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

 

[Layback Bear]

When using Macrium Reflect on my systems.

I have found the Rescue Media (P.E.) for a Bios and UEIF system are different.

If your older system is Bios it needs a Rescue Media made with a Bios system.

If your newer system is UEIF it will need a Rescue media made on the UEIF system.

 

[kado897]

When using Macrium Reflect on my systems.

I have found the Rescue Media (P.E.) for a Bios and UEIF system are different.

If your older system is Bios it needs a Rescue Media made with a Bios system.

If your newer system is UEIF it will need a Rescue media made on the UEIF system.

I think if you tick the UEFI box it does for both with USB media.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yep truckin mate but personally I dislike large drives because if they go south in hurry then that is LOT of data lost _ I like to have say three 500GB drives - more than enough to keep my images up to date and if one goes belly up then I have the other two in much the same way as I still have the original install drive to fall back on if the clone loses the plot

But each to his own I guess eh? But I will agree that Macrium is great stuff eh? and one of the programs along with Partition Wizard I couldn't do without.

The argument of the larger the drive, the more data you can lose is invalid as long as you have all the data properly backed up. As long as you have multiple backups of all your data, it doesn't matter what size or how many drives you have. Managing and organizing data on one large drive is much easier than using multiple, smaller drives. A single large drive is also easier to backup than multiple, smaller drives; just start the backup once and let it run instead of having to start multiple backups one after the other.

 

[mjf]

Drive size is personal preference. I don't rely on just one backup drive.
For backup I've settled on WD 2TB Blue (used to use Geen but not available here locally anymore) in USB 3 docking stations. At Au$98 they are pretty good value. I still stick with MBR for boot/OS and data drives.
The 4TB WD blue here is Au$193 so similar $/byte. I don't have any reliable data on failure rates of the 2TB vs 4TB.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Drive size is personal preference. I don't rely on just one backup drive.
For backup I've settled on WD 2TB Blue (used to use Geen but not available here locally anymore) in USB 3 docking stations. At Au$98 they are pretty good value. I still stick with MBR for boot/OS and data drives.
The 4TB WD blue here is Au$193 so similar $/byte. I don't have any reliable data on failure rates of the 2TB vs 4TB.

True, drive size is a personal preference. I was pointing out that, as long as a drive has been backed up, then it doesn't matter how much data was on a drive that failed since the data can be recovered from the backup(s) and that fewer drives are less work to maintain, organize, and backup than more drives.

Wise man not depending on a single backup drive. Being the coward I am, I have four backup drives for each one in service.

The 5400rpm Blues have replaced the now discontinued Greens. They are essentially the same as the Greens they have replaced. I'm still using Greens (12 of them) simply because they are still working for me.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

as long as you have all the data properly backed up.

I quite agree Jeannie but that also implies one musthave another form of storage of equal or neadr the same size to back up to unless you are only backing up the minimum amount of data from the large drive.
Now that leaves me with the impression that one ends up with heaps of large or smaller drives which is really notmy cup of tea.

Kado re the BIOS issue in my currnet machine it gives the option of either or - or have I got it wrong??

 

[kado897]

as long as you have all the data properly backed up.

I quite agree Jeannie but that also implies one musthave another form of storage of equal or neadr the same size to back up to unless you are only backing up the minimum amount of data from the large drive.
Now that leaves me with the impression that one ends up with heaps of large or smaller drives which is really notmy cup of tea.

Kado re the BIOS issue in my currnet machine it gives the option of either or - or have I got it wrong??

I've no experience myself with a UEFI machine but I leave that ticked and it boots OK on an mbr machine. I wonder if the reason I have that is that I am creating PE5 rescue media.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok mate never had to use it yet as it is and I think the majority of my machines are EUFI so if I do Iwill post back

 

[Kari]

Now geeks to Ten Forums to answer a poll to win one of two Macrium Home licenses:

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twitter

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Great deal
Doubt I'll join the live chat though so good luck everyone that does

 

[DavidE]

Thanks Kari, info much appreciated !
The free version does everything i need so i don't want to bid for a paid license that others could use better.

If there's one thing i would like in the paid version is the ability to post on the Macrium forum.
Then i would ask for Macrium to consider adding comments to Differentials

 

[Kari]

If there's one thing i would like in the paid version is the ability to post on the Macrium forum.

Then i would ask for Macrium to consider adding comments to Differentials

You should post those opinions in the poll thread at TF, they will read it.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
System imaging on 10 is sort of anticlimactic seeing we have little control over the windows update system everything just loads back up as soon as you connect to the internet

I rolled back out of the anniversary build also though the system restore to roll back to the previous build
Interestingly 10 ignores that I have system protection off and also windows restore but created a system restore partition on my ssd despite my preferences not too

 

[DavidE]

If there's one thing i would like in the paid version is the ability to post on the Macrium forum.

Then i would ask for Macrium to consider adding comments to Differentials

You should post those opinions in the poll thread at TF, they will read it.

I'll consider it, but
I'd feel like i'm nit-picking or complaining about a great free product.
I'm not, and i don't want it to be misinterpreted that way.
I'm happy they offer the free product they do, and keep updating it quickly for any issues that are found.
If their business model means users of the free version can't post on their forum, i'm fine with that.
I can search their forum and find info i (seldom) look for.

