Solved Image your system with free Macrium

[PCrazy123]

If you have backed up the System reserved partition along with C you can restore both. I have done it many times.

Thanks for helping.

It was only restoring C and not the System Reserved when only the partitions were created. Only when I reinstalled Windows on those partitions and then restored backup was it able to boot with the restored Windows.

 

[kado897]

You need to include the System reserved when you make the backup then it will be automatically restored along with C when you select Restore Image.

 

[mjf]

Next time should I create a seperate image of the System Reserved partition?

Is it possible to restore the Macrium backup without installing Windows first?

Yes you should select both the System reserved and operating system partition when making an image. This makes it more straightforward than storing a separate system reserved partition image.

Macrium system image restore should not require reinstalling Windows first. With a number of system images you probably never need to perform a reinstall ("clean install") of Windows ever again.

You may also want to consider upgrading to the latest v5 of Macrium. A Macrium rescue pe ISO is provided in the tutorial
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

 

[PCrazy123]

When I first was able to successfully restore the backup, there was a black screen with mouse pointer for almost 10 minutes and then desktop appeared. It was hanging very badly so I restarted PC and it was ok after that. I used it for more than 15 hours and made backups of all remaining data on the HDD and there were no more delays\BSODs\hangs.

I tried another restore and after it restarted it got stuck after the Starting Windows screen and gave this BSOD error:

0X000000F4 (0x00000003 , 0x871C94A8 , 0x871C9614 , 0x82C29EA0)

then I restarted PC and it has not given another BSOD since.

Both times when I reinstalled Windows before restoring image there were no BSODs or black screens.

You need to include the System reserved when you make the backup then it will be automatically restored along with C when you select Restore Image.

Thanks for helping.

Yes it was checked and on the Summary page before starting the restore process 'Restore MBR = Y' was shown.

Next time should I create a seperate image of the System Reserved partition?

Is it possible to restore the Macrium backup without installing Windows first?

Yes you should select both the System reserved and operating system partition when making an image. This makes it more straightforward than storing a separate system reserved partition image.

Macrium system image restore should not require reinstalling Windows first. With a number of system images you probably never need to perform a reinstall ("clean install") of Windows ever again.

You may also want to consider upgrading to the latest v5 of Macrium. A Macrium rescue pe ISO is provided in the tutorial
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

Thanks for helping.

I selected both the System reserved and C partition when I made the image. I am using the DVD made from the iso link given in this tutorial for restoring.

Which version of v5 is the best? Or is the latest version ok to use?

 

[mjf]

For me I use the latest (free version) V5 build. I get an automatic update notification on opening Macrium when one is available and run the patch. They tell you what the fixes are in the update notification.
V4 was good but one of the advantages of V5 is the ability to perform a system image restore of the OS partition to a smaller sized partition. This can be useful when going from an HDD to a smaller SSD.

I can't help with the BSOD description you report. It's not normal behavior and maybe someone else can help here.

 

[kado897]

The first boot after a restore may take a little bit longer as it has to create the page and hybernation files which are excluded from the image. This should bot be as long as you said though.

 

[whs]

On my first try I only deleted the System Reserved

If you do not image and restore the system reserved partition, then you have no bootmgr (unless you transferred that to the C partition). So it is normal that the system would not boot in such a setup.

There are some special cases - e.g. Dell - that keep the bootmgr on the recovery partition. So you have to watch out for those. Best is to always first check which partition is the active partition. That's the one containing the bootmgr.

 

[PCrazy123]

For me I use the latest (free version) V5 build. I get an automatic update notification on opening Macrium when one is available and run the patch. They tell you what the fixes are in the update notification.
V4 was good but one of the advantages of V5 is the ability to perform a system image restore of the OS partition to a smaller sized partition. This can be useful when going from an HDD to a smaller SSD.

I can't help with the BSOD description you report. It's not normal behavior and maybe someone else can help here.

Thanks for helping.

I will have to get a new HDD as this one is failing. The OS image was from a 60GB (13GB used) partition on a 320GB SATA HDD so when I have to restore the partition using the WinPE recovery DVD to the new 500GB SATA HDD that partition would also need to be 60GB?

The first boot after a restore may take a little bit longer as it has to create the page and hybernation files which are excluded from the image. This should bot be as long as you said though.

Thanks for helping.

The long first boot times and BSODs were due to the faulty HDD. Hopefully it will be ok when I restore to new HDD.

