Solved Image your system with free Macrium

[EchoX860]

I think so. KB3AIK_EN

 

[Stephanie]

I posted this on the Vista forum. But since it works just as well on Windows7, I post it here too.

Image your system with free Macrium

Over the years I have experimented with different imaging programs. I started out with Norton Ghost which works very well, but is quite heavy handed. Backup and restore cycles are usually approximately one hour and it takes quite some time before you understand the intricacies of the product. I have also used Paragon and Acronis true Image. Both of those are in the same league as Ghost. They do provide though a large collection of function – which, I guess, is part of the reason why they are complex and slow.
One that is easy is the Maxtor One Touch Manager that comes with the Maxtor One Touch Disks. My wife loves it because once it is set up, all you have to do is push the button on the One Touch Disk and off it goes.
Not quite the same but very easy is Macrium. Below you find the four steps to set it up and the one step to run it thereafter. You will notice that the handling of Macrium is as easy as can be. To download the free Macrium, you go to this site:

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp

There is also a paid version with more functions. But for the normal backup/restore, the free version is sufficient.
I did not document the restore function, in part, because I cannot take any screenshots during that phase. But it is very simple and self explanatory. All you need to do is set your BIOS boot sequence to boot from your CD reader, put the CD in (the one you burnt – see the first picture) and off it goes. The CD loads a Linux based Wizard that will guide you thru a few simple questions.
Performance when you take the image should be in the 10 minute range for an average system. Restore is about 20 minutes without prior image verification and twice as long with prior image verification

Thank you whs, I use a retail backup system (and I'm due to renew my subscription soon) but I will be looking at Macrium first

 

[kado897]

I can recommend Macrium Steph. I have used it successfully to restore an image several times.

 

[Stephanie]

Thank you Keith your recommendation means much to me

 

[lehnerus2000]

Newer Tutorial

Thank you Keith your recommendation means much to me

Actually you may want to look at whs' other Macrium Tutorial, as this one is showing screenshots of the old version (v4?).
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

I can recommend Macrium Steph. I have used it successfully to restore an image several times.

I also add my vote for Macrium (for what it's worth).

I've used it for ~4 years and it hasn't failed me yet (I've also used it to restore images, more than "several times").

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've used Macrium Reflect to restore images a couple of times without problem.

 

[Phone Man]

I don't know what you guys are doing. But your problems can be remedied easily - see picture.

I do mine a little different. I just name them with a date included.



Jim

 

[Britton30]

Jim, does renaming an image file work OK? I have wanted to do that but heed the recommendation in Reflect. Do you rename during the back up or after you have the image saved?

 

[Phone Man]

I uncheck the "use Image ID" and put in the name of my choice.

Jim

 

[Britton30]

Thanks Jim, I'll name mine PEBKAC1..2...3

 

[Phone Man]

Thanks Jim, I'll name mine PEBKAC1..2...3

I always add the date in the name also. Renaming does not affect the file as it still has the Image ID imbedded. I just renamed one and then opened Macrium and verified the image.

Jim

 

[Stephanie]

Thank you Keith your recommendation means much to me

Actually you may want to look at whs' other Macrium Tutorial, as this one is showing screenshots of the old version (v4?).
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

I can recommend Macrium Steph. I have used it successfully to restore an image several times.

I also add my vote for Macrium (for what it's worth).

I've used it for ~4 years and it hasn't failed me yet (I've also used it to restore images, more than "several times").

I've used Macrium Reflect to restore images a couple of times without problem.

Thank you

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Renaming the image file will cause problems if using the XML files.

 

[Kaktussoft]

Renaming the image file will cause problems if using the XML files.

XML files are only used as a script to make backups as far as I understand. You can rename afterwards and restore. But why rename??

 

[Diddlededum]

I had to use Macrium this evening for the first time. I got a scary message on bootup that "my system's firmware did not preserve the system memory map...." then my PC got stuck at bootup in an endless cycle. I couldn't boot into safe mode either. After trying the repair feature on my WinPE Macrium CD-ROM without success I restored the image from my spare drive onto my C drive and booted up again.

Same thing happened. Endless cycle of reboots.

Until a very helpful forum member asked if my C drive was configured correctly in the BIOS. I checked and to my surprise my SSD (C / OS drive) was listed as ICE, whereas I was sure I'd set it to AHCI when I installed Windows. I changed it back again and hey-ho bootup straight into Windows as if nothing untoward had happened.

Moral of the story - BIOS settings can also stop a PC from booting up correctly regardless of whether the disk has been restored from a known working image or not!

 

[Kaktussoft]

I had to use Macrium this evening for the first time. I got a scary message on bootup that "my system's firmware did not preserve the system memory map...." then my PC got stuck at bootup in an endless cycle. I couldn't boot into safe mode either. After trying the repair feature on my WinPE Macrium CD-ROM without success I restored the image from my spare drive onto my C drive and booted up again.

Same thing happened. Endless cycle of reboots.

Until a very helpful forum member asked if my C drive was configured correctly in the BIOS. I checked and to my surprise my SSD (C / OS drive) was listed as ICE, whereas I was sure I'd set it to AHCI when I installed Windows. I changed it back again and hey-ho bootup straight into Windows as if nothing untoward had happened.

Moral of the story - BIOS settings can also stop a PC from booting up correctly regardless of whether the disk has been restored from a known working image or not!

Of course! If you change bios settings, system acts differently. Same after restoring with new motherboard. If you swap components (or the way they behave in BIOS), problems do occur.

 

[Britton30]

Renaming the image file will cause problems if using the XML files.

XML files are only used as a script to make backups as far as I understand. You can rename afterwards and restore. But why rename??

With 8-10 images or PCs, it's good to know when they were made and where they go.

 

[whs]

I think some of you are complicating the matter. Although it is possible to rename the image files, there is not really any need to do so.

All image files are dated and if you store them in a folder that is unique for that partition, there should be no confusion. I have one folder for C and one folder for the data partition on each disk where I store the images (I alternate between a couple of disks for the images - extra safety measure). So when I go to my C folder on disk 1 and look at the date of the image, I know exactly which image I am dealing with.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I think some of you are complicating the matter. Although it is possible to rename the image files, there is not really any need to do so.

All image files are dated and if you store them in a folder that is unique for that partition, there should be no confusion. I have one folder for C and one folder for the data partition on each disk where I store the images (I alternate between a couple of disks for the images - extra safety measure). So when I go to my C folder on disk 1 and look at the date of the image, I know exactly which image I am dealing with.

I never renamed the image files since Macrium advises against it (for good reason, I later learned; it messes up the link with the XML files). One of the reasons I started putting my images in dated folders was, at the time, I was also making incremental images at the time (I know longer need to) and I couldn't think of any other easy way to keep a main image and its incrementals associated with each other without renaming the images. I have been renaming the XML files to make associating them with the images much easier but I'm about ready to discontinue making XML files since the only thing I used them for was making incremental images and I no longer do so.

I keep my images on their own "external" HDDs (internal HDDs used in docks or swap bays; three HDDs for each HDD in use) so there never was a need for me to use folders to keep track of which HDD or partition a back up was for.

 

[macgig]

I tried macrium once. think I tried several backup programs for windows. all looked confusing for me, being a long time mac user. backups are easy on the mac. not so easy for windows it would seem...

on the mac, I just set time machine as my backup and forget it. a few mouse clicks and done (never have to set or change anything again). wish windows had something as easy for backups...