Macrium Reflect

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

  1. Circuit

    Circuit Registered Member

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    Is it advisable to create a new rescue PE disk (CD) after every Macirum update?
     
  2. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Brian... it had to be there. What Easter saw I have no idea but Macrium clearly did a very simple Rapid Data Restore, restoring only what it found missing... which wasn't very much based on his experienced time.
     
  3. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Just done a new image on the same HDD (Seagate 320 ugh) with Macrium.

    Finished in 49:30 and the Image size on this one is 70.4Gb.

    On the discussion or debate you guys raise I don't know why it restored like that i'm just happy that it did and to have my system back again. I dunno, maybe it was hidden some other way but it was showing unallocated space where Windows once was but the Recovery and other GPT partitions were there and showing a size just fine.

    On trying to do a System Repair it failed several times stating the drive was locked and inserting a USB with another program it said it had to be formatted. The telling tale was my Linux Mint pen drive. If it's not there, then something is screwy.

    Anyway Macrium pulled the bacon out of the fat for me and I am really grateful for this. I'm even more glad that I decided to make a backup (2) because I seriously thought the drive had shut off for good at first. It's only been running for going on 3 years now almost no
     
  4. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Circuit, Macrium will tell you when you need to update the PE as part of the release notes. Only occasionally have I needed to recreate the Recovery Media... and that was always for a new feature I wanted (or bug fixed I was experiencing). Restores work just fine with the older PE's.
     
  5. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Ah. That explains it then. Remember guys when someone is in panic mode and scratching for a plan to move forward again there's little logic taking place, only pressing buttons and getting a restore operation in progress Fast!

    This crap happened exactly the following morning after using the MS Mediacreationtool the night before creating a USB to get my other new system up and running. I can't blame it on that because I don't know but everything was running fine up until then. Woke up to a PC that suddenly could not boot anymore no matter what.
     
  6. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    Think I found the answer to the 87 second super rapid recovery I was lucky enough to have happen the first time doing this.

    How does Macrium RDR Work?
    Unlike ‘Known State’ and ‘Snapshot’ restore, the only dependency for RDR is that the target file system contains a formatted NTFS file system that is the same file system as was originally imaged. When the restore starts, the disk image is loaded, again this can be an image taken at any time, and the target NTFS file system structures are analyzed for differences. All the NTFS file system structures are restored to the target disk and any that do not exist or have been modified on the target disk cause the data clusters for each NTFS file or object to be restored as well. The result is an ‘Incremental’ restore applying only file system changes detected between the image and the target.
    Reliable, flexible and fast?! That’s Macrium Reflect for you.
     
  7. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Hi Easter

    Are you familiar with database search indexing. It can reduce a 2hour search to 10 seconds. It would appear that Macrium uses the file system structure for changes, and then a database index to find those sectors. And yes it's both reliable and fast. I haven't been able to break it, and we did some crazy stuff when testing it at first.
     
  8. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    On this drive my Indexing is turned 0ff. Should I change it?

    I wholeheartily agree it's amazingly reliable, stable, and very fast.

    Seems that i'm always last to jump on board with apps like this but i'm firmly planted in their corner now.
     
  9. Peter2150

    Peter2150 Global Moderator

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    Naw. I was just using it as an example. I don't believe Macrium uses it, as it is indexing sectors.
     
  10. EASTER

    EASTER Registered Member

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    I have a lot of catching up to do as concerns reading macrium's forums and those knowledge base articles are a huge help. And that's just the online stuff. I have to read the Manual itself so it will better help educate a new customer on this product which is a pretty shocking discovery for me. I had no idea that it had so many useful features and the like. I always beforehand kind of glazed over this forum's posts on it but am taking more of a deliberate decision to go over them all. You guys (Froggie,Brian K, etc) are fully involved with imaging and have answers as well as comparisons that are important to learn.

    Thanks Pete.
     
  11. ZzBloopzZ

    ZzBloopzZ Registered Member

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    Thanks for the useful information! Will Macrium recovery media typically fit on a 700MB CD-R or think it's best to order some DVD-R's? I plan to start installing Macrium for all of my family members and would be cheaper to have recovery media on hand via disc's instead of purchasing numerous flash drives.

    Thank You!
     
  12. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    CDs, DVDs or UFDs are just fine... (the Win10-based PE is about 250mB)
     
  13. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    I understand that reflect does not allow the option to create images of flash drives, and that is something I really need. I have a bootable flash drive, which contains multiple bootable ISOs, which I use for system repair. I understand that I can use macrium to backup the flash drive; using the files/folders feature to back it up. However, restoring a flash drive when backups were made using this method results in that flash drive not being bootable, and that's really the whole point in backing up and restoring this particular drive. Is there any way to backup a flash drive which would result in a bootable restore?

