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

 

[Arijit2010win7]

Question 3:
Once you ready to start imaging, I would backup all three:

System Reserved, contains the master boot record
C Drive- the Operating System
Recovery partition- From Sony

In the case you actually need to do a recovery, boot into Linux disc, located the image you want to replace. If its the OS, do as WHS says, Do NOT MARK AS ACTIVE and DO NOT REPLACE MBR.

But WHS said in his video that If it is OS, Choose Active button and in the post no #69 he don't said anything about it.

I understand the MBR part as it sits in the 100MB partition, but will am I not going to choose Active when I restore C: Drive as the OS is installed ?

If I'm here wrong I want to know why ?

Can WHS,please verify the bold quoted line, Thanks

Thank You

 

[whs]

1. If you have the 100MB partition (which is the active MBR partition), then you do not mark the C partition as active during the recovery

2. If you do not have this 100MB partition and your C is the active partition, then you have to mark it as active during the recovery

PS: Active means the MBR is present - no more, no less.

 

[profdlp]

1. If you have the 100MB partition (which is the active MBR partition), then you do not mark the C partition as active during the recovery

2. If you do not have this 100MB partition and your C is the active partition, then you have to mark it as active during the recovery

PS: Active means the MBR is present - no more, no less.

That's pretty clear.

I learned something new today! (What "Active" actually means.)

 

[eldinv]

Question 3:
Once you ready to start imaging, I would backup all three:

System Reserved, contains the master boot record
C Drive- the Operating System
Recovery partition- From Sony

In the case you actually need to do a recovery, boot into Linux disc, located the image you want to replace. If its the OS, do as WHS says, Do NOT MARK AS ACTIVE and DO NOT REPLACE MBR.

But WHS said in his video that If it is OS, Choose Active button and in the post no #69 he don't said anything about it.

I understand the MBR part as it sits in the 100MB partition, but will am I not going to choose Active when I restore C: Drive as the OS is installed ?

If I'm here wrong I want to know why ?

Can WHS,please verify the bold quoted line, Thanks

Thank You

Sorry if I confused you. The system reserved "thing" confused me at first also.

It should look something like this except you should have another partition for recovery or if you created a DATA partition.

 

[SIW2]

If you have the 100mb System Reserved partition - that will be the Active partition.

Therefore do not mark your main o/s drive ( C ) Active when you restore it.

Question 3:
Once you ready to start imaging, I would backup all three:

System Reserved, contains the master boot record
C Drive- the Operating System
Recovery partition- From Sony

In the case you actually need to do a recovery, boot into Linux disc, located the image you want to replace. If its the OS, do as WHS says, Do NOT MARK AS ACTIVE and DO NOT REPLACE MBR.

But WHS said in his video that If it is OS, Choose Active button and in the post no #69 he don't said anything about it.

I understand the MBR part as it sits in the 100MB partition, but will am I not going to choose Active when I restore C: Drive as the OS is installed ?

If I'm here wrong I want to know why ?

Can WHS,please verify the bold quoted line, Thanks

Thank You

 

[CarlTR6]

1. If you have the 100MB partition (which is the active MBR partition), then you do not mark the C partition as active during the recovery

2. If you do not have this 100MB partition and your C is the active partition, then you have to mark it as active during the recovery

PS: Active means the MBR is present - no more, no less.

That's pretty clear.

I learned something new today! (What "Active" actually means.)

+1 So did I.

 

[Arijit2010win7]

Thanks whs, now there is no confusion...anymore. me too today learned what is the Active partition means.

Anyhow the que is different though,

How You got "All >>" toolbar in your Windows Task bar ? As you bring the program Macrium at (0.59sec) from there ?

Will you share the secret, How I can assign "All>>" toolbar in my Windows too ? I see it is very convenient to bring program rather from start menu.

 

[whs]

Thanks whs, now there is no confusion...anymore. me too today learned what is the Active partition means.

Anyhow the que is different though,

How You got "All >>" toolbar in your Windows Task bar ? As you bring the program Macrium at (0.59sec) from there ?

