Windows 7 - Imaging with free Macrium

**whs**

Information

This tutorial shows imaging with free Macrium Version 5.0. If you are still using Macrium Version 4.2, go to this Vimeo site where the tutorial of that version is stored.

The Video does not show the recovery part because I have no setup to screen capture it. But Keith (Kado) made this excellent recovery tutorial with text (but no sound) that he captured from a virtual partition.

Warning

I have discovered a restriction with USB3. Although you can take an image to a disk that is USB3 attached, you cannot restore from a USB3 attached disk with the Linux restore CD. For the restore you need to attach the disk via USB2.

Note also that the external disk to which you image must be formatted in NTFS. A disk that is formatted in Fat32 will accept an image, but the recovery programs cannot restore that image. You can, however, mount (open) a Fat32 image as VHD.

This video tutorial explains the full cycle of the imaging process which is:

· Initial setups
· Image definition
· Image scheduling
· Image production

The imaging program that was used for this tutorial is free Macrium. But the basic principles are the same for other imaging programs although the user interface will be different.

This video runs for appr. 7 minutes.
There is a related thread on the Vista forum which gives a brief introduction to Macrium followed by a discussion.
You can download the free Macrium edition from here.

Here is the direct link to the YouTube video. I think it is less fuzzy if you play it directly from the link.

From feedback I understand that some people had trouble with the audio when playing here from YouTube. I have created two more options:

1. You can view the same video on this Vimeo link
2. You can download the original .wmv video file from my Fileswap site

Related Tutorials

**pparks1** · 03-25-2010

Awesome, thanks for sharing. I've suggested Macrium Reflect free to a few people at work. I tested it for awhile to let them know how it works and it's worked pretty well for me.

The only thing I don't like is that you don't seem to be able to restore multiple partitions at the same time..but rather have to restore them individually. Certainly not a showstopper, but a bit annoying.

**SIW2** · 03-26-2010

Another plus is that the BartPe plugin you can download from within the free Macrium app. runs in WinPe 2 and 3.

No backup function in the free macrium pe plugin - Restore and explore your backup images - restores individual files too. plus a boot corrector ( be careful with that - I used Paragon Boot Corrector to correct drive letters after running the Macrium version ) and network configurator.

New app. ( free atm ) converts macrium images to vhd - it's fast too. It also runs in WinPe.

Macrium Reflect - Blogs and News

If you have any problems booting the vhd, hit it with Paragon P2V Adjust Wizard .

That's not generally available free, but many will have the recent giveaways Of Paragon Virtualization Manager personal .

Paragon apps. also run beautifully in WinPe .

**whs** · 03-26-2010

Thanks for the additional explanations. I wanted to keep it simple which is the advantage of the Linux version.

alwinwinjoe · 03-29-2010

Excuse me whs. May I ask a question? Can the recovery disk that has been made be used with another system image? I seem to have accidentally deleted my original system image and created a new one this day.

**whs** · 03-29-2010

The recovery disk is a one time matter and can be used with all Macrium images - even on a different system. It just pulls in the recovery program that then lets you choose the image you want to use.

Note: on one of my systems a new version of Macrium turned up and they explicitely asked to burn a new recovery disk for that new version. But that was only because Macrium was changed, not because of the images.

**CarlTR6** · 03-29-2010

Thank you for the tutorial. I am about try Macrium for the first time.

**whs** · 03-29-2010

Carl, you are welcome. You will see, it is really easy.

alwinwinjoe · 03-29-2010

Quote: Originally Posted by whs

The recovery disk is a one time matter and can be used with all Macrium images - even on a different system. It just pulls in the recovery program that then lets you choose the image you want to use.

Note: on one of my systems a new version of Macrium turned up and they explicitely asked to burn a new recovery disk for that new version. But that was only because Macrium was changed, not because of the images.

Thank you very much! I didn't want to buy another CD if it was not possible.

**whs** · 03-29-2010

No problem, any time. Can you even buy a single CD - just curious. Here they usually come in packs of 25 or 50.

Windows 7 - Imaging with free Macrium

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