Imaging with free Macrium

whs said:

It would have been easy to Google it. But here it is:

MBR = Master Boot Record
NTDLR = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTLDR

WHS - Thanks. I didn't think to Google it. :)

ijmolina said:

Hi

Got 2 questions:

1.- Where can i look if i have the 100 MB boot partition? (sorry, but i'm just starting on this imaging things )

2.-

whs said:

With free Macrium, a USB drive is not supported for the recovery program.

¿That means i can't use a external USB HDD for storing the full image of my pc?

3.- If i use Macrium for imaging on DVDs, can i use this DVDs with the Sony-Vaio Start Repair Tool? or it only works with the Bootable-CD that you create with the Macrium free software?

Thanks for your time and answers :)

Three questions actually.

1. You can look in disk management.



In my case it is 199MB. Macrium also displays the partitions when you fire it up.

2. An external USB drive can be used to hold the Macrium backups. I do it all the time. The quote above refers to the recovery environment which can't be installed on a USB HDD. It can be installed on a DVD or with third party tools (or version 5 of Macrium Pro - New release) be installed on a USB flash drive.

3. You need to create a Macrium recovery disk. The Sony Viao Recovery disk, the Windows Repair or Installation disk will not work. You can also use the Mini XP mode on Hirens Boot CD which has the Macrium PE recovery environment in it.

1. You see the 1ßßMB partition in Disk Management.
2. You can image to a USB attacjed HDD. The quoted comment refers to the Macrium recovery program which can only be on a CD (with the free version of Macrium - in the Pro version the USB sticks are supported)
3. Imaging to DVDs is not recommended. It works but it is messy. Use a disk. And for recovery you must have the Macrium recovery CD which you can burn in one minute - no other tool will work.

PS: LOL - kado was 3 seconds faster with the right answers.

Sorry to jump in like that Wolfgang but it was 8 hours since the post and I didn't want the op to feel neglected.

kado897 said:

Sorry to jump in like that Wolfgang but it was 8 hours since the post and I didn't want the op to feel neglected.

That is quite alright. I am currently in a European time zone, so I react a bit late. Your guidance was excellent and right to the point.

Yes that sounds right. I can't remember whether the Windows restore gives you an option on marking the partition type and whether to restore the mbr but Macrium Free does and also suggests what you should mark them as.

1. Yes you deal with C as Active

2. The recovery partition I would image only once and keep it in stock - in case your HDD breaks. No need to restore it. But I would also burn the Win7 recovery DVD from it.

The recovery partition is a hiden partition. If you want it to have a letter, right click on it in Disk Management and assign a letter. But as I said, there is really no need to touch it.

3. You can replace the MBR, but if the disk did not break and you installed a new disk, it is not necessary.