What method/software to fully backup factory provided hard disk?

Question

Recently, i wanted to change my HDD to an SSD. I want to backup from the HDD and the restore to the SSD. The backup and restore should include all Dell factory partitions (WinRetools, image etc) and OS. This would also be a good way to keep a copy of the factory-default for future recovery should the HDD/SSD becomes corrupted/unbootable. I've tried using Win10 OS image backup and also Acronis for WD (sector-by-sector) copy. However, each time after restore, when i hit F12 and try to access DELL Support Assist OS recovery, it will not show the (local) recovery image. Doing the same on the original HDD will show the local recovery image (which i assume 'local' is picked up from the HDD image partition). This means that even though the backup and restore was successful, both MS image restore and Acronis image restore was not 'successful'(cannot be used after restore). Anyone knows of a tried and successful method/software that can backup the DELL factory partitions and the OS, and more importantly successfully restore the Dell partitions. (OS backup is not so important since after a successful restore, you can always use the DELL SupportAssist OS recovery to reinstall the OS) Any suggestion is welcome. A tried and tested solution would be preferable. Thank you in advance.

bacillus1 · Accepted Answer

Macrium Reflect Free is what you want plus it's free for personal use.

ML Chin · Answer

Thanks for the reply. I'll try a backup and restore and feedback here whether it was successful or not.

Btw, Macrium Reflect (latest) is no longer free. Furthermore, the free version is also no longer on the Macrium website for download. I googled and downloaded the last free version ie. v 8.1.7469. Hope this version works.

Will feedback after testing. Thank you.

ML Chin · Answer

Ok. Took a while to fully test and repeated the process a couple of times. Now here's a summary.

I've tested and can report that Macrium Reflect successfully backed up the factory hard disk with all the Dell provided and OS partitions. It also it was able to successfully restore the '"image" backup to hard disk. Most importantly, after restore, the Dell SupportAssist software recovery functions perform as normal. This means that the Dell partitions were successfully restored and recognised correctly (which was something Acronis for WD was not able to do eventhough the restore was successful).

I was also able to backup from a larger drive and restore to a smaller drive. Macrium did this automatically. I also tried backup from a smaller drive and restore to a larger drive. Both this worked successfully after restoring. In the case of the smaller to larger drive restore, if the partitions do not resize automatically, you can select "float right" for all the "right-sided" partitions until you reach the OS partition and then select "Fill" to merge the free space into the OS partition.

With this, I can conclude that Macrium Reflect Free edition does work to backup a factory hard disk and upon restore allow the Dell partitions to continue to function.

krishan91 · Answer

Use File History to back up to an external drive or network location. Select Start > Settings > Update & Security > Backup > Add a drive , and then choose an external drive or network location for your backups.

Restore files with File History

Connect the external storage device that contains your backup files.
In the search box on the taskbar, type Control Panel, then select it from the list of results.
In the search box in Control Panel, type File History. Select Save backup copies of your files with File History from the list of results.
Follow the instructions to restore your files.

Windows General

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