Macrium Reflect

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Stigg, Nov 23, 2013.

  1. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2005
    Posts:
    12,113
    Location:
    NSW, Australia
    I deleted the boot folder and restarted. The boot folder had been re-created.

    Edit.. The boot folder is only re-created after you have used the Macrium Windows Boot Menu.
     
  2. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2005
    Posts:
    1,926
    One thing I really don't like is that when you install MR or even just use it one time from WinPE, MR will dump a txt file on the root directory of your system Drive. Not very damaging, but really annoying. Someone with MR license, if you don't like this behavior please ask MR support team to stop doing so.
     
  3. MPSAN

    MPSAN Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2004
    Posts:
    962
    I do not have or want a Macrium Windows Boot Menu
     
  4. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2009
    Posts:
    1,680
    Location:
    USA
    I am quite sure that the Boot folder was already there on my Windows 7 machine before I installed Macrium, but I have no way to confirm it now. They may have changed this in Windows 8 and 8.1.

    My Boot folder contains the Macrium folder, as well as 24 other folders and they all appear to be different language folders each containing the same 2 files. Then there are other files in there like memtest, Bootstat, BCD etc.

    In Windows 7, this folder is either on the root C or on the SRP partition. if you have an SRP partition and you install Macrium, you will have one folder in SRP and one new one in C drive. If this is the case then you can safely delete the C drive boot folder.
     
  5. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2009
    Posts:
    1,680
    Location:
    USA
    Same here, after I have built the Macrium WinPE, I copy the contents of the PE to a different partition and then I manually delete the WinPE from inside the C:\Boot\Macrium folder, and then delete the WAIK files, as well as the iso from inside the C:\ProgramData\Macrium folder.

    I usually use the combination of EasyBCD and iReboot to boot into the Macrium Recovery Environment on demand, and in case my PC wont boot, I have the Recovery Environment on a flash disk too.
     
  6. Slacker Sonny

    Slacker Sonny Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2015
    Posts:
    12
    Raza0007, Brian K, and bgoodman4: Thank you so much for your help! I feel much better now, and I will simply forget about the System Reserved Partition (SRP) size discrepancies. I am not using Bit Locker so that is not a factor. The links concerning the SRP were also very helpful. As long as it doesn’t cause problems and Windows 7 boots okay, I can live with the size discrepancy mystery. If for some strange reason the size of the SRP goes over the 100MB allocated for the partition and interferes with booting, I will just have to address the problem then. (I don’t suppose Windows 7 would automatically increase the SRP partition size, would it?)

    In the meantime, back to reinstalling the programs on this laptop! Again, thanks for the help! This is an excellent forum! :thumb:
     
  7. MPSAN

    MPSAN Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2004
    Posts:
    962
    OK...I fixed it, but Reflect does have a small issue...even though I am using the FREE V6. When I tell it to add my LAN drivers, it picks the first directory on my ASUS DVD, and as I said before, it picks the wrong drivers. Even if I point to the proper directory, it will say no driver installed. I know that the one I point to is correct because I see the files in my device manager for the LAN. Anyway, I fixed it. I uninstalled V6 after first trying to remove some directories. That did not work so I uninstalled V6 again...all components and it still did not work. So, I then tried again, but in the BOOT/Marcium/drivers/network folder, I manually added the 7 items I KNEW were needed. I then told it to rebuild my media and all worked OK! I may uninstall again as I did tell it to load all the waik stuff and the d/l was 1/2 GB instead of the 256 MB before. I just want to see what happens but, anyway, the above is a way to manually add drivers and rebuild!

    OH, I know this worked because I booted my new rescue media and went to a command prompt and pinged my router, a few TIVO's, and finally www.google.com...so even DNS is good!
     
  8. puff-m-d

    puff-m-d Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 13, 2002
    Posts:
    5,703
    Location:
    North Carolina, USA
    Hello,

    A new update has been released, version 6.0.708:
    Download Page: http://www.macrium.com/Download.aspx?type=home
    Release Notes: http://updates.macrium.com/reflect/v6/v6.0.708/details6.0.708.htm
     
  9. TonyW

    TonyW Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2005
    Posts:
    2,741
    Location:
    UK
    Quick question: is it necessary to re-do Rescue Media after every Macrium update?
     