Will you share the secret, How I can assign "All>>" toolbar in my Windows too ? I see it is very convenient to bring program rather from start menu.

The toolbar setup is very simple. Make a folder on the desktop that you call "All". In there make subfolders with subjects (names) that you care to split up that folder - e.g. Documents, Websites, Tools, Programs, etc. Now make shortcuts on the desktop of all the Docs, Websites, Tools, Programs, etc. that you care to access via the toolbar and move those shortcuts into the appropriate folders.
Next you right click on the taskbar > Toolbars > New Toolbar. Here you select the "All" folder on your desktop and the All toolbar should appear in the taskbar. Now you only have to click on the chevrons and hover over the subfolder you wish and your shortuts will show up where you can select (click) them..
The "All" folder has to stay on the desktop as repository. You could have defined it in another place (e.g. Documents) if you do not want it to show on the desktop all the time, but I think it is handy to keep it on the desktop for easy later additions of shortcuts or additional folders.

 

[Arijit2010win7]

The toolbar setup is very simple. Make a folder on the desktop that you call "All". In there make subfolders with subjects (names) that you care to split up that folder - e.g. Documents, Websites, Tools, Programs, etc. Now make shortcuts on the desktop of all the Docs, Websites, Tools, Programs, etc. that you care to access via the toolbar and move those shortcuts into the appropriate folders.
Next you right click on the taskbar > Toolbars > New Toolbar. Here you select the "All" folder on your desktop and the All toolbar should appear in the taskbar. Now you only have to click on the chevrons and hover over the subfolder you wish and your shortuts will show up where you can select (click) them..
The "All" folder has to stay on the desktop as repository. You could have defined it in another place (e.g. Documents) if you do not want it to show on the desktop all the time, but I think it is handy to keep it on the desktop for easy later additions of shortcuts or additional folders.

Thank you very much for this step - by -step.
Now it is lot easier to navigate the Personal/often use program/doc.
Thanks a lot.

 

[Arijit2010win7]

Here is the image of my recent backup....previous one is a bigger and latest one is smaller...though I've clear some files as well as move My Documents & Picture Folder to the separate partition as well as move the Downloads to the another partition.(Thanks to the Data Partition Tutorial)
Then installed some Windows update as well as GFX card update, then took backup of 100MB System + C: Drive.

a. Now my question is both backup took 38GB of total,Can I Delete the 1st one to save some space ?

b.If I create a restore CD in Desktop will it work with my Laptop or the Restore CD is machine locked ?

c. Rescue CD Dialog box said "Your Rescue CD Must be v2.0 Higher" <----What is this mean ?

BTW:-This is my Desktop not the VIAO, for testing purpose,If it is alright I'll install it in the Laptop.

 

[profdlp]

a. Now my question is both backup took 38GB of total,Can I Delete the 1st one to save some space ?

I usually save my last two backups, just in case. If the system has been giving me any problems I'll save a few more.

b.If I create a restore CD in Desktop will it work with my Laptop or the Restore CD is machine locked ?

It should work with any machine.

 

[whs]

Here is the image of my recent backup....previous one is a bigger and latest one is smaller...though I've clear some files as well as move My Documents & Picture Folder to the separate partition as well as move the Downloads to the another partition.(Thanks to the Data Partition Tutorial)
Then installed some Windows update as well as GFX card update, then took backup of 100MB System + C: Drive.

a. Now my question is both backup took 38GB of total,Can I Delete the 1st one to save some space ?

b.If I create a restore CD in Desktop will it work with my Laptop or the Restore CD is machine locked ?

c. Rescue CD Dialog box said "Your Rescue CD Must be v2.0 Higher" <----What is this mean ?

BTW:-This is my Desktop not the VIAO, for testing purpose,If it is alright I'll install it in the Laptop.

a) yes, you only keep those that you care to keep. Since these are full backups and not incrementals, they are completely independent from each other - that's the beauty of full backups.

b) yes it should

c) I remember that they changed the rescue CDs at a certain point in time. You should have one that was burnt from the version that you are using for backup. Not all versions are incompatible, but some are

 

[meltie]

Guys,
Can we please go back to the 100MB partition (which is the active MBR partition) for a moment. I'm totally confused now. What is the 100MB partition??

