Solved Image your system with free Macrium

[bruce73]

That's true, I hadn't thought of that. I did run a program that examines the minidump files and even though logging was enabled there was no evidence of the crash. So I don't know what the hell happened. Let's hope it was just one of those Windows "things."

Yeah, I'm pretty anal about making images, once or twice a week to two different external drives. I learned the hard way a few years ago.

 

[alan10]

Good idea, I'll do that. Although, to amend just a bit, I ended up restoring an image from a couple of weeks back as I was having others problems (unexplained 100% CPU usage). I also eliminated some files and defragged the problem disc and ran Macrium again (the previous version). This time it worked. Lots of variables here, I know, but the solid part is that it was the first restore I've done with Macrium and it performed perfectly.

An option with the Macrium Boot Rescue is that you do NOT have to instantly RESTORE the system to a previous state,
BEFORE the restore you can make an image backup.

That would have allowed you, if you wished, to resurrect your BSOD.

After imaging Trashed C:\ I have restored C:\ to the last good state.
I have then been able to mount the backup of trashed C:\ as virtual P:\,
and then use BestSync to compare C:\ with P:\ and locate all my final document revisions and installations that were not safely backed up.
The final documents I could copy, and the installations reminded me of what had seemed a good idea at the time.

 

[bruce73]

Good to know, Alan. Thanks for the tip.

 

[kado897]

Good idea, I'll do that. Although, to amend just a bit, I ended up restoring an image from a couple of weeks back as I was having others problems (unexplained 100% CPU usage). I also eliminated some files and defragged the problem disc and ran Macrium again (the previous version). This time it worked. Lots of variables here, I know, but the solid part is that it was the first restore I've done with Macrium and it performed perfectly.

An option with the Macrium Boot Rescue is that you do NOT have to instantly RESTORE the system to a previous state,
BEFORE the restore you can make an image backup.

That would have allowed you, if you wished, to resurrect your BSOD.

After imaging Trashed C:\ I have restored C:\ to the last good state.
I have then been able to mount the backup of trashed C:\ as virtual P:\,
and then use BestSync to compare C:\ with P:\ and locate all my final document revisions and installations that were not safely backed up.
The final documents I could copy, and the installations reminded me of what had seemed a good idea at the time.

Nice tip. You can only do it with the WinPE Macrium rescue disk though.

 

[alan10]

Nice tip. You can only do it with the WinPE Macrium rescue disk though.

I trust your opinion
I have steered clear of using the Linux disk where possible.

Before I used Macrium I used Acronis, which I found far far less user friendly.
I also found that the Acronis Rescue Disc was almost unusable for restoring a backup file saved on an NTFS partition,
Restoration was 2 or 3 times faster if I had saved the backup file on FAT32.
I rather suspect the Linux drivers were optimised for Linux preferred file systems and could not stomach Microsoft NTFS :huh:

 

[kado897]

Nice tip. You can only do it with the WinPE Macrium rescue disk though.

I trust your opinion
I have steered clear of using the Linux disk where possible.

I think the Linux disk is a bit faster than the WinPE with Macrium on NTFS but there are many other reasons to use the WinPE version.

 

[whs]

I like to remind everybody that I have uploaded a WinPE .iso. If you download it and burn it to CD, you save a few hours of WAIK download. FileSwap.com : Macrium 5.0 WinPE.zip download free

 

[alan10]

I like to remind everybody that I have uploaded a WinPE .iso. If you download it and burn it to CD, you save a few hours of WAIK download. FileSwap.com : Macrium 5.0 WinPE.zip download free

Thanks, I was not aware of this.
Question, do I need to sign up for a free account and accept a very long Terms of Service ?
So far with out signing,
the download button gives me a 19 byte file, which is pretty small even for a ZIP :sarc:

 

[whs]

1. No idea about the sign up procedure since am always signed up.
2. The filesize is 154MB. But there is indeed a problem with the download. I will fix that and get back.

 

[whs]

I have uploaded the WinPE .iso to this link on Skydrive. This is an alternative to the Fileswap link when this does not function correctly.

I could download from the Fileswap link but it does not seem to work all the time.

 

[essenbe]

It is working for me, but I had to sign in with my Windows Live ID. Thanks WHS.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Macruim 4?

I like to remind everybody that I have uploaded a WinPE .iso. If you download it and burn it to CD, you save a few hours of WAIK download. FileSwap.com : Macrium 5.0 WinPE.zip download free

Hi whs

Thanks for making that file readily available.

I use the Linux Disc, but it won't restore images from my USB HDDs.
This means that I have to copy the image to one of my internal HDDs or to my friends Linux PC and use the network restore option.

Do you know if this version works with Macrium 4 (I don't like the Macrium 5 GUI)?
Does it restore images from USB HDDs?

 

[kado897]

Yes V5 of the WinPE CD will restore images made with v4. It is far better than the Linux disk at locating USB drives.

 

[whs]

It is working for me, but I had to sign in with my Windows Live ID. Thanks WHS.

You are welcome Steve. I think you are right. It works only correctly when you are signed in.

 

[whs]

Do you know if this version works with Macrium 4 (I don't like the Macrium 5 GUI)?
Does it restore images from USB HDDs?

As Keith said it will work with V4 images and USB sticks and HDDs. But you will be facing the same V5 GUI that you do not like. I personally think it is nicer and easier than the V4 GUI.

You may also want to have a look at this excellent V5 Recovery tutorial that Keith made: Macrium Reflect - Restore With WinRE - YouTube

 

[essenbe]

I also burned it to CD and it booted right up. Thanks very much, saved a lot of people a lot of time.

 

[essenbe]

Nice tutorial Keith. That may help a lot of people. Well done.

 

[kado897]

Thanks Steve.

 

[alan10]

Thanks,

The skydrive link works for me without signing up.

Regards
Alan

 

[lehnerus2000]

Thanks kado897 & whs

Do you know if this version works with Macrium 4 (I don't like the Macrium 5 GUI)?
Does it restore images from USB HDDs?

As Keith said it will work with V4 images and USB sticks and HDDs. But you will be facing the same V5 GUI that you do not like. I personally think it is nicer and easier than the V4 GUI.

You may also want to have a look at this excellent V5 Recovery tutorial that Keith made: Macrium Reflect - Restore With WinRE - YouTube

Thanks for that info.

The reason I don't like it is, I take screenshots of the Macrium partition list (when I make my images).
The "old" version had a nice table layout.
The "new" version (the version I tried) has rectangles spread horizontally across the screen, which makes comparisons more tedious.