Macrium Reflect

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

  1. Tarnak

    Tarnak Registered Member

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    I have started having a problem with my daily scheduled incremental backup.

    It will run, but it takes much longer a than it normally takes, and then it will say it has failed.I haven't any idea why it is happening. I just tried to cancel the program, and it won't stop.

    MacriumReflect_failure_01.JPG

    MacriumReflect_failure_02.JPG
     
    Last edited: Apr 21, 2019
  2. Tarnak

    Tarnak Registered Member

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    Still running:

    MacriumReflect_failure_03.JPG
     
  3. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    Just a quick aside to the CBT queries.

    In v6, I could add Windows Boot Menu from the Other Tasks menu, and as far as I can remember, you could reboot and go straight into Macrium Reflect System Recovery. I think it was a "run once" setup.
    In v7, it is further down in the menu in Other Tasks > Create Rescue Media. If I enable it in v7, is it a permanent addition to the boot menu, and do I get prompted each and every time whether to boot to Windows 10 or Macrium Reflect System Recovery?
     
  4. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    The boot menu option was moved starting with V7.2 because in V6 and earlier V7 releases it wasn’t intuitive to users that they had to use the Rescue Media wizard to build a file set for the desired WinPE version before enabling the boot menu option in a completely separate interface (and use the Rescue Media wizard to update that file set for their boot menu option environment), and also because the boot menu environment uses the same file set as Rescue Media anyway.

    But other than the interface for managing this setting being in a different place now, it works the same way, namely by adding a BCD entry to Windows Boot Manager. In both cases, you can choose whether you want to see a boot menu every time or just want to have it registered for “on-demand” access. I believe the default is the former, but you can modify it by using MSConfig’s Boot tab and adjusting the boot menu timeout to 0 to hide it or any non-zero value to show it at each boot. I normally use 3 seconds because the timeout cancels if you press any key when the boot menu is displayed, and I find that 3 seconds is enough time for me to react (and for displays to wake up, etc.) when I want to make a non-default choice, while not adding too much extra time to normal boot cycles.
     
    Last edited: Apr 22, 2019
  5. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    Thanks @jphughan . I don't remember having to build it every time.
     
  6. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    What do you mean “build” it every time? You don’t have to build it every time. The only time that would be necessary would be if your Rescue Media file set needed updating, which would typically be due to a Reflect update. Prior to 7.2, if you wanted to update your boot menu recovery environment to start using the updated Reflect version you might have just installed, you’d have to go through the Create Rescue Media wizard and click Rebuild at the end. The actual boot menu option interface gave you no indication that your file set was outdated. That was all rather intuitive. With 7.2, Reflect will now tell you if your boot menu file set is outdated, in which case yes it will default to forcing you to rebuild that environment.
     
  7. guest

    guest Guest

    - Server Plus Edition -
    Macrium Reflect v7.2.4230 Released (April 22, 2019)
    Download
    Changelog
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 23, 2019
  8. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Not available for download as of yet (in HOME, WORKSTATION or SERVER <only ones checked>)...
     
  9. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    If I disable it, then go back to enable it, the only option to enable it again, is "Build".
     
  10. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    That's a cosmetic thing. It won't actually rebuild the WIM file unless that's necessary. If the "Status" field higher above in the UI shows "OK", then no actual rebuild will occur.
     
  11. paulderdash

    paulderdash Registered Member

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    Yes v7.2.4228 still shows as up to date here (paid version).
     
  12. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    :thumb:
     
  13. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    I just tried using the boot menu option, and I selcted it, but it got stuck on this:
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ._
    With the underscore flashing.

    I never had any trouble with v6, none.
    I know I keep saying it, but I don't know why I took a step backwards when v6 was faultless.
    And it is not just me saying it. They need to pick their game up.

    They are losing their reputation quickly.
     
  14. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    So, in reality, Reflect doesn't make a true and complete drive image.
    Because a true and complete drive image would be the same as what it has imaged.

    There should be an option to create a true and complete drive image.
    Data space is so damn cheap, I just don't understand their reasoning for doing this.
     
