How to use WinImage

WinImage

(Last Updated: December 2013)

What is WinImage used for?

To backup a disk or drive like a data disk or USB license drive. The drive can be restored if the license is later lost due to a laptop hard drive failure for example.
To create a drive or disk from an existing ISO or image file.
To write an image file to a SD card or USB drive.
To create and backup your Raspberry Pi SD card.

To make a copy of a drive/disk you will follow both of the steps shown here.

First download and install WinImage. (See download links at bottom of this page.)
Connect your disk or drive that you want to make an image/copy of and note the drive letter of the disk/drive.
Make sure that Windows Explorer is not open on the drive and that nothing else is accessing the drive. It is better to have all other programs except WinImage closed.
Open WinImage, if it is the free version, it will bring a license message up, click on OK.
Go to > Disk > then Use Disk F: OR Use Removable Disk F: (Select the drive of the disk you want to copy from, thus replace the F: with your drive letter)
Now go to > Disk then > Read Disk, save and give your image file a file name. Note where you save the image file! You will see a progress box while it is reading and creating the image file.
If it gives you an error “The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.”, then another program is accessing the drive/disk and you didn’t follow the steps clearly — close that program first.
You now have an image file and exact copy of the disk or drive.

If not yet, first download and install WinImage. (See download links at bottom of this page.)
Connect your disk or drive that you want to restore an image/copy to and note the drive letter of the disk/drive.
Make sure that Windows Explorer is not open on the drive and that nothing else is accessing the drive. It is better to have all other programs except WinImage closed.
Open WinImage, if it is the free version, it will bring a license message up, click on OK.
Go to > Disk > then Use Disk F: OR Use Removable Disk F: (Select the drive of the disk you want to copy to, thus replace the F: with your drive letter)
Go to > File then > Open and select the image that you want to restore to the drive/disk. Click on OK.
Now go to > Disk then > Write Disk. You will see a progress box while it is writing and re-creating the disk/drive from the image file.
If it gives you an error “The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.”, then another program is accessing the drive/disk and you didn’t follow the steps clearly — close that program first.
You now have an image file and exact copy of the disk or drive.

Download WinImage — I use WinImage 8.5, but the newest one should work just fine.
What is WinImage? — More information about WinImage.