[Windows 11] Back up your entire OS for free! Completely restore your PC with your own "custom installation media"

When using a Windows 11 computer, you may encounter serious problems such as the OS suddenly not starting up or frequent errors of unknown cause.

In such a case, if you reinstall the OS, all of the applications, drivers, and settings you were using will be lost, and it will take a huge amount of time and effort to return to the original environment.

In this article, we will explain how to use the standard features of Windows 11 to easily manage your apps and data.All inWe will explain in an easy-to-understand manner, even for beginners, how to back up the system as an image file and create "custom installation media" using free software.

It takes some effort, but the big advantage is that you can achieve your goal without incurring any costs.

Why is "Custom Installation Media" recommended?

First, let's explain what "custom installation media" is and how it differs from regular Windows installation media.

What you create here is what Windows terminology calls a "system image," which can truly be called "the most powerful media for restoring your own environment."

The key difference from regular installation media

The difference between regular installation media (downloaded from Microsoft's official website) and the "custom installation media (system image)" we will create this time is obvious.

Item	Regular installation media	Custom installation media (system image)
OS Status	clean	The state of the backup at a specific point in time
Applications	None (reinstall everything manually)	All installed
Settings	All default settings	All set
personal file	None (separate backup required)	Everything is backed up
Post-restoration hassle	Very time-consuming	You can quickly get back to your original task

In other words, while regular installation media simply installs a "clean" version of Windows, custom installation media can restore your entire PC environment (the C drive where Windows is installed).

When is "Custom Installation Media" useful?

With this "custom installation media," you can completely restore your PC to the state it was in when the backup was created, even if you encounter serious problems such as the following:

Examples of problems	How it helps
Physical failure of the HDD/SSD	By replacing it with a new HDD/SSD and installing it from "custom installation media", the original environment will be perfectly reproduced.
The OS won't start	You can boot from the "Custom Installation Media" just like you would with a regular installation media. From there, select "Repair your PC" and Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE)You can also repair it from there.
infected with a virus	Even if you are infected with a virus, you can recover from the damage by restoring your system to its pre-infection state.
When upgrading your PC	For example, when replacing a small capacity HDD with a large capacity SSD, you can move (migrate) your entire environment. After changing the hardware,Reactivationmay be required.

[Preparation] What you need to create custom installation media

Before you can create custom installation media, there are a few prerequisites you need to complete and meet.

1. You are using genuine Windows 11 and your PC is compatible.

If you are using a non-genuine copy of Windows 11, you may not be able to install using custom installation media.

Even if the installation is successful, you may not be able to activate the license. If you are using genuine Windows 11, you can enter the license key during installation and proceed.

Activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft accountIn this case, you can select "I don't have a product key" during installation and proceed.

Currently, some online shops are selling Windows 11 after installing it in unauthorized ways on PCs that are not compatible with Windows 11.

In addition, most product keys included in packaged versions of Windows 11 sold at much lower prices than the official price, or sold separately, are fraudulent and may not activate the license.

Windows 11: Which is better? Packaged version or online code version

2. Prepare the necessary storage space and media for your work.

Custom installation media (system images) store the entire OS and applications, so they are very large files.

Please prepare a storage location with free space equal to or greater than the amount of space currently used on your C drive.

• Recommended: External HDD or SSD
• Another internal drive (such as D drive)

【重要】 The destination drive must be formatted in "NTFS". Commercially available external hard drives are usually NTFS, but it's best to check just to be sure. (You can check this from the drive properties.)

Since a temporary working area is required, the C drive also needs free space equal to or greater than the amount of usage. If there is not enough free space on the C drive, you can address this by changing the AnyBurn settings, which will be explained later.

How much free space is optimal for Windows 11 C drive?

3. Download the Windows 11 ISO image

To create custom installation media, you will need a Windows 11 ISO image, so refer to the following page to download it and save it to the desired drive.

How to download Windows 11 ISO files

4. Download AnyBurn

Download AnyBurn, a software that can edit ISO images, and save it to the desired drive.

AnyBurn download page(official)

*Please download "Download 64-bit edition" from AnyBurn Free at the top.

