is windows10 really phasing out backup/file history/sys.image???

From Microsoft:

Features that are removed or deprecated in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Scroll down the page and you will see that System Image Builder was deprecated. 

The term 'deprecated,' as described in the first paragraph of the above post, means "not in active development and might be removed in future releases."

Microsoft writes: "We recommend that users use full-disk backup solutions from other vendors."

To date, Microsoft has made no announcement concerning File History, which is the other backup utility included in Windows 10.

that is  the latest feature  to  system image backup , its  used for  reinstall  the windows  using systemimage. if youhave two hdds, then one hdd will be used in particular partition say M:

I have used it  , iits works  fine . same feature already added in windows 7.

but in windows 10 , feature name is   file history

File History, System Image, Backup and Restore in Windows 10 are partially broken and they are not being actively maintained or developed. Microsoft is planning to remove them in a future release. 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4034825/features-that-are-removed-or-deprecated-in-windows-10-fall-creators-up

You should switch to a third party solution such as Macrium Reflect (Free).

Learn more: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/create-windows-10-system-image-best-free-alternatives/

Details:

Let’s start off with Macrium Reflect (Free) (https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree). Macrium provides a small click to run the installer, but I chose the offline installer, which required finding the download agent (http://updates.macrium.com/reflect/v5.0/reflectdl.exe); this downloads the full installer at around 800 MBs. Included are a collection of preinstallation environment tools based on Microsoft’s Windows Image deployment solutions.

Setup was quick and easy but needed a restart to complete changes made to the system.

The Macrium Reflect interface is a bit more jam-packed than what you would normally find in Windows 10. But this a powerful alternative offering a range of options for creating and managing backups. Macrium integrates heavily with Windows—examples include support for attaching and browsing backups; boot image backups in Hyper-V; generating PowerShell scripts to automate backups; creating batch files and of course, scheduling backups. You can also find handy options such as cloning and standard file and folder backup.

For these instructions, we are going to focus on image backups. Similar to the System Image backup (https://www.groovypost.com/howto/create-windows-10-system-image-backup/) feature in Windows 10 and previous versions, this lets you create a replica of your current installation state. You can be granular with your backups by choosing only the partitions you want to save as part of your image.

To create your first image, click the menu Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows.

Under Destination, click the Browse button, then point to your external drive where you want to store the backup, create a new folder, select it then click OK. Click Next to Continue.

 

This phase of the wizard lets you create a Backup plan if you want. It’s optional, but lets you choose different methods of backups which include full, incremental and differential. For now, I am going to choose a schedule just to make things simple. I recommend you review the retention rules to save on disk space. Users can retain a number of backups using any method; this can quickly eat up disk space over time, so I will reduce the amount for each to about two. Click Next to Continue.

What are Incremental and Differential Backups and which should you choose?

A full backup gives you one backup file that restores your entire system up to that point. Full backups are a comprehensive way to go, but they take a long time to create and if you have multiple backup images, you end up duplicating a lot of the same data. Incremental and differential backups are two ways to address this inefficiency.

Incremental Backup – This maintains a regular backup in addition to changes that have been made since the last full or incremental backup. Incremental backups are often preferred because they use less disk space; not to mention, they are faster, too. So, if you created new Word documents since your last backup, those are added to the backup.

So, let’s say Backup A is a full backup you made on Monday. On Wednesday, you can make an incremental Backup B which only includes the new data since Backup A. On Friday, you can make Backup C, which only includes the new data since Backup B. In this way, you are storing no duplicate data. The downside is that if you want to restore your image, you have to use all three backup files: Backup A, Backup B, and Backup C.

Differential Backup – This creates a backup of the differences made since the last full backup. So, if you made changes to a few Microsoft Word documents, those changes are applied to the backup. A disadvantage is that differential backups use more space, since you need to maintain a full backup in addition to changes since you created your last backup.

How is that different than an incremental backup? Let’s say you make a full Backup A on Monday. On Wednesday, Backup B contains the differences since Backup A was made. On Friday, Backup C contains the differences since Backup A.  In this way, if you want to do a restoration, you just need two files: the last full backup and the last differential backup. This means you only ever need two files, compared to the incremental backup method. The downside is that, as you can imagine, your differential backup image file gets bigger and bigger as the time since your last full backup increases. And after awhile, you end up with a quite a bit of duplicated data across your various differential backups.

So, which should you use? Either one is fine. It all depends on how much storage space and time you have. Incremental backups are faster and take less space during the backup phase. Differential backups take more time and space during the backup phase but are easier during the restoration phase.

Review the image summary to ensure you chose the right options. If you maintain a dual boot configuration, make sure each partition is checked as part of your backup. Click Finish to begin the backup.

Click OK to start the backup immediately.

As with all image backups, it will take some time, so, sit back and relax as your image is saved. Click Close after your image is created.

Restoring Your Macrium Image

There are multiple ways to restore a backup. You can start the restore process from within a running installation of Windows 10 with Macrium already installed. But in most cases, restoring an image would take place after booting into a recovery environment similar to System Image in Windows 10.
Create Rescue Media

One important task you should complete after creating your image is to create rescue media, which will facilitate restoration of the image. This is perfect for scenarios where your computer won’t boot or you installed a new empty hard disk. Click the Other Tasks menu then click Create Rescue Media.

This will start the create bootable rescue media wizard. Remember, as we mentioned earlier, Macrium downloads a full installer at around 800 MBs. This is where the preinstallation environment tools based on Microsoft’s Windows Image deployment solutions are used. Macrium adds its own recovery tools to facilitate restoration of the image when you boot from it. Click Next.

You can add drivers in advance for hardware that might not be supported by the restored image. Click the Update Driver button to do so then point to the source. This can minimize the chances of Windows 10 not booting on new hardware; especially if you are changing motherboards.

Depending on the architecture of your Windows 10 image, you can choose either a 32 or 64-bit (https://www.groovypost.com/howto/windows-10-edition-architecture-build-your-install/) recovery image. For this particular case, I am restoring a 64 bit Windows 10 installation, so I will choose that. Click Next to begin the creation.

Bootable media can be prepared using a blank DVD or USB drive or you can create a bootable ISO image instead. Choose your desired method, then click Finish.

Restore Image – Macrium Reflect

Configure your computer to boot from the installation media (https://www.groovypost.com/howto/bios-uefi-setup-guide-boot-from-cd-dvd-usb-drive-sd-card/) on the target computer. Attach your external drive where the image is stored, then power it on.

Under the Restore tab in Macrium, click the menu, Browse for an image or backup file to restore.

Browse to the image file, select it then click Open.

Click Select a disk to restore to… then click the selected image that appears. Click Next to begin the restoration.

After the image is successfully restored, click File > Exit to reboot.

That’s pretty much all that’s involved in preparing a system image of your Windows 10 installation using Macrium Reflect. Macrium feels a little complex and overwhelming at first, but once you familiarize yourself with it, you should feel comfortable using it in no time. If you still want something a bit more user-friendly, then check out EaseUS Todo Backup Free.

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.