I don't know if this is possible in Macrium but will put the method in below. Using the system disk create 5 incrementals and at each stage add some new program. Then restore the second incremental and develop another set of incrementals again adding some other programs at each state. Is it then possible to restore the top of the original line of incrementals or would confusion ensue.
Ah. I found the settings for this in Perfect Disk. Also I probably could use Scramble for the test. May do it again, but will have to wait until later today.
I haven't tested this yet but every other INCREMENTAL imaging system I've ever used can do this. Usually the incremental contains the PARENT information that the incremental CHILD was born from... this is what should reduce any confusion when it's time to restore. If the system tries to use filnames to do this, yer headed into the rabbit hole. I'll pass on anything I see when I test...
I'd like to add the following to DJG05's inquiry above... An imager, if it wants, can embed PARENT information in each CHILD incremental it creates... but that really isn't necessary, or very useful when you think about it (PARENTs can't easily point to child<ren>). If you think about it, it doesn't really matter how many forks (logical) you may want to create with a backup chain, the incrementals at each fork point can CHILD themselves easily off the last incremental taken even if it's at the end of a different fork... it will produce the changes between the two. Essentially with a new fork, the changes will represent the difference between the fork point (earlier time point) and the last incremental... all will be fine. If you need to restore to a fork point in say Fork #3, the imager will use as a reference the file structure in the restoration time point, then pass though all the taken incrementals (from BASELINE <really 1st incremental> to TARGET) to provide whatever data is needed by that restoration point. Even though you'll be headed to the end of Fork #3, it will pass through the serial set of incrementals taken which will also include other folks, but their incrementals should provide no data (ones taken after the fork point) to assist in the the restoration. There will be no confusion, results will be as expected... except in reading the above explanation (sometimes I just don't know how to clearly write what my head's thinking... sorry). Feel free to ask if some parts make no sense...
Back to Pandlouk's I\O stress test stuff. This time I ran scramble, which is a utility from Raxco used to test Perfect Disk. What it does is Undefrag, and really scramble up the disk. I started it running and then let Macrium take an incremental with verify. All went well. Then I restored that image and indeed it had captured the disk in a scrambled state. Then restored the image prior and all was normal again. Pete
Can the current FREE version do this? I know I have asked about other sw but I see comments about them all. I have 64 bit Win 8.1 Pro installed on a 512 GB SSD...GPT format. It has the following 4 Partitions.. Partitions 1= Recovery 300 MB 2= System 99MB 3= Reserved 128MB 4= Primary 476GB I want a backup of the ENTIRE drive...all 4 partitions (TI sees 3 but I was told that was OK)...so that I can go back to the way it was after doing a few things. I have a dvd writer that will not write well on SATA, but that is a different story. So, will the current free version create a bootable cd/dvd and backup the WHOLE drive?
We're all on the trial version. Can't speak to the limitations of the FREE version until it comes out. However, the trial v6 has no problems with this. My 1TB SSD has 3 partitions. All backed up by the same job.
By the way, the "Reserved" partition is probably just an empty unpartitioned area. Would explain why TI only sees 3. It does not need to be backed up. The position and content of the other 3 is what is important. But it's weird. I have seen "System Reserved" has one partition. Not two as "System" and "Reserved".
My question WAS for the current v5 FREE version. So I guess the answer would be that it WILL back up the whole drive so that I can restore it?
Yes, I saw that and will try the Free Backup for now. It looks like the free version, though still V5, is rather new. I need to revert back to some full images to see if my DVD writer EVER worked in win 8.1. If so, I can see when it stopped working well. I want this Macrium version as a second backup of my current drive.
Marc, See https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn640535(v=vs.85).aspx The OS (in a UEFI System) won't boot without the MSR.
As I remember from my tests of Macrium, there are differences in the WinPE boot medium functionality depending on the version you use to create it. With the Free version, it´s not possible to add drivers when the WinPE is created. It´s necessary to enable an option to check for lacking drivers at execution time, and the drivers must be added manually on every execution. If you use one of the paid versions, drivers can be added automatically when the WinPE is created. A very "smart" procedure, I haven´t seen it in other programs.
So are you saying that my TI images will NOT work? Will the Macrium Free work? I do not know how many the Free edition will see. and instead of creating a WinPE disk, can I just use the Linux based disk?
See post #41 on this page https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/acronis-true-image-2015.369363/page-2#post-2458800 TI must create an MSR during a restore to an entire drive. If you are doing a Win8 partition restore to the same partition, no problems.
I will be using the TI 2015 rescue disk to restore my entire win 8.1 SSD. I guess I am having a hard time trying to understand why all of the Image sw I have looked at have some people saying that it will NOT restore a whole drive. I thought that was what the Software was for!
Me too. I restore several Entire Drive images (UEFI and MBR) each day. Different images, not the same one.
OK, I d/l the free edition...small file so I bet it goes out to get the whole thing. I hope there is no addware. I will test it out. I guess if I do not use RAID I can just create the Linux based recovery media. WOW what a big d/l! Also, we visited OZ a while ago and stayed by the Harbor On The Rocks!
Ha,,,,now I recognize you,,,,cloak and dagger,,,all on the surface,,,,,once a zombie always a ,,,,ack!
