Macrium Reflect

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

  1. gary_seven

    gary_seven Registered Member

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    "To celebrate International Love Data Week, we’re offering 20% off Reflect 8 Home! So put all these practices in place, get yourself top-notch backup and recovery software, and share the love with someone whose data you want to protect, too!"

    (offer end 2/20/2023)
     
  2. camelia

    camelia Registered Member

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    Hello

    I forgot when and why MR suggest to check BitLocker Support.
    Can someone please help me with an example, when the 2 options are checked?
    Thanks

    This is too technical for me

    MR.jpg
     
  3. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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  4. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    Do any volumes you’ll be working with in the Rescue environment use BitLocker? If yes, enable the first option.

    Do you want your Rescue Media to store auto-unlock keys for known BitLocker volumes for convenience, with the tradeoff being that your Rescue Media will now contain arguably sensitive info? If yes, enable the second option. But if you choose NOT to enable that, you’ll need to be technical enough to use manage-bde in Command Prompt to unlock volumes.
     
  5. yoorrik

    yoorrik Registered Member

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    Hello! I have a question about "Add BitLocker Support" when creating MacriumRescue
    HERE I read: https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Adding BitLocker support to Windows PE
    "When Windows PE starts any BitLocker locked drives that were attached when the recovery media was created it will automatically unlocked them."
    1. So... now I can(?) create a MacriumRescue on my computer, check "Add BitLocker Support" + "Automatically unlock BitLocker Volumes", then download this MacriumRescue on another computer, then unlock "BitLocker" and save all disks of another computer ??
    Even without a password?? What about "strong BitLocker encryption"?
    Or did you mean that "Automatically unlock BitLocker Volumes" will only work for my computer where I created MacriumRescue?
    2. If the drive is BitLocker locked, then can I use "intellectual" copy mode (i.e. small copy size), or can I only use "sector copy" mode (i.e. large copy size)?
    3. Okay, now I create MacriumRescue on my computer, check "Add BitLocker Support" but don't check "Automatically unlock BitLocker Volumes", ... Then I run MacriumRescue on another computer. Can MacriumRescue unlock this computer's drives if I know its "BitLocker" password?
    How to do it?
    4. What about compatibility of "BitLocker" versions of Windows 7, Windows 10 and Macrium 7.3/8.1 .. ?
    For example, if I create a MacriumRescue on a Windows 7[x64] or Windows 10 1809 [x64] system, and then run that MacriumRescue on a Windows 10 22H2 [x64] system, then will the "BitLocker" function work correctly?
    P.S. I haven't used "BitLocker" yet so sorry if my questions are not correct...
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2023
  6. Buddel

    Buddel Registered Member

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    Version 8.1.7378 has just been released:

    Bug fixes and Improvements v8.1.7378 - 13th February 2023

    • Disk Images
      • Some customers have reported a slower backup speed to mechanical HDD. This has been improved.
      • Incorrect transfer rates were reported for split file backups where automatic file verification was enabled. This has been resolved.
      • Images could fail with 'unknown error' if the CPU priority slider was at the lowest or second to lowest setting. This has been resolved.
      • When restoring partition(s) to an MBR disk with logical partition(s) at the front of the disk, the extended partition could be incorrectly extended to beyond the start of the next primary partition. This has been resolved.
    • Server Plus
      • ESENT.dll could cause a program exception when Reflect starts. This has been resolved.
     
  7. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    I updated. Nothing exploded yet. :eek: :D
     
  8. stapp

    stapp Global Moderator

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    It asked for a reboot after the update when I did it.
     
  9. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    Same here but it came back so I am assuming it safe. I hate to sound like I'm picking on them too much but things can happen with any update.
     
  10. Buddel

    Buddel Registered Member

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    I also updated. No problems so far.:)
     
  11. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    1. The Rescue Media build process creates BEK files for any unlocked BitLocker volumes that are connected at the time of the build, and it embeds them into the Rescue Media, so that the Rescue Media has the necessary info to auto-unlock those specific volumes. If the Windows partition on the system you’re using is itself protected by BitLocker, then Reflect will store those BEK files on the Windows partition for future use, so that if you had a certain external HDD attached during one Rescue Media build but didn’t have it connected again during a later Rescue Media build, that later build will still have an unlock file for that previously connected external HDD. But no, you can’t just copy pre-built Rescue Media from one PC onto another PC and pull BitLocker keys for that second PC’s volumes. Well, technically you COULD do that manually, since BEK files are a standard BitLocker item and not something proprietary to Reflect, but doing that would require admin access on the second system to generate those BEK files, and you’d also have to be comfortable modifying the Rescue Media WIM file.

