Imaging with free Macrium

   Information

This tutorial shows imaging with free Macrium Version 5.0. If you are still using Macrium Version 4.2, go to this Vimeo site where the tutorial of that version is stored.

The Video does not show the recovery part because I have no setup to screen capture it. But Keith (Kado) made this excellent recovery tutorial with text (but no sound) that he captured from a virtual partition.

   Warning

Note that the external disk to which you image must be formatted in NTFS. A disk that is formatted in Fat32 will accept an image, but the recovery programs cannot restore that image. You can, however, mount (open) a Fat32 image as VHD.

   Note

The production of the WinPE recovery CD (which is highly recommended) may take up to 3 hours because Macrium needs to download the 1.7GB WAIK (Windows Application Installation Kit). For your convenience I have uploaded a ready made .iso of the WinPE recovery disc. That can be downloaded in appr. 8 minutes which clearly beats the WAIK download. Once you downloaded and unzipped the folder, you can burn it directly to a CD with e.g. ImgBurn.

Here is the link to my Skydrive site.

Here is an alternate link from FileSwap (courtesy of Gary - Britton30)

I draw your attention to the fact that this WinPE CD can also be used to make images. That may be convenient in case you do not want to install Macrium on your PC.

This video tutorial explains the full cycle of the imaging process which is:

· Initial setups
· Image definition
· Image scheduling
· Image production

The imaging program that was used for this tutorial is free Macrium. But the basic principles are the same for other imaging programs although the user interface will be different.

This video runs for appr. 7 minutes.
There is a related thread on the Vista forum which gives a brief introduction to Macrium followed by a discussion.
You can download the free Macrium edition from here.

Note: If you have a problem with the loudness of the sound output of the video, check the "Loudness Equalization" box in your Playback device. It is under the 'Enhancements' tab.

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a System Image Backup in Windows 7
• How to Do a System Image Recovery in Windows 7
• How to Backup User and System Files in Windows 7
• How to Restore Backup User and System Files in Windows 7
• How to Restore your System with a Broken Windows 7 System Image
• How to Create a Bootable Rescue USB Flash Drive for Macrium Reflect

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I have made UEFI images with three W8.1 systems and they look OK. But I had no need yet to restore them.

An even easier way is to make an image with Wbadmin. That is also easy for the recovery either via the System Recovery Option of your recovery still works or the installation/repair disc if the system is completely kaput.

Please sound off loud and clear if you ever attempt to restore any of those UEFI installations with Macrium.

I see that the command wbadmin is acknowledged at the command line on my system, but I'd prefer to completely evade the Windows tool--unless Macrium, Aomei, and others prove to be hopeless for whatever reason.

Does it form a large pile of folders and files--as opposed to the single mrimg of Macrium?

 

[whs]

Yeah right, you get a pile of files. But that does not bother me. Only the VHDX is big, the others are real little.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Yeah right, you get a pile of files. But that does not bother me. Only the VHDX is big, the others are real little.

OK and aye aye. I'll keep it in mind as a last resort.

 

[Layback Bear]

Will (Wbadmin) work in Windows 7 not a server?

 

[whs]

The main advantage of Wbadmin is that you don't need an extra program and recovery is really easy. But it does not have all the bells and whistles of e.g. Macrium - scheduling, etc. You are really 'on the iron' with Wbadmin.

And to answer Jack's question: Yes. The recovery part looks a bit different.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Just ran it on my system for kicks.

Took 8 minutes. I discovered you can't direct it to, for instance, E:\test. You must choose just E:

It created a WindowsImageBackup folder containing 4 folders and 16 files, total 36 GB.

I was denied permission to access the folders until I poked the "continue" button.

Nearly all of the size is in the single VHD file found in one of the folders.

There is a MediaID file with no extension that I can't open with Notepad. Don't know what it is.

Not sure what it all means at this point, but I might keep this backup as I have plenty of space on E.

 

[whs]

I got to it because I work a lot with virtual partitions. There it is a lot easier for the recovery part which can easily be triggered when you do a restart when holding the Shift key down.

Booting with the recovery disc of e.g. Macrium in VMware Player is more difficult. You have to change the boot sequence in the VMware Player BIOS. For that you have to add bios.forceSetupOnce = "TRUE" to the VMX file to get to that BIOS. And then you have to change that BIOS. Not obvious for the layman.

 

[mjf]

I was under the impression that "Create a System Image" runs wbadmin and seems simpler to me. You end up with a WindowsImageBackup folder either way in the root directory of the nominated partition. You don't want to touch anything in that folder including the small MediaID file if you want a trouble free install. The only time you would fiddle is if you needed to access/mount the large vhd file.

 

[whs]

Michael, you are right. It is essentially the same as 'Create a system image'. But it is more fun. The end result is the same and so is the recovery procedure.

I like to work with the command line which is more transparent for me than some program where I don't really know how it is proceeding and what it is doing.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I like to work with the command line which is more transparent for me than some program where I don't really know how it is proceeding and what it is doing.

Absolutely.

If for no other reason than that you avoid that god-awful GUI, which must have been designed by a committee.

 

[mjf]

I must be using some other GUI or else I like camels.

 

[whs]

I must be using some other GUI or else I like camels.

:roflmao:

 

[lehnerus2000]

Restore Command?

All you need to do is run this command:

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:X: -include:C: -AllCritical -quiet

Where 'X' is the letter of the drive where you want to place the image. All partitions that are needed for a proper operation will be imaged along with C (that's what the -AllCritical does).

I have Macrium Reflect Free Edtition, so I've never used the "wbadmin" command.

What is the restore command?

 

[whs]

Restore is via the System Recovery Options > Advanced Options. E.g. in W8.1:

System Recovery Options - Boot to in Windows 8

 

[kado897]

as far as I know it can handle UEFI.

Can I take that to mean that you don't know from personal experience?

I see that there is a version 6 plus, at least for the paid version.

Is it a guess, an assumption, or a known fact that the currently uploaded version (5 plus) would NOT restore images made with the future free version 6 as normally installed on a C partition?

I'm just trying to get a better understanding of exactly when I should expect your uploads to NOT bail me out in a critical situation. I very rarely have to restore, but I want to be fully prepared when I move on to UEFI and the dreaded Windows 10---possibly at the same time.

I can confirm that a v5 PE will not restore an image made with v6, however a v6 PE will restore a v5 image.

 

[kado897]

Ooh I like this. I have just done my first full restore of System and C: (85GB data) to a spinner with version 6. it does an "incremental restore" only restoring the differences consequently it is very fast. A restore from yesterday tool about 4 minutes. The last time I did a comparable restore with v5 it took more than 30 minutes. This from a slow USB2 backup drive.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Restore is via the System Recovery Options > Advanced Options. E.g. in W8.1:

System Recovery Options - Boot to in Windows 8

There isn't a CLI restore command to match the backup one in W7 (I don't have any installs of the W8 series)?

 

[whs]

Same in W7 - just looks a bit differently.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/668-system-recovery-options.html

 

[Soyabeaner]

Thanks for letting me know. I created a new one that I will upload. It is 137MBs.

The new file is exactly the same size as the first one. Unfortunately, this one still results in the same error. Frustrated, I built my own ISO file from Macrium, but it still fails (with a different error). My laptop dislikes the new version . This is ironic considering the purpose of this version is to fix such issues:

Bug Fixes: 5.3.7299:
Windows PE startup issue
Windows PE rescue media could fail to start on some systems. If this affects you then please re-create your Windows PE rescue media

 

[whs]

Yeah, the problem seems to be on your side. Try a different imaging program - just for testing.