I'm contemplating resetting my Windows PC and am wondering how to go about restoring a Macrium image of the system disc after the reset.
Will the restore 'destroy' the cleaning that Windows has done or will it - effectively - replace everything, but on a fresh canvas?

I don't see the benefits of doing both.  If you're going to reset the PC, you generally do that when your image restores don't solve whatever it is you're trying to fix.  It's a nuclear option for a reason.  So, I don't see what benefit you'd have resetting Windows 10 and then restoring down a Windows 10 image backup.


Depending on the image you restore, you could undo everything the reset of the PC would be doing except for setting up certain boot sequences.


Ideally, I'd say you should be doing one or the other, but not one followed by the other.

If you hope a clean reinstall will solve a problem you're having, it's worth making a backup of your system before going forward.  That way if the clean reinstall doesn't solve whatever problem you're having, you can restore your backup to get right back to where you were, rather than having to rebuild your entire system manually without the benefit of having solved whatever problem you hoped to solve.  But as dbminter already explained, the backup in that case would just be an "escape hatch", so to speak, because if you DO choose to restore your image after performing a clean install, then yes you will be undoing everything done by the clean install.  For better or worse, the whole point of an image restore is to return your system to exactly the way it was at the time the backup was captured.  You can't "merge" your an image backup into a cleanly installed Windows environment.

Thanks both I guess that's what I thought. The problem is an abnormally long boot time, a matter on minutes at times and having done everything that I can think of to fix it I feel that a reste is all that's left to me. At least the reset should show an improved boot time which would indicate that the problem is a windows one.

I am in the same situation. Hello, I am having trouble with my VAIO SX14 Laptop.
There is a problem with the screen flashing after a number of hours depending on how "hard" it is working. The Vaio Tech shop supposedly replaced the Mother Board, they said the cooling fan was not working properly and the GPU was overheating.
Well, it is still doing the same thing, now they suggest I do a system RESET which should keep all my personal files. However, it will delete all of my programs including my Video Editing, Adobe programs, Microsoft Office, and so on.
If I do the reset and I leave the laptop running for a day or two and the flashing does not happen anymore, I could re-install all of my software which would be a real pain in the you-know-what. But it would be fixed. However, if I do the reset and the flashing starts again just like it was, I could restore the image and would have not lost anything.
Any comments?

You are correct...

+x

 

mb300e4m - 26 August 2022 11:01 PM

I am in the same situation. Hello, I am having trouble with my VAIO SX14 Laptop.
There is a problem with the screen flashing after a number of hours depending on how "hard" it is working. The Vaio Tech shop supposedly replaced the Mother Board, they said the cooling fan was not working properly and the GPU was overheating.
Well, it is still doing the same thing, now they suggest I do a system RESET which should keep all my personal files. However, it will delete all of my programs including my Video Editing, Adobe programs, Microsoft Office, and so on.
If I do the reset and I leave the laptop running for a day or two and the flashing does not happen anymore, I could re-install all of my software which would be a real pain in the you-know-what. But it would be fixed. However, if I do the reset and the flashing starts again just like it was, I could restore the image and would have not lost anything.
Any comments?

Your reasoning is sound.  If a reset doesn't solve your problem, then having an image backup of the pre-restore state will certainly be a handy way to return to your fully configured environment rather than having to go through the work of rebuilding it if you won't even get the benefit of any problem having been solved by the reset.

That is what I thought, I have really nothing to lose.

+x

 

mb300e4m - 27 August 2022 11:32 AM

That is what I thought, I have really nothing to lose.

I found the Image in which there are files I want to retrieve, but the system says the media is write protected. I need to get copies of the appdata folder and contents. I went the Advanced Security route giving my user name full control, but I get the write protected message. Can anyone offer a solution?

+x

 

mb300e4m - 1 September 2022 2:06 PM

+x

 

mb300e4m - 27 August 2022 11:32 AM

That is what I thought, I have really nothing to lose.

I found the Image in which there are files I want to retrieve, but the system says the media is write protected. I need to get copies of the appdata folder and contents. I went the Advanced Security route giving my user name full control, but I get the write protected message. Can anyone offer a solution?

I am not sure what happened, but File Explorer froze and the only way I could clear it was to force a shutdown of the laptop. Then when I restarted it, it just sat there clocking "restarting" or some such term so I had to hold the power button down until it powered off. When I started it again, it powered on as if nothing had happened, I can also get access to the image files I need. Your guess is as good as mine. Crappy Microsoft Windows 10 I guess.