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

 

[MilesAhead]

2. Incremental backups with consolidation of older incrementals into the base image.

Do you have a reference where I can read the HowTo on this. Sound very interesting as I like to use the incremental backups. I have Macrium 6 Server.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

SSD TRIM support is another one I don't get. What does TRIM have to do with Macrium Reflect (my C: drive is an SSD, btw)?

If required, set Advanced Options as follows:

1. Rapid Delta Restore to copy only changed data blocks and complete the restore process more quickly.
   Note: Only NTFS file systems that are not shrunk can be restored in this way.
2. SSD Trim to enable TRIM on restore.
   Note: Writing to an unused block is quicker than writing to one in use and results in an increase of both the lifetime and the performance of the device.
3. Verify Image to chose whether to verify an image before restoring.
4. Master Boot Record to replace the restore with the Master Boot Record (MBR) from the backup.
   Note: The MBR is a small program that executes when the computer starts up. If this program becomes corrupt then you can have problems starting the computer operating system.

Source: Restoring an image from within Windows - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Software

re: #2: How important is that exactly? I'm not concerned about speed much since it doesn't take me all that long to do a restore and I don't do it very often. I can't and I'm too lazy to check (plus I really need to hit the shower) but does

re: #3: I auto-verify my images when I make them so is it really necessary to verify them again when doing a restore? I have yet to have an image fail to restore; is that because I have MR set to auto-verify them immediately after making the image (I have had an image fail to verify very, very rarely, less than a handful of times, and each time, rerunning the image has fixed it; I figure it's better to find out the image will fail to verify while I still can reimage instead of waiting until I need to use it to do a restore).

re: #4: When I make an image now in V5, I do both the C: and the System Reserved partitions in a single image. Doesn't that also include the MBR which will then get restored when I restore from the image.

 

[DavidE]

See my responses in bold.

SSD TRIM support is another one I don't get. What does TRIM have to do with Macrium Reflect (my C: drive is an SSD, btw)?

If required, set Advanced Options as follows:

1. Rapid Delta Restore to copy only changed data blocks and complete the restore process more quickly.
   Note: Only NTFS file systems that are not shrunk can be restored in this way.
2. SSD Trim to enable TRIM on restore.
   Note: Writing to an unused block is quicker than writing to one in use and results in an increase of both the lifetime and the performance of the device.
3. Verify Image to chose whether to verify an image before restoring.
4. Master Boot Record to replace the restore with the Master Boot Record (MBR) from the backup.
   Note: The MBR is a small program that executes when the computer starts up. If this program becomes corrupt then you can have problems starting the computer operating system.

Source: Restoring an image from within Windows - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Software

re: #2: How important is that exactly? I'm not concerned about speed much since it doesn't take me all that long to do a restore and I don't do it very often. I can't and I'm too lazy to check (plus I really need to hit the shower) but does

I don't know to test this, it's what Macrium has documented.
I would use it, and if i find it causes problems, quit using it.
I have it set to use this in my default settings.

re: #3: I auto-verify my images when I make them so is it really necessary to verify them again when doing a restore? I have yet to have an image fail to restore; is that because I have MR set to auto-verify them immediately after making the image (I have had an image fail to verify very, very rarely, less than a handful of times, and each time, rerunning the image has fixed it; I figure it's better to find out the image will fail to verify while I still can reimage instead of waiting until I need to use it to do a restore).

I also verify images when i create them.
I have my default set to NOT verify before restoring, that was already done...

re: #4: When I make an image now in V5, I do both the C: and the System Reserved partitions in a single image. Doesn't that also include the MBR which will then get restored when I restore from the image.

The MBR can be restored or NOT restored in the restore options.
I have my default set to NOT restore the MBR.
I override my default if and when i need to.

 

[DavidE]

2. Incremental backups with consolidation of older incrementals into the base image.

Do you have a reference where I can read the HowTo on this. Sound very interesting as I like to use the incremental backups. I have Macrium 6 Server.

I don't use incrementals, but until kado897 replies maybe this will help, from the V6 User Guide:

Backup Folder Synchronization - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Software

 

[MilesAhead]

2. Incremental backups with consolidation of older incrementals into the base image.

Do you have a reference where I can read the HowTo on this. Sound very interesting as I like to use the incremental backups. I have Macrium 6 Server.