 

[kronckew]

Hi,
System imaging on 10 is sort of anticlimactic seeing we have little control over the windows update system everything just loads back up as soon as you connect to the internet

I rolled back out of the anniversary build also though the system restore to roll back to the previous build
Interestingly 10 ignores that I have system protection off and also windows restore but created a system restore partition on my ssd despite my preferences not too

O&O have a tool HERE called 'shutup10' that allows you to disable win10's auto-updates as well as a host of other settings for disabling the plethora of microsoft's phone home stuff.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Hi,
System imaging on 10 is sort of anticlimactic seeing we have little control over the windows update system everything just loads back up as soon as you connect to the internet

I rolled back out of the anniversary build also though the system restore to roll back to the previous build
Interestingly 10 ignores that I have system protection off and also windows restore but created a system restore partition on my ssd despite my preferences not too

W10 randomly ignoring user settings is a feature.
My W10 Home automatically connects to our Wi-Fi, despite being told not to.

My Activated W10 installs (laptop and VM) refuse to even acknowledge the existence of the Anniversary update.
My non-Activated W10IP VM found it a few minutes after booting up.

There was a minor glitch in Macrium Free.
I first noticed it when they released v5.
There was no way to report it (as a Macrium Free user) and it persisted for years.

If you chose multiple actions (e.g. Backup and Verify) the progress bars would not display correctly.

The first operation would be correctly displayed:

• Current Progress => 0%-100%
• Overall Progress => 0%-50%

The second operation would not be correctly scaled:

• Current Progress => 0%-50%
• Overall Progress => 50%-100%

Overall progress would indicate 100% even though the actual overall progress was only 75% complete.

They only fixed it recently (v6?).

 

[baumgrenze]

Pardon a simple, basic question. I tried and find I cannot seem to create a Google search to answer it.

I have a new, 2TB HDD ( 9JB1N3-576 PN/ Seagate 2 GB drive) - ) that I intend to use as my backup drive to store Macrium Reflect image files.

I can find the disk in Device Manager; it shows up as ST2000DM001-1ER164ATA Device which matches the Seagate.

In Computer Management>Disk Management (which is not maximized) I find a "Drive 0" which is 1863.02 GB which is 'Not Initialized" and "Unallocated.' It is partially covered by a drop-down screen telling me that I must 'initialize a disk before it can be accessed' and it offers MBR and GPT as a binary option. The size tells me that it is my new 2TB drive.

I would have chosen MBR and moved forward, but this disk is a replacement for a failed disk. I was having problems verifying my Reflect images written to that disk. The Macrium FAQ recommended running chkdsk at an elevated prompt specifying the \r option. When I tried this I was always told that 'the disk is in use' even when the command prompt was the only process running. I tried checking with Process Explorer and it showed nothing running. That opened the question in my mind that it was perhaps I might not have properly prepared for use (formatted, ?) or perhaps it was only an indicator of impending disk failure.

Is there a link that describes the proper preparation of a new HDD to serve as the storage device for Macrium Reflect images? Will it say that the disk must/need not be a MBR disk? Should the disk be formatted as a 'Simple Volume?'

I want to get this right this time.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Baumgrenze:

It should not matter whether you choose MBR or GPT for the new disk.

I'm assuming it will be purely a data drive, with no Windows files on it at all.

Windows recognizes at most 2.2 TB of an MBR drive. If you had a 3 TB drive and formatted it as MBR, only 2.2 TB would be usable, regardless of the number of partitions it had. But your drive is under 2.2 TB.

Yeah, simple volume is fine.

Macrium image files aren't remarkable. They are just files and can be stored anywhere they will fit (other than on the partition represented by the image)---just like pictures of your cat.

 

[baumgrenze]

Thank you, ignatzatsonic, for replying.

The drive is 'only' a 2TB drive, my BIOS is Award Software International, Inc. F6 06/18/2009 on a 2008 Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3P Intel P35 ATX (rev. 2.1).. The system is 'historic' by some user's standards.

While I was waiting, I found this thread:

http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/364150-external-backup-hard-drive-should-mbr-gpt.html

The first reply momentarily 'deflated' me. "This is something you really have to research and decide for yourself. So many variables." I read it through and I think I will stick with MBR.

I'm slowly feeling my way towards Windows 10. I have an 'officially activated' upgrade copy on a SSD. I would never have made it save for the patient coaching from simrick and essenbe as the clock counted down. The drive is currently disconnected so that it does not boot. In the interim, the familiar world of Win7/Pro x64 is still serving me well. I'm trying to sort out how to get a verified Macrium Reflect image saved. Once that is done I'll boot the Windows 10 disk and back that up and then begin working on installing the programs.

FWIW, I hit the 'add reps' button and it would not let me. I thought it had been a long time since you last came to my aid, but the forum must have an 'iron-clad' memory.

thanks,

baumgrenze

 

[spotify95]

Thanks for creating this guide I had issues beforehand whereby I totally messed up my Windows partitions after using Windows Easy Transfer for transferring programs... had to get a computer shop to reinstall my OSes!
Now I'm going with manually installing everything and using Macrium to backup everything just in case! I also have a bootable CD from an older install of Macrium, which I'm hoping will work!