Disk Image of SSD - Backup and Restore

We show how to backup and restore SSD disk image.

Abstract: This document describes the process of creating a disk image of a 512GB SSD on a second-hand laptop running Windows 11 and restoring it to a 2TB SSD to preserve the licensed Windows installation and software. Two disk imaging tools, Paragon Hard Disk Manager 17 and MiniTool ShadowMaker 4.5.0, were used to back up and restore the disk image. The procedure included SSD replacement, image restoration, and partition resizing to utilize the full capacity of the new drive.

1 Laptop With Installed Software

I bought a second-hand laptop that comes with installed licensed Windows 11 and some other software. It had an SSD of 512GB, and I wanted to replace it with a larger SSD 2TB. The problem is that I wanted to preserve the licensed installation of Windows 11 and other software I had on that old 512GB disk.

The solution was to make a disk image of the installed software before replacement and later restore the image to the new SSD.

1.1 Tools Used

The primary tool for this process was a bootable USB with disk imaging software. I opted to test two different tools, which were both included on the bootable USB:

• Easy2Boot – A multiboot solution for USB drives.
• Paragon Hard Disk Manager 17 – A tool for disk image backup and restoration.
• MiniTool ShadowMaker 4.5.0 – Another disk imaging tool for backup and restoration.

While only one tool is necessary, I chose to test both for comparison.

2 Plan

The following diagram illustrates my setup and the steps taken during the process.

3 Backup With Paragon Tools

I first booted into the Paragon tools and created a disk image backup. The steps involved in this process are shown below.

The disk image was successfully saved to an external USB HDD.

4 Backup With MiniTool Tools

To test the second tool, I booted into MiniTool ShadowMaker and created another disk image backup. The following images show the backup process.

And the result of the backup is a disk image on an external USB HDD.

5 Replacing SSDs

After completing the backups, I replaced the old 512GB SSD with the new 2TB SSD.

6 Restore With Paragon Tools

Next, I restored the disk image from the external USB HDD to the new 2TB SSD using Paragon Hard Disk Manager. The following images demonstrate the restoration process.

7 Restore With MiniTool Tools

I wiped the new SSD to test the MiniTool restore process. The disk image was then restored from the external USB HDD to the 2TB SSD using MiniTool ShadowMaker.

8 Resizing the Disk Partitions

Upon restoring the disk image from the 512GB SSD to the 2TB SSD, there was unallocated space. To fully utilize the new disk, I used Paragon Hard Disk Manager 17 to resize and move the partitions.

9 Conclusion

The disk image, including the licensed Windows 11 installation, was successfully preserved, and both tools performed well.

As a developer, I create disk images only a few times a year, but over the past 15 years, I have found Paragon tools to be exceptional in reliability and quality. I preferred the GUI from about 10 years ago, which included a fast Linux-based bootable .iso. Additionally, the older version offered more functionality, but it seems the interface has been simplified to appeal to a broader audience.

The MiniTool suite is new to me.

One useful application of disk imaging tools (via bootable USB) is to create a backup of a fully configured system. You can create an image of your disk with all your tools installed and save it to an external USB HDD/SSD. In case of system corruption, such as from a virus, you can restore the image with all your tools and settings intact.