An image of the system will restore Windows 8 on a blank HARD drive?

Hey everybody,

I work for a hospital and have to keep sensitive information on my laptop occasionally. Therefore, I would like to wipe my HARD drive a few months so that if my computer is lost or stolen it will be a lot of private information on it.

However, I do not have a CD with Windows 8 on it (no one seems to give more backup discs). I do an image of the system to use as a back up, but I want to make sure that wiping HARD drive is OK before I do it.

In short:
If I have a system image in Windows 8, stored on an external HARD drive, can I restore my operating system of it on my laptop if I completely erase my laptop's HARD drive?

Hi Michael J Caboose.

Thanks for posting in the Microsoft Community.

Yes, it is possible for you to create a system image on an external drive backup and use it later to restore the operating system.

Windows 8 has a new option file history which will help you to create the system image.

Select the Recovery option in the file history. Click on the image of the system to create an and select the drive you want to the same backup/create.

Here are some articles that will help you to perform this task successfully.

Set up a drive to history file

How to use the file history

Note: However before wiping on the hard drive of the laptop, make sure that you have supported the important data on the drive.

Hope this information helps.

If you need further assistance, please answer and we will be happy to help you.

Tags: Windows

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