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

 

[whs]

There will be other physical drives internally connected, what issue will arise ?

That is no problem.

Safe to assume with Macrium that the boot restore disc created with Macrium will restore the MBR, system reserved and OS partitions, not as a partition rather install the backup on the complete drive omitting creating the partition ?

To be on the safe side, I would predefine the partitions and drag system reserved and C into those (I assume you have V5 of Macrium and the WinPE recovery CD). Make sure the system reserved is marked as 'active' when you define it.

When this is done the previous drive with the windows partition will be physically installed on the drive, will Windows recognize the new boot (restored) HDD as well as the old boot partition HDD, until I remove the old windows boot partition ?

Yes, but you have to change the BIOS to boot from this new HDD.

 

[mjf]

mjf - I was hoping you could answer my question ?

I haven't been around as much of late.

1) When you are doing a straight reimage and your system HDDs and partitions have not changed from when you made the image then there shouldn't be a problem. When things have changed I believe it is best to temporarily disconnect other drives so you don't get boot files on different disks. So if restoring to a new HDD disconnect the others.
If you are restoring to a new HDD then when other HDDs are disconnected it doesn't matter if things go wrong the first time. You just keep trying until you get it right. If other HDDs are connected you could affect them and create bigger headaches.
2) There have been some differences between V4.2 and V5. V5. allows you to "Restore the Windows System". This essentially does everything Windows inbuilt imaging does. The backed up MBR will be replaced.
If you haven't changed the partition structure then the existing MBR and system reserved should be fine. If you choose to replace the backed up MBR then it will have the old partition structure on it.
3) As per the WHS advice make sure the BIOS is set up to boot from your new HDD.

I now have some reservations about some Macrium documentation. As a grateful user of their free software I can't easily give them feedback about gaffs likes this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/vip/222139-macrium-concern.html#post1862222

 

[JerometheGiraff]

To be on the safe side, I would predefine the partitions and drag system reserved and C into those (I assume you have V5 of Macrium and the WinPE recovery CD). Make sure the system reserved is marked as 'active' when you define it.

What do you mean I would predefine the partitions ? Create the the partitions I had on the old drive, onto the new drive ? I don't want that. I created a backup of only the partition with Windows Boot, I was hoping I could restore only that partition onto the new HDD, and it would treat the new HDD, not as a partition but as a regular unpartitioned HDD ?

2) There have been some differences between V4.2 and V5. V5. allows you to "Restore the Windows System". This essentially does everything Windows inbuilt imaging does. The backed up MBR will be replaced.
If you haven't changed the partition structure then the existing MBR and system reserved should be fine. If you choose to replace the backed up MBR then it will have the old partition structure on it.

Are you saying, if keep the existing partition structure from the backup it will be re-created on the new HDD, this ties into my previous question above ? ? ?

I will remove the old boot windows HDD until the new one is up, restored and running, successfully. Then I will restore the other one and wipe the boot partition from it, good advice, I was going to keep them both installed

I now have some reservations about some Macrium documentation. As a grateful user of their free software I can't easily give them feedback about gaffs likes this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/vip/22213...ml#post1862222

Link doesn't work for me.

 

[derekimo]

To be on the safe side, I would predefine the partitions and drag system reserved and C into those (I assume you have V5 of Macrium and the WinPE recovery CD). Make sure the system reserved is marked as 'active' when you define it.

What do you mean I would predefine the partitions ? Create the the partitions I had on the old drive, onto the new drive ? I don't want that. I created a backup of only the partition with Windows Boot, I was hoping I could restore only that partition onto the new HDD, and it would treat the new HDD, not as a partition but as a regular unpartitioned HDD ?

2) There have been some differences between V4.2 and V5. V5. allows you to "Restore the Windows System". This essentially does everything Windows inbuilt imaging does. The backed up MBR will be replaced.
If you haven't changed the partition structure then the existing MBR and system reserved should be fine. If you choose to replace the backed up MBR then it will have the old partition structure on it.

Are you saying, if keep the existing partition structure from the backup it will be re-created on the new HDD, this ties into my previous question above ? ? ?

I will remove the old boot windows HDD until the new one is up, restored and running, successfully. Then I will restore the other one and wipe the boot partition from it, good advice, I was going to keep them both installed

I now have some reservations about some Macrium documentation. As a grateful user of their free software I can't easily give them feedback about gaffs likes this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/vip/22213...ml#post1862222

Link doesn't work for me.

Yeah, you need to be a power user or above to see the VIP lounge.

Maybe mjf can just copy the text back here for you.

 

[kado897]

To be on the safe side, I would predefine the partitions and drag system reserved and C into those (I assume you have V5 of Macrium and the WinPE recovery CD). Make sure the system reserved is marked as 'active' when you define it.

What do you mean I would predefine the partitions ? Create the the partitions I had on the old drive, onto the new drive ? I don't want that. I created a backup of only the partition with Windows Boot, I was hoping I could restore only that partition onto the new HDD, and it would treat the new HDD, not as a partition but as a regular unpartitioned HDD ?
Are you saying, if keep the existing partition structure from the backup it will be re-created on the new HDD, this ties into my previous question above ? ? ?

I will remove the old boot windows HDD until the new one is up, restored and running, successfully. Then I will restore the other one and wipe the boot partition from it, good advice, I was going to keep them both installed

I now have some reservations about some Macrium documentation. As a grateful user of their free software I can't easily give them feedback about gaffs likes this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/vip/22213...ml#post1862222

Link doesn't work for me.

Yeah, you need to be a power user or above to see the VIP lounge.

Maybe mjf can just copy the text back here for you.

The next entry on the thread corrects that. Apparently it says MSR (Microsoft System Reserved) rather that MBR (Master Boot Record).

