Solved software to use instead of Win 7 system restore cuz restore not workin

[whs]

Farastone's Restore IT

I have never used it but the description sounds interesting. Matter of trying.

 

[jumanji]

The most talked about "System Restore" Software is Rollback Rx by Horizon DataSys. System Restore Software for Windows | instantly fix Any PC Issue seconds - Horizon DataSys It costs $69. I can live without it.

Has anyone here tried it out or even heard of it?

 

[suspect008]

yep. read reviews on it and user comments were also good. to me it is just seems too much. I decided to go along with Macrium Free or Todo free versions. after you guys sugested I did good research on what should I go for. and as WHS said, keep it simple as possible. because every forum and comments I checked only the paid users having any kinda troubles. almost all the free version users complaints are considerably low.

And guys, can you tell about your opinion about EaseUS Todo Backup. check out these links on product comparisons on both best I got to find after hours of research. seems we home users wont even need a paid version because these two products (in deed macrium) consist pretty much everything I need. can you tell me what is more reliable? macrium or Todo. Todo seems to offer pretty much damn feature set for a free version. check out these links.

EaseUS backup software comparison: choose the best backup solution for your data and system.

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

 

[whs]

I use Macrium since a couple of years and made many recoveries (because I used to teach classes about it and made many demo recoveries there). But I also recovered full system and data partitions when I mucked things up. It has never failed - so 100% reliability. What else can you expect.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I use both EaseUS Todo and Macrium Free Edition. Luckily, I've never been forced to attempt a restore with either.

I image an 80 GB drive that has about 30 GB occupied. Both take about the same amount of time--5 or 6 minutes.

The EaseUS images are a bit larger--about 15 GB versus about 11 with Macrium

Both are similarly easy to use. I do notice that EaseUS images can be drilled into to the individual file level directly from Windows Explorer through ordinary navigation. With Macrium, you have to poke the image file and assign a drive letter. No big deal either way.

I also notice that my Macrium folder is 48 GB and my EaseUS folder is 304 GB. Hmmm.......... If you drill into EaseUS menus, it appears to have some functionality that Macrium does not have but that I will never use anyway. I guess those extra features account for the extra 256 GB, but the size still seems high. EaseUS is the second largest app I have, behind Photoshop.

Really, the only difference that matters is identifying which will work in a pinch and which won't. Having never restored, I can't say, but I am fully prepared to have both fail. All that would mean is that I have to reinstall Windows, which is hardly a catastrophe.

 

[suspect008]

yes indeed. WHS - in the Macrium site, there is a mention about "Windows PE 3 Rescue Media (RAID support)". I think this is a bootable recovery disk, isnt it? with use of this, shall I be able to recover to a newly formatted C: partition from the E: or any other external hard where I may hold up my Image of C:? or would I have to install windows before I use this. its a little bit confusion with me. Todo offers it and they have a tutorial too. but I couldnt find a one on Macrium. thank you

 

[ignatzatsonic]

You can use the Win PE disc or a Linux disc. If they won't boot, you are dead in the water. The Win PE disc is maybe a little more reliable if you want to take the extra bit of trouble to make it, as opposed to the Linux disc. Either is intended to let you restore an image stored on any drive in your system to a chosen location.

You shouldn't assume Windows will be accessible when you need to restore. That's why you need to make and use a recovery disk--either Win PE or Linux.

 

[suspect008]

I also notice that my Macrium folder is 48 GB and my EaseUS folder is 304 GB.

wow.....no argument thats damn huge Guess Im gonna go with Macrium. I think I would never need those extra features like navigate in the image EaseUS offers. you guys already know about my problem here, and another thing Im concern is bootable rescue disk and this maybe seems pretty stupid question but just asking because I dont knw Is it possible to recover a image with a software which that isnt the one that made the image? eg: is it possible to recover a image that made with Macrium by EaseUS?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

is it possible to recover a image that made with Macrium by EaseUS?

I wouldn't think so.

They use different file formats. EaseUS creates a PBD file. Macrium creates a MRIMG file. When you boot from the Macrium disk, it isn't likely to even acknowledge a PBD file and vice versa.

