I want to do a full system backup/ create a system image (clone) of my hard drive/SSD (500GB) in my HP Z1 Workstation with Windows 7 Professional (64 bits).
I will use WD My Passport Ultra, 1 TB, as a target for the system backup.
Possible third party software for the cloning process might be “Image for Windows” (TeraByte Unlimited), “Macrium Reflect” (Paramount Software) or simply the “System Image Backup” feature in Windows 7.
I think I will have to remove/not install the software in My Passport Ultra to use it as a target for the clone.
Will there be a problem with this ?
Thank you for comments.
Should be no issue - all the software on the main drive itself can be downloaded from the WD website if you do need it (it’s just supplied on the drive itself for convenience). Or just transfer it from the MyPassport across to your hard disc first.
The MyPassport itself can be used like any other USB drive, and doesn’t need any of the software supplied on it. The only thing required is the WD SES driver if you want to use the more advanced features (encryption etc), and Windows Update will download that separately anyway. And you won’t be able to do anything about the unlocker, as it’s in a separate read-only partition anyway (you will see it appears as a separate CD-ROM drive from the main drive partition).
I can’t comment on which of your software proposals is the best candidate as I’ve never used any of them except the built-in one. Indeed I would be interested to hear the results of your evaluations of the other ones for the task.
I did a full system inage backup using Redo Backup http://redobackup.org/ It was recommended in this review of different backup options: http://www.techradar.com/news/software/applications/best-free-backup-software-11-programs-we-recommend-1137924
This seemed to work well, although I’ve not had teh guts to try restoring the backup 
I did a Full system backup including a System Image of my C: and D: drives to My Passort Ultra (must be NTFS, not FAT) and it did not disturb any of the other files, not any software (WD and other). My Ultra is 2TB, but 500 GB should be plenty for s System Backup. So I guess it depends on what available space you have on your Ultra and how much space is required by the files in your Full system backup.