  10. MPSAN

    MPSAN Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2004
    Posts:
    962
    I did as I told it to rebuild my media and it said a new version of Macrium has been found. I use DVD-RW media so I just rewrote it.
     
  11. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,943
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    If you want that updated Macrium executable on your RECOVERY MEDIA, you have to do it. If the changes have nothing to do with restorations via the Recoivery MEdia... no, it's not necessary.

    Anything that affects imaging or restore speed should definitely be included in a new Recovery Media.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2015
  12. enonod

    enonod Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2008
    Posts:
    109
    Location:
    UK
    Can anybody help please? I am using MR v6 Free and so Macrium Forum is unavailable.

    I am producing a VHD file from an image made with same, under Windows 8.1 UEFI.
    When I made the MR 'Backup Windows' image two boxes were ticked; the Fat32 and the C partitions.
    When I convert to VHD both parts show in the dialog.Tthe attempt to load the VHD at the end of conversion and also in anything like Winimage to convert to VMDK results in the message that the VHD does not contain a Fat or Fat32 partition.
    I assume that although my original images are restoreable I am not doing something correctly when I backup.
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2015
  13. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2009
    Posts:
    1,680
    Location:
    USA
    Can you please explain a little bit more what you are asking because I could not understand your question. Maybe others are having the same problem.

    Are you trying to create a VHD file using an image that was created with MR v6? Since MR v6 does not have this ability I am assuming you are using Winimage for this purpose. Then this looks more like a Winimage question.

    MR v6.1 onwards will have the ability to directly image to a VHD file, however, it currently does not have this built in.

    You mention that when "you try to convert to VHD, both parts show in the dialog". Is this dialog box from MR or some other software?

    Also, if your goal is to image your system to a VHD file, I would recommend Paragon Backup and Recovery 14 Free edition, that can directly image to a bootable VHD or a VMDK.

    Sorry I could not be more help.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2015
  14. enonod

    enonod Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2008
    Posts:
    109
    Location:
    UK
    Thank you for your response. My goal was to produce an VMX or VMDK image from a MR backup. This is not possible.
    MR v6 does have a menu entry for creating VHD from an image. That is what I used.
    Because I wanted to use VMWare Player v7 I required to convert the VHD image to VMDK - VMX. However, using WinImage to do this resulted in the message that there was no Fat 32 partition (the system) whilst I had already tested that image and booted to the system to prove it.
    The VHD was created from a MR Image which when made contained the Fat32 System and the NTFS OS partitions. I suspect (with little knowledge of UEFI) that having an image with two partitions (both required in order to boot) is causing a problem.
    I hope this is clearer. Thank you for your final suggestion which may be a better solution than MR but I could see no mention of VMDK or normal VHD, only pVHD.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2015
  15. Raza0007

    Raza0007 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2009
    Posts:
    1,680
    Location:
    USA
    You are right. Macrium does contain a image to VHD converter. I just had not noticed it before. I am also surprised that it is available in the free version.

    I will be honest with you. I have never used it to convert a MR image to VHD, so I will probably be not much help here. Just from the top of my head, if your filesystem is FAT32, then you need to ensure that your VHD file size is less than 4 GB in size. 4 GB max file size is a limitation of FAT32. That might be causing your problem.

    Other than that, if your end goal is to convert your system image to VMDK, I would go with Paragon free, as right now, compared with MR free, it is far more easier to convert your system to a VMWare compatible VMDK with Paragon. You do not have to jump through hoops and your VMDK file will be ready in one step. I checked a month ago, Paragon B&R 14 free, allows to you directly image to pVHD, VHD, VMDK and "one more format I forgot".

    If you still need to use Macrium, you will either have to wait for v6.1 or have a look at the following links that I just found from google.

    How to create a Virtual machine from a Macrium image backup

    Youtube Video
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2015
  16. enonod

    enonod Registered Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2008
    Posts:
    109
    Location:
    UK
    You are extremely helpful and thank you. My system as with any Win 8.1 UEFI uses a very small fat 32 partition to boot the system after which the OS is loaded from the OS partition (GBs in size) which here is an NTFS. It does sound as if Paragon may be the way to go, it is simply that the advert page did not mention other than the pVHD. Another page indicated that it could then be converted to VMDK but not how.

