Macrium Reflect

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

  1. Chamlin

    Chamlin Registered Member

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    How do you do that?
     
  2. Chamlin

    Chamlin Registered Member

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    Do these incremental updates necessitate creating new recovery CD's?
     
  3. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    When you do the base image the last thing it does it ask you to create the Definition File. Do so, and be sure to put on another drive. Then you can run the definition file to take images. On the definition tab you will see an icon that looks like a screen. That creates the short cut.

    Pete
     
  4. SPRINTMAN

    SPRINTMAN Registered Member

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    Why not Macrium?
     
  5. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    "bulletproof backup"

    IFW is solid, most notably for its reliability. No bells and whistles.


     
  6. Stigg

    Stigg Registered Member

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    I have researched Image For Windows many times and often wondered if it was reliable, and never saw such a confident comment about its reliability before.

    Of course, reliability is the most important feature in a backup program.
    I may have to try it.
     
  7. SPRINTMAN

    SPRINTMAN Registered Member

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    Which suggests that Macrium isn't. Interesting
     
  8. Atari800xl

    Atari800xl Registered Member

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    Macrium and Terabyte Image are both very good, I'm sure we can agree on that. Maybe Macrium is a bit more beginner friendly (but a bit slower) and IFW is a bit more advanced user friendly (and faster). Still, you could do much worse than these two, I'm sure Oliverjia would agree.
    I was surprised to hear about IFW's little "issues" with restoring to a smaller partition, but again, this is no problem for advanced users, so it's all good...

    This is the Macrium Reflect thread, so let's get back to that:
    I did another test of the new version (on a different PC): this time I got a 6% speed increase. still not the 30% others are getting, but still a nice bonus. Let's not forget there's a free version of Macrium, which is a big "plus" for a lot of people.
     
  9. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Amen to that.

    Pete as the mod.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2014
  10. SPRINTMAN

    SPRINTMAN Registered Member

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    Purchased Macrium Standard. Know to work out how to use it......
     
  11. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    You first bought it and now you will learn how to use it? You know they have 30-day trial option?

    hqsec
     
  12. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    I quote from one post by Jim1cor13 in this forum for your reference:

    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2350321&postcount=2

    "I like version 5 when I have used it, but I had some strange issues once after a restore of a complete disk...after restore, Macrium had changed my extended partition type from 15/Fh to 5/Fh if i recall correctly and I never did figure out why. Boot it mare metal from Terabyte notified me when I ran it to check the structure, that the extended data should be 15/Fh, not 5/Fh.

    Just my experience with version 5, but my older version of the free Macrium was flawless the few years I used it before buying the Terabyte suite in 2012."


     
  13. jwcca

    jwcca Registered Member

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    Related to 'speed increase':

    worst case comparison:
    - image is written and verified to a WD Passport drive attached via USB3

    v 5.2.6465 63.625GB to 27.19GB image took 00:29:50 on Jan. 29, 2014
    v 5.2.6504 66.950GB to 29.81GB image took 00:19:22 on Mar. 23, 2014

    10.5 minutes less, based on the 29:50, that's a (roughly) 33% decrease in run time. So the claim was accurate at "30% or more".

    best case comparison:
    - image is written and verified to a WD SATA2 HDD via E-SATA is slightly faster than the Passport.
    - I don't have enough space on my internal SATA3 SSDs to check but they would undoubtedly be the fastest.

    Does it matter? Not really, because:
    - I only create an image when I update to a new version of Reflect
    - I only create an image manually and, with nothing else running, I go for a snack. It's always done before I return...

    J
     
  14. SPRINTMAN

    SPRINTMAN Registered Member

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    Read enough reviews to know it will do the job. If not I'll buy something else
     
  15. mattad

    mattad Registered Member

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    Three questions about Macrium reflect Free:

    1.) When I want to create an image of a partition and I go to

    "Advanced options"--->Password

    Then I can enable password protection and leave "AES protection"=None

    What is password protected then?

    From my point of view when I password protect something then ALWAYS it must be AES encrypted. So if users enable "Password protect" then automatically "AES encryption=Standard" MUST be selected. "None" should be impossible. Can someone give me insights?

    2.) From the comparison overview on Macriums website I read that password protection feature is only available in "Pro" version but not in Free.

    I generated an WinPE 5 based rescue CD from the Macrium Reflect Free version and password protection IS possible.

