Macrium Reflect How Do I Use It?

Hi everyone!

Thanks for all the prior assistance!!!

Now that I got Macrium (standard paid version) downloaded and installed.....

(see my prior discussions of how this was done on::

Macrium etc Free Software--How to avoid CNET Virus/Adware/malware prog

and

Need a new Backup & Storage program

I need help in using it for the first time....

Yes, I'm confused........

Yes, as first time is the most critical saving time....

If I do NOT make the right choices..... what happens next is not the fault of the program as the computer will automatically follow whatever commands I tell it to do.....

INCLUDING! Copying from the Empty External HDD back over and replace the "not saved for one year!!" Original HDD inside the Laptop!

That is not the direction I want the backups to be made in...

Again (to beat a dead horse----I know mjf sounds like your "broken record" phrase too), I do not have instant phone help with Macrium, where someone can walk me slowly... carefully through the various menus until I get the hang of it (not just once I usually need several calls to get it right and committed to memory or notes that I can read and follow)

Yes I read the Macrium online manual a few times...

Yes I saw whs? or who he directed me to view, You Tube video a few times.....

Somehow its not what I'm seeing... as this is the first time.... I have not set up any preferences in the list of tasks for Macrium, so its showing me ALL the possible choices...

"choose wisely" As someone said here before to me.....

As if I make the wrong choice, in an unfamiliar program screen...... I lose everything... nothing to back up if I mistakingly copy back onto the full Hard Drive the brand new, Empty one!!

Yes, I will get same "warning" about the drive I'm copying into will erase all data.... but that does not help me to determine WHAT direction am I copying!

I guess I'm writing here as I'm lazy? or stupid?

In Mac's (yeah I know I have an Apple or two), there is a SIMPLE "ARROW" showing which way it goes from a graphic of computer to a graphic of an "external HDD"... you can click on arrow to make it go either way for their "sync" program= instant backup---no need to buy a separate program (its old Apple, today they have Time Machine just to let anyone know before they write back and tell me about that method vs my old old Tiger method).

In Windows, on PC's I always used Norton Ghost...

They had a simple end of the programming phase screen for the first ever backup (or for each subsequent time) backup.

I don't have a Screenshot from Norton Ghost to display here, [I'm looking, I'm certain I took one but its at least over a year ago when I went from Norton 14 to 15 (I always follow what I do via screen shots in case I had to show the guys on the phone what went wrong, and probably never had time to delete that one--) ]

But as I remember it.........Norton Ghost 15 clearly shows a very easy to follow the logic in a list:

SOURCE DRIVE: ________ Drive Letter and etc information serial number of the Drive, capacity etc

TARGET DRIVE: ________ Drive Letter and etc information serial number of the Drive, capacity etc.

Compare that history I have of backup /sync programs with what this screen looks like from MACRIUM's own online help pages:::

See Screenshot 1 "Summary"



I never got that far I got confused when I attached my External HDD and did not know for "100% certain" on a new program (Macrium Reflect) what I am doing!

Here are comparative screen shots.... showing my many choices I see the blue line under each of three partitions on the HDD inside the Laptop (I know I can check or uncheck the whole drive or individual partitions within the drive--there are TWO types of checkmarks!! Again not clear no explanation in the tutorial nor in the manual exactly what to do

(Yes the video I know shows checking and unchecking them but I can't ask the guy (whs did it---to stop and explain that better than he did at that point)-------but I have no idea what that changes---no information, no update, I have to send it off to the ACTION part of the program and risk accidentally starting the copying process....see first the 4 screenshots below.....

Screenshots 2 and 3 and 4 (note red arrows on the thin blue line as to what partition of 3 is selected)
and I see the same blue line if I select the External Hard Drive







Screenshot 5 ( see the red arrow for the blue line and note the two choices now drop down to this next level..... in the green arrow... for me that is frightening!!! This clicking back and forth ability-----indicates I could copy accidentally in the wrong direction and not realize it , either today or in future!!)



And I can't tell until I make my irrevocable choice (I don't know what to do if its wrong) which way to go as there is no further screen according to the Instrucitons on online help except the "Summary" screen (Screenshot 1) above... (and press "go etc" to do the process..

