MACRIUM REFLECT - Create Bootable Rescue USB Drive

MACRIUM REFLECT - Create Bootable Rescue USB Flash Drive

How to Create a Bootable Rescue USB Flash Drive for Macrium Reflect​

   Information

In order to restore a Macrium image when your Windows operating system cannot be started, you are required to boot from a rescue CD, which holds a compact Linux operating system. The Linux operating system on this rescue CD allows you to quickly browse the disks and partitions of your PC, and select the image you wish to restore.

Within Macrium reflect, there is no direct way to create a bootable USB drive, but there is a very simple workaround to create bootable rescue USB drives. This tutorial will show you how to do that, so you can forgo the stack of rescue CD's sitting on your desk. If you manage Macrium images for multiple computers, you will find this technique extremely useful.

This tutorial is based on Macrium Reflect Free Edition Version 4.2 Build 3141

:note: Requirements:

You will need the following in order to create a bootable rescue USB drive:-

1. A USB flash drive
2. YUMI Multiboot USB Creator

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:note: Step 1 - Create the RESCUE ISO

Open Macrium Reflect as normal, and then from the menu, select the option Other Tasks > Create Rescue CD.

The 1st panel of the Rescue CD Wizard will be be displayed as shown below:

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The default option is Linux. Accept that by clicking on Next, and proceeding to the 2nd panel of the Rescue CD Wizard.

From the pull-down list, select the option Create ISO image file, as shown below:

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Click Finish, and now provide a name and location for the rescue ISO file that is about to be created, as shown below:

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   Warning

Do not include spaces in the ISO name or YUMI will fail to boot from it.

Once the file has been saved, close Macrium Reflect as normal.

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:note: Step 2 - Create the bootable RESCUE USB drive


Download YUMI Multiboot USB Creator to your desktop - its a single executable that requires no installation.

Insert the USB flash drive you want to use, into an available USB port on your computer.

Open YUMI by double-clicking it, and when prompted by Windows UAC, click Yes. You will be prompted to accept the Licence Agreement. Click I Agree to proceed.

Now follow thse steps and refer to the image shown below:

1. From the drop-down list, select the letter of the USB you wish to use.

2. The USB drive is required to be formatted as FAT32. If this is not the case, check the format option, which will format the entire USB drive before copying any information to it. If the USB drive is already formatted as FAT32, ignore this option.

3. In the distribution box, scroll to the very bottom and hlighlight the Try an Unlisted ISO.

4. Click Browse to locate and select the rescue ISO you create previously.

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5. Now click Create to create the bootable rescue USB drive.

If you opted to format the USB drive, please take careful note of the warning panel that appears, and is shown below. Click Yes to proceed.

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The rescue ISO file will now be copied to the USB drive. If successful, you will see the progress panel as shown below:

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Click Next to proceed. You will be prompted if you wish to add more ISO's/Distros. Click No to close this pop-up, and then click Finish to exit YUMI.

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You have now created a Macrium Bootable Rescue USB and can safely remove the USB drive.

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:note: Step 3 - Test the bootable RESCUE USB drive


One of critical elements of imaging, is to ensure that you can boot from the rescue USB drive. In fact, the same holds true if you choose to use the traditional bootable rescue CD method.

To do this, turn off your computer, plug in your USB drive and reboot your computer as normal. During the POST screen, press the DEL key repeatedly to enter your BIOS, and then find the setting that allows you to boot from a USB drive and place it first in the device boot sequence. Alternatively, during POST keeping pressing the F8 function key to bring up the one-time boot menu, and then select the USB device from that menu.

Once the PC boots from the USB device you will see the YUMI boot menu, as shown in the example below:

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If you select the option called Directly Bootable ISO's you will then be presented with the rescue ISO you created earlier. In the example shown below, I have a choice of 4 rescue ISO files (refer to the tip below):

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Once you select that ISO, the Linux operating system will boot the ISO, and then allow you to select the Macrium image to restore, as shown in this example below:

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   Tip

If you manage multiple computers, you can add as many Macrium rescue ISO's as you require. I manage 4 different computers and each one's rescue item is bootable from a single USB flash drive - refer to the image above.

If you already have a YUMI multiboot USB drive with other ISO's and/or distros on it, simple add the Macrium rescue ISO's as normal. This makes for a very handy USB toolkit.

I hope you find this tutorial useful, and remember : you saw it first at Sevenforums.

Regards,
Golden

   Note

Special thanks to kado897 who provided the information for capturing the YUMI screens.

Related Tutorials

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• Imaging with free Macrium

 

[whs]

I am not 100% certain why it would not directly create the USB stick. It is indeed only appr. 130MB and should fit on any stick.

But if you have the .iso on your system, you should be able to get it on the stick. Try Rufus.

And if that does not work, get the .iso from my Skydrive and try with that. With that iso you can make images and recoveries.