    2. If the volume is locked, you can’t use intelligent sector copy mode because Reflect can’t see the file system. You don’t have to manually switch to forensic mode though. Reflect will just copy every sector automatically. This is discussed more in the “BitLocker Restore Outcomes” KB article.

    3. If you want to unlock any BitLocker volumes for which auto-unlock files aren’t available, you would open Command Prompt in the taskbar and use the manage-bde utility, which is a Microsoft tool. You can find TechNet documentation for that and/or run “manage-bde -?” for help. Windows PE/RE does not provide a graphical BitLocker unlock interface, and Macrium has not created their own. I’m also pretty sure that auto-unlock only works for volumes that are attached when Rescue loads. If you connect the device later, you’ll need to unlock it manually, even if there’s a BEK file on the Rescue Media.

    4. Windows 10 1511 added support for a new AES-XTS BitLocker encryption mode, so if you want to work with BitLocker volumes that use that mode, your Rescue Media will need to be using that kernel or higher. Apart from that, compatibility shouldn’t be an issue. Reflect application version isn’t an issue.
     
  12. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    Updated with no issues. Tested backup and restore successfully...
     
  13. yoorrik

    yoorrik Registered Member

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    Ok, thanks!,.. but using the Command Line (manage-bde) might be a problem for some users..
    In this old article dated October 28, 2018 https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Adding BitLocker support to Windows PE
    it says that if when creating MacriumRescue I only checked "Add BitLocker Support", but did not check "Automatically unlock BitLocker Volumes", then I can create BitLocker encryption key (.BEK) files and/or BitLocker password TXT files using the Windows 10 menu (i.e. without using the Command Line).
    I then save this BEK-file to the root of my MacriumRescue flash drive to unlock the encrypted drives when MacriumRescue starts up.
    Will this also work on Windows 10 21H2, Windows 11 and Macrium 7.3…8.1?
    Or is using the Command Line (manage-bde) a better solution?
     
  14. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    I haven’t tried manually creating and storing BEK files. I personally don’t want unlock info in my Rescue Media, and if I did I would just enable the auto-unlock option. I wouldn’t need to add BEK files for other PCs and have no problem using Command Prompt. But if BEK files will be used from the root of the Rescue Media rather than having to be at the root of the image within the WIM file, that’s certainly handy.
     
  15. yoorrik

    yoorrik Registered Member

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    Thank you! Macrium is a really good program, and thanks to you all its functions become clear! …But I like the old v.7 design…
     
  16. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    Happy to help. :) Interesting that you prefer V7, because I think V8 is a major step forward in terms of interface design efficiency. The Existing Backups tab now shows much more information at-a-glance and shows far more backups at a time since each backup is a line rather than a large block as in V7. And you can group backups by set, filter views by folder or definition file, etc. It's a similar story on the Log tab. On V7 you literally had to expand date items to see any jobs that occurred on that date, and you could only see one type of log at a time (image backups, F&F backups, etc.), so there was no at-a-glance view at all. Now you get useful information as soon as you switch to the tab, and once again you can filter the content by outcome, definition file, etc. And you can have tabs for multiple job logs open simultaneously.

    What do you prefer about V7?
     
