The main reason that you want to use an external USB drive is, If by some chance you got infected by some ransomware, it could destroy data and all internal connected drives. You want something you can unplug after the restore full image is created. A full image on my system creates like 14 or 15, 4 gig image files. Once you get the USB external drive hooked up, you will just make that a bootable drive with Marcrium, then create a full image. also do you have any USB 3 slots? They are faster.
Internally protected drives can be protected against ransomware. Both my desktops have 3 internal drives. The non c drives can be protected easily
Using external drive can also protect data from other - mechanical accidents (power surges and similar). That's why I always store additional copies of system images on two external drives.
Great suggestion. Don't rely on only one external HD. About a year ago, after saving my Macrium backup images to my external HD, I had a desperate need to restore one of the images. Unbeknownst to me, the external HD had failed and I couldn't access the image files. At that point, I was toast. I even took it to a repair shop who tried to fix it. After 2 weeks, they gave up. I now use 2 external HD's. You can either swap between them or do what I do--I use one external HD to backup the first external HD. In addition to external HD's, I also backup all my data to the cloud (in case something drastic happens to my home). I used Mozy in the past, but now I use Zoolz for data backup.
I also had problem with failing HDD so I use 2 disks that I swap each week. So important data is usually stored on 3 (1 internal and 2 external) or at least 2 disks. So far I didn't start using cloud for backups.
Been using 2 HDDs via an external dock connected by eSATA, for a goodly while...with the drives being rotated as adn when they get full of images. I thought that everyone did this as a matter of course.
What do you all think about putting a perfectly fine, unused Western Digital HDD into an enclosure, along with the requisite adaptor? This way, I keep the free space inside the machine plus make use of a good hard drive like I should. In fact, I can make multiple back ups like many have recommended as I have several HDDs gathering dust. One thing at a time, though. This is less expensive than getting an external drive of the same capacity, even if it was, say, a Passport or equivalent. This is what I'm considering: http://www.microcenter.com/product/467905/NexStar_TX_35_SATA_to_USB_30_External_Hard_Drive_Enclosure Edit: I apologize if this is off-topic as it more about hardware. This is, however, a prerequisite for my getting Macrium started on this system. Re-edit: AlphaOne has already recommended enclosures, but this one's a bit cheaper and it's close by. Very good!
plat1098 - Since you asked, I don't like the enclosure you asked about for at least three reasons: 1) it encloses the drive with passive cooling [no fan] 2) the drive operates while vertical 3) I like Plugable better than NexStar. Some may argue about the validity of my criticisms. Further to the general discussion here, people should be mindful of the advantages of occasional use of Blu-ray media for greater long term stability. All Panasonic Blu-ray writer drives from UJ240 and newer are expected to support M-Disc Blu-ray, which I think is the current gold standard. Blu-ray is a bit more expensive if you never use it, but really cheap if you end up needing it because all of your other media has failed.
Why get an enclosure? What I did was buy an ICY Dock MB171SP-B. It connects to a SATA III port...NOT USB...and has a power button and fan. I set that SATA port to hot swap able and can power the drive up and down. In fact I have 2 docks and the second one is in my wife's system. These go into front panel 5.25 " drive bays on a desktop like a dvd writer.
OK, clearly you originally recommended the Pluggable USB for a reason--not familiar with this hardware so it didn't really sink in. So, this'll be like an experimental, first-time trial run thing. I already got a similar one to above, it was pretty cheap and the housing got plenty warm but it worked fine. Macrium free made the image already, it's on the Western Digital hard drive. There were plenty of alternatives in this place, also a lot of docking stations. I think I need to invest in a better designed one, this is true. Anyway, thanks for the additional insights @AlphaOne , @MPSAN. @Robin A. Sigh, live-n-learn.
Thanks plat. I liked the SATA dock as I had nothing but issues with my USB 3 docks as Froggie knows. The SATA III to SATA III dock is just like having the drive as an internal SATA III drive.
What's with these warnings? I have boot media separately on a USB and the main image was copied to D:. Should Macrium re-image?--I'm a little concerned this present image may be corrupted.
@plat1098 -- Macrium's PSMounter is the "Reflect Image Explorer Driver. Allows images and backups to be accessed by Windows Explorer". You are right to be concerned. The errors may indicate either a corruption problem with the backup image that you are trying to mount and explore, or possibly a problem with your PSMounter driver and service installation. Have you tried verifying that backup image file?
Thank you @Arvy I forgot to disable an anti-exe on here and it interfered with Macrium installation a couple of times, perhaps that was a factor. I will start over from scratch, including reseating the hard drive inside the enclosure and un/reinstalling Macrium. It did verify the back up afterward but it's best to discard this image and try again.
Sounds like a wise plan. A single verification run alone may not always catch every possible problem with a backup image. Corruption can occur subsequently and then be exposed by attempts to mount that image and explore its contents.
I don't think this has been linked yet, but here's the kb article for the MIG feature coming in v7.1: http://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/New in 7.1 The article describes what's new in v7.1.
Unless I misread the diagram in that article, it looks very much as if it's going to involve the insertion of another device class filter into the OS file system management. Wonder if this one will provide a "no thanks" installation option.
I'm afraid that we will get both - new driver and new service that comes with it. I agree with you and also hope that it will be optional.
A little more information on the FREE VERSION of Macrium Reflect... a little disappointing for me, anyway. Only additional features are Windows Task Scheduler (WTS) v2 API (to fix all the W10 WTS API v1 problems) and viBOOT, nothing more. Personally, I wouldn't change from v6 FREE unless you're having problems using it under Windows 10...
@TheRollbackFrog Which additional features would you like to see in free version? Personally I would like to see encryption added to it.
From THIS PAGE concerning the new MIG (Macrium Image Guardian) feature, we do see a new CUSTOM INSTALL mode in the v7.1 release (unavailable as of yet) and in that, I do notice one of the install options is also available for CBT... so some of Macrium's promises seem to be coming to fruition. The one I can't see (a 3rd custom install option) is probably for viBOOT.
@Minimalist - for me, anyway, probably the most important addition would be INCREMENTAL imaging. I'm sure this inquiry will go all over the place based on how people use the FREE version for their needs.