I'm just adrift and wondering how to choose and if I want to just do the whole C Drive, I also must do the MBR and System Reserved, but I want them dated and filed until the same folder (I guess I could create one, but again it warns AGAINST changing the names as the system might not recognize them to do a restore!

Remember earlier in my post here I said... "I'm confused"

Well Macrium Help has a page for me... right at the beginning::::::::::::

Here is what they say to do if you are "confused" about what to do:::

Screenshot 6 "confused"



SO again I'm reading everything.

Understanding, nothing...

Thanks for reading my writing...

Signing myself today (I can't change my user name)...

as "Confused".......

You need to learn how to pay attention (not to mention stop writing tedious to read small novels in most of your posts) as well as get over your extreme paranoia. As several people have already told you, there already is a thread for this—Image your system with free Macrium—and there was no need to start another. Also, here is a another good tutorial on how to use Macrium Reflect (you have also been told about this).

Considering your inability to understand simple directions, you may be better off going to a computer shop to have everything set up for you.

I have no idea what you are trying to do.

I can see why you are confused by this tutorial, as it is showing pictures from Reflect v4.
IMO v4 was laid out better than the current version (v5) and used a Backup/Restore Wizard, which made the procedure basically foolproof.

Reflect v5 has hidden settings and no Backup/Restore Wizard.
The video tutorial shows Reflect v5.

When I create backups with Macrium, I image each partition individually.
I repeat the process until I have created a backup image of each partition (e.g. W7, LM17.1, Documents, Pictures).

I store each image in a separate folder.

(this screenshot is from Caja in Linux Mint 17.1)

I suggest that you try this:

• Click on "Actions" below the blue line (your screenshot #2)
• Choose "Image this partition only" from the list
• Choose a destination folder to store your image in
• Click "Next"
• On this screen, you can click on the "Advanced Options" link (bottom left corner). I recommend that you don't change any of the settings, however you may wish to add a comment to your image by choosing "Comment".
• Click "Finish"
• In the final popup window, I deselect "Save this backup as a XML Backup Definition File" because of how I label and store my images (see picture above)
• Click "OK"
• Repeat the procedure until you have created images of all of your partitions.

I can't post any Macrium Reflect screenshots, as I am using Linux Mint at the moment.

If you are having difficulty, I would suggest that you practice on a spare HDD.

Hi lehnerus2000!

Thanks for your reply!

I'll answer the last line first....

lehnerus2000 said:

If you are having difficulty, I would suggest that you practice on a spare HDD.

1. limited funds.... I had to replace my current HDD with Norton Ghosts on it a year old----and this was it.. its a relative's computer---so its their funds (I can't afford one)....

2. Same problem would still occur! If I practiced on a brand new empty HDD, its just what I have and I'm worried that I would copy in the wrong direction! Replacing the Laptop's HDD with the contents of the now Empty New HDD! I guess the computer would fail at some point when Windows 7 registry, etc is replaced by "nothing" during the copying process...

----------------

Back to the rest of your post..

lehnerus2000 said:

I have no idea what you are trying to do.

I can see why you are confused by this tutorial, as it is showing pictures from Reflect v4.
IMO v4 was laid out better than the current version (v5) and used a Backup/Restore Wizard, which made the procedure basically foolproof.

Reflect v5 has hidden settings and no Backup/Restore Wizard.

The video tutorial shows Reflect v5.

I think I always saw the v5 one (I read everything---I know there was a v 4 a while ago and I made sure its always v5 I was viewing (whs did the viedo---Lady Fitzgerald reposted it for me in the post 3 above this one) I'm sorry I did not get it earlier when the interface was more intuitive, like Norton Ghost it appears from your screenshot) of it above...

That is why I was directed to Macrium... most people here know it and say it works well. and I need that.... To know it has hidden settings that I cannot access is both good and bad... It means I can't alter them and mess my backups up.... but then again, if something goes wrong, there is no option for "advanced view" to get to those settings and fix things???

Here is the rest of your posting (words only).....

lehnerus2000 said:

When I create backups with Macrium, I image each partition individually.
I repeat the process until I have created a backup image of each partition (e.g. W7, LM17.1, Documents, Pictures).