    What aspect dictates that if I start is bootable other than MBR/grub? All the files seem to be identical to the original after restore, but it is not bootable. Using bootice, I can see that the partition that I want is both active and accessible. So why are these restore is not bootable?

    This is the one major chink in the armor for macrium reflect, and I'm anxious to to hear any suggestions that might resolve this.

    n8
     
  14. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    According to my experience, it´s not possible to copy a boot medium copying files. As I recall, the backup and restore of bootable UFDs has been discussed previously on the forum, try searching it. Anyway, it can be done with Terabyte or other imaging programs.
     
  15. ajcstr

    ajcstr Registered Member

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    Can someone tell me if the free version supports the ability to explore images and restore individual files?
     
  16. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    Yes, it does. All you need to do it mount the image (double click it) and then it becomes a virtual drive. Then just drag things from it to wherever you need to.
     
  17. ajcstr

    ajcstr Registered Member

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    Thanks, I noticed the free version did not have the "File and Folder Restore" tab so I wasn't sure if mounting the image would only allow viewing.
     
  18. n8chavez

    n8chavez Registered Member

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    That is true. You'll need the home version for that. But, honestly, I prefer Image for Windows. Reflect is very good, but it does have its shortcomings. If you don't want to pay the rather hefty $60 for reflect I suggest Terabytes Image for Windows (it's half the cost).
     
  19. ajcstr

    ajcstr Registered Member

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    But if I can restore files by mounting the image on the free version, what additional functionality does the paid version give me in this regard?

    I am also looking at Aomei's free product but I am a little concerned that they are based in China. The English on their website and in their help section is very poor. Basically I am just looking for a free solution to perform periodic full backups on my laptops but would like the ability to restore a single file or folder when needed without having to restore the whole drive.
     
  20. oliverjia

    oliverjia Registered Member

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    Seagte disk wizard
    Acronis TI WD Edition

    Both are free and can do what you want, provided you have at least one Seagate or WD drive in your computer.
     
  21. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Ajcstr, there's no "File & Folder" TAB because Reflect FREE does not do the "File & Folder" image and restore process. Reflect images in two way... the disk surface itself and a separate "File & Folder" mode for those who only care about that rather than full disk structures.

    Disk surface imaging works just fine with the ability to MOUNT an entire imaged partition and extract files, if needed... if that's all you need.
     
  22. Gaddster

    Gaddster Registered Member

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    Reflect is expensive (£47.95) for imaging software that is not able to image usb sticks, sd cards etc but the last time I mentioned it. All I got was hogwash about how restoring the images will basically slow down / ruin the usb sticks / sd cards etc.

    True Image 2015 is on offer for £11.99 (http://www.argos.co.uk/beta/static/Product/partNumber/4297967.htm) that does image usb sticks, sd cards etc.
     
  23. Circuit

    Circuit Registered Member

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    Very reliable, you get what you pay for.
     
  24. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    Hi N8! Although you may may be using an unsupported Reflect feature of not imaging a UFD, what may really be happening is that the UFD you're using connects to Windows as a REMOVABLE STORAGE device (you should check it after insertion).

    UFD manufacturers have produced mixed devices (they still do) over the years... both offered as either FIXED or REMOVABLE devices ( a li'l BIT set in their firmware). Many pieces of software DO NOT WORK with REMOVABLE devices usually by design... this may be Reflect's issue with your device. If it is, and you don't mind changing your device, you just may be able to purchase a UFD that mounts in your system as a FIXED device. The real problem is that most manufacturer's don't provide this specification in their literature... it's usually a crapshoot. Some may have the ability to change their firmware but if it isn't supported by the manufacturer, I wouldn't do it (I tried a so called "universal" UFD firmware changer a few years back and it cost me a stick :eek: ).

    If you think you'd like to pursue this (changing the stick type), I can run the test for you to see if the Reflect issue is REMOVABLE vs FIXED or non-USB vs USB (I have one FIXED UFD in my drawer). If it's not the FIXED vs REMOVABLE issue, you'll probably just have to pursue another solution.

    By the way, excessive restorations by software can and will shorten the lifespan of that UFD. Most have no sort of Garbage Collection and space mgmt (like SSDs have) so they run very quickly into the standard FLASH Write Amplification issues that any unmanaged FLASH devices will... eventually very slow write operations and much shorter lifespan.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2016
  25. TheRollbackFrog

    TheRollbackFrog Imaging Specialist

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    N8... can you tell me which tool you used for your multiple BOOTable ISOs?
     
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