Macrium BU User needs advice

[Patti2]

I have used Macrim BU on my external Hard Disk (G) for several years. I used to keep two copies of the BU, a fresh one and the previous one which I would delete. Over the years I have used up the availablae spece somehow.

External HARD Drive; G (Macrium BU) & J
What I backed up was Disk D operating system with XP Partition. Disk C with W7 and Partition F with my data
I would like to change the Macruim to backup just C and F.

I don't really know if I can just delete what is on G and start over or if there is something else taking up so much space. Any advice appreciated.

Perhaps I should reinstall Macrium?
I am not up to par on compers.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Macrium image files have an mrimg extension. How many files do you have on the G drive with that extension?

Your pictures above show just one: it's 161 GB in size and is dated April 2, 2014. But there is no indication whether it is a backup of C, D, or F. Or all 3?

I assume you have others?

It's tough to evaluate your situation without knowing how many mrimg files you have. The G drive is about 900 GB. Should it have anything on it other than Macrium backups?

If I were you, I would start over and do this:

Delete all but the most recent Macrium image file.

That should free up hundreds of GB of space on G.

Then re-evaluate.

Have you been backing up images of C, D, and F into a single image file? Or do you make separate images of each partition?

I would probably make separate images of each rather than combining them. Put them in folders named like "C image 051914" so you can keep track of them by date.

An image of C should take up about 25 GB. An image of F should take up about 50 or 60 GB. Around 80 GB for both. So you should be able to keep several images of both C and F on a 900 GB drive.

Do you have a small "system reserved" partition? You need to back it up also.

 

[Patti2]

Hi, Macrium image files have an mrimg extension. How many files do you have on the G drive with that extension?

It is Disk 1, partition C, partition D (XP) and partition F (data)
I have one copy on Disk 4 G, no others. The only other thing I have on G is Windows Image Backup 128GB, 13 April 2014.

I do not understand why the 161 GB from Macrium and the 128 GB from the WIBU show as using almost all of Disk G.?

I know I am confused on how Macrium works. What do you do with the XML DEFINITION FILES? They say MyBackup and there are 9 on the list.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

The last picture you posted includes a folder called "Patti-PC".

How large is that folder and what is its purpose?

Have you burned a Macrium recovery disk and have you confirmed that it will boot your PC?

Post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management.

 

[Patti2]

The last picture you posted includes a folder called "Patti-PC".

How large is that folder and what is its purpose? See the snap shot. It is part of Windows Image Backup
(missed the snap shop but it has 537 GB on it even though this properties snap shot shows 128 GB.)

Have you burned a Macrium recovery disk and have you confirmed that it will boot your PC? I burned a recovery disk 18-08-12nand it worked ok with W7 at that time.

Post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management.

Ok.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Do you intend to keep Windows XP on this PC—the D partition? You say you no longer want to back it up.

What is the purpose of J partition?

Is this a home-built PC or is it a major brand such as Dell, HP, etc. I’m wondering why I don’t see a “system reserved” partition?

Did you do the original installation of XP and Windows 7 on this PC?

Are you willing or unwilling to give up on Windows Backup, which appears to be using at least 537 GB on G, possibly over 600 GB? I’m wondering why you are using it and Macrium both, rather than one or the other.

 

[Patti2]

Do you intend to keep Windows XP on this PC—the D partition? You say you no longer want to back it up.
I am writing a book and I have one program that scans and translates Norwegian and that program will only run on XP. When book is finished I want to delete XP.

What is the purpose of J partition?
J is for old stuff I am getting rid of. Just an extra partition on External Hard Drive.
Is this a home-built PC or is it a major brand such as Dell, HP, etc. I’m wondering why I don’t see a “system reserved” partition?
This is a home build desk top (a friend built it)

Did you do the original installation of XP and Windows 7 on this PC?
Yes

Are you willing or unwilling to give up on Windows Backup, which appears to be using at least 537 GB on G, possibly over 600 GB? I’m wondering why you are using it and Macrium both, rather than one or the other.
I am very willing to give up Windows BU. Before I got this computer I had a disastrous crash on my old one and lost a lot of material I needed. Since them I have been paranoid about losing data & my book, hence all the partitions and BU's.
I am not very proficient with computers - need step by step instruction for anything new. I never really understood Macrium and was afraid it would not work if I got infected or crashed. I read a computer Magazine and try to keep my machine up to date but feel I don't have confidence.

 

[Britton30]

Hi Patti, here's a couple of guides which should be helpful with using Macrium Reflect.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html#post648001

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/218920-macrium-reflect-create-bootable-rescue-usb-drive.html

It's much more configurable than Windows back up and takes less space too.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Read those links Britton supplied---they are quite detailed.

I would not use XML files as they apparently just confuse you. When you want to make an image, just start Macrium and walk through its steps for each partition (C and F) separately—maybe 8 or 10 mouse clicks. Just ignore the XML choices.

Here is what I would do. You get to decide if it makes sense for you.

1: Confirm that the recovery disk you made 2 years ago will boot your PC today.

2: Let us know whether it boots into a Macrium interface or into a slower Linux-based interface.

Don’t go any farther until 1 and 2 are done. I’d seriously consider making a new recovery disk, even if the current one boots the PC.

3: Give up on Windows Backup and delete those files from G.

4: Make 2 folders on G. One called “Macrium image of C, 052314”. The other called “Macrium image of F, 052314”. Adjust the date as needed.

5: Make a new Macrium image of C and store it in the “Macrium image of C, 052314” folder. Make a new image of F and store it in “Macrium image of F, 052314”.

