Imaging with free Macrium

mistachy said:

SIW2 said:

I am not sure with the free version .

I always make my own winpe media.

Maybe whs will tell you how.

If the free version does it - it will be pretty easy - there is probably something called create recovery media - select winpe - and off it goes.

I don't know if automatically hunts for drivers you have installed, or if you have to point at them .
It will tell you.

Ive done that and it warns me this:


I just need to know how to properly do this from using reflect.

I made one about a year ago and it made a log file and will show what it sees when searching for drivers. In my case I had a new MB with ASmedia USB 3 and it failed to find those drivers. It found the USB 2 drivers and I made a bootable USB and it works fine on a USB 2 port.The log showed each step it did and what drivers it found and which one it didn't. Just let it make the disk and then look in the log.

Jim

The log is media_drivers.log and is in C:/Program Data/Macrium/Reflect. This is what mine showed for the USB ports.

[ScanInfFile]
PE architecture is: AMD64
INF file contains no matching devices: C:\boot\macrium\Drivers\USB\VEN_1B21_DEV_1042\asmtxhci.inf
Clearing device file copy list
[ScanInfFile]
Checking for matches for device: Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller (VEN_1002) (DEV_4396)
Source INF file: C:\boot\macrium\Drivers\USB\VEN_1B21_DEV_1042\asmtxhci.inf

From what it shows, Macrium has its own data base of .inf drivers and then compares it to the hardware id it finds on your system. After that it is tries to check your OS for any missing drives not in its database. My log is from ver 4568 and run in March 2012. When It boots it brings up a window showing any missing drivers.

Jim

salluhassan said:

i am going to make image of hp recovery partition but what is winPE and linux boot criteria , and what is RAID . will i be able to make a rescue bootable disk . and in my mind i think that if i make image of hp recovery partition then if i format the whole hard disk then if i restore the image , i will be able to install the windows by pressing f11 and using recovery manager . am i right ?

Why not image your whole disk?
RAID is Redundant Array of Independent Disks where multiple disks, hard drive, act together as one for speed, or can setup to be a backup of each other.
You will need WinPE on bootable media such as a USB flash stick or a CD. You boot it and point it to your stored image to restore it. The image must be stored on a separate drive/flash stick/DVDs. An external HDD works best.
If you restore from the HP recovery partition you will have all of its bloatware crap back.

My choice would be to do a clean install then make an image of the whole system after you have all your software and settings as you like it.
Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

Britton is correct. You should image the whole disk with Windows on it. If you take your route you will lose any programs you have installed and any data you have created. The recovery partition should only be used if you need to return your installation to exactly the state it was when you bought it.

if i make image of hp recovery partition then if i format the whole hard disk then if i restore the image , i will be able to install the windows by pressing f11 and using recovery manager . am i right ?

That does not work unless you also image the System Partition and restore that first (except on a Dell where the recovery partition is usually the System partition). But Gary and Keith gave you the better way of doing that.