Actually it is still wrong. This is the quote.

In Windows 7 in order to create a backup that contains the whole system, you need to select the MSR partition, usually the volume with no drive letter at the beginning of the boot disk. This partition contains the Master Boot Record (MBR) and without it, Windows 7, cannot start.

I have posted in the Macrium Forum. We will see what response I get.

 

[kado897]

This is the reply from Macrium Support.

Hi

Thanks for your post.

You are correct. The line should read:

This partition contains the active Partition Boot Sector (PBS) and without it, Windows 7, cannot start.

We will update the documentation. Thanks for pointing out the error.

Kind regards

Nick - Macrium Support

 

[mjf]

This is the reply from Macrium Support.

Hi

Thanks for your post.

You are correct. The line should read:

This partition contains the active Partition Boot Sector (PBS) and without it, Windows 7, cannot start.

We will update the documentation. Thanks for pointing out the error.

Kind regards

Nick - Macrium Support

That's more like it. It wasn't a little mistake because it can cause much confusion to those trying to understand the boot process and what to backup and restore.
They are welcome to use my words (big head smilie)

 

[JerometheGiraff]

I can't recall if this was mentioned in this thread, I'm trying to boot to a new HDD. Unfortunately Windows is not booting, a theory is that the 100 MB Windows partition is not loading and unable to find the active Windows partition. I came across this thread. Macrium successfully restored the partition, but if the partition on the new HDD is not set to active, how do I solve ?

 

[whs]

With the bootable CD of Partition Wizard (see link on the left side of the webpage). Once the PW window is up, highlight the 100MB partition and click the Partition tab (on top). The controls you are looking for are under 'Modify'.

If another partition is marked as 'active', deactivate that first - also under Modify.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

The partition and the image was restored to D: (logical partition) with Macrium Reflect boot CD. The original partition was C:, Macrium decided to make it D: does this make a difference ? And when I start up the PC I get "disk error, non-system disk or disk error" does this relate to the same thing ? Any of the info given change anything or must I use PM and create the 100 MB partition ? Will I have to restore my image again or no ?

 

[whs]

1. Macrium restores to the partition YOU select. Apparently you selected D.

2. If you have a 100MB partition (not everybody has that), then you need to restore that too. That contains your bootmgr.

3. I am really not sure what you are fabricating. Looks like a pretty mess. Maybe you can describe what you are actually doing and whether you use the WinPE recovery disc - the Linux version is not really useful.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

1. Macrium restores to the partition YOU select. Apparently you selected D.

2. If you have a 100MB partition (not everybody has that), then you need to restore that too. That contains your bootmgr.

3. I am really not sure what you are fabricating. Looks like a pretty mess. Maybe you can describe what you are actually doing and whether you use the WinPE recovery disc - the Linux version is not really useful.

I did another restore this time the new boot partition is C: as it was the original boot drive on the old HDD that is physically removed from the computer, and it is now the primary MBR, before it was the logical. All this said and done, the computer does not boot into Windows. The BIOS continues to load three times then a non-system disk or disk error, that is when the network cables are physically disconnected from the PC, if they are connected I get a DHCP 00:00:00:00 type error.

 

[whs]

and it is now the primary MBR

That does not mean anything. There can be a primary partition. But the MBR sits on the first 512 bytes of every disk.

The reason you system does not boot is probably because you lost yout 100MB active partition. If that was on your original disk, you have to image and restore that too.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

Macrium didn't backup my active partition data ? How can image the 100 MB active partition if the drive that booted into Windows is now physically removed from the computer and only the new HDD is installed, is there another route I can go to make it the active parition so my image which was retored onto the new HDD will boot into windows ? You would think that Macrium would have the efficiency to include this in the back up image.

 

[SIW2]

There is a function in macrium called boot corrector - pou could give that a go.

You will want to mark your restored windows partition Active first.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

I never came across it on the Macrium Boot CD.

 

[whs]

Maybe SIW2 is right. But I only know the MBR restore function in Macrium.

The easiest would be to get the 100MB partition off your old disk and make a 100MB partition on the new disk to where you restore it.

Another solution would be to recreate it with your installation disk. Run Startup/Repair 3 times. Else you can also try this: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/104341-bootmgr-missing-fix.html. In both those cases make sure the OS partition is marked as active.

I guess Macrium expects you to have some basic knowledge about the functioning of the system. Else you can always use Windows imaging. But that only works on a sunny Monday morning. LOL

 

[JerometheGiraff]

I can't boot into Windows, period. I was hoping I could restore the image on a new HDD and, well, windows would boot up and I could get on with work. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I'm still perusing Macrium for support. It seems that I have to install Windows, then overwrite the installation with the disk image for it to work ?

Have I given to much credit to Macrium Restore ?

 

[whs]

Macrium works fine. I never had any trouble with it. Your problem is that you only did half of the job. If there are 2 systems partitions - one with the bootmgr and one with the OS, what made you think that imaging and restoring only one partition will work. That would only have worked if you first had moved the bootmgr to C.

Installing Win7 anew and then dumping the image of C into the C partition will work. But that is the longest procedure. Why don't you try the other suggestions first. They are a lot faster.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

Install the old physical HDD back into the computer and back up the 100 MB MBR then restore that and then restore the image ? What if I don't have that physical HDD with my old windows ? How can I find where the 100MB boot manager partition was installed if I had access to the old boot Windows HDD ? And could I move the boot manager from whatever partition it is at, to C: without causing any damage then doing a back up ?

Depending on those questions, I may be able to restore the backup without installing Windows or I will have to re-install Windows first then the restored image, hoping that doesn't cause me grief.