Macrium Reflect Questions

Question about NTFS junctions:

Does anyone know what happens if I have an NTFS junction to a folder on another partition (e.g. suppose I relocated a folder using something like Faronics DataIgloo) and I use the "do not follow - backup reparse definitions" option in Reflect? Does the junction only point to a specific path (e.g. "D:\Users") or does it point to a specific file something like a Unix inode.

In other words, if I have 2 partitions with links from one to the other, do I have to image them at the same time or can I use a mix of imaging and file-based backup?

 

Best to ask that on their forums.

 

1) Every time I create a new image with MR I loose 1-2 GB of free space on my C Drive.

Is that normal or not? If not, what could be the problem?

2) When creating a new bootable USB Flash Drive is it okay to use the one that I already have with a previous version on it?

So, will it change/update the USB Flash Drive?

 

Is the free version compatible with windows 8.1 ( their website says its compatible with windows 8. )? I was using paragon compact with windows 8, but its not compatible with windows 8.1. Thank you.

 

Works fine for me under Win 8.1.

 

Thanks. was looking for a reliable backup solution for windows 8.1

 

"Works fine for me" doesn´t mean it supports 8.1. Some functions may work, others may not. It´s difficult for a normal user to test all the functionality of a complex program.

 

I want to create a schedule for Macrium Reflect to run a backup in the background.

What is the difference between the Schedule button and the VBScript button?
The help file points to the VBScript button when showing how to create a schedule. Maybe that is wrong.

Also. I am planning to do a full backup monthly, then differential or incremental backups weekly. Does it matter that much whether I choose differential or incremental backups?

And can I have Macrium Reflect delete full backups and related differential or incremental backups after a new full backup is created?

 

Hi

if i use macrium deploy system to restore an image to a different hardware like my laptop , Do I need another license ?

thnx

 

It does support Win 8.1.

 

Stigg, did you ever get answers to these questions? Your questions are now mine.

 

Those questions can lead to a long answer...

Macrium back jobs are stores in XML format which can then be scheduled. Macrium offers the option to convert that file into VBScript or DOS batch file format if you want to add some processing before and/or after the backup (move some files around, do some cleanup, etc). Either way, the end result can be scheduled be it an XML job, VB script job or batch file job.

This adds a lot to the powers of Macrium.

I personally prefer differential backups. That way, there are only two files that are of critical importance when restoring (the full backup and the differential to restore from). With incrementals, lose one backup file and you're screwed. I also find differentials easier to cleanup on a daily basis (i.e. delete differentials that are 14 days or older). I have some scripts to handle that automatically.

 

Dearest MarcP,

Can you please post these script for our learning purposes, and help guide us to setup our systems.

Best regards,

Mohamed

P.S. Payments in only made in lots of "Thank You" and kind remembrance of you.

 

How can I resist such sweet talks?

I didn't expand on it because I wasn't sure how to type this in a manner that made sense as it can get quite technical. However, someone made the same request via PM and this is what I wrote...

------------------------

That's a complex topic and that's why I didn't expand more. It can get quite technical, but here is the VB Script code that I use. Keep in mind that this script only works with differential backups. Differentials can be easily cleaned up without consequences.

The following code is schedule to run daily.

Code:

'************ Start of Code **********************

Option Explicit 
'On Error Resume Next 
Dim oFSO, oFolder, sDirectoryPath 
Dim oFileCollection, oFile, sDir 
Dim iDaysOld 
dim objStdOut

' Specify Directory Path From Where You want to clear the old files 

sDirectoryPath = "E:\Images" 

' Specify Number of Days Old File to Delete

iDaysOld = 14

Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") 
Set oFolder = oFSO.GetFolder(sDirectoryPath) 
Set oFileCollection = oFolder.Files 
set objStdOut = WScript.StdOut
For each oFile in oFileCollection

'This section will filter the backup files according to their extension and size.
'Any files with the IMG extension and smaller than 50GB and older than iDaysOld will be deleted.

