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

 

[whs]

I used aomei one key recovery it is very good just press "a" during bootup to recover. we can also make entry for recover along with windows.But one drawback is it takes lots of space for creating recovery partition within internal hdd.it takes about 14gigs for freshly installed windows home basic 32bit .But it is speed hussle free recovery.

Put the image on an external device. I used a 32GB USB2 flash drive and that was pretty fast. A USB3 device should be even faster. The standard compression seems to be appr. 50%. Find my experience report in post #25 of this thread. With my W7 I was not that lucky.

 

[nevergiveup]

ya true when we use external media for recovery backup it is an excellent option.actual it acts as recovery disk. i forget to mention that out of 14gigs recovery partition only half is used remaining free space is unusable.cant shrink or resize.thank you guys you all expands my knowledge.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Forget the CPU usage thing. I never knew what that means. It seems to be a random number.

And don't get too held up with the read/write speeds. Good speeds are helpful but what really counts is the access time. And 3ms is too slow. It should be 1ms or less. SSDs are typically 0.1ms. Just to give you a perspective.

Great stuff Wolfgang that's why the Samsung flew when I ran the HD on it while the stick plodded along. You can see that in the pic what I am curious is that it throws those downward spikes each time I run it and am wondering if it just a changeover between the banks of chips within the SSD??

Sorry that is a bit OT but am curious.

I am not 100% certain, but I suspect the downward spikes occur when there is some system activity on the SSD thus disturbing the measurement. I would not worry about it. If you measure again, you might not see it or at different times.

Ok mate I wasn't worried about just really curious and as you are "the boss" when it comes to this stuff in my mind at least - I asked - I did on the first couple of runs (not that I am overdoing it) kept using the machine and thought it was due to my activity but then it occurred when the run was left to pan out as it were. But being curious I shall have few more searches to see if I can work out what it is.

 

[whs]

The system is really never really at idle. Will be interesting to see what you find out. I have measurements with those dips too.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes Wolfgang I have just messaged you with some things I think may explain that activity.

 

[nevergiveup]

excellent tutorial . how does a system image of newly bought pc and factory recovery disk differs.are they similar.

 

[whs]

excellent tutorial . how does a system image of newly bought pc and factory recovery disk differs.are they similar.

An image is a snapshot of today's state of the system. If you make e.g. an image 2 years after you purchased the PC, it will be very different to the factory recovery disk. It will comprise all the programs you installed, all the updates of the last 2 years, all the settings you made and all the data that is on that partition.

But if you make an image immediately after the installation completed, there will not be a big difference. Except restoring an image is a lot easier than reinstalling.

 

[meditek]

I discovered Acronis was not always backing up Thunderbird which led to some grief, so i emailed Macrium sales and asked whether their Reflect software would back up open files i.e. backup on the fly whilst computers are in use. I received a rather rude and short answer to the effect that I should download the free version and test it myself because they would only answer questions when I'd bought it!!!!!! Incredible!! When I get an 'answer' like that I tend to think it's NO.

So, can anyone here answer my question please? I have always preferred image backups going on in the background whilst the network is running.

Thanks

 

[kado897]

Yes it can. Macrium uses the Windows Volume Shadow Copy service to freeze the state of the partition before the image. That is not to say however that a complex multi file database could not be left in an inconsistent state after a restore. That is true of any imaging system however including Windows own. For most purposes you can work while imaging is in process.

Macrium are well known for only supporting the paid versions but they should not be rude about it. It's a pity really because the product is excellent.

 

[whs]

Yes, you can use your PC during the time the image is being written. Macrium freezes the image at the beginning . There is a 'Hide' button on the bottom of the running Macrium page.

PS - I think the Macrium developers are Brits.

 

[nevergiveup]

during installing macrium free edition it asks for download PE components along with macurium is it necessary or i simply use the winpe that you uploaded.i think i dont need to download pe components as you said it is for creating winpe after 1.7GB download.so i just need to install macurium without pe components and use winpe that you provided as rescue disk.am i correct. thankyou

 

[meditek]

Yes it can. Macrium uses the Windows Volume Shadow Copy service to freeze the state of the partition before the image. That is not to say however that a complex multi file database could not be left in an inconsistent state after a restore. That is true of any imaging system however including Windows own. For most purposes you can work while imaging is in process.

Macrium are well known for only supporting the paid versions but they should not be rude about it. It's a pity really because the product is excellent.

Many thanks for that, I'll buy it. Can't say I had ever heard of Win Shadow before. If Acronis was using it then it failed.

 

[kado897]

The free version is fine if you just want to do imaging.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The free version is fine if you just want to do imaging.

You can also clone with the freebie. If you wanted to do incremental and/or differential imaging (which most people here don't recommend), you would need a paid version.

 

[whs]

during installing macrium free edition it asks for download PE components along with macurium is it necessary or i simply use the winpe that you uploaded.i think i dont need to download pe components as you said it is for creating winpe after 1.7GB download.so i just need to install macurium without pe components and use winpe that you provided as rescue disk.am i correct. thankyou

You can use my WinPE from my OneDrive.

 

[Nosmas]

PS - I think the Macrium developers are Brits.

Wolfgang - are you suggesting that being a Brit is the reason for rudeness? I hope not

 

[whs]

PS - I think the Macrium developers are Brits.

Wolfgang - are you suggesting that being a Brit is the reason for rudeness? I hope not

Nah, Brits are nice and polite people. At least the ones I know. Maybe those people are from the outer islands, LOL.

 

[kado897]

PS - I think the Macrium developers are Brits.

Wolfgang - are you suggesting that being a Brit is the reason for rudeness? I hope not

Nah, Brits are nice and polite people. At least the ones I know. Maybe those people are from the outer islands, LOL.

Paramount Software Ltd are the developers of Macrium. They are based in Manchester.

 

[whs]

Thanks Keith. But those rude people must have come from some other place.

 

[kado897]

Thanks Keith. But those rude people must have come from some other place.

LOL. I'm sure we Brits can be as rude as anyone else.