Solved Image your system with free Macrium

[whs]

In the window above it is more practical if you give that XML your own name (in lieu of 'My Backup'). Then you can distinguish the different XMLs in case you make images of different partitions or if you image to different output devices.

 

[Diddlededum]

Many thanks for that - much clearer now.

Since my computer isn't showing a 100MB partition on the disk that has the operating system, can I assume that the MBR is part of the C-drive and so will have been backup up and will be restored if I ever have to do a restoration?

One other thought, given how painless this has been: can I install Macrium on a laptop to back that up and use the same win PE rescue disk that I created for my desktop, rather than bother burning a second CD-ROM? I guess the answer's yes, though it would be helpful to have confirmation that I've understood correctly. On the laptop I think I have a C drive and a MBR partition so I'd have to image both of those.

 

[kado897]

If your C drive is marked as active then it is the boot partition, also if you took the option to image partitions needed to backup Windows then Macrium will have determined that for you. You can install Macrium on a laptop and use the same rescue disk. I believe that the disk whs pointed at is 64bit so it must be a 64bit capable PC. If you have the 100mb partition you need to image that too. You can either do that along with the C drive or separately.

 

[whs]

The only way to determine whether you do or don't have the 100MB partition is in Disk Management. In 'Computer' it will not show up because it usually does not have a drive letter.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Agreed

In the window above it is more practical if you give that XML your own name (in lieu of 'My Backup'). Then you can distinguish the different XMLs in case you make images of different partitions or if you image to different output devices.

Agreed.

I don't actually use that option, as I create a backup folder each month and inside that I create folders for the partitions I'm backing up.

​

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

For me, the XML files are only useful for making incremental and differential backups.

I do something similar with my images. I put them in dated folders named for the HDD the image is stored on. I do also name the XML files the same as the folders, even though I don't really need them anymore.

What's curious is I got the Pro version of Macrium Reflect so I could make incremental and differential backups on my notebook to save time when making backups (incrementals and differentials take less time than full backups) but now that I won't be needing them anymore (I'm finally getting around to splitting my data off the C:/ drive). I'm still glad I got the Pro version because it can restore and image to a drive in a different system than the original one the image was taken from.

 

[whs]

I create a backup folder each month and inside that I create folders for the partitions I'm backing up.

Hmm, that is certainly an option but more work. Since the images are dated, this is not really necessary.

I make seperate XMLs for the 2 partitions I image (C and Data partition) and then for the 3 disks where I store the images, Internal HDD, external permanently connected disk and external disk that is only connected when in use).

 

[lehnerus2000]

Agreed

I create a backup folder each month and inside that I create folders for the partitions I'm backing up.

Hmm, that is certainly an option but more work. Since the images are dated, this is not really necessary.

It does take a little more work.

I have all of my Folder Templates set to "Sort by > Name".
Macrium generates a random string (hash number?) as the name of the image by default.
This means that the latest image isn't necessarily at the top or bottom of the list.

I got stung by that last week, as I had two OS images in the same folder.

I had created backup images before attempting to install:

• IE10 for the 2nd time
• The May "Patch Tuesday" updates.

I deleted what I thought was the earlier image (IE10).

A few days later I decided to reimage my PC, as it was acting a little "flaky".
The System process (interrupts) CPU usage would surge whenever I tried to open Notepad++, causing a delay of at least 5 seconds.
It would randomly surge when I tried to change to another tab.

I discovered that I had accidentally deleted the second image o) so I had to:

• Reinstall all of my program updates again
• Create a new image
• Install the "Patch Tuesday" updates again.

At least everything is running smoothly now.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I create a backup folder each month and inside that I create folders for the partitions I'm backing up.

Hmm, that is certainly an option but more work. Since the images are dated, this is not really necessary.

I make seperate XMLs for the 2 partitions I image (C and Data partition) and then for the 3 disks where I store the images, Internal HDD, external permanently connected disk and external disk that is only connected when in use).

The images are dated? Where? I certainly do not see it in the file name.

