Image your system with free Macrium

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  1. Posts : 161
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #201

    https://www.cleverbridge.com/80/?sco...playCurrencyId


    That is worth £13 to me right now, IF it can transfer a system image as well as an OS.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 161
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #202

    ....which it can't. Oh well, I will have to do it the complicated way.
      My Computer


  3. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
    Thread Starter
       #203

    stonebear said:
    It is ironic (!) that Windows own imaging can do what I need without the added complications caused by the 100mb system reserved but I can't use Windows own imaging because the 100mb system reserved is too full to allow me to do it!

    Catch 22 again! If the 100mb system reserved wasn't so heavily recommended by the installer I would not have wasted the hours I have.


    Not enough room to create system image-but there is
    You can always restore just C as active partition and fix the bootmgr there. That avoids mucking around with the 100MB partition. But you still have to predifine an aligned partition which is at least the size of the originating C.
    Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times

    But if you have the SSD in a desktop or if you can stick it into an external enclosure, the Paragon Migration tool is the easiest. It does everything for you. But you stll need the system running on the HDD.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 161
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #204

    whs said:
    You can always restore just C as active partition and fix the bootmgr there. That avoids mucking around with the 100MB partition. But you still have to predifine an aligned partition which is at least the size of the originating C.
    Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times
    Yea, I could just restore the C and then use the recovery CD or OS CD to "repair" and create a new MBR etc.

    whs said:
    But if you have the SSD in a desktop or if you can stick it into an external enclosure, the Paragon Migration tool is the easiest. It does everything for you. But you stll need the system running on the HDD.
    The system is on the SSD.

    Thanks. :)
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 36
    Windows 7 Home x64
       #205

    Hello All-

    Having bought a new laptop running Win 7 64 bit, as someone said earlier here, I want to make images for two basic purposes -- (1) System broken but not the HDD, and (2) HDD broken.

    My computer's single drive configuration is currently:

    1) Recovery Partition, 13GB, 100% Free

    2) System Reserved (System, Active, Primary Partition) NTFS 100MB 70% Free

    3) C: (Boot, Page File, Crash Dump, Primary Partition) NTFS 220GB 91% Free

    Obviously I understand drive C:, but less so the other two partitions. And since I wish to add another partition to gain a drive D: on this single physical drive, I'll eventually have four partitions to deal with.

    Years ago I depended on Ghost.exe (ver 8.3), then later on Acronis True Image Home/ATIH (ver 9), two programs I trusted. Numerous restores via Ghost.exe were universally perfect for WinXP systems. And I was covered whether I wished to restore to the same drive or to a brand new one, whether larger or smaller than the original (obviously as long as a smaller one was large enough to hold the restored image). Oh yes, and neither Ghost.exe nor ATIH added any virtual partitions, nor did either one play with my drive lettering.

    However from the bad press both Ghost and ATIH have been recently receiving (for Ghost, possibly due to the recent changes in NTFS drive alignment/offset, and for ATIH, maybe due to basic 64 bit compatibility problems), I no longer trust these two programs.

    Can someone advise me as to the best solution to do all the above, free or paid, whichever is best, Macrium, Paragon, or another?
      My Computer


  6. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
    Thread Starter
       #206

    Here is what I recommend:

    1. Use Macrium because it is the easiest, fastest and very reliable. Here is a tutorial on how it works: Imaging with free Macrium

    2. Make 4 folders on your backup drive.

    -- 100MB partition
    -- Recovery partition
    -- C partition
    -- D partition

    3. In Macrium, make a definition and image of each of those partitions to their respective folders on the backup drive. The 100MB partition and the Recovery partition you need to image only once for the case that your physical disk breaks. The C and D partitions you should image as often as major changes have been made there. E.g updates or new program installs on C or new data on D.

    PS: free Paragon is also a good option. But it is a bit more complex and involved.
      My Computer


  7. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #207

    stonebear said:
    whs said:
    You can always restore just C as active partition and fix the bootmgr there. That avoids mucking around with the 100MB partition. But you still have to predifine an aligned partition which is at least the size of the originating C.
    Startup Repair - Run 3 Separate Times
    Yea, I could just restore the C and then use the recovery CD or OS CD to "repair" and create a new MBR etc.

    whs said:
    But if you have the SSD in a desktop or if you can stick it into an external enclosure, the Paragon Migration tool is the easiest. It does everything for you. But you stll need the system running on the HDD.
    The system is on the SSD.