  15. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    Well again, this behavior is the result of a design decision in VSS, which is a Microsoft technology, not a Macrium technology. Most live disk image solutions use VSS rather than a proprietary snapshot engine, so most live disk image solutions would exhibit this behavior. Additionally, the Server Plus version of Reflect supports backing up SQL and Exchange, and trying to back those up without using VSS is extremely risky. Same goes for systems using Hyper-V and performing a host backup while guest VMs are running. VSS has a very elegant solution to this. I suppose Macrium could develop their own snapshot engine and then allow users to choose between VSS and their engine, but a) most users wouldn’t know what this meant or the ramifications of the decision, b) it doesn’t seem worth the effort given that VSS’s exclusions typically aren’t critical, c) applications that have continuous activity and are designed to work with VSS to perform reliable data backups in spite of that likely wouldn’t operate with Macrium’s engine, which could create new problems, and d) that engine would be one more potential source of bugs or other problems, and the potential impact of bugs in a snapshot engine would be quite high.

    I’m also wondering if some of the post-restore problems you observed might have been the result of the CBT issue under discussion here. Did you ever mount the backup you originally restored and run a CHKDSK on it? In the lead-up to the announcement of the previous CBT image corruption bug, I remember reports of people restoring backups and finding that Windows would boot but several things didn’t work properly. But again, the missing system restore points is normal, although if you’re a regular Reflect user, the need for them seems rather diminished.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2019
  16. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    If you really feel that you need "everything," the forensic image is always an option (uses lots of space ).

    I'm sure their thinking is that REFLECT is a much better System Restore tool than Microsloth's System Restore, mainly because it includes everything rather than being limited like the MS System Restore tool. It also dumps the PageFile and the Search Index files, both of which are created when the System restarts. I stopped using the MS System Restore tool the day I started using an imaging solution (long before REFLECT) for my disks... the MS tool was just to limited as to what it saved.

    If you dig deep enough, you will find the "unofishul" exception list used by Reflect when it runs (Warning: it's a convoluted Registry modification associated with VSS).
     
  17. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    Any third-party AV running? I’ve seen that interfere with this process because technically new BCD entries can be used for malicious purposes. I agree that V7 has been a bit rocky, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that V7 (and then 7.1) saw the introduction of low-level, persistent background components, elevating the potential for conflicts with other applications and other issues. And if you read the release notes, many of the significant fixes have pertained to CBT and MIG. And now apparently there were 2 updates launched in as many days, with the most recent update listing a fix that was also mentioned in the previous day’s update.

    That said, I personally consider V7 and especially V7.2 to have some important improvements over V6. The addition of the “Completed with warnings” outcome alone has come in handy on a few occasions for some installations I support, as well as others on the forum who prior to 7.2 had situations that could have been smaller or avoided entirely had that feature existed at the time. And having access to ReflectMonitor so that I can see the progress of a backup running as a background is very helpful too.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2019
  18. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    System Restore is one of the first things I turn off when I get a new system.
     
  19. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    the first thing here too. :thumb:
     
  20. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    I'm guessing that this update only affects the SERVER PLUS variant of Macrium REFLECT, that's why nobody is seeing it as of yet for any other variant.
     
  21. guest

    guest Guest

    Yes, i have edited the post to not cause confusion and for all other editions this should be the latest version:
     
  22. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    Once again, unlike v6, ReflectMonitor is only an icon with no percentage progress.
     
  23. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    No, ReflectMonitor is the full activity monitor window if you actually click Show. Or better yet, just press Ctrl+Alt+M to display it and Esc to dismiss it. (I use keyboard shortcuts wherever possible because one can work vastly more efficiently in general that way compared to losing time moving your hand between the keyboard and mouse and having to move the cursor all over the place to trigger actions.) I'm not sure why the progress indicator in the system tray tooltip disappeared, and hopefully it can be brought back since I realize it can be convenient, but between the two current options, I'd much rather have access to the entire activity window -- and the ability to view progress without having to touch the mouse :) -- than V6's simple percentage indicator.

    Also, on V6 if a backup job started while nobody was logged in, then a user who logs in during the job doesn't even get that system tray icon. That can be a major inconvenience on server installations of Reflect (it certainly was for me), since servers typically don't have anybody logged in. V7 fixed that.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2019
  24. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    No, I don't use a third party AV.

    Where do I click "Show" from? There is no menu on the tray icon.
     
  25. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    Right-click it, specifically the icon of a hard drive. Or if you started the running job in the logged on user's context, the icon will be the Macrium logo, although incidentally that icon DOES show the progress as a mouseover tooltip. But if for some reason right-clicking the disk icon doesn’t work, try the keyboard shortcut? If that doesn’t work either, do you have any applications that are limiting startup items or background processes? If you check Task Manager, do you see ReflectMonitor running?
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2019
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