Trying to wrap my head around what exactly the backup capsule feature in Paragon Backup and Recovery is for vs Macrium's Reflect Boot Menu Option. 1. If I understand right, capsule creates a partition on a disk of your choosing, makes that partition bootable with its software and saves your image backups to that partition. What's the point? If I have created a bootable recovery usb and save my images to another disk. I can just boot into the usb and choose the images from that disk, right? So what advantage does the capsule exactly provide that you couldn't already do yourself? 2. Macrium lets you create a new boot menu option on your main disk so you can boot into it on startup if you like. If I manually increase the size of that new partition and save my images there...is that basically the same 'capsule' feature? The only difference I'm aware of is the capsule's partition is hidden.
Yes, it's exactly the same basic operation as the Recovery CD but it's not MANUAL... it's an AUTOMATIC function (things happen a bit faster Macrium DOES NOT create any kind of partition when it puts an entry into the BCD (BOOT Control Data). All it does is create a simple BOOTING entry that allows the System to pick up an "image" (WIM format file), install the image into your RAM memory, then run your hardware System using that image. The image is WinPE-based (Windows pre-Installation Environment) and is nothing more that a cut down Windows OS with enough capability to perform disk operations and simple user interfaces allowing you to use your existing storage elements as defined by you. There are no new partitions involved but there is an operating image (a file), although it doesn't come from any hidden partition. It comes from a standard FileSystem area that Macrium creates when you ask it for the creation of a Recovery Media or a Local BOOT option to do the same thing. That "Capsule" thing you describe sounds like (and I haven't used it for years) the Acronis special hidden Recovery Area where a BOOTable Acronis operating system lives as well as an area to store special images.
Thanks a lot for clearing that up. So to kinda ELI5, the entry Macrium puts in the Booting Entry is like a set of instructions to instead load up the WIM image instead of the usual os. That WinPE has been preconfigured with Macrium to let you run the program. Where does Macrium store the file though? Or is that what you mean by the FileSystem Area? Can you see it, should it show up in Disk Management? Just curious here to understand how it all works.
The Windows BOOTmgr can have entries that point to BOOTable partitions (like your DEFAULT Windows partition), WIM (Windows IMaging format) files which are decompressed and loaded into your resident RAM... even ISO configurations (like on BOOTable CDs) can be loaded and run via BOOTmgr. Macrium builds that WinPE-based WIM when you either ask it for the BOOT Menu Option or you ask it to create a BOOTable Rescue Media (they both use the WIM file mentioned above). It creates the WinPE mini-Windows environment and injects its own REFLECT programs as well as any needed "local" hardware drivers into that environment and creates the needed WIM. Macrium stores that WIM in a folder called "boot" that lives wherever you told it to in Reflect's "Defaults/Advanced/Macrium Reflect PE Files" option (one of your local drives, DEFAULT being C: ). It does not show up in the DISK MGMT environment... it's not a disk or a partition, it's just another file.
One more question if I may. I found the folder, I believe C:\Boot . However it appears to be hidden. Doesn't even show up when hidden folders option is enabled in explorer. I have to manually type in the path to navigate to that. What sorcery is that, how is it hidden? Stop noobs from deleting it?
The folder, "Boot," is created by Windows in the ROOT of your C:\ partition when your "build" is a single partition build... meaning you are not using a Microsoft SRP (System Reserved Partition). The Windows created "Boot" folder is created as a HIDDEN folder, nothing special, and should be viewable if you set your folder options to be unHIDDEN. If using a multi-partition build incl. the SRP, that folder will be created in the SRP itself. Normally that's the Windows BOOTmgr folder containing any generated BCD (BOOT Control Data) used in the Windows BOOT Menu system. If it's created in C:\ (it will be HIDDEN), Macrium will share it and create a "Macrium" sub-folder within it. That sub folder will contain all the generated WinPE stuff, including the "Boot.Wim" file mentioned above, used to create both the BOOT Menu entry for Windows and the ISO, if requested. If Windows created it in the SRP, Macrium will create its own C:\boot (Macrium's created "boot" folder will not be HIDDEN) with the same "Macrium" sub-folder within. If you unhide HIDDEN objects, you should be able to see it... unless Windows is doing something funny to you. This is verified on all OS since VISTA.
Thanks again. Right on all counts. Not sure why it remains hidden (even after the toggle) but don't think its important. Found everything else as is and its all clear to me now.
