Imaging with free Macrium

   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

Note 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.

   Note

The production of the WinPE recovery CD (which is highly recommended) may take up to 3 hours because Macrium needs to download the 1.7GB WAIK (Windows Application Installation Kit). For your convenience I have uploaded a ready made .iso of the WinPE recovery disc. That can be downloaded in appr. 8 minutes which clearly beats the WAIK download. Once you downloaded and unzipped the folder, you can burn it directly to a CD with e.g. ImgBurn.

Here is the link to my Skydrive site.

Here is an alternate link from FileSwap (courtesy of Gary - Britton30)

I draw your attention to the fact that this WinPE CD can also be used to make images. That may be convenient in case you do not want to install Macrium on your PC.

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.

Note: If you have a problem with the loudness of the sound output of the video, check the "Loudness Equalization" box in your Playback device. It is under the 'Enhancements' tab.

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a System Image Backup in Windows 7
• How to Do a System Image Recovery in Windows 7
• How to Backup User and System Files in Windows 7
• How to Restore Backup User and System Files in Windows 7
• How to Restore your System with a Broken Windows 7 System Image
• How to Create a Bootable Rescue USB Flash Drive for Macrium Reflect

 

[kado897]

Keith, was just thinking. How did you actually produce this tut without an active system.

VirtualBox.

 

[whs]

Smart, I should have thought of that myself. I only run Ubuntu in vBox and was considering the run the Win8 Beta that way. But maybe I put it on the HDD because I do not have a lot of room on my M4.

 

[kado897]

Thanks Wolfgang. I've usually got a Win7 VM for things like that.

 

[c4cyro]

i have few questions about "Imaging with free Macrium".

the macrium program creates an image of the os partition(C at a particular 'point' of time and we can bring our sytem back to that 'point' whenever we want, using this program. after restoring it does not affect any other partition and our system is just like it was at that 'point'.

am i right?
and is this program simiar to the progra DELL DATASAFE LOCAL BACKUP ??

 

[kado897]

i have few questions about "Imaging with free Macrium".

the macrium program creates an image of the os partition(C at a particular 'point' of time and we can bring our sytem back to that 'point' whenever we want, using this program. after restoring it does not affect any other partition and our system is just like it was at that 'point'.

am i right?
and is this program simiar to the progra DELL DATASAFE LOCAL BACKUP ??

Yes you are correct. Only the partitions you restore are affected. Everything else is unchanged.

 

[whs]

Keith gave you the answer to your first question. I am not sure what the Dell program does. It may only backup data.

 

[c4cyro]

so does that mean i can use this to reinstall windows (if needed) ? how will it do that i mean does it "boot" like the Dell Datasafe program?
I am using Dell Inspiron N5050...can you tell me the steps i should follow to reinstall windows instead of a clean install? i know i sound too much confused. clear my doubts pls. thanks.

 

[c4cyro]

Keith gave you the answer to your first question. I am not sure what the Dell program does. It may only backup data.

DELL DATASAFE uses the "recovery" partition to restore the computer to the factory state.

 

[kado897]

Dell Datasafe. What is Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0? | Dell

 

[whs]

I suggest you follow the tutorial.

 

[c4cyro]

sir i know about dell datasafe.
maybe i did not ask my ques properly.

pls try to understand me.
let us call the present state of my system as "Cyx".
how do i bring my system back to this "Cyx" state anytime i want? what steps should i follow?

 

[kado897]

You should image your system at the point you wish. That can either be with Windows own backup system, with Macrium Reflect or any number of other free imaging programs. If your data is on a separate partition to the OS then you should only image the OS partitions so that you can restore the OS without affecting the data. If your data is on the same partition as the OS then a restore from the image will replace the data as well.

 

[c4cyro]

i got it. thanks a lot.!!