    I did try the VMWare vCenter Converter to successfully image a live system but I had to first backup to the current state, Recover to older image, build the VMWare VMDK & VMX then Recover back to the current system... very long winded but may make this exercise academic.

    The link you provided I had read, but it seems that it refers to an early version of the same function that is now built in.
    I will investigate further and then load Paragon to see what can be done. [Edit] The manual suggests that VMDK can indeed be produced direct... thank you for your Paragon suggestion.
    [Edit] Note this free offer...
    http://www.paragon-software.com/promos/hdm-br15-compact/registration.html
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2015
  17. mantra

    mantra Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2005
    Posts:
    6,167
    hi
    i'm thinking to try and maybe buy macrium home 6

    may i ask you 2 question about macrium Home 6 ?

    i'm mainly interested using the winpe rescue cd

    1)
    how does it work ? can somebody explain it ?
    i know it's similar to image for windows/linux Write Changed Sectors Only

    2)
    what does it mean ?
    that macrium 6 perform trim before or during the restore ,doesn't it?
    i guess every software do, i guess image for windows winpe uses trim before/during a restore

    thanks
     
  18. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,943
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    Mantra, Rapid Data Restore can best be explained as such... Macrium looks at the entire FileSystem of the image you're about to restore and compares it against the FileSystem that exists on the disk/partition you're about to restore to. It calculates the exact changed disk blocks between those two file systems and only restores those changed blocks to the partition's FileSystem in question, not the entire image... it works very well and is quite speedy. It is doing a kind of "Write Changed Blocks Only" operation but instead of comparing the actual data, it looks at the file structrure and restores entire disk blocks that have changed in the file system... it doesn't do block data comparison to make that determination, only file structure differences.

    On TRIMming during restore, yes, Macrium will TRIM the disk blocks that will no longer be part of the file system after the restoration. Otherwise those blocks will be lost in the SSDs internal file system (different than Windows) and be carried around by the SSD's Garbage Collection system until the main OS "optimizes" its own file system on that SSD. This is a nice feature but not absolutely necessary if you OPTIMIZE (Win8 ) or use the "SSDtool" (Win7) regularly.

    Most of today's imaging software IS NOT doing SSD TRIM operations during their restores but are heading in that direction and will get there eventually.
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2015
  19. mantra

    mantra Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2005
    Posts:
    6,167
    thanks TheRollabackFrog , but is it compatible with all the drives?
    or could be a issue like image for windows for some drive (like trim drat and so on)

    thanks
    terabyte ifw or image for linux don't use it ,do they?

    i guess i will switch to macrium , hope it's rock solid and Rapid Data Restore it's compatible with all the ssd
    sadly i can't ask to macrium , because the support it's for client only

    thanks TheRollbackFrog!
     
  20. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,943
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    Macrium's imaging method is not drive dependent... it works with all known drives, BUT... their Rapid Data Restore feature is only available with the NTFS FileSystem (not FAT or FAT32), all other file systems use the standard restoration method (Baseline followed by DIFFERENTIALs and INCREMENTALs). Macrium is a FileSystem imaging method, no drive dependencies that's I'm aware of.

    I don't believe it's an Image For Windows issue although I can't stand hard on that statement (I don't use it with "Write Changed Sectors"). But clearly there's a Samsung issue with its firmware and the TRIM command. TRIM, up until the 2011 v3.1 specification, was implemented as what's called a non-queued command. When non-queued commands are executed, they must start and end before any other command may be issued to the SATA device. As a result, this type of command can create a penalty in timing as it has to wait until the function is complete in the hardware... that keeps any other SATA command from being executed until that occurs. If you think about this, that could really slow down the throughput of a SATA device while waiting for that process to complete. That's why Windows has to be careful how and when the command is issued to the device (it does a decent job) to keep the device running at an optimal speed.