6: Periodically, make new folders with the current date and make new images, storing them in the new folders. Maybe keep the last 2 images for each partition. Those 2 images combined should probably total less than 150. So you could store 2 of each on maybe 300 GB.

Additional comments:

Your use of separate partitions doesn’t give you any additional protection. It’s a good idea to keep Windows and data on separate partitions, but beyond that the advantages are dubious. You may as well just use a folder structure. Partitioning can be inefficient as you can never tell in advance how fast your data will grow and you can run out of space—as you have with G. If you did not have that unused 77 GB on J, it could be utilized by G. As it is, that 77 GB is not usable to store your images. The Macrium images will occupy only a relatively small percentage of G, so you needn’t do anything about this partitioning issue now. I just mention it for future reference.

You say you are paranoid about losing data. Therefore, I would also consider using something OTHER than Macrium to back up data (as opposed to Windows), such as an ordinary “file by file” backup program. There are several free versions that work well. The advantage is that your personal data is presumably very important to you as a writer, but imaging is an imperfect technology. It is possible that Macrium (as good as it is) or any other imaging program will fail at a critical time and that could mean your data backups are inaccessible.

“File by file” backups don’t have this added complication of imaging. You can ponder that and ask more questions in another thread as you see fit. Another advantage is that file by file backups can be configured to run with a single mouse click and usually take no more than a minute or two to complete, so you can do them daily or even hourly with little effort.

 

[Britton30]

What I do is keep all images on separate physical drives. The XML isn't needed as Ignatz said, Macrium will do restores without them. The XML method is like a shortcut to the operations.

 

[Patti2]

Thanks so much for your reply and I aplogize for delay in respomse. I am not familiar with Bios, etc. so spent hours trying to figure it out. Finally got old recovery disk open in Linux interface - I thnk. proceeded to make new rescue disk.
Continued thru steps 6.
Now for an additional BU such as ordinary "file by file" tyat you mentioned. I don't know what that is?? Should I start a new thread?

 

[Patti2]

Thank you very much!

 

[Britton30]

Ignatz may have meant by "file by file" backup would be to make copies of your personal files, Videos, Music, Pictures, and Documents. Copying them to a USB stick, hard drive, or even CD/DVDs.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Thanks so much for your reply and I aplogize for delay in respomse. I am not familiar with Bios, etc. so spent hours trying to figure it out. Finally got old recovery disk open in Linux interface - I thnk. proceeded to make new rescue disk.
Continued thru steps 6.
Now for an additional BU such as ordinary "file by file" tyat you mentioned. I don't know what that is?? Should I start a new thread?

Have you confirmed that the new recovery disk boots your PC?

Are you confident you could restore an image if it came to that? You need to be able to use that Linux interface to find your Macrium image file and to select the partition to which it will be restored.

I assume you have deleted the Windows Backup files. How much free space do you currently have on G?

How much space is used by the Macrium image of C? Macrium image of F?

Maybe post another screen shot of Windows Disk Management?

"File by file" backup programs do the same thing that a manual copy with the mouse or keyboard would do. The advantage is that they normally copy only new or modified files and bypass unchanged files, so the copy procedure takes much less time than re-copying ALL files. Additionally, they can be configured to copy only certain folders, certain file extensions, etc.

Most are free. They all work similarly, but some have more intuitive interfaces than others. All of them will back up to a hard drive, which is what I use. You could also use a USB stick. DVDs are an option, but they are not highly reliable and are tough to keep track of and manage over extended periods.

Examples: Syncback, Allway Sync, FolderClone, Synchromagic, and Second Copy. You can find all of them in 10 minutes with Google.

 

[Britton30]

MS also has its own version with many backup options, SyncToy.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/278866-synctoy-backup-user-data.html

Another free one is FreeFileSync
FreeFileSync | Free backup software to synchronize files and synchronize folders on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X
Looks a bit complex and be careful of possibly installing other things with it.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Patti:

I urge you to read this tutorial if you haven't seen it. It should help your understanding of Macrium.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

You don't have to memorize it or follow it slavishly.

I would advise you to use it to help you make a "WinPE" rescue disk to replace the Linux one you have now. WinPE recovery disks are more likely to boot your PC and have the advantage of booting you into an ordinary Macrium interface as you would see if you opened Macrium from your hard drive----rather than the Linux interface of the other method which is a bit cryptic and confusing if you lack familiarity.

You make the WinPE disk in Macrium through a menu choice, just like the Linux disc. You would be required to download a rather large file. The blue tinted "Note" in the above tutorial links you to an ISO file that replaces that large download with a much smaller one.

 

[Patti2]

Well I am sorry to say this is all to complicated for me. I don't know the consequences of some of the boxes clicked and am afraid of doing something I can's undo.

I am going to have to give up on the Macrium, bios, etc. and get back to my book and manually save extra copies. Thank you for all your patient advice and help!

 

[Tews]

Hi patti! I use Acronis for my main imaging needs, but I'm trying a new (for me) program called Rollback RX from Horizon DataSys, and I must admit I'm inpressed enough to purchase it.

Computer Backup,Restore,Disaster Recovery Software for All Types of Enterprises USA

 

[Patti2]

Hi, you sound very experienced. I was ok on Macrium to a point but couldn't keep up with the restore image, etc.
Let me know how you like the RX. I am elderly and don't follow complicated terms.

 

[Tews]

Hi Patti,

I am really liking RollBack more and more. Whereas Acronis usually takes 15 minutes or more to complete an image, Rollback does it in seconds. It gives you the opportunity to restore a snapshot before the OS loads, or continue loading Windows, and the recovery process takes less than 5 seconds. I hope you give it a shot. It's dead simple to set up, and I think you will like it!