Restore T6 from LegacyBackUP

[Rudi452]

I did a backup of a T6 status using the legacy backup routine within Windows10. Now I do have a backup.zip file of about 14GB and want to reset the stick to that status. How do I format C: and spool the backup.zip back again?

[admin]

You need a USB flash drive to complete this job.

[Rudi452]

Ok ordered one, had only too small capacity ones.

[admin]

A 32GB U disk can satisfy your daily use.

[Rudi452]

A 32GB U disk can satisfy your daily use.

That is what I got. How to proceed? Do I need the Media Creation Tool I read about? Do I have to setup a full Windows system on the stick? Can the backup.zip stay on the same stick? In the end - boot from the stick, format the internal drive and restore how? Sorry, I am new to Windows10.

*UPDATE* Now I have: a 32GB USB stick installed with the Media Creation Tool of Windows10 (20H2), a Samsung SSD containing the backup.zip done with the legacy backup mechanism and a folder with all saved drivers (pnputil -export-driver *). How do I format the internal storage and get the backup back on it?

[Gabe]

@Rudi452,

The following website explains how to restore backup files...

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/756 ... -10-a.html

If you're looking to reinstall Windows 10 on the system, I wouldn't use Windows 10 20H2 installation media unless you had it on there before and you saved the Drivers from that install. Conversely, the drivers you can get via the following page may work. There is also a system driver installation tutorial on the same page to explain how to install them.

viewtopic.php?p=2327#p2327

However, if you don't know how to perform a clean install of Windows 10 with installation media created using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, I would avoid doing so and instead install ACEPC's version of Windows 10 Pro 2004 installation file available for the T6. It includes the drivers, which will be automatically installed during system installation. It's available on that same page, as is the system installation tutorial.

[Rudi452]

Thx, this T6 was running 10H2 before (did so rather well) and I saved the driver via pnputil prior to using it on a project. Now after the project I would simply like to reset it to the known clean status before all the strange drivers were tested.

[Gabe]

Thx, this T6 was running 10H2 before (did so rather well) and I saved the driver via pnputil prior to using it on a project. Now after the project I would simply like to reset it to the known clean status before all the strange drivers were tested.

I wish I could better help with using that backup you saved. Being so used to saving and restoring system images since the option became available with Vista, I've never tried the normal backup.

With this said, if you want to start fresh, as in like it would be when you bought the unit, but with 20H2 rather than whatever it came with, I would perform the clean install using the USB installation media you create with the Media Creation Tool. In the most basic terms, you boot to that USB media, choose a Custom install, delete the existing partitions, then allow the Windows installation itself to create the new partitions for you. This way you don't have to mess with creating them, which can be a bit of a pain. On the screen where it asks for a product key, you'd click "I don't have a product key", or whatever it says, as the product key for your T6 is embedded in the BIOS and will automatically be used. Then, after installation and initial Windows setup, you could reinstall the drivers from those you saved.

When booting to the USB installation media, if it gives you a UEFI version to boot to, I would choose that one rather than the non UEFI version to boot to. They'll look nearly the same in the boot options, but one will have UEFI in front of it.

The following gives a good description of how to perform a clean install. Scroll about halfway down the page and start with "How to create USB for clean install of Windows 10". Right after that is the Rufus method for creating installation media, but I'd skip that, as the Media Creation Tool method works perfectly. After that is the explanation for performing the actual install...

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-do-c ... windows-10

I've never used the "Reset" feature built into Windows, so I can't really give advice with that, though you can certainly try that if you like. In the end, you'll always have the above option to use if other things you try don't work or work the way you'd like them to. I've performed clean installs of Windows 10 on my PCs a number of times using the above method, and it always works very well. I don't have a T6, but I do have a T8, which shares many of the same components, but just isn't the stick type. And again, if you have any issues with reinstalling the drivers you saved, you always have those available for version 2004, which will definitely work, though a few will likely update via Windows update afterward.