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

 

[salluhassan]

yeah i will definetly need your help if i intended to restore that images which i stored in my external hard disk . because i donot so sure about it , that is it possible to go back to as same as it was before when factory installed . currently i donot wanna go back bcoz i have fully activated again windows 7 home prem by a clean reinstall of OS . but in case for the sake of information i would like to know how to go back to previous situation when my notebook was factory installed with a system reserved partiton, C: system drive, HP_recovery(D and a HP_tools(E . and i already backup system reserved partition and Hp_recovery partiton with macrium , but not C: system partiton and not hp_tools partiton .. but with acronis true image , i already got images of these three drive, system reserved partition, hp_recovery and hp_tools.

Basically, you need an external HDD of sufficient size to store an image of your OS partition. You really need at least a 500GB external HDD.
If you do an image restore of your Recovery, system reserved and Tools partition you should be able to put your PC back in the state it was when you bought it.

This Forum unlike many others has a very extensive Tutorial section. I suggest you do some reading. If you need help in accessing the tutorials then get back to us and we will guide you.

yeah definetly i need a perfect suitable threads related to restore images of hp_recovery and hp_tools and system reserved partiton . i have it stored now in one of my usb external hard drive . both images created by macrium and acronis true image .i did that twice times back up bcoz of safety purpose .

 

[whs]

I think you are making an overkill:

1. Why do you need a recovery partition if you have an image of C:
2. The tools partition is pretty useless
3. If you move the bootmgr to C, then there is no need to image the system partition

Result: You only need to image/restore the C partition (and a possible Data Prtition - if any). At least that is the way I do it.

 

[Jim1cor13]

I assume even though I have 32 bit, so far there have been no issues using your 64 bit rescue disk. Should I be careful about using it on a 32 bit system?

Your assumption is correct. All the 64bit means is that the mini-OS that drives the Macrium on the WinPE is a 64bit version. As long as your PC is 64bit capable (which practically all PC's are nowadays), then it will run.

And regarding the Macrium version question, there is nothing to worry about. I have imaged and recovered with all kinds of mixed Macrium versions and never had a problem. They seem to be all upward/downward compatible.

Thank you WHS very much. As far as I can tell, my specs all say x86, nothing regarding x64 capable, but your ISO works excellent for me. My laptop is a Dell Inspiron E1705 from 2007 that I upgraded to Win7 pro 32 bit from Vista that was originally on it. I formatted at the time and did a clean install of Win7 pro 32. Am I missing something? I apologize for my lack of understanding. I have worked on PC's for 16 years, but never much with x64 systems. All I know is that your ISO does the job with no complaints But I assume from your statement about having a x64 capable system, that although it is x86, something is supporting it running so well with 32 bit system. Thank you again for your help and efforts!

 

[whs]

I am pretty sure your CPU is x64 capable. What is the make and model ?? I'll see whether I can find the specs.

 

[Jim1cor13]

I am pretty sure your CPU is x64 capable. What is the make and model ?? I'll see whether I can find the specs.

Hi whs Indeed you are correct. I honestly had no idea, but following the Performance Info and viewing the details in Win 7, here is what it stated about the "System":

System

Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Model MP061
Total amount of system memory 2.00 GB RAM
System type 32-bit operating system
Number of processor cores 2
64-bit capable Yes

So I am assuming this is the reason your boot ISO works so well? I had no idea until I looked into what MS states of how to see if your system is x64 capable. I think I just found out

Thanks again whs for everything and for your kind guidance in this matter. I appreciate it very much Have a good day sir.

Jim

 

[whs]

You are very welcom. Take care.

 

[mjf]

1. Why do you need a recovery partition if you have an image of C:

Because you can recreate the system as it was out of the box even to a new HDD.
Sometimes you may need to do a factory restore. Even if you do a clean install you may want to sell the PC as bought. I think it is more reliable than a set of DVD recovery discs.
Also, the image is relatively small.

But each to their own.

 

[whs]

Michael, I hear what you say. I always make a first image after the initial install. But I guess if you want to sell the box, you can install from here: Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River « My Digital Life

 

[salluhassan]

I think you are making an overkill:

1. Why do you need a recovery partition if you have an image of C:
2. The tools partition is pretty useless
3. If you move the bootmgr to C, then there is no need to image the system partition

Result: You only need to image/restore the C partition (and a possible Data Prtition - if any). At least that is the way I do it.

i didnot say that i have the image of C: . i will not make image of C: bcoz its probably reach out to 250 GB for me if i try to make whole disk image of all partitions . but i only created image of system reserved partiton(which is of 300MB when u saw it in disk management and also hidden) and hp_recovery with macrium .

1. Why do you need a recovery partition if you have an image of C:

Because you can recreate the system as it was out of the box even to a new HDD.
Sometimes you may need to do a factory restore. Even if you do a clean install you may want to sell the PC as bought. I think it is more reliable than a set of DVD recovery discs.
Also, the image is relatively small.

But each to their own.

yeah exactly my point , when we try the unit , the recipient sometimes demands that he want full factory installed as same partitons because he then will be able to recovery whole pc by just pressing the f11 and then there will be no need to install hp drivers and any tools .

Michael, I hear what you say. I always make a first image after the initial install. But I guess if you want to sell the box, you can install from here: Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River « My Digital Life

but if we recover like a whole clean reinstall of OS then we must need some drivers of hp and then we need to wait for windows updates and all that internet communication needed to do all this . but by simply recovering the pc by pressing f11 One does not have to worry about stay in touch with internet . may be quick solution .

