Macrium Free vs Macrium Pay

[kado897]

I don't have any experience with Acronis but I can support what dsperber says about Macrium. It is super reliable and that is really what you need from a backup.

 

[mjf]

Macrium free has always been very reliable for me. I had a rare issue with one external drive that tested fully ok including with the manufacturers diagnostics but Macrium imaging failed. It then imaged successfully. Windows inbuilt imaging is for basic system imaging of OS partitions and has never let me down on 3 PCs.
You are safer to have 2 imaging programs even if one is your favorite. You are safer having images stored on more than one external HDD.

 

[kado897]

You are safer to have 2 imaging programs even if one is your favorite. You are safer having images stored on more than one external HDD.

Absolutely.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I notice one comment in http://www.sevenforums.com/backup-restore/305695-macrium-free-vs-macrium-pay-2.html reported an "unreliable reinstalling images" with Acronis

I'm guessing you can find numerous complaints about either with Google if you dig a bit. That's to be expected and is true of any software package. Don't get yourself in a situation where you are totally reliant on imaging.

I had one experience with Acronis, 6 or 7 years ago, before I knew of Macrium. I made an image file using Acronis and later attempted to restore it. Acronis would not even acknowledge the image file, so I was out of luck. I spent some time then looking over Acronis forums and wasn't impressed with the quality of the support.

Maybe things have changed for them. I haven't checked.

But I second DSPerber's comments about the Macrium interface. Very simple, intuitive, and easily understood. Once the application is open, it takes only 5 or 6 mouse clicks to make an image file.

I get along fine with the Free version. There is a table at the Macrium web site that highlights the differences between it and the paid version.

The most important thing about imaging is to be positive that your "rescue media" will in fact boot your PC. If you can't boot from the rescue disk, you can't restore.

 

[bigmck]

I will just echo what the others have said. Every time I have had to restore with Macrium, it works. That is the only thing that matters.

 

[bawldiggle]

Thanks dsperber for you prompt reply

I totally agree with your sense of obligation to pay developers for their projects, even when it is free.

I do a lot of file shuffling on various PCs particularly this laptop.
After trying a lot of alternative file-explorer progs (over about a month) I settled on XPlorer2 Pro version (they have a free version) because the developer was and still is exceptionally generous with help.
​

You have given me an excellent summary of Macrium vs Acronis and particularly your "why's"

Very much appreciated

 

[bawldiggle]

Thank you too Kado897, mjf, ignatzatsonic, bigmck ... for your reinforcements.

Nothing like experience. Your comments are very much appreciated.

"the-bald-one"

 

[whs]

Russell, Have a look at this tutorial. It may give you an easy start with Macrium. This is a co-production of Keith (Kado) and myself. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html?ltr=I

 

[kado897]

Yesterday I chose to do an image restore with Macrium to back out some complex changes I had made rather than do it manually. It was quicker and safer to do it that way.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yesterday I chose to do an image restore with Macrium to back out some complex changes I had made rather than do it manually. It was quicker and safer to do it that way.

You got that right. I never use system restore anymore; in fact, I have it turned off. Also, I always make an image before making any changes

 

[kado897]

I have the paid version of Macrium so I do a full image each week and differentials each day. My data is mostly on separate drives so I lose very little doing a restore.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I have the paid version of Macrium so I do a full image each week and differentials each day. My data is mostly on separate drives so I lose very little doing a restore.

I just do weekly full images. Since I don't tinker with settings or add programs very often, I find just making a full image when I make a change to be adequate, easier, and safer. My OS and programs are on my SSD and my data is on spinners.

 

[mjf]

When you do weekly images it would be useful to state what the strategy is for deleting old images. You could have a problem (eg. virus) that goes back months. Backup disk space is finite.

 

[kado897]

I keep 4 full images and their associated differentials.

 

[whs]

I keep about 20 images on 3 different disks including some very old ones.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I keep one monthly image, the first one of the month, for past months all the way back to when I first installed Win 7 except for the current month and the previous month; I keep all of the current month and the first and last image of the previous month. Since I make only weekly full images and occasional full images between the weekly images, what I do keep doesn't add up all that fast. Right now, that folder is taking up 311GB on a 2TB HDD; the earliest images are 20GB and the current ones are only 3GB larger. When I make my images, I save them to a folder on my main data HDD in my computer. Besides being more convenient to access and image if I want to restore it, it allows me to easily make multiple backups of that image without any extra effort on my part. It just gets lumped into my daily backups of the HDD it's stored on.

 

[mojo53]

I know we all like freebies but some of the finer things in life are not always free but good security and backup is one thing i pay for so i got Macrium Professional Pro 5.3 64 bit and it works like a charm, no issues and very easy to use for people who want to do other things and not spend all day fiddling around trying to fix issues on my computer, do it first time and get it right and if the inevitable ever happens you know you can fix it and supporting companies who help with free alternatives cannot be a bad thing.

 

[kado897]

Welcome to Seven Forums mojo53.

 

[mojo53]

Cheers for that kado897 lots of helpful stuff in her mate good place to be when your lost

 

[kado897]

Isn't that the truth.