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]

@ Laurie

Yes because the MBR relates to the physical drive not the specific logical drive

Correct

The MBR holds the information on how the logical partitions, containing file systems, are organized on that medium. Besides that, the MBR also contains executable code to function as a loader for the installed operating system—usually by passing control over to the loader's second stage, or in conjunction with each partition's volume boot record (VBR). This MBR code is usually referred to as a boot loader.

Source

 

[lehnerus2000]

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

This tallies up nicely with my earlier post .

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]

I once took Macrium to task for confusing MBR and VBR in their documentation. I wonder if they have corrected it yet.

 

[LaurieD227]

@ Laurie

Yes because the MBR relates to the physical drive not the specific logical drive

Correct

The MBR holds the information on how the logical partitions, containing file systems, are organized on that medium. Besides that, the MBR also contains executable code to function as a loader for the installed operating system—usually by passing control over to the loader's second stage, or in conjunction with each partition's volume boot record (VBR). This MBR code is usually referred to as a boot loader.

Source

To steal from Professor Higgins, "I think [I've] got it!"


And if that reference isn't familiar, let me know


Thanks again

 

[SIW2]

The option is there in case you have changed it. You may a custom mbr, which is now different , so you may not want to overwrite from a backup.

 

[mjf]

The option is there in case you have changed it. You may a custom mbr, which is now different , so you may not want to overwrite from a backup.

A specific example of this would be if you made some partition changes since the system image was made. The new MBR will contain the new partition table and you don't want to restore an MBR with an old partition table.

 

[SIW2]

It shouldn't affect the partition table.

 

[mjf]

It shouldn't affect the partition table.

Yes it will. The partition table is towards the end of the 512 byte MBR. If you change the partition structure after your last Macrium image then you can do a Macrium image restore but don't not change the MBR using the old one. If you do change the MBR then you will not be able to access any new or altered partition size and location. The MBR contains 2 main key components:
- Boot code
- Partition table information including size, location, active status etc.

Windows system imaging will definitely not allow you to do this but Macrium should. Mind you - I have not actually tried it.

 

[LaurieD227]

It shouldn't affect the partition table.

Yes it will. The partition table is towards the end of the 512 byte MBR. If you change the partition structure after your last Macrium image then you can do a Macrium image restore but don't not change the MBR using the old one. If you do change the MBR then you will not be able to access any new or altered partition size and location. The MBR contains 2 main key components:
- Boot code
- Partition table information including size, location, active status etc.

Windows system imaging will definitely not allow you to do this but Macrium should. Mind you - I have not actually tried it.

If I think I might need to rebuild a damaged partition table on an external HD where a "resize partition" operation somehow got interrupted, am I right in assuming that Partition Wizard rather than Macrium is the right tool to consider?

(The HDD partition is not part of any image, and my assumption is that the only thing I could do with Macrium would be restore an MBR that has been saved as part of an image. I'm still trying to learn all these tools)

 

[kado897]

Partition Wizard can recover lost and damaged partitions.

 

[mjf]

(The HDD partition is not part of any image, and my assumption is that the only thing I could do with Macrium would be restore an MBR that has been saved as part of an image. I'm still trying to learn all these tools)

I would also opt for Partition Wizard in this case.
I would keep learning how to use Macrium since system imaging is your best security.

 

[LaurieD227]

I would keep learning how to use Macrium since system imaging is your best security.

Yep, I have a Macrium image of my new laptop, stored safely on a spare external HDD.

Now I have to repair my primary external HDD so I can use it to store all my backups going forward. It has some old backups (my old laptop plus a bunch of old files) that I want to preserve if I can while I do the fix.

I do not want to appear to be hijacking this thread, so I will let it go at that. I started a separate thread to address my partition failure/restoral problem, will work the details there. Thanks!

 

[BMGRAHAM]

Your PE Image

It didn't work for me, but I created a new one from Macrium and it did work.

 

[whs]

It didn't work for me, but I created a new one from Macrium and it did work.

What did not work for you ?

 

[Soyabeaner]

whs, thanks for your service. I've been updating the Macrium versions throughout the years using your ISO files. Unfortunately, I have to report the first time I've encounter an issue with your latest Rescue 5.3.7299..iso file. I think it may be corrupted because this error appears whenever I attempt to load the Macrium WinPE:

"A winpeshl.ini file is present, but no commands were successfully launched. This could be caused by incorrect formatting or an invalid executable name. Please consult the documentation for more information."

I re-downloaded the file to be sure and also tried to create bootable images on USB using two different version of Rufus portable, so I narrowed out that those weren't the culprit. I had to revert back to your previous 5.3.7220 ISO file to make it work. The first hint seemed to be too good to be true based on the file sizes: 140,480 KB vs 160,320 KB. It's not often I see new versions result in a small size compared to previous versions as software usually becomes bloated over time (unless of course the developer happen to rewrite code to be more efficient).

 

[whs]

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

 

[ignatzatsonic]

WHS:

Is this newest upload that you are doing today known to be fully compatible and non-problematic with UEFI and GPT?

I'm going to be switching to UEFI by year-end and am looking for any pitfalls, particularly concerning Macrium. I have only the free version.

 

[whs]

WHS:

Is this newest upload that you are doing today known to be fully compatible and non-problematic with UEFI and GPT?

I'm going to be switching to UEFI by year-end and am looking for any pitfalls, particularly concerning Macrium. I have only the free version.

It is from the latest Macrium release (5.3.7299)and as far as I know it can handle UEFI. But by year end there will probably a later release.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

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.

 

[whs]

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.

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 am just now running one in my W8.1. This is a virtual system where I have only C (no Efi partition).