Macrium Reflect

@Restricted You don't have to disable BitLocker first, and you can also probably avoid having to remove your laptop's SSD. You could instead just by boot your PC from Rescue Media and connect your target device to that PC through a USB dock/adapter. That still avoids having to install Reflect on that PC, and you also avoid opening it up to remove its SSD. (Some laptops have their SSDs permanently soldered onto their motherboard now anyway, fyi.)

It would be good to make a decision between imaging and cloning. Not only would it have saved me some time below , but more importantly, those are very different operations meant for very different purposes, so you shouldn't really be on the fence as to which one is right for you. You didn't go very deeply into your use case, so I can't provide much guidance there. But I'll account for both operations below.

If this is a one-off operation as opposed to a situation where you would be cloning and might want to periodically re-clone the source to the destination to keep the latter current relative to the former, then you have two options:

• Provide the source SSD’s Recovery Key to unlock (not decrypt) its BitLocker partition before you perform a clone/image
  • If you clone this way, then the clone target will be unencrypted, although you can of course enable BitLocker afterward if desired. However, you probably would not want to try using TPM-based BitLocker with that SSD unless you were planning to replace your current SSD with that one. You would instead want to treat it as a data disk with regular password-based BitLocker.
    
  • If you image this way, then the image will be unencrypted, unless you separately enable Reflect's own encryption for image backups, in which case the data in the backup will be protected that way.
• Leave the source SSD's BitLocker partition locked
  • If you clone this way, then the BitLocker encryption will carry over. Additionally, the clone operation will also take longer because Reflect will have to clone every sector of the partition, including free space, because when the partition is locked, Reflect can't tell which sectors contain meaningful data and which do not.
    
  • If you image this way, then the BitLocker encryption will carry into the image backup, so if you ever want to restore or browse it, you will need to deal with BitLocker to access the data. Additionally, the image backup will also take much longer for the same reason I described immediately above for cloning, and the image backup file will be essentially the same size as the entire source partition — NOT just the data stored in it — because a) all partition sectors had to be included in the backup, and b) encrypted data does not compress.

For most cases, you want to unlock BitLocker partitions before working with them.

Either way, the source SSD will continue to be usable, including its BitLocker encryption. Copying data from that SSD to another device or into an image backup in no way renders the encryption unusable. (The semi-exception would be if you enabled TPM-based BitLocker for the new SSD on the same system where you were using the original SSD. In that case, the system's TPM would no longer unlock the original SSD's BitLocker. But even then, you would still be able to unlock the original SSD with its Recovery Key.)

 

Thanks so much jphughan. That was a very comprehensive and easy to understand response - very helpful for someone who is new to this but is tech savvy and needs just a point in the right direction. Really appreciate you explaining the two different options as well in terms of leaving the partition Bitlocker-locked or not - as the former also means it will take up more space on the destination drive given it will be a sector-by-sector copy of the entire drive, not just the used space.

Just to confirm as I have not ever needed to unlock or decrypt Bitlocker, when you say "Provide the source SSD’s Recovery Key to unlock (not decrypt) its BitLocker partition before you perform a clone/image" - can/is this done via Macrium directly? Or how would I go about 'unlocking' the Bitlocker partition? If directly via Windows, I read on the MS website that there is a 'decrypt' and 'suspend' options for Bitlocker - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/w...system-security/data-protection/bitlocker/faq - is the latter ('suspend') what we're referring to?

Update: Just read: https://www.tenforums.com/antivirus...how-turn-off-bitlocker-temporary-cloning.html
I suspect when they are talking about 'turn off' Bitlocker is what you meant by Unlock? Unless 'Turn Off' here means fully turn off and therefore decrypt as well (which is likely what we want to avoid, as this would take time, etc)?
Apologies - just a lot of terminology/nomenclature that I am unfamiliar with when it comes to Bitlocker, as I've always just left it alone and never had to go through this before.

 

Glad I was able to help.

In terms of how to unlock a BitLocker partition, in your originally planned scenario of removing the SSD and connecting it to some other Windows system via USB adapter/dock/enclosure, Windows would generate a popup notification that you can click on to unlock that partition. If you miss that notification, you can double-click the still-locked partition in Windows Explorer. Either way, since you will be unlocking a Windows partition from within another Windows environment, your only available unlock method with a default BitLocker setup will the BitLocker Recovery Key. (The TPM protector can only be used for unlocking when you are actually booting into the Windows partition you're unlocking. And if you were unlocking a BitLocker regular data partition, the default unlock method would be a regular password instead of the Recovery Key.)

After unlocking the partition using Windows, you would then launch Reflect..

If on the other hand you decide to use the Rescue Media method that I suggested, then that environment does not support interactive BitLocker unlock prompts. In that scenario, you would launch Command Prompt (from the taskbar) and use the manage-bde command to unlock the partition. Full documentation here, but note that the parameter to specify when unlocking with a Recovery Key is RecoveryPassword. There is also a valid manage-bde parameter called RecoveryKey, but that refers to an External Key Protector, which is not set up on partitions by default. (No idea why Microsoft introduced this naming inconsistency, but here we are...) After you unlock your partition, go to the Create Backups > Local Disks tab in Reflect and click the Refresh link in the upper-left corner to have Reflect rescan your disks. You should now see your partition as unlocked.

The "Turn off BitLocker" option means "completely decrypt the partition". That is NOT what you want.

 

I'm bringing this issue to the proper Thread... @sdmod is inquiring about possible subscription licenses being discussed by Macrium and its users

HERE's a good place to start... a poll of current licensed users in Macrium's forums as to their preference in use of a licensed solution. I believe unlicensed REFLECT users may peruse the Forum thread but not post... I apologize if this is not the case.

