Imaging with free Macrium


  1. Posts : 4
    w7/64 pro
       #1640

    thanks so much for the quick reply, whs.

    a little more detail would be helpful. this is a dual boot system and the first partition is non-windows. drive is gpt/efi. i think that there's some kind of conflict between the gpt/efi and the new position of the w7 partition that's causing the issue. haven't found a procedure that will allow for transfer and resizing both os partitions while retaining bootability. macrium seems promising but i don't want to install it if i don't know more about whether it would work and what the procedures might be.

    thanks again,
    BabaG
      My Computer


  2. whs
    Posts : 26,210
    Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8
    Thread Starter
       #1641

    What more detail do you need. And if you don't try Macrium, you will never know whether it suits you.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 6,330
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64 +Linux_VMs +Chromium_VM
       #1642

    When i move my multi-boot PC to a new device and Windows won't boot, a Startup Repair fixes things for me.
    Problems are usually caused by me moving partitions, re-sizing, etc.
    Startup Repair
    This is on my test box, it's a triple boot Legacy MBR PC with W7, W8.1, and W10.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 20,583
    Win-7-Pro64bit 7-H-Prem-64bit
       #1643

    Hi,
    Yep I can't believe how easy it is to use once I got by the initial confusion it's easier than falling off a log :)
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 4
    w7/64 pro
       #1644

    thanks everybody. i finally got the system running. it's not an ideal solution but, for now, it's working. will watch it for a while before i call it finished, though.

    whs suggested using imaging rather than cloning, something i was gradually coming 'round to myself, and that's what worked, though, it's been a pretty rocky road. here's how the process went:

    i started with trying to pre-partition the drive to the sizes i wanted. for that i used gparted. then i restored an image of the windows partition to partition 3. it had been on partition 3 on the original drive but at roughly 120gb into the drive. the new partition has it at about 200gb in.

    i could never get that installation working so i went back to the w7 install disk to try repairs. none worked. then i tried a fresh install, thinking i would let windows take over. i started the install but cancelled after the formatting. that may have been what worked. it seems to have used my partitions but applied some of its own secret sauce somewhere.

    i reinstalled the image to partition 3, just as i had before, and went back to the w7 install disk to try to repair the installation, assuming the boot partition and folders would need work. that took many rounds of, sometimes contradictory, info and repair. sometimes the repair would find the installation and report it as 120gb (the original partition size) and sometimes as 300gb (the new size). i ran bootrec commands as well.

    eventually, windows did repair itself and was able to boot. then i installed the hfs+ partition from its image to partition 2 and was able to use tools associated with that system to get it running as well. both systems are now booting, apparently properly, and seem to run well. the only thing that now has me scratching my head and a little dubious is that the disk reports as an mbr disk where the original was gpt. gpt is what i'd been trying to set up on the new one but, i assume, the windows installation disk had other ideas and that's where the change happened. it does seem to be working, though.

    thanks and hope this is helpful to someone.
    BabaG
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 183
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
       #1645

    Hello!

    I have Macrium Reflect Free which I need for my personal use only. I don't plan on upgrading.

    I have done a system image backup many times. What I would like to do now it this, if someone has experience doing it, please tell me if it will work with the free version:

    I want to clone a GPT HDD to a GPT SSD with Macrium Reflect Free. Or a GPT HDD to a MBR SSD, or a MBR HDD to a GPT SSD.

    Has anyone done that with it? Would it work?

    Thank you!
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 12,012
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
       #1646

    Restoring a UEFI/GPT System image to MBR - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

    Restoring an MBR System image to UEFI/GPT - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

    Macrium Support Forum - Convert MBR to GPT

    You list 3 things you want to do. I think you can do the first.

    The other 2 are problematic. Looking at the above links, it seems you can't do what you want unless you first convert the disk from MBR to GPT or from GPT to MBR.

    That's for an image restoration. I suspect cloning would face the same issues.

    You still may have to fix boot issues:

    Fixing Windows boot problems - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

    Sounds like it's tentatively doable in some cases, but complex, depending on your hardware.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 30
    win 7 64 home premium
       #1647

    just my experience: i have macrium free and have successfully done a clone of hdd to ssd of a dual-boot system of win7 and linux mint. works perfectly. takes a lot longer than doing an image but came out correctly and made all the partitions without input from me.
      My Computer

  9.   My Computer


  10. Posts : 30
    win 7 64 home premium
       #1649

    I believe a clone takes longer as it was doing a copy of the whole drive whereas an image was just of one partition. my experience anyway
      My Computer


 

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