easily
1. Launch Qiling Disk Master Standard, select Backup tab, then choose System Backup in the Home window.
2. Input a proper name in the Task Name box to identify the backup and select the USB drive to save the system image.
★Tips:
✍Qiling Disk Master Standard automatically detects the system partition associated with system files, eliminating the need for manual selection.
✍You can also back up your system to an SSD drive, NAS device, network share, CD/DVD, or cloud storage.
4. Click Proceed to do Windows backup to USB flash drive.
There are three options you can choose (it's optional):
✍You can encrypt, split, compress, and enable Email notification, etc.
✍Schedule a backup daily, weekly, or monthly, or set it to trigger on specific events. The professional version also allows automatic backup to a USB drive when it's plugged in.
✍You can customize your backup method to suit your needs, choosing from full, incremental, or differential backup options, or set up automatic deletion of old backup images using quantity, time, or daily/weekly/monthly cleanup methods. Note that features beyond full and incremental backup require a professional version.
Windows 10 backup to USB flash drive has been successfully completed, saving the backup to a safe location for easy restoration to an earlier date if needed.
This software allows you to create a backup image of your Windows 7 system and save it to a USB flash drive, and it also supports other systems such as Windows 8, Windows 11, and more.
Summary
You can easily perform a Windows 10 backup to a USB flash drive using a software that supports this feature, such as Qiling Disk Master Standard. This software allows you to backup your system automatically on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, and also offers premium features on its professional version, including the ability to backup your system to a USB drive automatically when it's plugged in.
Qiling Disk Master Professional offers a range of advanced features, including cloning an OS to an SSD drive, syncing files to other locations, restoring a system to dissimilar hardware, merging backup images, and using command line backup, among many others.
Related Articles
- How to Backup Entire Computer to USB Flash Drive in Windows 7/8/10?
You will learn 3 ways to backup computer to USB flash drive in Windows 7/8/10/11. All brands of USB are supported. - Windows Server 2012 (R2) Backup to USB Drive [2 Ways]
This article will introduce how to create Windows Server 2012 backup to USB drive or other external hard drives with detailed steps. - Create Windows 10 System Image on USB Flash Drive
You will find a simple way to create system image Windows 10/11 on USB flash drive while Backup and Restore shows the drive is not a valid backup location. Learn how to fix and backup Windows 10 to USB easily. - Best Free USB Backup Software for Windows