I store each image in a separate folder.

(this screenshot is from Caja in Linux Mint 17.1)

I suggest that you try this:

• Click on "Actions" below the blue line (your screenshot #2)
• Choose "Image this partition only" from the list
• Choose a destination folder to store your image in
• Click "Next"
• On this screen, you can click on the "Advanced Options" link (bottom left corner). I recommend that you don't change any of the settings, however you may wish to add a comment to your image by choosing "Comment".
• Click "Finish"
• In the final popup window, I deselect "Save this backup as a XML Backup Definition File" because of how I label and store my images (see picture above)
• Click "OK"
• Repeat the procedure until you have created images of all of your partitions.

I can't post any Macrium Reflect screenshots, as I am using Linux Mint at the moment.

Your concept of the separate files is perfect....

I Like it and it appears like my years of Ghost backups appear (ones I can open and scan with Windows Explorer, Preview, etc to make sure/certain that the programs all copied perfectly--not just for size but as much as for content as well).. That is what Norton Ghost used to let me do.... it prompted me to write "a comment" which became my folder name/cover for the save I was doing and it would automatically do it...
I agree with the process... will try (as I told Lady Fitzgerald) checking off the 3 drives (I should have said there one by one as of course this program is not Norton Ghost and I can't seem to image/backup a whole physical "disk 0" location, which would simplify things... (someone here has a signature about keeping things simple).

I will do the three partitions one by one and make enclosing folders so I know they are as of today's date (so I can manually erase them when the HDD gets fuller of backup images..

But it again is that "first" one.... until I'm certain of the system (looked again at the v5 You Tube tutorial by whs..... still uncertain..... the first one either works or it doesn't .... either I get the contents of the HDD saved to the external HDD in a folder...


OR I end up; with the empty HDD being transferred and written over the contents of the HDD inside the laptop----leaving me with zero inside the laptop....

I know all these programs warn you that doing this will "erase all data of the destination drive".... but again I want to be certain I have selected the correct destination drive...

Someone (ignatzatsonic) .... suggested I go and just make a 1:1 non compressed copy of entire HDD C: as it is...

But again I hesitated as even if I did do that... I read about this process and was warned that without copying the MBR, which just copying the "contents" of the HDD seems to not include that by default, only the contents (I had a long long posting about this here: How to Restore once I use copy files, or disk image=still confused

but again there was a mention about how the files must be formally "restored" to make them useful, else they are just files.... so I abandoned that path for the moment as it would not be a true backup in case I destroy my Laptop HDD by inadvertently copying backwards over it.

I'll keep my post short so you can respond... I'm trying to type less---but tis confusing to me, if I force myself to type just less so others would be more likely to read it...

Thanks for reading this!

Thanks for your help!

XP VM User,
I think you do need to keep your posts a bit briefer or else people will just stop responding.
Here are 2 Macrium tutorials you need to keep going over until you understand.
CREATE THE IMAGE:
v5: How to create a disk image (Backup, Image, v5)
RESTORE THE IMAGE:
v5: How to restore a backup image (Restore, v5)
For a system restore go to step 8 and watch the video.

It has been pointed out that you need to create a Macrium restore pe CD and the member WHS (see his tutorial) has a download for this. If you need more info on burning a CD from an ISO then ask. You need to boot from the restore pe CD and make sure you can browse to any image.

The Lady linked one of my old tutorials. Maybe this one is better. It is a more recent version.

Imaging with free Macrium

XP VM User said:

lehnerus2000 said:

If you are having difficulty, I would suggest that you practice on a spare HDD.

1. limited funds.... I had to replace my current HDD with Norton Ghosts on it a year old----and this was it.. its a relative's computer---so its their funds (I can't afford one)....

I realise not every one has spare working HDDs lying around (I don't).

If you create the Macrium PE disc and store your image on a different physical HDD to your OS, then you can physically disconnect your OS HDD and it will be safe from any changes.

If you image an empty drive the file size of the image will be tiny (if not zero).
With the standard Macrium settings your OS image will be ~50% of the size of your actual install.

For example:
My W7 Ultimate (64 bit) + Programs partition is ~34 GB.
My image of that partition is ~18 GB.