hi, brian. several copies of one master file in different locations for each computer; updated following every new major update release and then stored offline. i only backup os partition, my data backup plan is independent from os backup operations. no personal files/data are stored/kept on any of my machines.
imdb, Same here. I like the OS partition to be lean and mean and my data is stored in another partition. I assume you have MBR systems if you are only backing up the OS partition. With UEFI systems, several partitions need to be backed up if you want to easily recover from a failed drive.
no, all but one of my rigs support uefi. it's just i don't use logical partitions. all partitions on my systems are physical partitions/disks.
thank you, brian. that's what i do. my bad, when i said os partition, i meant the physical disk that contains the os, with all the partitions.
No, not so 'purist' and too much hassle; only use external rescue media if the OS is completely borked. If the wheels really come off, I would do clean install. I have separate data backups, via Bvckup 2.. I run scheduled nightly GFS or differential live images, and a snapshot via @TheRollbackFrog's tip here: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/macrium-reflect.356309/page-164#post-2643507 prior to any significant update. Also have at least one other imaging program, e.g. TeraByte in idiot mode.
Haha, yes, that was exactly the problem! I guess you have to image at the first rumblings from Windows update... Thank you very much for your help and advice! And I will try reformatting the drive (I wasn't sure it could be done safely without losing data..) as you suggested.
(Btw I am totally indebted to Brian for introducing me to TB BootIt-UEFI and patiently showing me how to set up a dual boot Win 10 on my primary laptop, one Win 10 with Hard_Configurator only, the other with basically just EAM and HmP.A).
On this cold vs hot imaging, In a lot of testing I've found no reliability issues with hot imaging with any of the quality imaging programs. When I was doing beta testing on Macrium v6 is abused it in what I would describe as unholy. For example, I went out to as many as 60 incrementals in a chain which is nuts. Restore no problems. I started a defrag going and then took an incremental while the defragger was running. Image was fine and it restored the disk to the state it was in when I took it. With Macrium I take hourly incrementals and use them like a snapshot program. I do restores with them almost daily. Never a restore failure. I use 3 other imaging programs and take images at least daily. I test all these images at least once a week by doing restores. Never a failure. In short I see no reason to not hot image other than simply personal choice.
Hello, I see that I have unintentionally caused an argument here with my questions. I will create a separate thread where I will ask more about Macrium Reflect Free and backups practices in general, it will be easier for me to follow too. For now, thank you very much for your answers (a couple of pages back), I really appreciate it.
Macrium Reflect v7.2.4594 Released (December 23, 2019) Download Changelog Spoiler: What's New - Bugfixes v7.2.4594 http://updates.macrium.com/reflect/v7/v7.2.4594/details7.2.4594.htm Bug fixes and Improvements v7.2.4594 - 23rd December 2019 Image Mounting A small number of customers reported that they could not mount Macrium Reflect images after dismounting a previously mounted image. This has been resolved. viBoot We've improved the ability for Reflect to detect bootable image files and enable the 'Boot Image' functionality in Reflect. Bitlocker system restore Automatic system restores for BitLocker encrypted system volumes could perform a 'BitLocker Removal' restore instead of the expected 'BitLocker Live' restore. This has been resolved. VBScript & PowerShell The 'Run Once a Day' option when generating PowerShell and VBScript source files didn't behave as expected for scheduled tasks using the SYSTEM account. This has been resolved. Verify File System The 'Verify File System' default image option was not honored if unchecked for scheduled images running using the SYSTEM account. This has been resolved. Rescue Media Builder The default location for PE files has been moved back to $PROGRAMDATA$\Macrium\Reflect'. On Windows 7, when building Windows PE rescue media, RMBuilder will now use the Dism.exe corresponding to the wim, rather than the Dism.exe from the WAIK. On Windows XP, the radio button labels for boot menu options would sometimes be truncated. This has been resolved. If the "override WinPE compatible drivers" checkbox was unchecked, custom USB drivers would sometimes not be included into the rescue media. This has been resolved. If there was more than one version of the Windows ADK installed, RMBuilder would not copy required files from either installed ADK, and would instead prompt for a download. This has been resolved
Hi @ Wilders I tried to update and got this error: Macrium Reflect Updater HTTP Error 403 Any ideas how to resolve please. Thanks Terry
Nice metal test on Macrium, at least the 6 version used to demonstrate its solid durability in operation without error. However just for memory sake, does it still hold true? Or not? That hard resetting such as a sudden power disconnecting energy to a PC with Macrium running can trash the disk? Or did that or does that only apply as a common result of Restoring instead of the Imaging process. Thanks
Hi Easter I suspect a power reset during imaging would indeed trash the image. But that isn't a big deal, just delete any remnants and continue. Shouldn't even mess up incrementals. And yes a power reset during a restore does indeed leave the drive trashed. But a good imaging program should just be able to do another restore and restore the disk. I've done it with all my imaging programs and it worked fine. Pete
Just updated to 7.2.4601, performed an incremental (29 seconds) and restore (1:07 minutes!) without any issues, Merry Christmas!
Thank You Pete for the clarification on that. No one is more alert to such potential hazards (and tested thoroughly the same) I would gather and it's appreciated. Happy Holidays to you!
Just a quick query and clarification - I finally migrated for the second time to Win 10 (the first time a year ago, I moved back to Win 7 after a short period). Anyway, everything seems to work but when my GFS scheduled backup started this morning I noticed that a full backup was happening instead of the expected incremental. Looking at the message this seems to be the case for a number of reasons http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50164.aspx - while they don't specifically mention upgrading from Win 7 to a later version, I suppose this would be covered by "a non matching set of partition"? While I did backups prior to the upgrade, I did not take a screenshot of my partitions but I don't actually see any difference (just the expected C Drive / OS and my second drive for data). Corruption of the original backup set is a scary thought but doing "Peter's Video-Check", browsing an older video file on a mounted backup shows no issues.