Right choices for making an system-image?

Discussion in 'Paragon Drive Backup Product Line' started by bene, Oct 27, 2013.

  1. bene

    bene Registered Member

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    This week I started to use PBR 2013 free. I am very impressed by the possibilities. But, although I found a lot of information about types of backups and the settings, I am also very insecure about if I am really doing what I intend to do: making an image of my system, except for the data partition, so if something goes wrong I can recover my system exactly the way it was at the moment of making this backup/image.
    I would very much appreciate it, if someone can check this for me.

    The drives I did select are:
    - My System partition C
    - SonySys
    - Windows RE-tools
    - “No name” partition (44mb)
    - Local disk (empty?)
    I have made a separate backup from the recovery partition.

    I used following settings:
    Objects selected 4
    Size of objects 107.8 GB
    Estimated Archive size 31.2GB
    Best compression
    Do not use hot backup
    Archive is protected with password
    Only data and logical structure
    Do not backup ancillary system files
    Back up all files, including archive files stored in archive library
    No exclude masks were specified
    No VSS Writers were specified

    The backup/image I have made this way, consists following files:
    Img_0_261013_092819223.pbf
    Img_0_261013_092819223.pfm
    Img_1_261013_092819257.pbf
    Img_1_261013_092819257.pfm
    Img_2_261013_092819282.pbf
    Img_2_261013_092819282.pfm
    Img_3_261013_092819308.pbf
    Img_3_261013_092819308.pfm
    PBR2_26okt2013.pbf
    PBR2_26okt2013.pfi

    I am especially insecure if it is OK to disable raw-processing and because of the difference between an image and this backup with PBR.

    Thank you very much
     
  2. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    Some additional information would be helpful:

    - The system that you want to backup, is it UEFI/GPT or BIOS/MBR?
    - Post an image of the map of the disk partitions.
     
  3. bene

    bene Registered Member

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    Thank you for your reaction.

    I have a Sony Vaio Fit SVF-1521G1EW with Windows 8_64bits. I think it is with uefi/GPT because if I use the advanced startup menu from Windows, I have the option to choose uefi settings and in PBR all the disks from the intern volume are labeled as GPT-volume.

    I searched for a long time, but I can not find a way to post images (no manage attachement button in additional options), so I write the information:
    - SONYSYS_GPT Volume_FAT32_size 260MB_Used 20MB
    - Windows RE tools_GPT Volume_NTFS (OEM service volume)_1.4GB_Used 915.8MB
    - NO NAME_GPT Volume_(OEM service volume)_260MB_Used 44.1MB
    - Local Disk__GPT Volume_ _128MB_Used 0 (Acronis True Images says here used 300)
    - System (C:\__GPT Volume_NTFS_106GB_Used 52,5GB
    - Data (D:\_GPT Volume_NTFS_234GB_Used 27GB
    - BackUps (E:\__GPT Volume_NTFS_97.6GB_Used 51GB
    - Recovery_GPT Volume_NTFS (OEM service volume)_25,5GB_Used 23,1GB
     
  4. Mech_An

    Mech_An Registered Member

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  5. bene

    bene Registered Member

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    Re: Right choices for making a system-image?

    I have Acronis True Image also. Plan is to remove it after I am sure I make reliable images with PBR, beause I have two computers now and have bought only one version. I did not notice any problems.

    And now I can see manage attachements, unbelievable I did not see that this morning and yesterday :argh:!

    In the image the map with partitions in windows explorer, but because that does not show all partitions, also diskmanagement and what PBR shows.

    Partitions3a.jpg
     
  6. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    The selection is correct. The NO NAME 260 MB is not essential (possibly a partition to run the OEM diagnostics). If you eventually intend to restore all the partitions, you should keep the original order. In UEFI systems, the relative order of the critical partitions is important.

    The RECOVERY partition possibly is used to restore the factory configuration. If you don´t plan to do this, it´s not necessary.

    You could consider to create a backup of the whole disk, to be more secure.

    About the options:

    "Objects selected 4" (?) It seems that you selected 5 objects, not 4.

    You used "Best" compression. it means smaller images, but more time to create them. You could use Normal compression to reduce the time.

    It´s not clear to me what you mean. If you used "raw processing", you can disable it. It´s not necessary.
     
  7. bene

    bene Registered Member

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    Thank you very much, Robin.
    Yes, I wondered if it was necessarry to use raw processing.
    So now I dare to trust these backups like an image.
    And important to know that the original order is important.
    To be sure I will make a backup from the compleet disk from time to time also.
    I am going to check next time I make an image, why there are 4 objects and not 5. In the archive the "no name" disk is missing.
     
  8. bene

    bene Registered Member

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    So I decided it would be good to make a new image right a way and check how many objects/partion-backups I would get. This time I selected also the recovery partition, so:
    - SonySys
    - Windows RE-tools
    - “No name” partition
    - Local disk
    - My System partition C
    - Recovery
    When the backup was finished, PBR showed in the archive not 6, but 5 partitions. This time the SonySys partition was missing. BUT in the archivefolder in Windows Explorer I had 6 out of 6 archives (6 times a .pbf + .pfm file).
    So this confuses me again. AND checking this, I realised that it can be a big problem if I have to recover the partitions, to make sure I put the right backup-partion back to the right partition.

    So I am sorry, but I have still two questions :'( :
    • Why do I not see all the partitions in PBR in the archive-view? Is this something to worry about?
    • How am I going to recognize where to put which backup partition when I have to recover?
    Thank you
     
  9. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    I don´t really know. I usually don´t use archive views. I choose manually what partition to restore.

    The order of the "system" partitions should be the same that appears in the disk maps, or in the PBR list you posted above:

    1. SONYSYS – The EFI System partition, which is the boot partition.
    2. Windows RE Tools.
    3. NO NAME 260 MB – OEM partition, possibly to run diagnostics. Not essential to boot Windows.
    4. Local disk 128 MB – the MSR partition – required by Windows, it should always be located “after” the EFI System partition.
    5. System (C: ) – contains the Windows installation. It should be located “after” the EFI and the MSR.
    Partitions can be recognized by name or size.

    Each .PBF file corresponds to a partition. If you backed up 6 partitions, you should have 6 .PBFs.

    I think it´s a good idea to create a backup of the whole disk. When you do this, the image will contain only one .PBF file, so it´s easier to restore in the correct order.

    Only the OS (C: ) partition changes frequently. You only need to back up the whole disk occasionally, and the OS partition more frequently.

    Normally, you need only to restore the OS partition. To restore to a new disk, you restore the image of the whole disk, and then a more recent image of OS.
     
  10. bene

    bene Registered Member

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    Thank you again. I foresaw a problem as two partitions have the same size, but with this information I'll manage :thumb: That's how I am going to do it: occassionaly backing up whole disk (except for archive files) and regularly C:\ and I know how to restore.
    The information you gave here, I already backed up :)

    Thank you so much for your help!
     
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