 

[kado897]

No problem. If you have further questions come back to us.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Hi Guys

Ive recently come back to using macrium and have a few questions about the Custom Pe rescue usb I created. I downloaded the 1.7 gig WAIK ISO I needed and created the usb with no issues a while back however today there was an update when I clicked the create rescue media tab. What exactly did that update? (8.8mb) do I need to rebuild my usb? Do I need an updated ISO?. Also the WAIK entry in programs and features (1.05gig) do I have to keep that installed once Ive created my usb or can that be removed? What purpose does that serve once the usb is created?
Im sure the answers are simpler than Im making this out to be, but if im honest Im just not understanding the purpose of it all

Why a 1.7gig ISO and a 1gig file in programs to create a tiny usb bootable disk
Puzzled

Danny
Im really not seeing the benefits of this over the linux recovery media can someone enlighten me

 

[mjf]

My views for what they are worth:
The update adds to the base pe iso that was downloaded when you downloaded WAIK. In my case Macrium is aware of the download and will burn an update DVD or create an ISO very quickly. If you are using a USB with an ISO then it's not much effort.

I keep the WAIK because a couple of GB isn't much in the scheme of things and I might need it for other purposes.

Now I haven't updated my recovery media since V 5.0.4196 since I believe this was an important update for recovery media. It has worked fine for me but others may have different views.

As for the pe disk I personally find it more convenient and flexible for recovery. The old linux disks failed to work on my Sandy Bridge. I'm not sure if the current linux disk has all the same features as the pe disk such as drag & drop images (good for transfers to an SSD since you can retain the alignment on the target SSD).

 

[whs]

The other day I burnt 15 WinPE discs for people that attend my classes. I was sure glad I had the WAIK on my system. Burning each disc was a matter of a couple of minutes. Reason I did it was because I did not want to have 15 people go thru a 2 hour download.

What is also neat with the WinPE disc is that you can use it for imaging too. No need to have Macrium installed which is handy when you are dealing with a dead OS and want to get the data off. I am sometimes being called as fireworker for operations like that. People just don't take any precautions. The precious pictures of the grandchildren are never backed up. The other option I use is Linux Puppy.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

My views for what they are worth:
The update adds to the base pe iso that was downloaded when you downloaded WAIK. In my case Macrium is aware of the download and will burn an update DVD or create an ISO very quickly. If you are using a USB with an ISO then it's not much effort.

I keep the WAIK because a couple of GB isn't much in the scheme of things and I might need it for other purposes.

Now I haven't updated my recovery media since V 5.0.4196 since I believe this was an important update for recovery media. It has worked fine for me but others may have different views.

As for the pe disk I personally find it more convenient and flexible for recovery. The old linux disks failed to work on my Sandy Bridge. I'm not sure if the current linux disk has all the same features as the pe disk such as drag & drop images (good for transfers to an SSD since you can retain the alignment on the target SSD).

The other day I burnt 15 WinPE discs for people that attend my classes. I was sure glad I had the WAIK on my system. Burning each disc was a matter of a couple of minutes. Reason I did it was because I did not want to have 15 people go thru a 2 hour download.

What is also neat with the WinPE disc is that you can use it for imaging too. No need to have Macrium installed which is handy when you are dealing with a dead OS and want to get the data off. I am sometimes being called as fireworker for operations like that. People just don't take any precautions. The precious pictures of the grandchildren are never backed up. The other option I use is Linux Puppy.

Ok thanks guys, that's starting to make some sense now Iv'e had a little play with it. Just one more question. You say the update "adds to the base pe iso that was downloaded when you downloaded WAIK". Im presuming that isnt the same 1.7gig ISO I downloaded at the beginning is it? as I put that onto my external once I created my usb and it wasn't connected when I ran the update. Where is that ISO stored?
I think thats where im getting confused as it states here the ISO is in D:/Downloads but I removed it onto my external and it wasnt connected at the time. Are these 2 different ISOs


Thankyou

 

[kado897]

The WAIK needs only to be downloaded once provided that you do not delete it. The Macrium PE programs are merged into the WAIK when the PE disk is created. When you download a new Macrium release and create a new PE it just replaces the Macrium Programs.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

The WAIK needs only to be downloaded once provided that you do not delete it. The Macrium PE programs are merged into the WAIK when the PE disk is created. When you download a new Macrium release and create a new PE it just replaces the Macrium Programs.

Thanks Keith

Sorry if im sounding dumb but once you have installed and created the bootable media is the ISO (KB3AIK_EN) no longer needed so can just be stored on a backup drive then. ie its not that ISO that is updated when there is an update. If the macrium files are merged into the iso how did that happen if the drive with that iso was removed at the time of the update