Solved Image your system with free Macrium

[whs]

Michael, don't go there. In Fat32, the image is all fragmented into a lot of files. It's a zoo.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Linux Recovery Disc

I booted into WinPE Rescue CD and did some magic.
I created a backup of my broken system (including my user files)
and then restored from the previous backup,
and then running under restored Windows I mounted the latest backup and copied the latest version of my user files.

I doubt that a Linux Restore CD would have a similar backup capability

The Linux Recovery Disc is only for restoring images (not creating them).

 

[PCG]

Power Save Mode Problem: SOLVED!

I want to thank those of you who provided me with possible solutions and input regarding my recent "Power Save Mode" activation problem. Since I'm not too computer savvy, this has been a huge learning experience for me.

Those of you familiar with my problem know that every time I booted up using my Macrium CD or USB Rescue Disks my computer would automatically go in to 'Power Save Mode' necessitating a reboot before Macrium had enough time to complete an operating system restore.

After numereous tests, I determined that the problem was occuring very randomly anywhere from 1 1/2 to 15 1/2 minutes. My first (and only) OS restore last week took 11min, 59seconds, so this was not good news for me.

Finally, after several days of research, yesterday I found an individual on one of the Dell forums that had experienced the same exact problem back in September 2012. I posted on his thread, (which did not include his final solution), in hopes that he would come back with an answer. In the meantime, I also touched base with one of the Dell employees who had responsded to the OP. Eventually he suggested that my video card might be faulty.

To my surprise, the OP also responded to my post and indicated that in fact, a new video card turned out to be the solution. At that point, I read a few more posts and noted one that outlined removing and cleaning the video card as a possible solution.

I decided to buy a new one instead, so I headed to the local Micro Center store and picked up a Gigabyte nVidia GeForce GT630. I returned home and during the install noticed that the GT630 was much wider than my old GeForce GTS240, and in order to use it, I had to remove my (newly installed) PCIe USB3 card.

I went ahead with the install to find out if the new card would impact my power save mode problem, and it did. I completed 3 consecutive 20minute tests without a single power save mode activation.

Since I had the old card out of the machine, I decided to tear it down a clean it. I was surprised at how dirty it was. I put it back together, re-installed it in to my computer and ran a series of new tests.

Unbelievbly THAT was actually the problem all along: A dirty video card! For now it's working fine and I'll continue to monitor it.

The GT630 will be returned, and I suppose I'll have to start providing my computer with the same amount of TLC that I give to my motorcyles.

Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[0pTicaL]

Interesting, glad you finally found the solution.

 

[kado897]

Good to know your problem is sorted. thanks for letting us know.

 

[Britton30]

PCG, that was very interesting to find out, thanks!

 

[whs]

Very interesting indeed. Who would have thunk that the video card is the culprit.

 

[PCG]

Couldn't agree more! I'm glad it's over. Now I can look forward to refining my imaging and backup plan.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've been having a strange intermittent problem with my installation of Macrium Reflect Pro on my notebook. I'll spare you the boring details of the diagnostics I've done but I think I've narrowed it down to the USB 2.0 cable on the HDD dock I use for making my backups. I'm using a different cable now and if the problem doesn't crop up again, that will be it.

 

[whs]

I would test it by imaging to a USB stick - maybe a partition that does not have too much data so that the image fits even on an 8GB stick. But if you have a 16GB or 32GB stick, you can probably image C.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I would test it by imaging to a USB stick - maybe a partition that does not have too much data so that the image fits even on an 8GB stick. But if you have a 16GB or 32GB stick, you can probably image C.

I had to chuckle (ok, I was rolling on the floor) when you suggested i might be able to put my C: on a 32GB stick (it only has 272GB on it; the images are 180GB).

The problem was, when it acted up, the transfer speed would gradually drop slower than a crippled snail on sleeping pills. Often, the backup would self-abort. I found switching switching to another dock and cable seemed to fix the problem. I then put the first dock back on without swapping out the cable (I have two identical docks). It continued to behave. It didn't start acting up again until after I had put the original cable back on the first dock (it's a stinker trying to diagnose intermittent problems). It will be easier for me to continue to do my backups with the cable I stole from an external optical drive I'm not using right now (I'm a horrible pack rat) and see if the problem crops up again. I verify all my images so I'm not worried about how they are coming out.

 

[whs]

Holy cow, 272GB of stuff on C. I never keep my data on C and always have less than 30GB on C. At least when my system goes down, my data does not go with it.