  17. yoorrik

    yoorrik Registered Member

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    I think you're right, but I like v7 and don't like v8 the same way I like Windows 7 and don't like Windows 10...
    ***
    I have tested many versions of Macrium Reflect 7.3 - 8.0... they all load and work well.
    However... all 8.1 versions of "Macrium Reflect Server Plus" don't work:
    Error occurs on startup: "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142)"
    https://i121.fastpic.org/big/2023/0217/eb/d51e1ae7ed2061cd460c381cb4ad9eeb.jpg
    Additional information: After uninstalling the program through the Control Panel, 7 files in the C:\ProgramData\Macrium folder are not deleted
    HERE I read for Version 8.1.7378
    http://updates.macrium.com/reflect/v8/v8.1.7378/details8.1.7378.htm
    "Server Plus"
    ESENT.dll could cause a program exception when Reflect starts. This has been resolved"

    Hmm... :(
    ***
    my System: Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 21H2 [x64] (19044.2604) [MSDN]
    Motherboard: GigaByte EP45-DS3L
    Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz
    Memory: 6.00 Gb
    Hard drive: WD Gold 2 Tb
    ***
    P.S. This command runs without error: sfc /scannow
     
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2023
  18. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    I don't use Exchange or SQL on-prem, so I've never bothered with Server Plus. Not sure what happened (is still happening?) on that front.
     
  19. yoorrik

    yoorrik Registered Member

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    If the problem occurred on "Server Plus", then the problem is possible on "Home"...
    On my second system (newer hardware installed here) :
    "Macrium Reflect Server Plus 8.1.7378" .. installs and runs without problems:
    Motherboard: GigaByte Z77-HD3; Processor: Intel Core i5-3340 @ 3GHz: Memory: 16 Gb; Hard drive: WD Gold 2 Tb
    System: Windows 7 SP1 Pro [x64]
    ***
    I think if version 8.1 requires newer hardware than versions 7.2…8.0 then Macrium should report hardware "limits" for 8.1
     
  20. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    Not sure what you want to hear on this one. Apparently the issue with ESENT.dll was specific to Server Plus, per the release notes. Of course theoretically a problem that affects one edition can affect another, but that isn't a given. And if you're judging Reflect 8 vs. Reflect 7 based on a bug or an error where you haven't understood the underlying cause, I'm not sure that's entirely fair, but to each his own.

    Reflect 8.1 doesn't require newer hardware. It is capable of leveraging multiple CPU cores now, which it wasn't before, but it doesn't require them. And it is possible to reduce task priority and core utilization with the priority slider if the default 8.1 setting is too aggressive for your hardware.

    Are you actually running Exchange and SQL DBs on a system with those specs?
     
  21. yoorrik

    yoorrik Registered Member

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    I checked another computer...
    Motherboard: GigaByte P35-DS3L; Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz; Memory 4 Gb; Hard drive WD 500Gb
    System: Windows 10 1809 [x64] [MSDN] ( sfc /scannow - no error)
    Trial :
    1. Macrium 8.0.7175 Home (x64) Installation and Launch - Good; MacriumRescue.iso uses default (online) WinPE10_1709
    2. Macrium 8.0.7175 Server Plus (x64) Installation and Launch - Good; MacriumRescue.iso uses default (online) WinPE10_1709
    3. Macrium 8.1.7378 Home (x64) Install and Run - Ok MacriumRescue.iso uses default(online) WinPE10_2004
    4. Macrium 8.1.7378 Server Plus (x64) Installation - Ok, Starting - Error occurs on startup: "The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142)
    ...Perhaps this information will help programmers fix bugs ... or managers will publish a list of processors and motherboards for ver. 8.1 ......
    PS... I'm interested in testing programs sometimes ;)
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2023
  22. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    If you have paid licenses and hope to see fixes or compatibility info, then go report the problem directly on the Macrium forum.
     
  23. camelia

    camelia Registered Member

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    How do I know if any volumes I will be working with in the Rescue environment use BitLocker?

    An example please :'(
    Thanks
    Camelia
     
  24. aldist

    aldist Registered Member

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  25. jphughan

    jphughan Registered Member

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    Check Windows Explorer. Do any of the volumes show a padlock over their drive icon? Reflect shows a padlock on BitLocker volumes in its Local Disks tab too. Beyond the volumes connected now, do you ever expect to store image backups on a volume that will be using BitLocker protection, which will then require you to unlock that volume in Rescue to restore from the backups that are on it?

    But if should never come as a surprise to you that you’re using BitLocker, because that would then suggest that you don’t have a Recovery Key for that volume backed up somewhere, which would then suggest that you could end up unable to recover your data in certain circumstances.
     
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