	'WScript.Echo "Deleting: " & oFile.Name & " - " & CInt(oFile.Size/1024/1024/1024) & "GB - " & oFile.DateLastModified
	If LCase(Right(Cstr(oFile.Name), 3)) = "img" _ 
	   and oFile.Size < 50000000000 Then
 	
 		If oFile.DateLastModified < (Date() - iDaysOld) Then 
			'WScript.Echo "Deleting: " & oFile.Name & " - " & CInt(oFile.Size/1024/1024/1024) & "GB - " & oFile.DateLastModified
			oFile.Delete(True) 
		End If 
 
	End If   
Next 

Set oFSO = Nothing 
Set oFolder = Nothing 
Set oFileCollection = Nothing 
Set oFile = Nothing 

'**************** End of Code *******************

Variables sDirectoryPath and iDaysOld are important and the names are self-explanatory. In my case, it will clean up old backups that was older than 14 days. The other important part is the big "50000000000" number in the code. It equates to 50GB. Any backup smaller than 50GB and older than 14 days will be cleaned up. Since my main backup will always be bigger than that (it's in the 180GB) and my differentials are always smaller than that, it's a good target for me. May need to be adjusted for you.

Then I have batch files that are scheduled as well. This one runs on the 1st of every months:

Code:

ren E:\Images Images_PreviousMonth
md E:\Images

It renames the folder of my backups and creates a new one. In essence, a new backup chain is created every month.

The next one runs on the 15th of every month:

Code:

rmdir /s /q "E:\Images_PreviousMonth"

It basically deletes the renamed folder since I have by now a full 14 days of differential backups.

See, that's why I didn't post this on the forums. Quite technical and long...

 

Makes my head hurt....

 

1 VB scrip and 2 DOS batch files. One scheduled to run daily, 1 on the 1st of every months and 1 on the 15 of every months. Cut 'n paste the code and modify to your specific situation (i.e. path to backup files, number of days to keep, etc).

That's the simple short explanation. There's no other way to better explain it.

 

Dear MarcP,

Many thanks for taking the time and posting the above instructions. I am pretty sure once we fully digest it we will come to highly appreciate it and the excellent work (tutorial) you have provided. For me it is been a learning exercise.

Once again many thanks and highly appreciated.

Best regards,

Mohamed

 

My query is for MarcP
Dear Sir
I am new to your forum.
You seem to be an expert of dealing with MR.
Well, my problem is with MR.
Previously, I installed a free version of MR and used it for some time. Then I uninstalled it to make way for the installation of a more recent version.
I downloaded a Pro (trial) version of MR i.e. version 5.2.6444and tried to install it.
And lo, the installation is not allowed. It says: "The trial period has expired."
It seems there have been some traces of MR previous installation left in the system. I deleted all data manually from C: drive that refers to MR and thoroughly cleaned att traces of MR from the registry also. But all is in vain.
The message still persists.
Is there a utility that would completely wipe out MR,s old installations?
This is also not fair on the part of MR people to block new installations that way.
Bye the way, I use Win7_Ultimate.
Thanks in anticipation.

 

I'm not a Macrium expert, I just happen to play one on TV.

So what you're asking is to re-trial Macrium? If you have tried Macrium Pro in the past, then indeed your trial period has expired. If you want the clock to be reset, you'll need to contact Macrium. If it's possible, then they can help. Otherwise someone could reset the trial for eternity and run Macrium Pro forever for free.

 

I am trying out Macrium and had an interest in differential backup to save time and disk space.
My observations are that the process after the initial full backup, is to reload the full backup then analyse it for differences and then produce the differential.
Further observation seems to show that the above process takes considerably longer than making a second full backup.
I conclude that this is because the sectors are read in full twice, whilst a full backup does so once.
1. Am I wrong in this assumption?

Whilst I appreciate there will be less disk space used for the backup.
2. Have I missed something?
3. Will incremental take a similar time?

4. Should this have been a separate thread?

 

That is not exactly the most helpful of advice.
Why does this thread even exist if macrium have a forum.?

 

What did you expect? I don't work for Macrium. I'm just a user here.

 

Kind regards to The Red Moon
Sir, I presume, your quote to MarcP was in response to what he said in reply to my humble query.
What I feel right now, is that MarcP could have been a little more courteous and helpful as well.
Ok, never mind.
Keep posting.
Thanks again The Red Moon.

 

What he quoted is something I posted back in October. It was not in response to you. I'm done replying to this thread.

 

Duddy,

I though Marc's reply was in order. You are attempting to break the Macrium License Agreement. Your 30 day trial period has expired and you now have to stop using the software or buy it. You agreed to these conditions when you installed the trial.