    Any hardware (and driver) built to that v3.1 specification (probably only in the newest hardware implementations) now sends a QUEUED TRIM command instead. The problem being noticed is that the Samsung 800 series SSDs are using new firmware to handle the queued nature of the newer TRIM commands. This firmware apparently has some bugs in the area of handling queued TRIM commands. If I was a SAMSUNG owner I would NOT be updating their SSD's firmware until these issues have been worked out by Samsung.

    As far as IFW and SSD's TRIM function are concerned, if their "Write Changed Sectors" mode actually uses data patterns to determine what needs to be restored, there could be issues with the multi-TRIM type SSDs available on the market. Macrium does not do that... that's the reason there are no SSD/TRIM issues of any sort when using Macrium's v6 release.

    ...and I don't know whether IFW/IFL is using TRIM when restoring to SSDs.
     
    Last edited: Jul 12, 2015
  21. mantra

    mantra Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2005
    Posts:
    6,167
    thanks TheRollbackFrog
    i will give to macrium a try (i guess it's rock solid program isn't it? ), sadly what i don't like about it , is that the installation leave files in the reserved zone
    i would like to have only the rescue cd
    cheers

    @TheRollbackFrog to be sure that Rapid Data Restore feature is working and is safe , is there a way to know it?
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2015
  22. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,943
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    I've been using it since the leaked BETA and have found it to be an excellent imaging/restoration program. I also use its extensive scheduling features in a set-and-forget fashion to manage my current backup scheme. I also use its FOREVER INCREMENTAL mode, along with the new Rapid Data Restore Feature, as my newest system snapshot capability... totally solid as compared to AX64 and no scare factor as related to Rollback RX.
    Well, I'm not sure what you mean when you say "reserved zone" but it surely can be installed, Recovery Media created, then uninstalled if you don't want it on your system. I use it extensively under LIVE Windows and would not think of using it only as a Rescue Environment (it's also pretty expensive just for that feature alone).
    Macrium has an impeccable reputation as far as its imaging products are concerned... they've been around for years. The current v6 product, with its RAPID DATA RESTORE, seems to have broken new ground with what the industry calls "Difference Restoration" and provides for a swift restoration process when using that feature. Its new scheduling capability has been improved immensely. For me it, indeed, has proven to be a "rock solid program."
    Well, I don't know of a solid mechanism to say, for sure, its working (don't have one for Windows either :D ), but it does have a VERIFICATION feature (image checksum) to check the images either when they're made and/or later if you wish, and I've performed over 230 restorations since my BETA testing began in December 2014 (most of them using RAPID DATA RESTORE... a few Total restorations) without any issues. Macrium discovered (1) FileSystem issue after the product release (it was reasonably benign) and fixed it immediately. I have a lot of confidence in the application at this point.
     
  23. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2003
    Posts:
    20,590
    Hi Mantra

    Before macrium v6 was released, we beat on it almost brutally. I've already logged close to 200 restores, all with RDR active and haven't had one issue. I now have used it on 4 machines with total sucess.

    Pete
     
  24. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2011
    Posts:
    4,943
    Location:
    The Pond - USA
    Mantra, knowing Peter2150 as well as I do, his endorsement above holds quite a bit of weight for me. I don't think I've met anyone who "tests" an application in as many rugged system environments as he does... he's basically a ruthless tester (and he's also a bit ruthless himself as a moderator :D ). It's that kind of extensive testing that gives him the confidence he has in the Macrium product.
     
  25. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2003
    Posts:
    20,590
    HI Mantra

    Two of the torture tests I ran:

    1. Raxco has a test tool called Scramble. Basically it does the opposite of defragging. In a couple of minutes it turns your disk into a fragmented mess. While that was running, I ran a Macrium increment. It saved the image properly. THen I restored it and it restored to the then state of the disk at that point in time.

    2. I accidentally had Macrium save an image while another imaging program was running. That is a no no. But macrium took the image perfectly, and it restored perfectly.

    And yes the restores were good.

    Pete

    PS. I've also submitted IFW, DS and SP to a lot of testing. They are all good, but nothing comes close to macrium in speed. For example. I run Adobe Acrobat Pro XI. I trial updated it to Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. It uninstall X1, so it swapped out a 2gb program with another 2gb program. Didn't like it so I restored the system back. Time of restore 1:58 minutes.
     
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.