The installation will come later.

5. Change the volume name (volume label)

Windows identifies each drive with an alphabetical letter such as "C" or "D," but this alone poses the risk of confusing the backup source and destination.

In particular, if you have multiple storage devices connected, it will be difficult to tell at a glance which is which if you leave the default name such as "Local Disk (D:)".

To avoid such simple mistakes, we strongly recommend that you give each drive an easy-to-understand name (volume label) before starting the backup process.

1. Open File Explorer and open "This PC".

2. Right-click on the C drive and click "Properties."

3. When the properties window opens, the area framed in red will be blank, so enter a short and easy-to-understand name such as "Windows 11" and click OK at the bottom.

4. Access Denied: You will see the message "You need administrator privileges to rename this drive," so click "Continue."

The name (volume label) of the C drive will then be changed to "Windows 11".

The volume label is a name given to the drive to help you easily manage what is stored on it, and does not affect the data.

5. Change the name (volume label) of the destination drive in the same way. (Example:Win11_BackUp ← This is 12 characters)

Volume names should be limited to 11 characters if possible.

6. Create a text file on the destination drive

The command to create the image file is long and tedious to type, so creating a text file now will make things easier later.

1. Open the drive where you want to save the file and click "New" > "Text File".

2. Copy and paste the following content and save it:

dism /capture-image /imagefile:Z:\install.wim /capturedir:Z:\ /Name:Windows11_MarugotoBackUp

3. Rename the text file to "1".

7. Disable BitLocker

If BitLocker is enabled, it is recommended that you disable it before creating "custom installation media" as it can be a hassle to enter the recovery key, etc.

BitLocker is problematic, so I personally recommend disabling it.

You're now ready to go.

[Practical Guide] Complete steps to create "custom installation media"

1. Back up the OS as an image

1. Press Windows Key + R to open Run, type the following command and press Enter:

ms-settings:recovery

2.Settings > System > Recoverywill open, click "Restart now" to the right of "Advanced startup".

If you are trying this with Hyper-V, the "Advanced Startup" option will not appear in Enhanced Session mode. You will need to change to Basic Session mode.

3. You will be prompted with the message "Saving your work to restart your device." If you have any unsaved work, save it and then click "Restart now."

4. The PC will restart andWindows Recovery Environment (WinRE)" will open, so open "Troubleshoot" > "Advanced Settings" > "Command Prompt".

If you are asked for your BitLocker recovery key

If you are prompted for a BitLocker recovery key, enter your 48-digit recovery key and click Continue.

What to do if the BitLocker Recovery screen appears and you don't know the recovery key

5. Once the command prompt opens, type the following command and press Enter:

diskpart

DISKPART>When prompted, type the following command and press Enter:

list volume

6. A list of volumes will then be displayed. Remember the alphabet to the left of the volume name you just changed.

Volume names that are too long will be truncated (up to 11 characters).

7.exitand press Enter (to exit DiskPart).

8.Here, we will use the text file we created earlier on the destination drive.

In the image above, the letter to the left of the destination drive is "D", so enter the following and press Enter.

type d:\1.txt

9.The contents of the text file will then be displayed. Drag the mouse to select the contents and press Ctrl + C on your keyboard to copy them.

10. Press Ctrl + V on your keyboard to paste.

11. Press ← on your keyboard to move left and select the firstZDelete it and change it to the drive letter you want to save to.

12. Press → on your keyboard to move right and select the nextZDelete it and change it to the letter of the drive where your OS (Windows 11) is installed.

13. When you are done modifying the command, press Enter.

14.The backup of the OS (Windows 11) will then begin, so please wait.

If you don't see any progress, try pressing Enter multiple times.

The backup took about 50 minutes in my environment, progressing 2% every minute.

15. When the message "The operation completed successfully" appears, click the × button in the upper right corner to exit the command prompt.

16. You will be returned to the Choose an option screen. Click "Continue" to start Windows 11.

17. Once Windows 11 starts up, check to see if "install.wim" has been created on the destination drive.

2. Create installation media

1. Run the "anyburn_setup_x64.exe" file saved on the destination drive to proceed with the installation of AnyBurn.

*Once the AnyBurn page opens, you can close it.

