Macrium Reflect- leaving junk?

[QUOTE=pincushion;1657161][QUOTE=Senteaf;1656187]

kado897 said:

Well that is the point of having effective anti-virus that scans any files you download no matter where you save them. My anti-virus usually has a few false positives but has never let any malware on to my system. Restoring an image will get around most malware issues and since I have used my method for at least a decade without any malware of any sort then I would assume it has been successful. Choose whatever method you think will work for you.

I should add that I run with the Devil by operating as administrator so theoretically I should be at more risk than other more sensible people.

I know but I prefer not to trust my Antivirus because if it misses a virus I would never know about it.

"Restoring an image will get around most malware issues"
What most issues? not all issues?

Mark Phelps said:

Understand your concern ... because the FREE version, after installation, connects to the Internet when it is first launched. That's because it comes with an embedded key -- and needs to verify that. I know, that's weird for a FREE version -- but that's how it works. It will also connect to the Internet again every time you launch it -- but that's because it looks for product updates, thus preventing you from having to do that yourself.

Yes I can also block its connection, who knows if it also checks other things while "checking for updates"...



A question regarding Macrium:
For now I would like to use the same HD I want to restore to store the image.
Should I make a special partition just for the image?
Can I restore my HD using this image with Macrium?

You have to store the image on another partition, but that partition needn't be "just for the image"--it could contain the stored image and other stuff as well. You can't store an image of C on C.

You can restore whatever partitions are contained in the image--which in your case of a single hard drive would NOT be the entire drive.

If your single hard drive contained C and D, you could image C and store the image on D. You could then restore C, but not D because D is not and could not be part of the image containing C--since you have only one drive.

Yes that's what I wanted.

and if I restore my windows partition it will clean any unneeded registries and files so only my personal data will stay as it was.

Senteaf said:

and if I restore my windows partition it will clean any unneeded registries and files so only my personal data will stay as it was.

No.

If you restore an image of C, the registry will be as it was at the time the image was made, including whatever trash, errors, or unneeded entries it may have contained.

If your personal data files are on C and you restore an image of C, your personal data files will be overwritten and replaced by those contained in the image.

Imagine this:

Your personal data is on C.

April 10: you make an image of C.

April 14: you do your income tax and make some important files, stored on C.

April 17: your C partition fails and you restore it using the April 10 image.

In that scenario, your April 14 income tax files are gone and overwritten. That's a good example of why you should put Windows and data on separate partitions, or at least make separate file by file backups of personal data that do NOT involve an image.

On the other hand, if you store personal files on D: along with any backup images created by Macrium, they will happily live on even after you restore an image of C: to C:, overwriting its current state.

ignatzatsonic said:

Senteaf said:

and if I restore my windows partition it will clean any unneeded registries and files so only my personal data will stay as it was.

No.

If you restore an image of C, the registry will be as it was at the time the image was made, including whatever trash, errors, or unneeded entries it may have contained.

If your personal data files are on C and you restore an image of C, your personal data files will be overwritten and replaced by those contained in the image.

Imagine this:

Your personal data is on C.

April 10: you make an image of C.

April 14: you do your income tax and make some important files, stored on C.

April 17: your C partition fails and you restore it using the April 10 image.

In that scenario, your April 14 income tax files are gone and overwritten. That's a good example of why you should put Windows and data on separate partitions, or at least make separate file by file backups of personal data that do NOT involve an image.

Corazon said:

On the other hand, if you store personal files on D: along with any backup images created by Macrium, they will happily live on even after you restore an image of C: to C:, overwriting its current state.

Yes I understand, thank you for the example.
In case I want to restore using the image on the personal data partition, how do I check if it was not changed by malicious code?
because it is on the same disk there is a risk that it would be modified. I need an option to have a cryptographic hash function, is there free utility to do that?

Senteaf said:

how do I check if it was not changed by malicious code?

because it is on the same disk there is a risk that it would be modified. I need an option to have a cryptographic hash function, is there free utility to do that?

I don't know if that can be done. Mebbe so.

However, you may be overlooking a larger problem.

Even if think you have all of your ducks in a row, correct hash, no malicious code, etc, etc, etc, there is still a chance the image will not properly restore--maybe for reasons you will never determine.

I've never seen a documented study on consumer-level imaging programs, but I'd guess the "failure to work as expected" or "unintended consequences" rate is in the range of 1 to 10 percent. Not good. Take a gander at the Acronis or Macrium forums if you dare.

This forum has complaints from users of all of the best known imaging applications regarding failure to make or restore an image. Some apps more than others.

Your best move is to assume imaging will fail and have a plan B. The worst case scenario is that you have to reinstall Windows and applications. All that costs you is time.

ignatzatsonic said:

Senteaf said:

how do I check if it was not changed by malicious code?

because it is on the same disk there is a risk that it would be modified. I need an option to have a cryptographic hash function, is there free utility to do that?

I don't know if that can be done. Mebbe so.

However, you may be overlooking a larger problem.

Even if think you have all of your ducks in a row, correct hash, no malicious code, etc, etc, etc, there is still a chance the image will not properly restore--maybe for reasons you will never determine.

I've never seen a documented study on consumer-level imaging programs, but I'd guess the "failure to work as expected" or "unintended consequences" rate is in the range of 1 to 10 percent. Not good. Take a gander at the Acronis or Macrium forums if you dare.

This forum has complaints from users of all of the best known imaging applications regarding failure to make or restore an image. Some apps more than others.

Your best move is to assume imaging will fail and have a plan B. The worst case scenario is that you have to reinstall Windows and applications. All that costs you is time.

kado897 said:

Senteaf said:

In case I want to restore using the image on the personal data partition, how do I check if it was not changed by malicious code?
because it is on the same disk there is a risk that it would be modified. I need an option to have a cryptographic hash function, is there free utility to do that?

I think the closest you can come to that is to use Macriums own Verify feature which checks the image against internally held hash codes. This not only validates against accidental corruption but malicious attack as well.

I am aware of unexpected problems, and that is why I will create 2 images(maybe the second using Clonezilla). What I meant was that the image could be infected but it will still be recoverable. So when I restore that image I will have a virus which I did not have at the time I created the image.
Besides, I can also backup individual important files such as documents. I just like the idea of being able to restore a single image instead of going over the process again and again for future computers.
http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseA...eywords=verify
Thanks!