Poll Results (to date)
----------------------- Yes = 6.93%
----------------------- No = 72.28%
-Depends on Lease deal = 20.79%

 

Thanks for the chance to add my two cents Froggy.

 

I'll be the first to jump in here as a new user in February 2015... a Macrium newbie with the v6 release. Since I was involved with the "unofishul" beta testing of v6 (it had been released into the wild and this Forum got a hold of it). The product, with just the RDR (Rapid Delta Restore) feature alone, was very exciting for me... someone who was dying to get away from snapshot software like RollbackRX/EazFix but needed quick restores.

A quick look at the timeline since that release shows me the following... if you purchased the release at RETAIL and took the half-price upgrade offered at every major version release since, here's where you'd be at cost-to-date...

------v6 User at release = $15.50/yr
-v7 new User at release = $14.80/yr
-v8 new user at release = $17.50/yr

At that cost you'd have full support from Macrium, via their direct support portal, for the 1st year of your license and Forum support as a licensed user. Anything more than that would be at extra cost. Your product will continue to perform in perpetuity at its full capacity until Microsoft breaks it with some OS upgrade.

(Some guessing going on here) As a SUBSCRIPTION licensed user, at the moment it looks as thought the flat (does it stay that way?) cost/yr would be $49. This most likely would include full access to their support portal and continued use of the product including all updates and major version upgrades. One of the issues with the subscription appears to be that if you don't renew your subscription, your license will be invalidated and the software will revert to a RESTORE ONLY application... no new images. Of course there may be many other details to come but the above is a basic look at the numbers.

One of the biggest hesitations involved with users is... they feel the Software Developer will feel that new features/additions need to be forthcoming on a quicker time scale than previous releases have shown in order to properly justify that yearly increase. Most of us have seen this happen with other products (Acronis... are you there?) and the result hasn't been stellar. Acronis went from being a fairly good imaging application to a swiss army knife dealing with ransomewhere, cloud storage, antivirus initiatives and the like... moving completely away from its original mission of System imaging. That's one of the reasons I started to get scared when I saw Reflect's MIG feature appear. Yes, it's a nice feature when the user knows not how to do something like that with their standard OS tools... but it still began to worry me (I sure didn't need it... is this the beginning of bloat?).

Anyway, that's kinda the basics from my perspective anyway. I will be watching Macrum to see what they do with this slightly "hot potato"... we'll see what they do right.

Comments more than welcome on this issue...

 

As an observation to this possibly looming issue, I don't believe Macrium offered a BLACK FRIDAY discount, this past November, on their licenses in perpetuity (pls correct me if I'm wrong), only on their new subscription offerings. This is something they have previously done for many, many years.

Edit: The perpetual edition of Macrium Reflect 8 was still available and saw a 25% (instead of the usual 50%) discount on 4-pack licenses available throughout Black Friday as well!

 

It's just inflation, and maybe a little greed too. The way things are these days.

 

I don't like subscription software either but if it's worth it and reasonably priced then I don't mind, after all you can't expect these guys to work for free. Having said that I only have 4 programs that I actually pay for, and will be down to 2 when subs run out. Two paid will be my cloud storage and password manager. I have a license for Macrium but I think I will try Hasleo very soon, I despise the Macrium gui.

 

But the program does it's job, and very well. Will stick with this and no upgrade till I get a newer operating system, now the problems start .
Windows 10 now.

 

Interesting, it's free and seems to have many of the features reflect offers only in the paid version. But it seems to be in very early stages of development. If it remains free and gets further development, it might be a death knell for reflect.

I did find a thread discussing it on 11 forum. You might take a peek if you haven't already:

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/hasleo-backup-suite.16189/

 

I never go for any subscription based license personally, it's either gonna be a one time fee or I'm looking for an alternative. I have enough subscriptions in my life (internet, cellphone, VPN, Antivirus, gym membership. etc...)

 

I prefer one-time fees for a version, or better yet, a lifetime license with support and updates. With version licences, if I want the latest and greatest, I decide whether it is worth the price to upgrade. I will have to look around if Macrium Reflect becomes subscription-based. I very much like Macrium Reflect, but on a pension, I can't be doling out money constantly.

Just my two cents. Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

 

@jimminy - there's a 16-mo old THREAD right here on Wilders that has been more intensive than ElevenForums... might be of interest.

 

Many thanks! It's the best thread I've seen so far, and you're the main reason. I've only read the first few pages. It will take some time to read it all, but I will finish it eventually.

 

I finished reading it. Learned a good bit. I wonder if the owners of macrium reflect Shouldn't sell their program to them. I know they are scraping up every penny they can find and still have to resort to rental software to make ends meet. I don't think they will be around too long. It's a damn shame.

 

Just updated. Was prompted to reboot. Windows 11.

 

The new update v8.1.7909 does not show USB drive to update external drive to boot from. The internal boot updated successfully.

 

Does it show up if you go to: "other tasks" / "create rescue media" ?

 

Thanks, I already fixed it. That USB driver had a Code 32 error. I used my my Macrium Boot drive to go back almost 2 months before it was fixed.

 

Hey guys,
I must have accidentally deleted my image definition (.xml) file in my Documents\Reflect folder!
All of my drive image backups are intact. Is there a way to recreate the definition file from the image backups, or must I create a new backup definition?

 

You can mount the image file as a virtual drive & copy the .xml or .ps1 file from wherever you saved it before. Mine is on my cloud 'onedrive'. Yours will be in wherever your image is mounted in that same folder.