Image Backup the Registry?

[Someone]

Hi

I was wondering does image backup programs backup the registry?

Thanks

[Peter2150]

Originally Posted by Someone

Hi

I was wondering does image backup programs backup the registry?

Thanks

They sure do. Good ones backup everything on the disk. Some might omit track 0, mbr etc, but all files would be backed up, and the registry is just files.

Pete

[Someone]

Originally Posted by Peter2150

They sure do. Good ones backup everything on the disk. Some might omit track 0, mbr etc, but all files would be backed up, and the registry is just files.

Pete

Hi

OK. Thanks for the reply!

Is track 0 and the MBR important? Should it be backed up?

Thanks

[Peter2150]

Originally Posted by Someone

Hi

OK. Thanks for the reply!

Is track 0 and the MBR important? Should it be backed up?

Thanks

Some imaging programs like ShadowProtect do it automatically

Pete

[ErikAlbert]

Originally Posted by Someone

Hi

OK. Thanks for the reply!

Is track 0 and the MBR important? Should it be backed up?

Thanks

I always backup/restore the MBR, the MBR belongs to your image.
You can have an image that contains a software that changes the MBR and you can have another image that does not contain such software.
Since you have two images with different MBR's you better restore the MBR that belongs to that image to avoid problems.
In the past I had images with different MBR's, when FDISR still changed the MBR (not anymore). I had images with FDISR and without FDISR in those days.
I'm certainly not an expert in MBR, it's pure logical reasoning that made me do it this way and fooling around with MBR is no fun, if you are an average user.

[Someone]

Originally Posted by Peter2150

Some imaging programs like ShadowProtect do it automatically

Pete

Hi

But is it important? Will the image still work if it does not backup the MBR?

Thanks

[Peter2150]

Originally Posted by Someone

Hi

But is it important? Will the image still work if it does not backup the MBR?

Thanks

As Erik said, it depends on what software you have. It's best to have everything in the image if you are going to do a bare metal restore, ie new disk.

Pete

[Someone]

Originally Posted by Peter2150

As Erik said, it depends on what software you have. It's best to have everything in the image if you are going to do a bare metal restore, ie new disk.

Pete

Hi

OK. Thanks. So it's best to backup everything but not essential to backup stuff like MBR?

[Ocky]

Originally Posted by Someone

Hi

OK. Thanks. So it's best to backup everything but not essential to backup stuff like MBR?

With Acronis the MBR is included in an image backup of c: or the whole disc.
It's only necessary to restore the MBR if it is broken, so seeing that I have
never had a damaged MBR, I only opt to restore the c: (OS partition).

[Someone]

Originally Posted by Ocky

With Acronis the MBR is included in an image backup of c: or the whole disc.
It's only necessary to restore the MBR if it is broken, so seeing that I have
never had a damaged MBR, I only opt to restore the c: (OS partition).

Hi

OK. Thanks. So it is not necessary, but optional.

[Ocky]

Originally Posted by Someone

Hi

OK. Thanks. So it is not necessary, but optional.

Yes, with Acronis the MBR is automatically backed up with the image
of c: or the whole disc. When restoring, and provided you know that
the MBR is not damaged, i.e. computer boots OK but Windows hangs
or only partially boots and tries to restart, this is indicative of a system
file being damaged and not the MBR. In this case you would only need
to restore the image backup of c: (and not the MBR - deselect it if
you have this option).
On the other hand if you start up and the system won't boot, with
maybe an error message like 'non system disc', then it would indicate
a problem with the MBR. So in this case I would restore only the MBR.

[LenC]

Can it hurt to always restore the MBR when restoring a partition? Seems to me that would be a reasonable policy to follow. Why guess as to whether you need either or both?

[jonyjoe81]

The MBR is optional. You can back it up or don't back it up. I never back it up or restore it.

An image backup of a "bootable partition" will always be bootable when restored whether the MBR is backed up or not.

The MBR is an item the is specific to each hard drive. If you backup a MBR on drive A (100gb) and restore that MBR on drive B (200gb), it is very possible that drive B will be listed as a 100gb hard drive. That's the only reason I never restore a MBR from one hard drive to another different hard drive.

[Ocky]

Originally Posted by LenC

Can it hurt to always restore the MBR when restoring a partition? Seems to me that would be a reasonable policy to follow. Why guess as to whether you need either or both?

No, it will just take longer. When dual booting with Linux it will overwrite
grub bootloader so that one has to restore grub, usually using a live CD.
(Just mentioning this in case you are dual booting with Linux). It's the
main reason why I prefer only restoring c: partition if the MBR is not
broken.