 

[suspect008]

The Win PE disc is maybe a little more reliable if you want to take the extra bit of trouble to make it, as opposed to the Linux disc.

why would you say something like that?? is it hard to prepare a windows PE disk as a newbie with Macrium? should I follow some tutorial to do so?

 

[jumanji]

The answer is an emphatic "NO". Only the software that made it can read it and restore.

EDIT: I think I have slowed down too much . The above answer was for the question whether an image made with one program can be restored with another but by the time I put it out, much water has flown.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

The Win PE disc is maybe a little more reliable if you want to take the extra bit of trouble to make it, as opposed to the Linux disc.

why would you say something like that?? is it hard to prepare a windows PE disk as a newbie?

You MUST have a bootable disc to restore an image. The Linux discs you make with the app might not actually be bootable--you have to test them to confirm that. Macrium has 3 ways to make a Linux disc, realizing that any one method might not work. In some cases, none of the 3 will work.

The Win PE discs are more likely to boot, but you still have to test them to confirm that.

As I recall, you have to download a WAIK package from Microsoft to make the Win PE disc, and then follow some tutorial instructions. It's not "hard", but requires some attention.

I think certain versions of certain imaging apps can make a Win PE disc without that download, but I don't recall the details.

 

[whs]

yes indeed. WHS - in the Macrium site, there is a mention about "Windows PE 3 Rescue Media (RAID support)". I think this is a bootable recovery disk, isnt it? with use of this, shall I be able to recover to a newly formatted C: partition from the E: or any other external hard where I may hold up my Image of C:? or would I have to install windows before I use this. its a little bit confusion with me. Todo offers it and they have a tutorial too. but I couldnt find a one on Macrium. thank you

I would recommend the WinPE disc (DVD) because it offers more functions and you see what you are doing. It is a bit tedious to produce because it has to download the Microsoft WAIK which is 1.7GB. But the Macrium WinPE production Wizard does all that for you and you only have to follow the guidance.

And yes, to recover from an image. you load from the WinPE DVD, navigate to the external disk where you stored your image and restore from that. It is very simple.

In the tutorial I made, there is a link for a tutorial that Keith (Kado) made showing how to deal with the WinPE disc.

 

[suspect008]

guys, really just heard about this WAIK package 1.7GB is okay. where can I download this and can you direct me to a tutorial on how to create this WinPE disk?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=5753

I think the imaging app will guide you through use of the WAIK. Just choose "Win PE disk" rather than Linux disc when you go to create a recovery disk.

 

[suspect008]

I would recommend the WinPE disc (DVD) because it offers more functions and you see what you are doing. It is a bit tedious to produce because it has to download the Microsoft WAIK which is 1.7GB. But the Macrium WinPE production Wizard does all that for you and you only have to follow the guidance.

yes I have watched that tutorial. thank you. and here as you say, If I use macrium free version to create my winPE disk, wouldnt I have to download that WAIK package? or you meant that macrium will download it automatically for me?

 

[suspect008]

Download: Windows® AIK for Windows® 7 - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

I think the imaging app will guide you through use of the WAIK. Just choose "Win PE disk" rather than Linux disc when you go to create a recovery disk.

thank you....

 

[suspect008]

Download: Windows® AIK for Windows® 7 - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

I think the imaging app will guide you through use of the WAIK. Just choose "Win PE disk" rather than Linux disc when you go to create a recovery disk.

thank you....

I think I should be downloading WAIK for Win7 SP1 which is about 1.3gb as Im using Win7 SP1?

Download: The Windows® Automated Installation Kit (AIK) Supplement for Windows® 7 SP1 - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I think I should be downloading WAIK for Win7 SP1 which is about 1.3gb as Im using Win7 SP1?

Download: The Windows® Automated Installation Kit (AIK) Supplement for Windows® 7 SP1 - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

I don't think so.

At that link, it says "......helps you to install, customize, and deploy the Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 family of operating systems."

But that's not what you are trying to do.

I'm sure I didn't use it. I used the 1.7 GB package and I do have SP1.

 

[suspect008]

sorry, my bad....hehe.... thank you all very very much. you guys saved me from hell of a problems I would be facing. thank you all again, especialy whs, ignatzatsonic. jumanji and everyone. and of course I have learned little bit from something and got to learn a lot more. I guess I will be hanging around here for sometime....