Win 7 Backup/Restore with USB 3.0 External HDD

[Harvey Gratt]

I want to create an image using the win 7 utility and store it on a USB
3.0 drive. Can I then boot from the win 7 recovery CD and access the USB
3.0 external drive for the restore, i.e., will the CD contain/load the
USB 3.0 driver since the current Intel motherboards do not support USB
3.0 natively?

Thanks,
Harvey

 

[Jan Alter]

I want to create an image using the win 7 utility and store it on a USB 3.0
drive. Can I then boot from the win 7 recovery CD and access the USB 3.0
external drive for the restore, i.e., will the CD contain/load the USB 3.0
driver since the current Intel motherboards do not support USB 3.0
natively?

Thanks,
Harvey

That's a good question, and I doubt that a USB driver would be natively
available but I don't know one way or the other. However, the USB 3.0 drives
are backwards compatible to USB 2.0 and USB 1.0, so I would expect at least
a working USB driver would be loaded by Win 7 to handle your external drive.

 

[Harvey Gratt]

That's a good question, and I doubt that a USB driver would be natively
available but I don't know one way or the other. However, the USB 3.0 drives
are backwards compatible to USB 2.0 and USB 1.0, so I would expect at least
a working USB driver would be loaded by Win 7 to handle your external drive.

I posted this on several boards and the consensus is "No". At best, the
image restoration would be at USB 2.0 speeds since the Restore CD would
not have the appropriate USB 3.0 drivers.

I am in the market for a new Dell Sandy Bridge Precision T1600, but it
no longer supports eSata and it now appears that the USB 3.0 is too
"crippled" for my use.

Surprisingly the only Dell SB desktop that has eSATA (as well as the USB
3.0) is the new Alienware model (Aurora) - I guess I'll be looking at that.

Thanks,
Harvey

 

[Paul]

I posted this on several boards and the consensus is "No". At best, the
image restoration would be at USB 2.0 speeds since the Restore CD would
not have the appropriate USB 3.0 drivers.

I am in the market for a new Dell Sandy Bridge Precision T1600, but it
no longer supports eSata and it now appears that the USB 3.0 is too
"crippled" for my use.

Surprisingly the only Dell SB desktop that has eSATA (as well as the USB
3.0) is the new Alienware model (Aurora) - I guess I'll be looking at that.

Thanks,
Harvey

Is the machine you're referring to, this Precision T1600 Tower ?

http://i.dell.com/images/global/pro...hts/workstation-precision-t1600-overview2.jpg

It has a total of four expansion slots.

http://i.dell.com/sites/content/sha...s/en/Documents/precision-t1600-spec-sheet.pdf

"One PCIe x16 Gen 2;
one PCIe x16 Gen 2 (wired x4);
one PCIe x1;
one PCI.
All full-length and full-height per PCIe specification"

Maybe you could purchase an adapter plate and SATA to ESATA internal cable
assembly, so that ESATA would show on the back of the machine ? If there
is a SATA connector on the motherboard (controlled by the Southbridge),
that might also support ESATA.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816068

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/12-816-068-S01?$S640W$

There is a good chance that will work with the recovery disc, as
long as the machine has a spare SATA connector on the motherboard,
to use for the plate.

If the machine had a spare drive bay, you could place your
backup drive in the bay as a raw mechanism. That would be
another option in an emergency (remove hard drive from external
enclosure, and install it inside the machine).

I can't say anything more, because I'm having trouble getting to
documentation for Precision T1600. The Dell site isn't helping.
I don't know how many SATA connectors it has. The minimum should be
four, but I can't be sure of that. One would be for the optical
drive, one for hard drive, leaving two others. That would be a
first guess, but without a picture of the motherboard, it's hard
to say for sure.

The Southbridge supports six (two SATA III, four SATA II), but
companies like Dell don't put connectors for them all. Getting
six connectors is more typical of retail motherboards you use
in home built computers.

