NOT a BETA NOT a ALPHA, Something else, After you spent time and effort building a boat sometimes you just have to push it in the water and see if it floats, Would not be surprised if Macrium were Following this thread intensely.
Just a side note from a non techie. I'm following this thread understanding some things, not understanding other things. I won't install the unreleased versions, because I don't have the knowledge to participate, and as I read here, there's no directions to read. I mention this in the hopes that this thread or a new thread start over when the new Released version comes out so I or we can start picking it apart together with something to look at and directions to read. Following this thread about the new v6 is like handing a blind man an unfamiliar object and asking him to describe it.
OK, I finished a quick @Peter2150 test and it followed what I thought would happen. Running a FOREVER INCREMENTAL without having the function "Create a synthetic full if possible" engaged, does exactly what I thought it would do. The BASELINE is established and the # of defined incrementals crawls along its independent timeline with the baseline remaining as it was originally taken. Each time a truncated incremental is disposed of (merge n+1 into n, delete n+1, rename n = n+1), the next lead incremental file does change size (via Windows Explorer) due to the merging operation above, but all other "viewable file attributes" remained as the original (Create/Modify/Access). The result is as expected although the file attributes should have changed. But when that option mentioned earlier is engaged ("Create a synthetic full if possible"), things really get weird as I expounded upon in an earlier post. I decided to allow Macrium to mount the earlier described 00-00 baseline (which is dated 07June but Macrium says represents 7pm on 09June) to see if that baseline is really moving forward... and indeed it is. The LOGs state that when in that mode, the first available incremental is merged into the baseline, then that incremental is deleted and the new incremental is added. I guess the main issue is, it appears that this is happening, and according to MD5 and SHA1 checksums the file (and all the rest of the chain) is changing. BUT, Windows file attributes are not changing at all, not even the SIZE. I know following a merge of an incremental into that baseline, that baseline size has to be changing. At the moment this is pure black magic to me ... but I will continue to test anyway. Edit: even when running in the @Peter2150 mode (no baseline update), Macrium still modifies each and every standing incremental with a tiny 15+mB change without affecting the individual major file attributes... have no idea what this is all about.
It appears Macrium has this version in the hands of some "special" Corporate customers which I guess might make it a PRIVATE PREVIEW of sorts. ...and for sure it's now in the hands of WILDER'S CORPORATION
Not modifying timestamps is easy for a program to do. Maybe Macrium service checks also the timestamps and not only the filenames to determine the correct order of the tree and that is why they keep them constant. It could be helpfull if a user decides to give custom names in each snapshot file; in that scenario macrium would be able to determine the order of the tree from the timestamps and the extentions, ignoring the filenames alltogether. As for the size, it can be easily explained. It seams that the new format they chose works more like a database container, since it is faster to update the modified sectors in it. And the fact that it does not get bigger or smaller when merged, means that the new sectors that are moved inside the container are fewer or equal in number than the older ones that get replaced/removed. And the fact that the size of the container/baseline file is not decreasing, is probably macrium's decision in order to prevent meaningless fragmentation of the file in case the image is placed on an HDD. Panagiotis
I suspect that its easier than it appears, don't forget the guys testing here are pushing the program. I doubt the rest of us will do, or be concerned with, anything so involved. That being said I am also sure that, given the history of those testing now, if we have any questions they will be available and happy to help.
To be honest, I doubt there will all that much to pick apart. And yes we are pushing it. That's the way to gain confidence, and yes we all will be happy to help Also as to nothing to read, if you are already running 5.3 it's not hard. If you are a new user to macrium that's another thing.
I notice you said you have the start time for your daily set at 00:00, perhaps in this alpha/beta that isn't seen as a valid time? Does it work if you change it to 01:00?
I'm running version 6 build 461. So far working great. I will test redeploy from pe soon. So much to do with little time.
I think most of us released our licenses, and then did a total uninstall, followed by installing v6.0 It was trouble free. But I would answer that yes. Pete
Also did another "extreme" test. I had a chain of 18 incrementals. I reset the number to keep to 3, and took another. Took a bit longer but it successfully collapsed it to 3.
I haven't seen any screenshots of Macrium v6 yet but do you think that it would be a good product for people like me who only started using backup because of the simplicity AX64 offered? I guess what I'm asking is, will Macrium v6 be as easy to use as AX64 and if not, would it at least be easy to learn or will I have to spend hours/days reading though documents to even figure out how to use it?