 

[salluhassan]

but where are the related threads to whom i was expecting some help to restore images so as to achieve the look of just like factory installed partitions .??

 

[Britton30]

As WHS said, you are in overkill. If you image the recovery partition you also will have all the factory bloatware, trial software, and general crap, like the HP tools which do what w7 already has tools for.

The simple answer is image the entire drive, it will be highly compressed and may not be more than 100GB. I have an OS image which is 9.34GB, and the OS is a bit over 20GB.

To find info on this forum, click on Search at the top and type in your query in the Standard Search (Google) field.

 

[mjf]

but where are the related threads to whom i was expecting some help to restore images so as to achieve the look of just like factory installed partitions .??

Find the Macrium tutorial by WHS. The MBR stores the partition structure so when you restore a recovery partition you just select the partition it belongs in (generally up the front).
If you can find the money then a little 500GB external HDD would be a good investment. I still think imaging recovery etc is a good idea but you would image your OS partition on a more regular basis.

Once you have recovery images you may want to convert your OS partition to logical and create 2 logical partitions - one OS and one data so that your OS image will always be quite small. This is something to think about down the track.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

I'm going to be using the Free Edition on a Laptop, I'll update the thread since it's geared for the free version.

 

[salluhassan]

As WHS said, you are in overkill. If you image the recovery partition you also will have all the factory bloatware, trial software, and general crap, like the HP tools which do what w7 already has tools for.

The simple answer is image the entire drive, it will be highly compressed and may not be more than 100GB. I have an OS image which is 9.34GB, and the OS is a bit over 20GB.

To find info on this forum, click on Search at the top and type in your query in the Standard Search (Google) field.

i know , thats why i tried to clean reinstall OS . but in case if we sell the unit to someONe who is not an IT related person, just he use to recover laptop by pressing f11 and no need for updated drivers , then this scenario will prompt me to do this action . thats it . and hey i didn't know about less image back up size, how can we make image backup of OS up to 9.34 GB or even up to 20 GB or 30GB . because i donot wanna retain myself to keep highly big image size of these OS .

but where are the related threads to whom i was expecting some help to restore images so as to achieve the look of just like factory installed partitions .??

Find the Macrium tutorial by WHS. The MBR stores the partition structure so when you restore a recovery partition you just select the partition it belongs in (generally up the front).
If you can find the money then a little 500GB external HDD would be a good investment. I still think imaging recovery etc is a good idea but you would image your OS partition on a more regular basis.

Once you have recovery images you may want to convert your OS partition to logical and create 2 logical partitions - one OS and one data so that your OS image will always be quite small. This is something to think about down the track.

well i am not so prone to start regular basis scheduled back ups of OS , not very much case sensitive .besides i have not so much important data to worry about .and thanks , i will find the threads related to user whs . and if i need help regarding concepts of master boot record MBR related to partition and back up images then i will let you know .

 

[OvenMaster]

I've used Macrium Reflect Free repeatedly when I totally bork my Win7 partition on my dual-boot C: drive and it's a lifesaver.

I did have a question about how many images the Free version can save on another drive or partition. I recently had to use the latest (Dec 20 2012) image I had to restore my hard drive, and everything went well. This evening, I ran the program and saved today's drive image on another internal hard drive as I always do. When I was done, I looked in the folder and that one freshly created image was the only one there. My older three images including the Dec. 20 2012 one were gone. Vanished.

I ran Recuva with Deep Scan on that drive and came up empty. No older images at all. Very strange, so I'm wondering where the setting is in the Free version to keep images longer than 14 days, or to enable me to save more than three images. I could have sworn that at one time I had five, but maybe the latest Macrium update changed the number.

 

[Dave76]

I've had several images (more than 10) stored on separate HDDs and never lost one.

As far as I know there is no limit on the number of images you can create and store. The previous images must have been removed by something else.

 

[OvenMaster]

Well, since I had troubles saving opened spreadsheet files stored on that same hard drive, methinks the drive is starting to crap out. I guess I'd better save what I can and go drive shopping. <sighs>

 

[Dave76]

Run these tests on your hard drive.

For Seagate:
Download and run Seatools on your HDD.
How to use SeaTools for Windows
Short Drive Self Test and if it passes then the Long Drive Self Test.

For WD:
Run the WD Lifeguard test on your HDD(s). Quick Test first, if it passes then run the Extended Test.
Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows

 

[kado897]

I'm pretty sure that the free version has no limit. The paid versions have a space management feature which allows you to specify how many images to keep in a particular folder or the length of time to keep an image but this can be turned off.

 

[whs]

I've used Macrium Reflect Free repeatedly when I totally bork my Win7 partition on my dual-boot C: drive and it's a lifesaver.

I did have a question about how many images the Free version can save on another drive or partition. I recently had to use the latest (Dec 20 2012) image I had to restore my hard drive, and everything went well. This evening, I ran the program and saved today's drive image on another internal hard drive as I always do. When I was done, I looked in the folder and that one freshly created image was the only one there. My older three images including the Dec. 20 2012 one were gone. Vanished.

I ran Recuva with Deep Scan on that drive and came up empty. No older images at all. Very strange, so I'm wondering where the setting is in the Free version to keep images longer than 14 days, or to enable me to save more than three images. I could have sworn that at one time I had five, but maybe the latest Macrium update changed the number.

There is no such a Macrium restriction. I keep up to 20 images with no problems. I think your drive goes south.