    Thanks. :)
    What you could try if you are starting with a clean SSD. Make a ~200MB primary partition and the rest another primary partition called C: say. Restore your old C: to the new C: and do NOT mark it active. Mark the empty 200MB partition active and run the system repair x3. This should build the MBR and the required boot files on the 200MB partition (bootmgr and [Boot] containing the BCD]. With 200MB you should never experience the problem of running out of shadow storage space.
    Alternatively dispense with the system reserved if you have little use for bit locker and/or the F8 function.
      My Computer


  8. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #208

    JDH1 said:
    Hello All-

    Having bought a new laptop running Win 7 64 bit, as someone said earlier here, I want to make images for two basic purposes -- (1) System broken but not the HDD, and (2) HDD broken................
    I'd do basically what WHS suggests. But note because disk management may say your (hidden) recovery partition is 100% free it will probably contain ~8GB or factory recovery data. It's just what disk management does. Other tools will show its true contents.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 36
    Windows 7 Home x64
       #209

    whs said:
    Here is what I recommend:

    1. Use Macrium because it is the easiest, fastest and very reliable. Here is a tutorial on how it works: Imaging with free Macrium

    2. Make 4 folders on your backup drive.

    -- 100MB partition
    -- Recovery partition
    -- C partition
    -- D partition

    3. In Macrium, make a definition and image of each of those partitions to their respective folders on the backup drive. The 100MB partition and the Recovery partition you need to image only once for the case that your physical disk breaks. The C and D partitions you should image as often as major changes have been made there. E.g updates or new program installs on C or new data on D.

    PS: free Paragon is also a good option. But it is a bit more complex and involved.
    First, thanks for your helpful and rapid reply!

    So both the Macrium and Paragon programs are rock solid as regards Windows 7 64 bit. And evidently they both know how to do restores to the new drive alignment (I believe the data used to start at 63 or 64 sectors from the beginning of the drive, but now it's at an even 1 megabyte). Well this sure is good news, especially considering the problems people say Ghost and True Image are having!

    Your suggested procedures seem very similar to what I would have done using Ghost -- the only obvious difference being the need for a separate folder for each partition's backup (not that this is any big problem). However since I like to keep layered backups, I assume I can put multiple backup files in each folder and keep them separate by simply using different file names (as would be done with Ghost)?

    If you see no benefits offerred by Paragon for all the tasks outlined in my first post, and if Macrium is in some ways simpler, I will most certainly read/look at your tutorial on Macrium as soon as possible!
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 10,455
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Service Pack 1
       #210

    JDH1 said:
    whs said:
    Here is what I recommend:

    1. Use Macrium because it is the easiest, fastest and very reliable. Here is a tutorial on how it works: Imaging with free Macrium

    2. Make 4 folders on your backup drive.

    -- 100MB partition
    -- Recovery partition
    -- C partition
    -- D partition

    3. In Macrium, make a definition and image of each of those partitions to their respective folders on the backup drive. The 100MB partition and the Recovery partition you need to image only once for the case that your physical disk breaks. The C and D partitions you should image as often as major changes have been made there. E.g updates or new program installs on C or new data on D.

    PS: free Paragon is also a good option. But it is a bit more complex and involved.
    First, thanks for your helpful and rapid reply!

    So both the Macrium and Paragon programs are rock solid as regards Windows 7 64 bit. And evidently they both know how to do restores to the new drive alignment (I believe the data used to start at 63 or 64 sectors from the beginning of the drive, but now it's at an even 1 megabyte). Well this sure is good news, especially considering the problems people say Ghost and True Image are having!

    Your suggested procedures seem very similar to what I would have done using Ghost -- the only obvious difference being the need for a separate folder for each partition's backup (not that this is any big problem). However since I like to keep layered backups, I assume I can put multiple backup files in each folder and keep them separate by simply using different file names (as would be done with Ghost)?

    If you see no benefits offerred by Paragon for all the tasks outlined in my first post, and if Macrium is in some ways simpler, I will most certainly read/look at your tutorial on Macrium as soon as possible!
    You can put all your partitions in the same backup file with Macrium but you have to restore them one at a time.
      My Computer


 
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