On my first try I only deleted the System Reserved

If you do not image and restore the system reserved partition, then you have no bootmgr (unless you transferred that to the C partition). So it is normal that the system would not boot in such a setup.

There are some special cases - e.g. Dell - that keep the bootmgr on the recovery partition. So you have to watch out for those. Best is to always first check which partition is the active partition. That's the one containing the bootmgr.

Thanks for helping.

What is the best way to restore to a new HDD? Do any partitions need to be created on it before the restore? Or will the partitions be automatically created during the process?

---

Thanks to everyone for helping.

I'm sorry for asking so many questions again and again. Should I create a seperate thread for further questions?

 

[kado897]

Macrium allows you to resize the partitions on restore. It is in the partition properties link on the first restore dialog...

 

[chrysalis]

this is a great app, usually I dont like simplicity, but I guess in this case its allowed them to making sure its a clean process and not hard to use, see my post here.

http://www.sevenforums.com/backup-restore/246905-cloned-install-boot-issues-5.html#post2939088

Since I want to use this for incremental backups and file backups I will be buying it.

 

[kado897]

I would suggest you use differentials rather than incrementals. The reason is that there are fewer files to get corrupted. A long incremental chain can be destroyed by just one corrupt file.

 

[townsbg]

I agree. Upon restoration all incrementals and the full need to be restored in order from oldest to newest. With a differential system only the most recent differential needs to be restored (as well as the full) however you might want to keep the next oldest just in case.

Backup - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://typesofbackup.com/incremental-vs-differential-vs-full-backup/

I disagree with certain aspects of that pages explanation but you should be able to see the difference.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I don't even bother with incrementals or differentials anymore. My system images are only 26GB big and I only keep the last few (and the one I made when I first set up the computer) so I don't have to worry about how much space I need or the amount of time it takes to make an image; it takes only ten minutes to make an image and verify it. I make an image only once a week and before making any changes to the system.

 

[whs]

LF, That's the way to go. I do the same. It is a lot less messy.

 

[mjf]

I also just keep full images. My problem is I probably keep too many of them. It's a bit like the junk that clutters up your house because "You may need it one day".

 

[kado897]

Just to be different I do weekly full images and daily differentials.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I also just keep full images. My problem is I probably keep too many of them. It's a bit like the junk that clutters up your house because "You may need it one day".

I hear you! I don't know about the free version, but the Pro version of Macrium Reflect can be set to either discard older images based on age or keep only the latest images up to a certain number. If I didn't have mine set to keep only the last eight images (four to eight weeks worth, depending on how many a week I make), I would have an obscene number on my computer.

My System files don't change all that much over a week's time (and most of the changes aren't critical) so a weekly full image is fine for me (and even that is probably overkill; I just want to maintain a habit of doing so). If I do make a change that could cause an issue, like trying out a new program or making a major configuration change, I just make a full image just before making the change. No fuss, no muss.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Backups of Backups of Backups ...

I also just keep full images. My problem is I probably keep too many of them. It's a bit like the junk that clutters up your house because "You may need it one day".

I have several TBs of backup images (some are backups of the backup images) on external HDDs.

I have had:

• A couple of images become unusable for no apparent reason.
• Some corrupted backup images on one of my internal HDDs, because the HDD happened to lose some sectors in that area (typical).

Having "too many" copies seems worthwhile.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I also just keep full images. My problem is I probably keep too many of them. It's a bit like the junk that clutters up your house because "You may need it one day".

I have several TBs of backup images (some are backups of the backup images) on external HDDs.

I have had:

• A couple of images become unusable for no apparent reason.
• Some corrupted backup images on one of my internal HDDs, because the HDD happened to lose some sectors in that area (typical).

Having "too many" copies seems worthwhile.

You are as anal as I am. I have four HDDs—two locals and two offsite—for each HDD I have installed and in use in my machine (I'm sort four HDDs so one of my installed HDDs is not in use right now; I'm hoping for a good sale before I pull the trigger on the four).

I've never had an image fail to restore. I did have one fail verification; I reran the image and that one verified. That's a good argument for verification.

 

[whs]

I also just keep full images. My problem is I probably keep too many of them. It's a bit like the junk that clutters up your house because "You may need it one day".

You can never have too many. I just was able to fix a problem on one of my laptops with an image from early 2013 - anything younger would not do.