Even when you image frequently, there may be data lost - the new data from the last image to the incident. My data is too precious to keep it next to a fragile OS.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Keep in mind this is a notebook that is running the stock setup; I haven't bothered to make any significant changes to it since I got it and won't until I get another machine up and running (then I'll reinstall the OS with a shrunken C: partition and a large data partition). I'm not worried about losing data since I don't keep anything critical on it (most of it is my music and books which also exist in multiple places); it's the machine I got to use when I travel. Everything on it worth having has already been backed up multiple times. If I do put something that would be problematic to lose and I don't have an original elsewhere (such as a ripped CD or photos copied from a camera card), I immediately do a backup, even if it's only a copy of the file on a USB stick or an SD card. When I'm on the road, I copy pictures to the computer and to a 32GB SD card (kept in my purse, not with the camera) before I erase the camera card. The last trip I took, I took a USB dock and one of my 500GB backup drives with me and also ran a couple of differential backups while I was gone (right after copying photos to the notebook and the SD card). So, even if the OS takes a dump (I can count the number of times that has happened during my life on one hand), my data is safe. When I take images of the drive, I do the entire drive (for now) so recovery is easier, albeit more time consuming).

The desktop I have right now, which I'm not using right now because it's running XP and I've been spoiled by Win 7, has a Carbonite account on it (I'll either transfer that account to the new machine I'm building when it's operational or open a new one and shut down the old one) so that takes care of the worry of data being added between local backups (I'm still religious about doing local backups, though).

 

[mjf]

Holy cow, 272GB of stuff on C. I never keep my data on C and always have less than 30GB on C.

I'm a bit more adventurous. I'll go to 50GB but not much more even with USB3. With USB2 any more just takes far too long IMO.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Agreed

Holy cow, 272GB of stuff on C. I never keep my data on C and always have less than 30GB on C. At least when my system goes down, my data does not go with it.

Even when you image frequently, there may be data lost - the new data from the last image to the incident. My data is too precious to keep it next to a fragile OS.

Agreed.
I keep my Documents, Music, Pictures & Videos on their own (separate) partitions.

My W7 partition is ~22GB (OS and Programs).

IMO, multiple smaller partitions allow you to do faster backups of your important stuff (not to mention faster AV scans).
If the images are smaller, you can also keep more backup copies.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I have a paid version of MR that let's me do differential and incremental backups so the time required for backups isn't a problem. When I do a full backup, I just start it up at a time when I'm not using the computer, such as when I'm watching TV, getting showered, made-up, and dressed in the morning, etc. and just glance at the computer once in a while to make sure something wonky isn't going on. Between full backups, I have been doing differential backups (which take way less time than a full backup).

I agree it's not a good idea to have all my data on the C: drive but this was my first Win 7 machine and I was reluctant to mess with it until I became more familiar with it (and I've learned one "heckuva" lot since then). Once I get my second Win 7 machine built and running, I'll clean up and redo this one (my XP machine has the data off the C: drive). As I already said, I'm backup OCD so I'm not worried about my data going south.

Curious the direction this thread has gone. I mentioned the elusive problem I was having with MR to corroborate how an obscure hardware issue can cause MR to go wonky and now we are discussing the evils of data on the C: drive.

 

[whs]

let's me do differential and incremental backups

Differentials are better than incrementals.

 

[kado897]

Curious the direction this thread has gone. I mentioned the elusive problem I was having with MR to corroborate how an obscure hardware issue can cause MR to go wonky and now we are discussing the evils of data on the C: drive.

Although this thread is about Macrium it is useful to cover other areas that make imaging easier. Data doesn't really need imaging but an OS and programs do so it makes sense to separate them as much as possible.

 

[alan10]

I decided to avoid squandering 960 GByte of HDD on a single system partition.
The MAJOR reason was that for 30 years of my life I have experienced BlueScreens several times a week,
and although things are better now,
even once a year is far to often to have windows boot up and recommend/insist that I have to run CHKDSK,
and I could not bear the thought of having to run CHKDSK on a full sized 960 GB partition

So I gave Windows a 25 GB partition,
and Portable Applications a 4 GB partition,
and my non-portable applications and User data a 10 GB partition.

After 2 or 3 years I still have not found anything else to use the remaining 920 GB

 

[PCG]

Speaking of separating everything (OS/Apps and data), I'm curious to find out how whs and lehnerus2000 maintain their systems below 30GB (22GB in lehner's case).

I've been able to streamline my OS drive down to a current size of 33.25 GB. Are the two of you installing some programs on another drive or partition? Is that possible? Are there any general guidelines to follow if doing this?

I attached a snip of some (not all) programs that are currently installed on my C: drive that I might consider moving if this is possible/beneficial.