I have my "C" drive which holds the OS, a "D" drive which has factory backup, and a "K" drive which holds my data. Sooo, if I have to restore, I was going to make "C" as "active" and "K" as "primary" (leaving "D" alone). Is this correct?

I also imaged both C & K together on one of the back-up images. If I use that image to restore, do I designate it as "active" or "primary"?

Thanks

Meltie

 

[whs]

Your active partition must be the 100MB partition because that's where the MBR is (Active means nothing else than Boot partition with the MBR). You cannot make C the active partition because then the BIOS will not find the MBR and you will be unable to boot. You could move the MBR to C by running the repair disk 3 times (see the many posts on this subject by Gregrocker). But I would not do that. The MBR is safer on the 100MB partition. So your C and K are just Primaries - and do not restore the MBR.

 

[meltie]

Thanks W. Here's what's confusing me. My MBR is on the "C" drive. It's a tiny file 160K+. It is not on a separate partition. Maybe Vista does it differently??

Sooo, do I still follow your latest instruction given the above?

Sorry, don't mean to be dense. I'm one of those "easy to confuse" people LOL

Thanks

M

P.S. Totally changing subjects. When I image, I disable my protection program. I do this as I discovered Norton and Vista did not play well during "restore". Not sure this would be the case with Macrium, but thought I'd mention it in case anyone else has Norton.

 

[whs]

It's a tiny file 160K+. It is not on a separate partition.

Are you sure it is not a partition without a drive letter? Does it show up in Disk Management?

I do this as I discovered Norton and Vista did not play well during "restore".

That is correct for system restore in Vista. I have seen the same problem since I use predominantly NIS. But Macrium is completely "immune" to this phenomenon because during the restore you run under the control of the Linux restore program which has no idea of what is inside the restore file.

 

[Hopalong X]

P.S. Totally changing subjects. When I image, I disable my protection program. I do this as I discovered Norton and Vista did not play well during "restore". Not sure this would be the case with Macrium, but thought I'd mention it in case anyone else has Norton.

Not to butt in. My XP restore isn't working and I'm using Nortons.
I shall see if that is the problem.
Mike

 

[meltie]

doesn't appear to be a partition without a drive letter.

I went into Disk Mgmt and this is what it shown there:

Factory_Image (D) Simple Basic NTFS Healthy (Primary Partition)
HP (C) Simple Basic NTFS Healthy (System, Boot, Page File, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
New Volume (K) Simple Basic NTFS Health (Primary Partition)

Did a couple of other things and below are the only references that came up:

MBR.DLL SMINST (C:\Windows) Application Extension
MBR SMINST (C:\Windows) Configuration Settings

Any place else I should look?

Thanks

M

 

[whs]

P.S. Totally changing subjects. When I image, I disable my protection program. I do this as I discovered Norton and Vista did not play well during "restore". Not sure this would be the case with Macrium, but thought I'd mention it in case anyone else has Norton.

Not to butt in. My XP restore isn't working and I'm using Nortons.
I shall see if that is the problem.
Mike

Norton is definitely not the problem. I would look some place else for the mistake.

 

[whs]

doesn't appear to be a partition without a drive letter.

I went into Disk Mgmt and this is what it shown there:

Factory_Image (D) Simple Basic NTFS Healthy (Primary Partition)
HP (C) Simple Basic NTFS Healthy (System, Boot, Page File, Active, Crash Dump, Primary Partition)
New Volume (K) Simple Basic NTFS Health (Primary Partition)

Did a couple of other things and below are the only references that came up:

MBR.DLL SMINST (C:\Windows) Application Extension
MBR SMINST (C:\Windows) Configuration Settings

Any place else I should look?

Thanks

M

Now you got me. I am completely lost with this 160KB thing. But it cannot have the MBR because a) it is not a partition and b) your C is the active partition and has the MBR.