O&O DiskImage is a backup and recovery program for Windows from O&O Software. It saves whole computers, single drives and partitions, or selected files and folders. It restores them to the same or to different hardware. It also clones disks and creates bootable media for recovery when Windows no longer starts. O&O DiskImage is commercial software sold with a one-time license, and a trial version is available.
Drive and system images
A drive image captures a drive’s operating system, applications, settings and data in a single .omg file. A DiskView map shows each disk with its partitions and used space; the user ticks the drives to include, confirms the target path and starts. If the target fills up during imaging, O&O DiskImage asks for another location. O&O DiskImage supports dynamic drives and RAID systems.
The one-click image covers the entire computer, system partition included, using default settings that image only used sectors with LZNT1 compression. Imaging options change those defaults. They cover compression, encryption, a maximum file size that splits a backup into parts, excluded files, bad-sector handling and checksum comparison. The user can save these options as profiles. A forensic method copies every sector instead, for disks with unsupported file systems or when deleted data may need recovering.
Incremental and differential chains
Once a complete image exists, O&O DiskImage can save only what has changed. By default each run builds on the previous one, producing small incremental files. A restore then needs the complete image plus every incremental after it, so the chain should stay in one folder. With the base-image option switched off, each new image is differential against the last complete image instead. Those files grow over time, but a restore needs only the complete image and the latest differential.
Changes-only imaging runs as a scheduled job. A merge tool combines consecutive incremental images into a new complete image. The user can then delete the old change files.
File and folder backups
For specific data, O&O DiskImage backs up folders or whole drives at file level. The user ticks folders in a tree and can include or exclude particular files or file types through the Criteria dialog. The result is a compressed .obk file holding file information only, with no drive structure. The user can encrypt file backups, limit their size, repeat them as backups of changes and schedule them as jobs. Restoring places the files in a new folder or replaces the current versions.
Cloning a disk
Cloning combines imaging and restoring in one step, typically to move to a new drive. File-based cloning transfers all recognized data; forensic cloning copies every sector and handles unsupported file systems. Options cover ignoring bad sectors, locking the source and overwriting unused sectors on the target.
Recovery when Windows fails
A running system partition cannot be overwritten, so a full system restore starts from a boot medium. O&O DiskImage builds it from the Windows recovery environment, or from the Windows ADK if that fails. It writes the boot medium to a USB stick, CD or DVD, or an ISO file. A driver folder can be included so storage and network hardware is recognized after booting.
ToGo turns an external drive into both a boot medium and a backup target. When connected, the drive receives an image of the internal drives. The user can later restore this image from the same device. A RecoveryPartition stores the recovery tools and latest backups on the computer itself. Fortress Mode runs the program in an isolated Windows environment so other software cannot disturb a backup. It can also be added to the Windows Recovery Environment.
A restore overwrites the chosen target drive completely. A smaller target disk can be used with a file-based restore, which lets the user set the partition size.
Restoring on different hardware
Machine Independent Restoration (M.I.R.) restores a system partition to a computer with different hardware. It adapts Windows so that it starts there. It also covers cloning a computer, moving between physical and virtual machines, and replacing damaged drivers from the boot medium. A separate tool changes the computer name and SID when a duplicate will share a network with the original.
Working with image files
- Mount drive shows a locally stored image as a read-only drive in Windows Explorer, so the user can copy out individual files.
- Convert turns .omg images into VHD or VHDX virtual disks. The user can attach these in Windows or run them as virtual machines.
- Validate checks an image’s logical structure and confirms that encrypted or compressed data can be read back without errors.
Backups can go to local, external and network drives. A cloud option creates a local backup first and then copies it automatically to a second location, including S3-compatible storage. The Express view reduces the interface to creating, restoring and mounting images. A script interface runs imaging and backup tasks from command files.
Home and Server editions
The desktop edition of O&O DiskImage includes system imaging, cloning and restoration to different hardware but is not intended for server operating systems. The Server edition adds server support, advanced network backup settings and tuning for server workloads.