When I make an image (I only image my OS now, I back up the data drives by cloning for now), I first highlight the folder name of the previous backup that Reflect defaults to, except for the month and day) and copy it. I then click on the box with the ellipse inside that's to the right of the previous backup folder name, select the drive or folder the new folder is to go into, and click on New Folder. I rename the new folder by pasting in the name I had put on the clipboard earlier and add the current date to the end. I put a copy of the full folder name on the clipboard. When I get to the prompt about the XML file, I paste the new folder name on top of the original name: Backup. It took me way longer to write how I do this than it does to actually do it.

By keeping the images in dated folders, I can home in on the image or XML file I want in a heartbeat. When a disk gets too full, I delete one or two of the oldest folders and XML files (except the initial image). Having them dated and cross-referenced makes them easy to find. I'm considering doing away with the XML files, though, since I don't use them anymore since I don't make incremental/differential files anymore.

 

[whs]

I don't know what you guys are doing. But your problems can be remedied easily - see picture.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I don't know what you guys are doing. But your problems can be remedied easily - see picture.

I never thought about using Details instead of List inside a folder (I usually use List to reduce the amount of screen real estate used). Good point! However, that doesn't take care of the problem of associating images with XML files when making a differential/incremental image or when cleaning out older images with their associated XML files, especially since I have so many redundancies; I keep boot images on three "external" HDDs and a folder on my main data drive in my desktop (yes, I'm anal; I'm also a coward). The XML files get all lumped together and, since I make three images whenever I run a back up of my boot drive, the three XML files would have the same date and I wouldn't be able to sort them out unless I put them in their own folders. Since one of the "external" HDDs is kept offsite and gets rotated out with one of the other two at least once a month, I never have exactly the same files on all HDDs.

However, since I no longer need to use XML files (I only used them for making differential/incremental images and I no longer make those), I will have to take a hard look at not making them anymore and just using the Details function to ID which image I want to use. The only possible problem I can think of would be when using a recovery CD/USB to recover the image; I don't remember if I could read folder details when using the Rescue Disk since I haven't used it much (I have a good memory; it's just...ah...short).

 

[kado897]

Macrium will normally present you with the last image made when you go to restore, but there is a facility to browse to the desired image.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Macrium will normally present you with the last image made when you go to restore, but there is a facility to browse to the desired image.

Ok, maybe I'm being denser than usual but are you able to see a details view that shows the creation date within a folder, partition, or disk when using the rescue disk?

 

[kado897]

If I remember correctly, yes.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

If I remember correctly, yes.

Thanks! I'd rep you but the forum won't let me (mutter, mutter, mumble, mumble).

 

[kado897]

You could of course boot from the recovery disk and check that. In fact you should do that anyway to make sure the disk works correctly.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

You could of course boot from the recovery disk and check that. In fact you should do that anyway to make sure the disk works correctly.

True that but I'm too lazy at the moment since it takes so long to do a reboot (the LSI HBA card has its own BIOS that takes longer to boot than the MOBO's UEFI plus I have to wait a few seconds for the Marvel chip to boot its own little BIOS; I infrequently reboot so I normally don't worry about it).

I've already tested the disk and have used it a couple of times since to restore my boot drive so I have a sneaking suspicion it just might work (I wasn't kidding about the short memory). Good tip, though!

 

[lehnerus2000]

Pebkac

Certainly the problem I mentioned was the result of PEBKAC.

I don't know what you guys are doing. But your problems can be remedied easily - see picture.

I am aware that you can "Sort by > Date Modified".

I have my Documents Template set to Details view with:

• Name
• Size
• Date Modified
• Attributes
• Type

I have all of my Folder Templates set to "Sort by > Name".
Normally I don't care when a file was created/modified.

 

[EchoX860]

So I have 2 created files. An .iso image, and a Disk Partition Image. How do I use these to get back to my original state, with all updates succesfully installed?

 

[whs]

So I have 2 created files. An .iso image, and a Disk Partition Image. How do I use these to get back to my original state, with all updates succesfully installed?

Are you talking about the .iso image of the recovery disc ??