Silmware Utilities makers of community based software for PC cleaning and optimization,(their products are SlimCleaner, SlimComputer, SlimDrivers) came up with RecImg Manager its more off GUI for RecImg command and backup solution for yet to be released Windows 8. This program lets you create backup image for Windows 8 PC and allows to restore it by keeping your installed programs. This program keeps only 2 recent snapshots by default and deletes the old ones to save you the disk space, RecImg Manager offers automatic creation of snapshots and you can take these snapshots too at scheduled intervals, you can access these from its options/Settings. This program is optimized for touch interface and supports upcoming Surface tablets too, but works on Intel based devices only, this needs some explanation from Slimware utilities. Update: Slimware confirms through comment that this program works on any x86 processor.
“Refresh your PC “ setting in Windows 8 preserves your files, personalization settings, apps but desktop programs you installed will be removed and your PC settings will be restored to default, where “Reset your PC setting” in Windows 8 wipes your personal files, settings, apps and restores PC settings to default you can read the difference between Refresh and Reset PC settings, but Microsoft does offer RecImg command which allows to create complete image of Windows 8 partition and you can restore it via Control Panel with Refresh setting, then you won’t lose your installed programs
Here is what CEO of Slimware Utilities had to say about RecImg Manager
“Consumers need the peace of mind of knowing that they won’t lose their personal documents and files if they need to reset Windows to fix a system error, or to improve a slow-running machine’s performance,” said Chris Cope, CEO of SlimWare Utilities. “We made RecImg Manager specifically for the new Windows 8 operating system to address that need. It’s an automatic reset for Windows 8 without losing data.”
Backup and Restore Image of Windows 8 Partition by keeping Installed Programs
RecImg Manager is of small file size 514 kb which can be downloaded and installs quickly on your Computer. To create a backup of your Windows 8 drive, launch the program, click on “Backup” tile and select the image creation drive (free space of 19.2 GB is required), name the image, give some description to it, choose the snapshot creation folder- by default all snapshots will be created in “C:\RecImg Snapshots\” you can change this folder location to removable drive, or other location in your hard drive.
Once all done, click on “Start Backup” button, snapshot creation starts- time for program in creating snapshot to write image to the disk depends on the number of programs installed on your computer, once backup is completed, you’ll be notified.
Restoring Windows 8 Image
Restoring image is pretty easy, click on “Restore” and select the recent snapshot and click restore button this will Refresh your PC , don’t worry! all your installed programs will be kept but desktop shortcuts you created on Windows 8 will be lost, here I am talking about traditional desktop not the metro start screen.
Chrome won’t be kept but all other desktop programs will be preserved
You should know that Chrome which by default installed in user directory will be removed, and other than that your programs installed on program files directory will be preserved . We’ve tested this program and its worked fine.
RecImg Manager is optimized for touch interface and supports upcoming Surface tablets too, but works on Intel based devices only, this needs some explanation from Slimware utilities. This program doesn’t offer bootable media, so it works from within Windows 8 only, it’s a feature most useful for Windows 8 users, let us hope Slimware Utilities adds this in future versions of this software.
RecImg Manager Key Features:
- Free, unlimited Windows 8 operating system recovery and reset, including all system files, program files, settings and installed software, in a matter of minutes with no data loss.
- All video, music, personal documents and files all remain intact; no personal documents are erased during restore or recovery.
- Backup images are small enough to be stored on tablets, notebooks, ultrabooks and other Windows devices, making it easy to reinstall Windows and applications.
- Seamless integration with devices running Windows 8.
- Store backups on local and removable drives.
- Manage multiple backups with name, date, description and backup size.
- Schedule – and specify the location of – automatic backups.
- Set the maximum number of snapshots to keep.
- Automatically purge outdated snapshots.
- Modern Windows 8 Metro-style interface is easy to use, and works well on tablets.
- Very small application size (downloads and installs quickly).
You can download this program from here.
Update: Post has been updated and RecImg Manager screenshot also added.
Great review! You nailed it. Couple of things: You can store as many images as you want in settings. You can run on any x86 processor, that was a PR mistake ;) Thanks for the in-depth commentary! oh, and we will add bootable media when we are sure of Win 8 final. There are some things that need to be finalized. Hit me up with any questions!
What I meant to say is keeps 2 recent snapshots by default, and glad to know addition of Bootable media to RecImg manager. I’ve updated the post.