I don't use incrementals, but until kado897 replies maybe this will help, from the V6 User Guide:

Backup Folder Synchronization - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Software

Looks good. Thanks.

 

[kado897]

Do you have a reference where I can read the HowTo on this. Sound very interesting as I like to use the incremental backups. I have Macrium 6 Server.

I don't use incrementals, but until kado897 replies maybe this will help, from the V6 User Guide:

Backup Folder Synchronization - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Software

Looks good. Thanks.

That was my reference too. I have tested it for about a month retaining 10 daily incrementals on a file and folder backup and it seems to work well.

 

[MilesAhead]

I don't use incrementals, but until kado897 replies maybe this will help, from the V6 User Guide:

Backup Folder Synchronization - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Software

Looks good. Thanks.

That was my reference too. I have tested it for about a month retaining 10 daily incrementals on a file and folder backup and it seems to work well.

 

[mjf]

SSD TRIM support is another one I don't get. What does TRIM have to do with Macrium Reflect (my C: drive is an SSD, btw)?

I'm still not sure either.
I'm still using the latest free V5 and it doesn't appear under Restore - Advanced options. When I perform a system image restore to an SSD, TRIM is always enabled. Why would you not want it enabled when given the option? Maybe Windows 7 doesn't automatically enable TRIM for all SSDs?

 

[lehnerus2000]

Macrium Reflect v6 - Worrying

I have just been performing my "pre-MS Updates" backup imaging using Macrium Reflect v6 Free Edition.

I don't know if this is:

• A bug
• A glitch on my PC
• A display error
• Just poorly worded

Notice that I have not selected any Purge options (I'll purge my own backups when I see fit).
Notice that the Status window shows that a backup image will be purged if free space drops below 5 GB.

 

[kado897]

That looks like a bug if the checkbox was unticked when you created the backup definition. My system defaults are for that box to be ticked.

 

[lehnerus2000]

That looks like a bug if the checkbox was unticked when you created the backup definition. My system defaults are for that box to be ticked.

It is selected by default on my PC too.

I have images dating back to 2009 and I don't want them auto-purged.

 

[Kari]

That looks like a bug if the checkbox was unticked when you created the backup definition. My system defaults are for that box to be ticked.

It is selected by default on my PC too.

I have images dating back to 2009 and I don't want them auto-purged.

Sorry but according to your screenshot the auto purge would only happen if the selected media has less than 5 GB free space. Isn't the solution simple, select a storage with more free space? I mean, who on earth would start creating a system image on storage with has less than that free?

 

[MilesAhead]

Just tangentially, Macrium saved my bacon yesterday. I'll skip the sad part of the story and just say that somehow beyond all logic I went into safe mode and the system decided to refresh or reset the machine. Lost my user account. I had no choice but to boot up the WinPE 5.0 based rescue stick.

Incremental backup restore proceeded without a glitch. Took about 28 minutes reading from a USB 3.0 stick. Good thing the last incremental was only 24 hrs old.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Just tangentially, Macrium saved my bacon yesterday. I'll skip the sad part of the story and just say that somehow beyond all logic I went into safe mode and the system decided to refresh or reset the machine. Lost my user account. I had no choice but to boot up the WinPE 5.0 based rescue stick.

Incremental backup restore proceeded without a glitch. Took about 28 minutes reading from a USB 3.0 stick. Good thing the last incremental was only 24 hrs old.

That is why I make an image of my C: drive or partition (including the System Reserved partition) before I make any changes, such as adding or deleting a program or running updates. I update my data backups daily and whenever I add or change critical data. I don't image my data; I would die of old age (I'm already too close to that now) if I did that, even if I used incremental imaging, making the backups due to the large amounts of data I have now. Using a folder/file syncing program—FreeFileSync—is much faster to update and the backup can be used as is until I get a replacement drive if the original drive should die completely.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Not Selected

That looks like a bug if the checkbox was unticked when you created the backup definition. My system defaults are for that box to be ticked.

It is selected by default on my PC too.

I have images dating back to 2009 and I don't want them auto-purged.