    So does the not-available-password-protect feature only apply to the free installed version but not to the free RescueCD version?

    3.) When I generate a 64bit Rescue CD: Can I run this RescueCD also on 32bit Win7 systems or only on 64bit Win7?

    Thank you for answers
    Matt
     
  16. jwcca

    jwcca Registered Member

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    Have you tested by creating a password and then later on trying to use Reflect using a different password? Refer to your 2) which says that there is no PW protection with the Free version.

    Have you tested this?

    Have you tested this? When you create the CD, you have to select 32 or 64. That's a good indication of what you can expect.
     
  17. Jim1cor13

    Jim1cor13 Registered Member

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    Hi Matt :)

    Generating the boot media based upon 64bit will only work on a 32bit machine *if* the 32bit machine has 64bit capable hardware, i.e., CPU, etc. Otherwise the boot media will tell you upon booting on the 32bit machine if it does not support 64bit and the boot process will stop.

    On the other hand, a 32bit boot media will work fine on a 64bit machine. The key with using 64bit boot media on a 32bit machine is the hardware must be 64bit capable regardless if it has a 32bit OS.

    For instance, i have two laptops, both Dell, same models, but one has 64bit capable hardware, although I have 32bit Win 7 Pro SP1 installed, I can use a 64bit boot media that works fine due to the 64bit capable hardware. On the other laptop, it is only 32bit capable hardware and I must only use 32bit boot media. As long as the hardware supports 64bit, it does not matter if the OS is 32bit. You created the macrium boot media on a Win7 X64 machine, so it is to support that 64bit hardware OR a 32bit OS with 64bit supporting hardware.

    Hope that helps :) It all depends upon hardware capability.

    Jim
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2014
  18. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    As long as it´s not an UEFI computer.
     
  19. Jim1cor13

    Jim1cor13 Registered Member

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    Thank you Robin for that reminder. My oversight. :)

    Jim
     
  20. Hadron

    Hadron Registered Member

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    I would suggest to save you the stress and just hit Shift-Delete every few months.

    I gave up on purge last year as a beaten human being. I even tried to understand the instructions that it used so as to fix it.

    I spent hours upon hours upon months on numerous computers trying to get it to work only to give up and surrender the white flag.

    SHIFT-DELETE baby! :argh:
     
  21. StephenX

    StephenX Registered Member

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    Hi Macrium Reflect users,

    I use Macrium Reflect Free for my imaging needs and find it excellent, but I have a query.

    Many PC's have a hidden 'Tools' partition that can be used to run tests on a faulty PC.

    I created a Macrium Reflect image but it doesn't include this Tools partition, it only has the standard Windows 7 partitions. If I made a second image that contained the Tools partition, is it possible to add this to the first image?

    If this was possible I would then have an image file that contained the Windows 7 partitions AND the Tools partition.

    The Tools partition is the correct one for my model of PC.
     
  22. HAN

    HAN Registered Member

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    StephenX:

    Are all partitions on 1 physical drive? If so, do a master image that contains all partitions.

    You can't combine images in Reflect free. Some programs allow this but many do not.

    IMO, the best way to make images is to do a master that includes ALL partitions on a physical drive. Then, only do images of the partitions that change (such as the C drive.)

    Then, if things go bad, restore the 1st master image. Then restore the latest changes-based image.

    Over time, this saves the most time and keeps things up to date.
     
  23. StephenX

    StephenX Registered Member

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    HAN,

    Thank-you for your reply.

    Re: if things go bad, restore the 1st master image. Then restore the latest changes-based image.

    I thought when restoring an image, the previous contents of the entire disk were completely replaced with the new image. I didn't know that on a single HDD, you could restore one partition while leaving existing partitions untouched?

    How is this achieved with Macrium Reflect Free?

    Best wishes.
     
  24. jwcca

    jwcca Registered Member

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    The Help file explains this quite clearly so check it out.
     
  25. HAN

    HAN Registered Member

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    In simplest terms, simply check the partition(s) you want to restore and uncheck the one(s) you don't. JW Clements answer is the best for the details.

    Imaging programs create partition backups. All can do it from a single partition level and nearly all can do it from a multiple partition level at one time (up to and including an entire physical disc.) Created images include all pertinent data (size, type, location, etc.) of the partition(s) involved. This is what allows you image and restore one partition at a time, independent of the other partitions. If the imaging program works correctly, you should be able to create a separate image for each and every partition and restore them back with exact precision.
     
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