SanyaIV, I'm sure with some simple tutorials you will be able to pick up the basics of Macrium very well. I don't know how you used AX64 (feel free to explain what backup methods you used) but for those who like a steady stream of INCREMENTALS in the background, once it's set up it's a set and forget. For those who used only AX64's MANUAL snapshot capability, again that's a set and forget with the result being nothing more than an ICON on your Desktop/Start Screen/Taskbar that you <click> once to get you snapshot/backup. And the two modes can run totally independent of one another. Tutorials will help learn the basics, then using the basics you can pretty much set it up to run any way you wish. And of course, there's always Pete et. al (incl. that nosey li'l Frog) to help you along the way. BUT, at the moment, we're still trying to learn everything WITHOUT documentation. As Pete has said, if you are a v5.3 user, it should be simple... if you're a newbie, we';ll help you get started. But we need to get this thing RELEASED to the public first!
As Pete has said, it should be pretty easy. Talk in the background has mentioned a 2-step upgrade requiring your old license in conjunction with an upgrade license that will be issued... no idea how that will work.
Barry, as Pete has said (and I mentioned to SanyaIV), the Macrium UI is fairly logical, and unless you're trying to do some crazy things (which I s'pect you're not), the transition should go smoothly. BUT... there's always the PRICE (no idea what that'll be), and we haven't a clue with the old PRO and STANDARD versions moving to WORKSTATION and HOME versions (maybe HOME will be cheaper than current STANDARD... it's all speculation, though). Not to worry, though... Pete's new Macrium v6 consultant service, aka "Pete's Dragon," will always be available to assist you... and at very reasonable rates
I personally used AX64 to manually create snapshots whenever I felt it necessary, for example before installing a new program or updating an existing program or a driver. Whenever something went wrong I would go back in that chain and restore a snapshot with hot restore. Does/will Macrium v6 have a hot restore? Are the speeds comparable to those of AX64? Does it support comments on the snapshot? (Without comments I won't know which snapshot is which >_<) Thank you Froggie~
Just for general knowledge... v5.3 CANNOT LOAD v6 images for perusal (new format involved), v6 CAN load v5.3 images for perusal (and I assume, restoration, although not tested yet).
MR v6 doesn't have a hot restore perse, but with the boot manager installed, you can set the restore up in windows and walk away. The speeds are way faster, then a "cold" restore, but it only does a warm restore. Is it is fast as AX64, yes and no. The speed could vary greatly from way way fast, to slow as a dog. MRv6 seems to be consistently way faster then a "cold" restore. Then there is reliablity. So far with both MR v5.3 and now v6, I've not see a failure. Alas with AX64, that wasn't the case. Pete
These types of operations are fully supported in Mv6, although if you wanna use 1-click manual snapshotting AND commenting at the same time, that'll be a no-no. But, from within the Macrium UI, you can easily do what you want (5-<click>s) It uses what AX64 calls a WARM restore (automatic reBOOT into a PE required). I find the speeds easily comparable. The "snapshots" (incrementals) are faster in most cases. Yes to COMMENTS but not in the 1-click environment.
Thanks Peter and Froggie~ I think I'll wait until some videos are out for the release version to get a better look at how it works. Perhaps even wait for future versions and see if Hot restore makes an appearance, or if you can simply click a point you want to restore to and it will restart into the warm restore environment and then restore to that point without any further need for interaction. AX64 has worked fairly reliable for me with only one or twice complete f*** ups but when those happens they can be devastating so it would be nice with a more reliable product, not only a reliable product but a reliable team behind it.
I've been doing full backups with MR for quite a while, but that's it. All the new stuff is newbieville.
You're very welcome! Not a bad idea... we don't even know when this version will be "really" available. As far as HOT restore is concerned, there are many vendors of imaging software who have been around way longer than AX64... you might wanna ask yourself why they have never attempted such a thing. I'm sure there's a very good reason (with Windows probably being on the top of their list ). AX64 has truly been a pioneer in this area, but even after 2-years of work, they don't completely have a handle on what's involved with HOT restoration of images. Many current users still cannot do that type of operation reliably... I would say you're lucky if you're one of the users that can. I was... until they released the "new" HOT restore in Build #548... then I was toast. I'm sure AX64 will continue in some fashion trying to get to the bottom of this as well as other issues. But to me, the product has always felt very "ALPHAish" or "BETAish" throughout its entire release history. With Macrium v6, we now have a very experienced imaging company delving into DELTA RESTORE restorations in its imaging product. This is what attracted me initially to AX64... I was previously mainly a snapshot user (Rollback RX) that used conventional imaging to protect myslef against anomalies (which RBrx always seemed to have some in my particular system environment). So again I am now attracted to Macrium v6 (mainly for its new snapshot capability)... and with its very reliable imaging history as a product, I am expecting great things with this endeavor. So far, my experience with this "ALPHA" (no BETA available) version of v6 has been excellent. It's doing what it says it'll do and it's doing it very well. I expect "glitches" along the way but so far... none. I heve never had this type of experience with AX64.