2. Once AnyBurn is launched, click "Edit Image File."

If there is not enough free space on the C drive

1. Click "Options" on the menu.

2. The settings will open, so open the "Other" tab and click the icon to the right of "Temporary Folder."

3. Select a drive with enough free space and click OK.

3. Click the folder icon on the right.

4.Here, select the ISO file you downloaded from the Microsoft page and click "Open."

5.The contents of the ISO file will be displayed, so double-click the "sources" folder to open it.

6. Click the word "Size" twice to bring the largest files to the top.

7. Select the largest file "install.wim" and then click the "Remove" button above.

8. A confirmation message will appear asking you to confirm the deletion. Click "Yes".

9. Now that "install.wim" has been deleted, click the "Add" button.

10.Here, select "install.wim" on the destination drive and click "Add".

11. Once you have confirmed that "install.wim" has been added, click "Next".

12. Click the icon to the right of "Select image file name."

13. Select a location to save the installation media, give it a name, and click Save.

14. Once you have confirmed, click "Create now".

15.The installation media creation will begin, so please wait until it is complete.

16. Once the creation is complete, click "Finish" to complete the creation of your custom installation media.

If you mount the ISO file (right-click on the ISO file and click "Mount"), you will be able to see the contents in Explorer, and you can run "setup.exe" to install it, but we recommend creating a bootable USB drive first.

Create a bootable USB drive

You will need a USB memory stick or external HDD specifically designed for booting from a USB drive, formatted (NTFS), and with a capacity equal to or larger than the size of the completed custom installation media (ISO file).

1. On the first screen of AnyBurn, click "Browse/Extract Image Files."

2. Select the custom installation media you created and click Next.

3. You will be prompted to "Select the files and folders to extract from the list." Click OK.

4. Click "Next" without selecting anything.

5. Specify the destination for the extraction to be a bootable USB drive, USB memory stick, or external HDD.

Make sure "Extract all files and folders in the image file" is selected, then click "Next."

6. Extraction will begin immediately, so please wait until it is complete.

Why not create a bootable USB drive?

This is because if you burn custom installation media completed with AnyBurn's "Create a Bootable USB Drive" feature, the settings will be overwritten and booting from the USB will fail.

Custom installation media is already installedBootable installation mediaSo you just need to extract all the files and folders inside the ISO file.

Notes on installing using custom installation media

During installation

If you are installing using custom installation media, the installation will fail if you continue after the Windows 11 setup screen appears. Therefore, please proceed with the installation using the following steps.

1. When "Select your language preferences" appears, click "Next."

2. When the "Select Keyboard Settings" screen appears, simply click "Next."

3. On the "Choose Setup Option" screen, click "Previous Version of Setup" in the lower left corner.

4.The setup screen for the previous version of Windows will then appear, so please continue with the installation.

Post-installation

1. You may need to reset your PIN when signing in.

2. After signing in for the first time, you may see the message "This app can't run on your PC" several times, but this is not a problem so you can close it anyway.

3. The icons of some apps pinned to the desktop or taskbar may turn white.

How to fix the bug that causes some app icons on the desktop to turn completely white

Summary

The difference between free backup software and paid software

So far, we've introduced how to back up your data using standard Windows features, and how to turn that backup into custom installation media using free software. However, professional paid software like Acronis True Image offers the following advantages that the free version doesn't have:

• Fast and easy restore: Fast full system restore with just a few clicks.
• Advanced Protection: It has the ability to proactively protect your backup data from ransomware, which can take your files hostage.
• Flexible backup: Even if the OS won't boot, you can restore it by booting from a USB memory stick.
• Easy to understand operation: The instructions on the screen are very helpful so that even beginners won't get lost.

[Paid software is recommended for these people]

• Those who don't want to waste time on PC troubles
• Those who have important files, such as work data, that they absolutely do not want to lose
• Those who want to gain greater peace of mind

Although basic backups are possible with free methods, paid software is a much better option in terms of buying "time" and "more advanced peace of mind." Choose the method that best suits your environment.