Sorry but according to your screenshot the auto purge would only happen if the selected media has less than 5 GB free space. Isn't the solution simple, select a storage with more free space? I mean, who on earth would start creating a system image on storage with has less than that free?

It should not do anything at all, as the option is not selected.
What is the point of deselecting an option, if the "option" still applies?

I just imaged my system prior to applying this months updates.
It came to a total of 196 GB.
The previous month's updates came to 168 GB.

If I had seen that I "only" had 190 GB left on my HDD, I would have created my backup images and I could've potentially lost a backup.

Granted that it may only apply to MR v6 images, but at 200 GB a pop it will take less than 5 months to fill up a new 1 TB HDD.

Apparently only people who have paid for Macrium can report (possible) bugs.

 

[DavidE]

Are you using the latest V6 version, Build No. 708 ?

I'm using Build 708 and don't see the "Delete oldest Backup sets..." message.
I'm sure i saw that message before (when i used the initial V6 free build).
Maybe they tweaked this in Build 708 ???

 

[Kari]

It should not do anything at all, as the option is not selected.
What is the point of deselecting an option, if the "option" still applies?

My point is that even it it ticks the box you have unselected and keeps "a safe limit" of 5 GB there, that shouldn't be a problem. A Windows system image is always bigger than 5 GB so that is simply just plain theoretical issue, you will never select a storage location with so little free space.

As I get this, the whole issue could be described like this:

"A deal breaker issue, I think I cannot use this software anymore because it does not let me use a storage location with less than 5GB available space without purging my older images. Of course I know that my images will always be bigger than 5 GB so this automatically selected item will never really purge my images because when I notice there's less than 5 GB free in selected storage media and I want to keep all previous images, there simply is not enough space for my image and I have to of course select a new storage location."

 

[kado897]

Are you using the latest V6 version, Build No. 708 ?

I'm using Build 708 and don't see the "Delete oldest Backup sets..." message.
I'm sure i saw that message before (when i used the initial V6 free build).
Maybe they tweaked this in Build 708 ???

View attachment 365229

There was a bug where the default flag was not copied into the backup definition but that was supposedly fixed in a previous version (The first free edition). There doesn't seem to be any fixes in 708 in that area.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Are you using the latest V6 version, Build No. 708 ?

Yes according to the "About" dialogue window.

My point is that even it it ticks the box you have unselected and keeps "a safe limit" of 5 GB there, that shouldn't be a problem. A Windows system image is always bigger than 5 GB so that is simply just plain theoretical issue, you will never select a storage location with so little free space.

If I try to write 100 GB to a 5 GB space, it would be my fault if it failed.

There was no point in me selecting/deselecting that option, as the software ignored my choice and treated it as chosen/selected.

If that purge option is not chosen/selected, it should not delete my backup images, regardless of how much space is or isn't available on a HDD.

Hypothetical:190 GB - HDD available space
5 GB - Macrium Reflect default purge value

168 GB - Previous backup size

170 GB - Estimated space required for this month's backup (based on past trends)
20 GB - Estimated available space after this backup (190 - 170 = 20)

196 GB - Actual space required for this month's backup
-6 GB - Actual available space after this backup
Since -6 GB < 5 GB, a previous backup will now be deleted.
The 5 GB default value is irrelevant (any value would trigger the deletion of a previous backup).

In that scenario I would rather have the new backup fail (with an error message) than an old backup deleted.
Since MR supports split backup files, it could even ask (in the error message) for a new location to finish the backup.

Maybe MR does bring up a message and an option dialogue window, but I don't want to risk a known good backup to try it out.

 

[DavidE]

Hypothetical:190 GB - HDD available space
5 GB - Macrium Reflect default purge value

168 GB - Previous backup size

170 GB - Estimated space required for this month's backup (based on past trends)
20 GB - Estimated available space after this backup (190 - 170 = 20)

196 GB - Actual space required for this month's backup
-6 GB - Actual available space after this backup

Also consider the "Purge before a backup" option.
If that option is unchecked, creating the image should fail, as there is not enough free space to create it.
I haven't tested this to make sure it works as it should...

My backup images are 25GB or less, on multiple HD's, and i check drive space before imaging...