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

 

[bawldiggle]

My excuse for not getting anything done today was to meet up with an old friend I haven't seen in two years.
- I am going to be bouncing off the walls for the next 72 hours ... all that coffee

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hmm coffee doesn't have that effect on me anymore I just drink it for the taste.

 

[LaurieD227]

Macrium Recovery question

I watched both the Macrium Imaging tutorial video (thanks, Wolfgang!) and Keith's Macrium Recovery tutorial video and I have a follow up question.

I was trying to do my Test Image restore, and as I went through the steps, I was never offered the option regarding whether I wanted to restore the MBR or not - it was just a Yes. Since I was restoring a partition that only contained data files, I didn't think it should have an MBR so I stopped at that point.

I have attached a PDF that shows the sequence of steps (not all of them, but the key ones). I have also attached a poor quality screen shot of the key point where it tells me the MBR will be restored.

Here's my question - am I supposed to restore an MBR in this situation? Or, if not, how do I prevent it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[whs]

Nah, You need not restore the MBR for a data partition. The only reason to restore the MBR would be if the pointer to the active partition (that's the one that has the bootmgr) would be corrupted. But that is rarely the case - at least I have never seen that.

 

[LaurieD227]

I didn't think I needed to restore it - but I couldn't find a way to tell it NOT to do so - I did not see a check box or link or Yes/No or any other way to select whether this happens.

Maybe I missed it ... this is my first time trying to do it, that's why I added the PDF with the 4 screen shots in it.

If you can tell me where in the sequence of the Recovery process this option is offered, I will go back through it and complete my test



As always, thanks for your help.


PS - if the fact that Macrium doesn't give me the choice about restoring the MBR is somehow related to the whole "two active partitions" thread that I started elsewhere (yes, I'm THAT one) then I'll go fix that first and then come back and redo this test with a fresh test image

 

[DavidE]

Looks like whs is offline right now, so i'll try and help.
When you click on Next in your screen print you'll get to the window where you can click on Advanced Options, and there choose to not restore the MBR.
The default is to restore the MBR, you have to select Do not replace.

 

[kado897]

Yes that's the way. I guess that the default is yes because you are usually restoring a system disk.

 

[lehnerus2000]

This is one of the reasons why I preferred the Reflect v4 GUI.
The Restore Wizard exposed these various options, instead of relying on the user to discover the settings hidden behind tiny links.

 

[kado897]

That's interesting. I have just checked what my defaults are and it is "Do not restore". I wonder whether that is something I changed in V4 or V5 and it carried forwards or whether that is the default.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm completely missing something here (or I'm just not awake yet). Why would anyone not want to restore the MBR? When I image my boot drive or partition (depending on the machine), I image the C: and MBR together as one image so, when I do a restore, I restore both. It's not like the tiny, little MBR is going to noticeably add to imaging and restoration times.

 

[lehnerus2000]

I'm completely missing something here (or I'm just not awake yet). Why would anyone not want to restore the MBR? When I image my boot drive or partition (depending on the machine), I image the C: and MBR together as one image so, when I do a restore, I restore both. It's not like the tiny, little MBR is going to noticeably add to imaging and restoration times.

Once I had an OS image with a dodgy MBR saved in it.
The MBR had somehow become corrupted between imaging one of my 3 operating system (XP, W7 & LM) and the others.

You can imagine my confusion when I was testing my PC with the restored images, as the order they were restored affected whether or not my PC would boot.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm completely missing something here (or I'm just not awake yet). Why would anyone not want to restore the MBR? When I image my boot drive or partition (depending on the machine), I image the C: and MBR together as one image so, when I do a restore, I restore both. It's not like the tiny, little MBR is going to noticeably add to imaging and restoration times.

Once I had an OS image with a dodgy MBR saved in it.
The MBR had somehow become corrupted between imaging one of my 3 operating system (XP, W7 & LM) and the others.

You can imagine my confusion when I was testing my PC with the restored images, as the order they were restored affected whether or not my PC would boot.

