Macrium v5 Users Opinions on Macrium v6

[remm]

Was wondering of those who have used Macrium v5 and gone to v6, are they happier or not? I am not sure if I like the idea of a console coming up to restore, vs inserting media, as if the console doesn't come up for some reason...

 

[DavidE]

I tested Macrium V5 for about a year, then tried V6 when it was released.

I wasn't sure if i wanted to switch from Acronis (paid) to Macrium (free).
The new features in Macrium V6 sold me, i switched and no regrets here.

I'm not sure what you mean by "a console coming up to restore".

I can restore from a bootable Macrium Rescue media in V6, or boot the PC with Macrium if the HD hasn't failed, or restore from Macrium running on a different OS on a multi-boot PC.

 

[mjf]

I have V5 on my PC and V6 on the PC I built for my son. Both work fine and I see no shining advantage of version 6 for my purposes. I don't use or plan to use incremental or differential imaging for good reason offered by V6. Also V6 has options like automatically deleting old backups. I'll delete backups when I want to.
If your starting from scratch there are probably more potential advantages in going with the latest V6 - updates etc. I suggest you make the pe 5 (not Macrium V5!) rescue disk/ISO since it has built in USB 3 support.

 

[remm]

I tested Macrium V5 for about a year, then tried V6 when it was released.[...] I'm not sure what you mean by "a console coming up to restore".

I can restore from a bootable Macrium Rescue media in V6, or boot the PC with Macrium if the HD hasn't failed, or restore from Macrium running on a different OS on a multi-boot PC.

Good to know. I have not tried v6 but the blurb on the M website said you don't need recovery media anymore, that there is a recovery console... that's what I was referring to. If media is still an option then that's a plus in my book... multiple options is always better than fewer.

I have V5 on my PC and V6 on the PC I built for my son. Both work fine and I see no shining advantage of version 6 for my purposes. I don't use or plan to use incremental or differential imaging for good reason offered by V6. Also V6 has options like automatically deleting old backups. I'll delete backups when I want to.

And neither would I use any of those options for the same reasons. I don't like programs deciding things for me, and I never make differential or incremental BUs.

Thanks for the input from both of you. I think there is no reason for me to upgrade at this point, even though I'd still be using the free version, from what I understand from another thread in the forums here, the newer images (e.g. made by v6) will not work with old recovery media (e.g. made with v5). I want to be able to use my v5 recovery USB sticks, so I will just stick with 5 for now. (Been using MR for years.)

 

[mjf]

This thread prompted me to put the Macrium V6 pe 5 ISO on my multiboot utility flash drive. It appears to work fine on my Macrium V5 images and the USB 3 drivers are working for me. Faster than the CD!

 

[DavidE]

I tested Macrium V5 for about a year, then tried V6 when it was released.[...] I'm not sure what you mean by "a console coming up to restore".

I can restore from a bootable Macrium Rescue media in V6, or boot the PC with Macrium if the HD hasn't failed, or restore from Macrium running on a different OS on a multi-boot PC.

Good to know. I have not tried v6 but the blurb on the M website said you don't need recovery media anymore, that there is a recovery console... that's what I was referring to. If media is still an option then that's a plus in my book... multiple options is always better than fewer.

I have V5 on my PC and V6 on the PC I built for my son. Both work fine and I see no shining advantage of version 6 for my purposes. I don't use or plan to use incremental or differential imaging for good reason offered by V6. Also V6 has options like automatically deleting old backups. I'll delete backups when I want to.

And neither would I use any of those options for the same reasons. I don't like programs deciding things for me, and I never make differential or incremental BUs.

Thanks for the input from both of you. I think there is no reason for me to upgrade at this point, even though I'd still be using the free version, from what I understand from another thread in the forums here, the newer images (e.g. made by v6) will not work with old recovery media (e.g. made with v5). I want to be able to use my v5 recovery USB sticks, so I will just stick with 5 for now. (Been using MR for years.)

You're right, V6 images can't be restored with V5 rescue media, so a new V6 rescue media is needed when updating to V6.

Can you post a link to the site where you read this info ? :

but the blurb on the M website said you don't need recovery media anymore, that there is a recovery console... that's what I was referring to.

I'm very interested in reading about this, for me reliable backups are #1 priority.

 

[whs]

I looked at the list of additional V6 features. None seemed to be something I would use. So I stay on V5.

 

[SIW2]

Probably means adding to boot menu - or the tools menu on the blue box thing in win10.

You will still need bootable rec media in case you can't get the above boot menu to function.

 

[DavidE]

For me the ability to create and verify a backup image in one process is what i really liked and sold me.
Guess i was spoiled and lazy cause with Aconis i could do this.
With Macrium v5, i had to run two processes, one to create the backup, and another to verify the backup.

With V6 they offer the option to create and verify a backup in one process.

Then i learned i really like the "Add to Boot menu" option in V6.
For me that's much quicker and easier than loading from external rescue media.

And now i'm liking the differentials in V6.
I can create a differential in 1-2 minutes for something i want to "quick test".

 

[whs]

David, your rationale is good. Maybe I change my mind and switch to V6.

 

[mjf]

For me the ability to create and verify a backup image in one process is what i really liked and sold me.