 

[DavidE]

I tried to create a USB (No optical drive here). I cannot click next - I don't know why.

In the screen print it says press Finish to continue.

 

[whs]

Good point David. I did not see that.

 

[lehnerus2000]

It is indeed only appr. 130GB and should fit on any stick.

I think that should say, "... 130 MB ...".

 

[whs]

It is indeed only appr. 130GB and should fit on any stick.

I think that should say, "... 130 MB ...".

Absolutely. Damned typo. Thanks for catching it. Is corrected.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

It is indeed only appr. 130GB and should fit on any stick.

I think that should say, "... 130 MB ...".

Absolutely. Damned typo. Thanks for catching it. Is corrected.

Thank heavens it was a typo. I was going nuts trying to find a stick bigger than 130GB!

 

[whs]

LF, I am not used dealing with small fries any more - LOL.

 

[Britton30]

There are 256GB USB flash drives.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

There are 256GB USB flash drives.

Uh...I was being a wee bit facetious.

 

[gregrocker]

I need to burn a 64 bit Rescue disk but only have a 32 bit PC available to do this via TeamViewer. Is there a way to supply the Win7 64 bit ISO to mount to gather it's drivers during creation of the PE media? Is there any way a disk created on 32 bit Win7 will work on 64 bit i.e. 64 bit drivers will be included? The prompt says no.

Is there a 64 bit Macrium PE ISO available online or can anyone provide one via Teamviewer? Thanks.

 

[kado897]

I think the ISO that Wolfgang created is 64bit. There are a couple of links to it at the start of this tutorial. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html?filter[2]=Backup%20Restore

 

[whs]

This is a 64bit Macrium WinPE iso ==> Link

 

[gregrocker]

Got it thanks. But it's stalling at 2/3 loading during boot on a Tech Preview PC, after disabling Secure Boot. Burn another?

 

[whs]

Many people have used this iso. You are the first one reporting problems. If a CD does not work, try a stick.

 

[kronckew]

my ultimate solution is a hard reset.

 

[tobymeister]

Does anyone have an idea why a Macrium Reflect Free Rescue "USB" would work on two HP laptops (one laptop is Windows 7 x64, the other laptop is Windows Vista x64), but not work on a Dell desktop (Windows 7 x64)?

Background:
I have 3 computers: HP dv7t laptop (Windows Vista x64) (2009), HP Probook laptop (Win7 x64) (2014), Dell XPS-8700 desktop (Win7 x64) (2015). All three are Legacy Boot with MBR partition scheme.

1.) Installed Macrium Reflect Free 5.3.7299 on one HP laptop (Windows Vista x64).

2.) Created Rescue CD (WinPE 3.1) via Macrium Create Rescue Media and verified that it works on all three PCs.

3.) Tried to create Rescue USB (on 16GB Sandisk Cruzer flash drive) via Macrium Create Rescue Media, but I received a "Write Error."

4.) As a workaround to the write error, I created a Rescue ISO (WinPE 3.1) via Macrium Create Rescue Media console and saved it to a folder. I burned the ISO to the USB flash drive via Rufus 2.1. Rufus wanted to use NTFS formatting for this process (not FAT32), so I accepted its default selection.

The Rescue USB boots and works fine (yes, as NTFS) on both HP laptops (Vista x64, and Windows 7 x64) (on both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports).

But, the Rescue USB doesn't work quite right on the Dell desktop (Windows 7 x64). The USB stick boots OK (on both USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports), but the mouse (Microsoft brand on USB 2.0 port) is inoperable. There is no mouse cursor on the screen, so I can't select Macrium Backup or Restore.

Any idea why the Rescue USB works on two computers but not all three? Could it be Mouse driver related?

 

[whs]

Why are you using a WinPE from Macrium Version 3. Try the Version 5 WinPE. You can download the iso from my One Drive.

 

[kado897]

I think he means v3 of WinPE not Macrium Wolfgang. Why the CD works but not the USB is a mystery to me. If it was a driver problem you would expect both to fail.

 

[whs]

OK, got you Keith. This is indeed mysterious. At first view it sounds like a driver problem with the mouse. I would try a different mouse on the Dell.

 

[kronckew]

i suspect either the dell usb driver may differ from the generic driver used during the build of the winpe for macrium. you may need to have the dell drivers added to the winpe. on the paid version, macrium will rebuild winpe and add in the required drivers from the pc you build on, and give you an option to add other drivers (ie. from the dell) and then use that image to build the recovery iso. during the winpe boot from cd or usb there is a short timed bit where you can load drivers from a file, ie. saved to another partition on the hard disk or added to the usb stick after you create the boot usb. anyhow, i'd add the usb and mouse drivers from the dell to the winpe build. if the current free version allows you to build a winpe environment, it didn't used to. been a while and many versions sinc i used the free one so i forget...