Any OS image can be of a corrupted OS. That's why it's a good idea to keep several images so you can go back until you get a good one.

 

[kado897]

I agree. It's the same with the 100MB System partition. Why wouldn't you backup and restore along with C.

 

[whs]

I'm completely missing something here (or I'm just not awake yet). Why would anyone not want to restore the MBR? When I image my boot drive or partition (depending on the machine), I image the C: and MBR together as one image so, when I do a restore, I restore both. It's not like the tiny, little MBR is going to noticeably add to imaging and restoration times.

When you restore a data partition, there is really no need to restore the MBR.

 

[LaurieD227]

I'm completely missing something here (or I'm just not awake yet). Why would anyone not want to restore the MBR? When I image my boot drive or partition (depending on the machine), I image the C: and MBR together as one image so, when I do a restore, I restore both. It's not like the tiny, little MBR is going to noticeably add to imaging and restoration times.

Yes, if I am imaging any or all system partitions yes I would absolutely restore the MBR

I'm trying to work with a data partition that as far as I know does not contain an MBR, I was afraid that I might accidentally add an MBR here that I didn't want to have.

 

[LaurieD227]

Looks like whs is offline right now, so i'll try and help.
When you click on Next in your screen print you'll get to the window where you can click on Advanced Options, and there choose to not restore the MBR.
The default is to restore the MBR, you have to select Do not replace.

View attachment 353963

That's the piece I was missing - I just didn't see that tiny link at the bottom of the Window.

Thanks!!

 

[LaurieD227]

Okay, I completed testing my use of Macrium
- created test image
- restored test image
- found the option for restoring the MBR (thanks, DavidE)

By the way, Wolfgang, your Macrium WinPE ISO performed perfectly as far as I can tell - thanks again!!

 

[whs]

Okay, I completed testing my use of Macrium
- created test image
- restored test image
- found the option for restoring the MBR (thanks, DavidE)

By the way, Wolfgang, your Macrium WinPE ISO performed perfectly as far as I can tell - thanks again!!

I am glad that worked out for you including the WinPE from my OneDrive.

I'm trying to work with a data partition that as far as I know does not contain an MBR

Partitions do not contain a MBR. The MBR is a feature of the disk and sits in the first 512 bytes on the disk. It's main purpose is to point to the active partition on the disk which contains the bootmgr.

The boot sequence is BIOS > MBR > bootmgr in active partition > OS

 

[LaurieD227]

Partitions do not contain a MBR. The MBR is a feature of the disk and sits in the first 512 bytes on the disk. It's main purpose is to point to the active partition on the disk which contains the bootmgr.

The boot sequence is BIOS > MBR > bootmgr in active partition > OS

Well, given the fun I've been having with system files showing up on a data partition, I wasn't sure what would happen if I said 'restore MBR.'

Does this mean that the restoral of my F Partition would have restored the MBR on the physical drive that contains it if I said Yes to that option?

Also, now that all 3 partitions on the same physical drive have been converted from Primary Partitions to Logical Drives (so now my C Drive is the only Active partition or drive), would Macrium still offer to restore the MBR when I restore any of them?
(I assume the answer is Yes because the MBR relates to the physical drive not the specific logical drive within the extended partition, but I want to be sure I understand.)

 

[lehnerus2000]

Any OS image can be of a corrupted OS. That's why it's a good idea to keep several images so you can go back until you get a good one.

Sure.

I do have backups of backup of my personal data, but these were new images that I had just created so that I could swap my setup to a new HDD.
Once my new HDD was setup I was going to create a new set of images.

In this case the actual data was OK, just not the MBR section (that section was OK on the other 2 OS images).

Once I figured out which image had the dodgy MBR, I just deselected the "Restore MBR" option on that image.

When you restore a data partition, there is really no need to restore the MBR.

Agreed.

Also if you are imaging to a new HDD (with a different layout) you don't want to replace the new MBR with an old one.