Solved Image your system with free Macrium

[whs]

Okay I was able to get the cd to work after using advanced mode. I also watched the video so thank you for that.

That's good. So I assume you are OK now.

 

[bigcitycat]

Yes, I'm just wondering about the process. If the operating system fails but the bootloader still works how does the back up apply? If the o/s fails and the bootloader does not work how does the backup apply? If I get a virus and want to restore from the backup then how does the backup apply? If the HD fails how does the backup apply. What partitions do I need to backup in order to recover? I'm sorry but I am not familiar with the process. I'm looking at this in terms of system recovery.

 

[marsmimar]

Cool Thanks, but I just waited about 20 minutes on that rescue dvd. Not sure what I am going to do now.

Try burning the rescue CD in compatibility mode. One of the dialog boxes has a button called Advanced and if you click on that you can select comp. mode. Can't remember specifically where that dialog box appears in the burn process (sorry) but it's what I had to do to get my rescue CD to work.

 

[bigcitycat]

Yes, I'm just wondering about the process. If the operating system fails but the bootloader still works how does the back up apply? If the o/s fails and the bootloader does not work how does the backup apply? If I get a virus and want to restore from the backup then how does the backup apply? If the HD fails how does the backup apply. What partitions do I need to backup in order to recover? I'm sorry but I am not familiar with the process. I'm looking at this in terms of system recovery.

Okay answering my own question this helped me to understand the process.

Macrium KB

 

[kado897]

For a normal windows installation you just need to image System and C to recover windows.

 

[bigcitycat]

Thanks

 

[kado897]

You are welcome bigcitycat.

 

[whs]

As a very first image, I would image all partitions - for the case that the HDD breaks. From then on you only image C and (if available) the data partition.

When you have a system malfunction, you restore C only. When you have a virus, you restore C and the data partition. When your HDD breaks, you define new partitions on the new HDD. They must be equal or greater in size compared to the original partitions. Into those you restore the images. If you have a 100MB active partition, you mark that "active". Else you mark C as active.

 

[kado897]

As a very first image, I would image all partitions - for the case that the HDD breaks. From then on you only image C and (if available) the data partition.

When you have a system malfunction, you restore C only. When you have a virus, you restore C and the data partition. When your HDD breaks, you define new partitions on the new HDD. They must be equal or greater in size compared to the original partitions. Into those you restore the images. If you have a 100MB active partition, you mark that "active". Else you mark C as active.

I would agree with that but you probably need to backup your data more frequently and probably windows backup with the image removed is your simplest option for that.

 

[whs]

I would agree with that but you probably need to backup your data more frequently and probably windows backup with the image removed is your simplest option for that.

I think it is a matter on how you use your system. If you accumulate a lot of new data all the time, then that should be imaged frequently. But e.g. I do a lot of system work and hardly ever have any new data - thus I image the system partition more often than the data partition (because I screw up the system on a regular basis - LOL).

Seperating the data into a seperate data partition is useful for that scenario. Makes the images smaller and I can schedule them individually.

 

[bigcitycat]

As a very first image, I would image all partitions - for the case that the HDD breaks. From then on you only image C and (if available) the data partition.

When you have a system malfunction, you restore C only. When you have a virus, you restore C and the data partition. When your HDD breaks, you define new partitions on the new HDD. They must be equal or greater in size compared to the original partitions. Into those you restore the images. If you have a 100MB active partition, you mark that "active". Else you mark C as active.

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thank You. I think I have a pretty good handle on it now. The only difference is that I intend to back up less frequently. I have all my important files in a truecrypt volume and a few others on dropbox. I have my laptop setup perfectly now and I know I don't have any malware. I will leave the backup the way it is unless I make major changes. If something goes wrong then I have a safe backup. Is this an okay philosophy?

 

[mjf]

Bigcitycat + others,
If you have a separate system reserved partition as the Windows OS partition the simplest and safest approach is to always include it in your Macrium image set. That is tick the 2 boxes. The system reserved partition is a tiny 100-200MB partition. Most of the time you don't need to restore it. You just select the OS part of the set to restore. But this way every image you make can immediately be transferred to a brand new HDD rather than searching around for the right little system reserved you made way back whenever.

 

[kado897]

I think whs that each case is different. You have to work out what is the best strategy for the way you work. I myself have lots of slowly changing data, mostly books, photos, music and videos on an external disk and a small amount of rapidly changing data on my local disk. In this case I find it best to use a file and folder backup on each of the sets of data as needed and an image backup of the windows partitions only after system changes.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Hi Guys

I've just downloaded Macrium free, as for the first time today windows imaging failed for me but have a few questions if someone one could be as so kind to answer for me.

1) How do I activate the auto verify.

2) I've put the boot media on dvd but would like to also have it on usb, can I add it to my recovery usb using Yumi Multiboot Usb or is there another process I should use.

3) Is each image I create stored independently ie wont be overwritten at any point by another image.

I'm liking the minimalistic look of the UI and am looking forward to seeing how the program compares to windows native imaging software

Thankyou

Danny

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Each image is stored independently, but I always store each image in a new folder that is dated something like "Macrium-081911", so I know the date of the image.

I always verify manually directly from the menu.

 

[xxxdannyxxx]

Thanks ignatzatsonic

Is there an option to verify automatically I cant seem to find it.Any ideas on the boot media been on the Usb or the best way to achieve this.

Danny

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Can't help you on auto-verify. You may be correct that there is no such control.

Re USB: imaging is so spooky and subject to breakdown and disappointment that I try to keep it as simple as possible and just use a boot CD.

Be SURE to verify that you can in fact boot from your CD and access the image file and all drives.

 

[whs]

Each image is stored independently, but I always store each image in a new folder that is dated something like "Macrium-081911", so I know the date of the image.

I always verify manually directly from the menu.

There is really no need for independent folders since the images are dated. Creating a new XML each time you go into a new folder is a lot of unnecessary work.

 

[whs]

Thanks ignatzatsonic

Is there an option to verify automatically I cant seem to find it.Any ideas on the boot media been on the Usb or the best way to achieve this.

Danny

There is a verify option during recovery. USB booting is not available via free Macrium - but SIW2 did show a few ways on how to tweak that.

 

[kado897]

Hi Guys

I've just downloaded Macrium free, as for the first time today windows imaging failed for me but have a few questions if someone one could be as so kind to answer for me.

1) How do I activate the auto verify.

2) I've put the boot media on dvd but would like to also have it on usb, can I add it to my recovery usb using Yumi Multiboot Usb or is there another process I should use.

3) Is each image I create stored independently ie wont be overwritten at any point by another image.

I'm liking the minimalistic look of the UI and am looking forward to seeing how the program compares to windows native imaging software

Thankyou

Danny

1. The autoverify can either be set in the defaults or for an individual backup by pressing the advanced options button on the final dialog screen.

2. If you allow the default naming you won't overwrite a previous image.

3. I'm not sure which version Macrium Free is but if it is version 5 it has the built in ability to produce a bootable WinPE ISO. If it is version 4 then you can use Yumi to boot the ISO. Also note that Yumi can boot Hirens CD which contains a mini XP environment with Macrium PE in it.