Imaging with free Macrium

RedLad said:

Hi there,

I will be creating a system image one I have all my programs installed. I have Windows 7 installed on the SSD and have a separate HDD drive in the PC too. I have moved my user folders to this HDD. So, is it still possible to create an image with my setup?

Thanks

I always move the complete Users folder to another drive than C: in all my Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 installs and have never had any issues in using Macrium as told in this tutorial.

The only difference is that you have to also select the drive containing your Users folder when creating the image.

Kari

The problem with moving the "user" folder to another partition is that you have to image that partition as well. If you can move most of your data off the SSD and leave the "user" folder alone maybe using libraries to consolidate your data your images will be much smaller and faster.

The problem is that you need to image both the ssd and the partition that contains the "user" folder at the same time as it is considered by Windows to be part of the OS. (It contains user registry entries). In fact if you were to do a Windows image it wouldn't allow you to do just the SSD. If you leave the user folder on the SSD you avoid that.

RedLad said:

kado897 said:

The problem is that you need to image both the ssd and the partition that contains the "user" folder at the same time as it is considered by Windows to be part of the OS. (It contains user registry entries). In fact if you were to do a Windows image it wouldn't allow you to do just the SSD. If you leave the user folder on the SSD you avoid that.

Ah right, I get you. I want to keep the setup I have, so I will be using Macrium to do the image. I read also that AOMEI backupper is very good.

Yes it is. I also use that. In some ways it is better than Macrium Free in that it can do incremental and file backups. You need the paid Macrium for that. Cant have too many backups.

kado897 said:

The problem is that you need to image both the ssd and the partition that contains the "user" folder at the same time as it is considered by Windows to be part of the OS. (It contains user registry entries). In fact if you were to do a Windows image it wouldn't allow you to do just the SSD. If you leave the user folder on the SSD you avoid that.

As a user who has since Vista always sysprepped the Users to another drive than C: I just have to comment:

Using Windows native backup, yes you have to include the partition where the Users folder is located. Using Macrium that is not necessary although it is recommended; I have run several tests where I have only imaged the system reserved and C:, when the image is restored it picks the Users folder nicely along and system works again without issues. If the user has for instance installed software after the image was made which has let's say AppData\Roaming folders, these folders will of course remain in the system also after the image which no longer contains said software has been restored, but this really is a minor issue as those folders will be replaced as soon as the software is reinstalled after the restore.

The system works so well I have started to image only the C:, not the partition with Users because those files and folders are already securely backed up on OneDrive which I sync with my libraries. No need to image the Users with a terabyte of OneDrive.

Most of the registry is anyway stored on C:\Windows\System32\Config. Using Macrium instead of Windows native imaging, and keeping the Users folder relocated on another drive I can image and restore my system in a couple of minutes because the necessary image is relatively small, only containing software and Windows folders and when restored "picking up" my Users folder securely stored on another drive.