Paul

 

[Joseph Olson]

I want to create an image using the win 7 utility and store it on a USB
3.0 drive. Can I then boot from the win 7 recovery CD and access the USB
3.0 external drive for the restore, i.e., will the CD contain/load the
USB 3.0 driver since the current Intel motherboards do not support USB
3.0 natively?

Thanks,
Harvey

I think you would have the option of using an E-SATA drive. That would
give you much higher speeds than USB 2.0.

 

[Seth]

I want to create an image using the win 7 utility and store it on a USB
3.0 drive. Can I then boot from the win 7 recovery CD and access the USB
3.0 external drive for the restore, i.e., will the CD contain/load the USB
3.0 driver since the current Intel motherboards do not support USB 3.0
natively?

It will depend on what you are using as your bootable rescue CD. For
example, WinPE you can add drivers to as needed and recomplie.

 

[Harvey Gratt]

Is the machine you're referring to, this Precision T1600 Tower ?

http://i.dell.com/images/global/pro...hts/workstation-precision-t1600-overview2.jpg


It has a total of four expansion slots.

http://i.dell.com/sites/content/sha...s/en/Documents/precision-t1600-spec-sheet.pdf


"One PCIe x16 Gen 2;
one PCIe x16 Gen 2 (wired x4);
one PCIe x1;
one PCI.
All full-length and full-height per PCIe specification"

Maybe you could purchase an adapter plate and SATA to ESATA internal cable
assembly, so that ESATA would show on the back of the machine ? If there
is a SATA connector on the motherboard (controlled by the Southbridge),
that might also support ESATA.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816068

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/12-816-068-S01?$S640W$

There is a good chance that will work with the recovery disc, as
long as the machine has a spare SATA connector on the motherboard,
to use for the plate.

If the machine had a spare drive bay, you could place your
backup drive in the bay as a raw mechanism. That would be
another option in an emergency (remove hard drive from external
enclosure, and install it inside the machine).

I can't say anything more, because I'm having trouble getting to
documentation for Precision T1600. The Dell site isn't helping.
I don't know how many SATA connectors it has. The minimum should be
four, but I can't be sure of that. One would be for the optical
drive, one for hard drive, leaving two others. That would be a
first guess, but without a picture of the motherboard, it's hard
to say for sure.

The Southbridge supports six (two SATA III, four SATA II), but
companies like Dell don't put connectors for them all. Getting
six connectors is more typical of retail motherboards you use
in home built computers.

Paul

It is the Precision T1600. I just don't feel like having to modify a
newly purchased machine - I'm not an advanced user. Also, I don't want
to risk paying out the money and then running into problems installing
the card. It's too bad that Dell chose to exclude this factory installed
option on their new SB business desktops. I'm now looking at their new
SB Alienware desktop which does include both eSATA and USB 3.0.

Thanks,
Harvey

 

[Harvey Gratt]

It will depend on what you are using as your bootable rescue CD. For
example, WinPE you can add drivers to as needed and recomplie.

Apparently, the win7 Restore CD will not load USB 3.0 drivers. Also,
wouldn't using winPE preclude using the win 7 Backup/Restore utility
(i.e., the Restore CD).

Thanks,
Harvey

 

[Seth]

Apparently, the win7 Restore CD will not load USB 3.0 drivers. Also,
wouldn't using winPE preclude using the win 7 Backup/Restore utility
(i.e., the Restore CD).

I can't speak to either of those specific points as I use neither tool. I
do know that ImageX works in WinPE. I have not tried to load USB3 drivers in
WinPE as I don't have any USB3 devices yet, but I have had no problem
compiling new NIC drivers into WinPE using the WAIK.

 

[wuming79]

Hi, I tried to backup and recovery in win 7 via USB 3.0 but it always says it can't find the system image. Is that because Win 7 does not load USB 3.0 driver? I have tried many systems with USB 3.0 port but they are all the same. Can't find much info on this. Pls help.