Everybody has preferences that are important to them. Verify only verifies the file bit integrity of the image, not the integrity of the final restore. If you have a drive going bad it may not verify. Given the verify takes about the same time as an image I prefer to carry it out manually and occasionally. I'd prefer to spend the extra time putting an image on a second drive.

I'm still not sold on the integrity of differentials - great maybe when everything is going fine.

 

[DavidE]

@Wolfgang
You know a lot more than me, so you know you would need to test V6 to see if it works better than V5 for you.

A main reason I've read for folks not liking V6 is the "Retention Rules" defaults, to delete old images.

That can be adjusted in the Macrium / Other Tasks / Edit Tasks / Retention Rules
I don't want Macrium or any program to auto delete my backups, and i've tested that Macrium doesn't with my settings.

 

[mjf]

He's already said he doesn't use V6. Just adjust your settings to suit your preferences

 

[DavidE]

For me the ability to create and verify a backup image in one process is what i really liked and sold me.

Everybody has preferences that are important to them. Verify only verifies the file bit integrity of the image, not the integrity of the final restore. If you have a drive going bad it may not verify. Given the verify takes about the same time as an image I prefer to carry it out manually and occasionally. I'd prefer to spend the extra time putting an image on a second drive.

I'm still not sold on the integrity of differentials - great maybe when everything is going fine.

I understand a verify does not guarantee a restore will always work.
I just prefer to always do that added check when i create an image.
For me, verify runs much quicker than creating the image, and i can kick off the process and do something else while a backup/verify is running.

I hear you about differentials.
I played with with incrementals/diffs many years ago with Acronis.
I decided not to use them, i don't trust incrementals.

Since then i've quit using System Restore as it doesn't backup everything, isn't reliable, process always running, etc.
I've read about too many problems from folks that only have System Restore as an option to restore if they have problems, and it doesn't work.

I've been testing V6 Diffs and they work for me so far, but i'm prepared to restore to my last full backup if needed.

 

[whs]

Thanks David for alerting me of the retention rules. For now I will give V6 a try on a little 2GB test partition and see what the options are.

 

[Brds7t7]

I actually switched from Macrium Reflect Pro v5 to Macrium Free v6.
I know it may seem strange switching from a Pro product to free but I've found the free version 6 offers me exactly the same as Pro v5 and more.
I've always used differential images and they're a whole lot easier to setup in v6.
For me there wasn't anything added in v6 Pro that I needed, so wasn't worth me paying for an upgrade this time around. I don't use any of the deploy features, if I'm moving to a new PC, I prefer to do a clean install anyway.
The only thing I don't have now in Free v6 is incremental backups, which I didn't use anyway. No loss there.
I've been really impressed with v6.

 

[ThrashZone]

I like v6 the only thing I don't understand is why it adds (Recovered) to the os listing and b-How to remove it :/

 

[kado897]

I actually switched from Macrium Reflect Pro v5 to Macrium Free v6.
I know it may seem strange switching from a Pro product to free but I've found the free version 6 offers me exactly the same as Pro v5 and more.
I've always used differential images and they're a whole lot easier to setup in v6.
For me there wasn't anything added in v6 Pro that I needed, so wasn't worth me paying for an upgrade this time around. I don't use any of the deploy features, if I'm moving to a new PC, I prefer to do a clean install anyway.
The only thing I don't have now in Free v6 is incremental backups, which I didn't use anyway. No loss there.
I've been really impressed with v6.

The main improvement in the V6 pro for me is fast delta restores. If you are restoring a recent image over an existing install it will only restore the differences resulting in vastly improved restore times. A restore of an 80GB installation to a spinner used to take 30 minutes it now takes 5. This is almost as fast as a system restore so I have now turned system restore off.

 

[Brds7t7]

I like v6 the only thing I don't understand is why it adds (Recovered) to the os listing and b-How to remove it :/

Hey Thrash, that's unusual, the only time I've ever had recovered added to the OS boot listing was after I'd done a repair Install. Not sure why macrium has done that.
I just renamed the recovered entry using EasyBCD.

 

[Brds7t7]

I actually switched from Macrium Reflect Pro v5 to Macrium Free v6.
I know it may seem strange switching from a Pro product to free but I've found the free version 6 offers me exactly the same as Pro v5 and more.
I've always used differential images and they're a whole lot easier to setup in v6.
For me there wasn't anything added in v6 Pro that I needed, so wasn't worth me paying for an upgrade this time around. I don't use any of the deploy features, if I'm moving to a new PC, I prefer to do a clean install anyway.
The only thing I don't have now in Free v6 is incremental backups, which I didn't use anyway. No loss there.
I've been really impressed with v6.

The main improvement in the V6 pro for me is fast delta restores. If you are restoring a recent image over an existing install it will only restore the differences resulting in vastly improved restore times. A restore of an 80GB installation to a spinner used to take 30 minutes it now takes 5. This is almost as fast as a system restore so I have now turned system restore off.

Hi Kado, I did notice the rapid delta restore feature. Definitely seems like a very good feature. I don't restore images all that often though so wasn't a feature I felt I needed. I can definitely see the benefit of it though.
I don't use system restore these days either. If something isn't working right, I just restore from the image instead. Luckily, I haven't had to do it that often.