How to Restore Hard Disk Image File on Windows 11/10/8/7 | 2023 Guide

Restoring hard disk image files is necessary and an excellent way to rescue lost data when your data is lost due to a system crash or other errors. Learn how to restore hard disk image files on Windows 11/10/8/7 with EaseUS Todo Backup as well as Backup and Restore in this guide.

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Updated by Jean on Jul 20, 2023
Written by Larissa

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If you have backed up the contents on your computer's hard disk drive and created an ISO image from a hard drive, then restoring the image file of your hard drive may be a useful salvage practice for recovering data if the data is lost.

Whether you are looking to restore lost critical files or simply upgrade to a new operating system version, knowing how to restore a hard disk image file can be invaluable. 

Keep reading, and we'll discuss how to quickly restore files from an old copy of your hard disk image file on Windows 11/10/8/7. Read on for step-by-step instructions about restoring a hard drive backup image with relatively minimal effort.

When You Need to Restore Hard Disk Image File

Data loss may occur on various occasions, such as a system crash, a computer virus attack, mistakenly deleted files or a hard drive failure. When these cases occur, the best way to get your data back is by restoring a hard disk image file.

Another occasion that you may need to restore hard disk image files is upgrading to a new operating system or changing to a new computer. Restoring the hard drive image will save you the hassle of manually relocating files.

2 Effective Solutions to Restore Hard Disk Image File 

Knowing the benefit and use of hard drive image files, it is time to learn how to restore them when necessary. We'll explain two effective solutions here. The first one uses a reliable and professional Windows backup and restore utility, EaseUS Todo Backup, and the other one is via Windows built-in tool, Backup and Restore.

No matter which tool you select, you are supposed to create a complete hard disk image before anything bad happens on your hard drive.

Editor's Recommendation
EaseUS Todo Backup is a more comprehensive backup and recovery tool with broader coverage. It enables users to back up their file, folder, disk, portion, or APP data, create a system image, and perform universal restore at any time. While Backup and Restore only allows backing up and restoring the system hard drives and specific files.

Now, let's dive into the specific steps:

Solution 1. Restore the Hard Disk Image File with EaseUS Todo Backup - Hot

As we mentioned before, EaseUS Todo Backup is a comprehensive backup and restore software that helps you to restore the hard disk image file with just a few clicks. It's a highly recommended tool because it provides straightforward and secure operations.

Besides the basic backup and restore option, it also offers multiple features, like smart scheduled backup, incremental backup and differential backup, partition and disk cloning, etc, an all-in-one tool to keep the security of your computer data.

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Action 1. Create a hard drive image with ease

Step 1. Open EaseUS Todo Backup and choose "Create Backup" on the home page, click "Select backup contents".

create disk backup step1

Step 2. As you want to back up your Disk, just click "Disk" to start back up.

create disk backup step2

Step 3. EaseUS Todo Backup offers you options. You can choose to back up a whole disk or a certain partition as you need. And then click "OK".

disk partition backup

Step 4.  Select the destination where you want to save the backup. You can choose to save the disk to a local drive or to NAS.

Disk backup step5

Step 5. Click "Backup Now", after the backup process is completed, you can right-click any one of the tasks to further manage your backup such as recover it, create an incremental backup, etc.

Disk backup step6

Action 2. Perform hard drive image restore with 4 simple clicks

* To perform system recovery on a none-bootable machine, try to boot the computer through the EaseUS Todo Backup emergency disk.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup, click "Browse to Recover".

Click Browse to Recover

Step 2. Guide to your backup destination, choose the system backup file you need. (The backup file created by EaseUS Todo Backup is a pbd file.)

System recovery step2

Step 3. Choose the recovery disk. Make sure that the partition style of the source disk and the recovery disk are the same.

system recovery step3

Step 4. You can customize the disk layout according to your needs. Then click "Proceed" to start system backup recovery.

Sytem recovery step4

Solution 2. Restore the Hard Disk Image File with Backup and Restore

Computers that run Windows 7/10/11 system have a built-in backup and restore tool called Backup and Restore (Windows 7). It also supports restoring hard drive image files. Follow the steps below to back up the hard drive and restore image file.

Action 1. Create a disk image with Backup and Restore

Step 1. Find Backup and Restore by following the path: Control Panel - System and Security - Backup and Restore (Windows 7).

open backup and restore

Step 2. Click "Set up backup" in the top-right corner.

set up backup

Step 3. Select a location where you want to save the hard drive image, and click Next.

choose a location

Step 4. Check the option "Let me choose", and click Next.

let me choose

Step 5. Choose a disk that you need to back up, and click Next.

choose a disk to backup

Step 6. Review the backup settings, confirm the backup source and target location, and click "Save settings and run backup" to start the backup process.

Action 2. Restore the hard drive image file

Step 1. Open the Backup and Restore program, and click the "Restore my file" option on the bottom right side of the main interface.

restore my file

Step 2. You can see three options on the right side of the Restore Files page, including Search..., Browser for files, and Browser for folder. Use either one to find the backup files that your need to restore, and click Next.

find backup files

Step 3. Choose "In the original location" to retrieve files to their previous location. Or, select "In the following location" to browser a new storage location.

choose location

Step 4. Click "Restore" to start the hard disk image restoring process.

The Final Words

In this article, we have covered how to restore the hard disk image file with EaseUS Todo Backup and Backup and Restore in Windows 7/8/10/11.

Restoring hard disk image files is an easy and effective way to find your data back when it is lost. Whether you are using EaseUS Todo Backup or Windows built-in Backup and Restore, both of them can help you restore the hard disk image file in case of any system failure or crash.

Therefore, it is highly recommended that you should back up your system frequently to get a safe copy of your hard drive.

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How to Restore Hard Disk Image File FAQS

1. Can you restore a system image on a different hard drive?

Of course, restoring a system image on a dissimilar hard drive is feasible if you use EaseUS Todo Backup. It allows you to restore the system image on a dissimilar hard drive or even an SSD with a few clicks.

2. How do I restore Windows image backup from an external hard drive?

To restore Windows image backup from an external hard drive, you need to connect and attach the external hard drive first. Then open the Backup and Restore program, click on "Restore my files", find and select the Windows backup image file that you want to restore, choose a location where you want to save the restored files, then press "Restore" to start the operation.

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Updated by Jean

Jean has been working as a professional website editor for quite a long time. Her articles focus on topics of computer backup, data security tips, data recovery, and disk partitioning. Also, she writes many guides and tutorials on PC hardware & software troubleshooting. She keeps two lovely parrots and likes making vlogs of pets. With experience in video recording and video editing, she starts writing blogs on multimedia topics now.

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Written by Larissa

Larissa has rich experience in writing technical articles. After joining EaseUS, she frantically learned about data recovery, disk partitioning, data backup, and other related knowledge. Now she is able to master the relevant content proficiently and write effective step-by-step guides on computer issues.

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Product Reviews

TrustScore 4.7 | 47 reviews
  • Taking everything into consideration, we can say that EaseUS Todo Backup Home can offer you a little extra sense of security with a set of advanced tools. The interface provides quick adaptation, every process guiding you all the way through so you don't get stuck or further damage your system rather than keeping it safe.

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  • EaseUS Todo Backup Free lets you create backups of your important files or your entire computer through its streamlined interface. Just choose the backup type you'd like to get started, and let the program do the reset.

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  • EaseUS includes all the features I expect from backup software like versioning, incremental backups, and scheduling. For more advanced users, EaseUS allows you to install a pre-boot environment onto your hard drive so you can use it to restore files without burning a CD or putting it on an external USB drive.

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