Help with making an image with Macrium Reflect

[Juan Wei]

A friend of mine has the problem he describes below and, As I don't know
anything about Macrium Reflect either, I couldn't help me. Maybe someone
here?

Here's what he wrote:

I have a hard drive with the following partitions:

1. PQSSERVICE (no letter), NTFS primary, 12/14GB

2. SYSTEM RESERVED(no letter), NTFS active, 25/100GB

3. Programs (C, NTFS primary, 64/200GB

4. Documents (E, NTFS logical, 105/350GB

5. Media (F, NTFS logical, 97/370GB

I want to install an SSD to be drive C:/boot drive and will create an
image that I will subsequently write to that SSD. I'm using Macrium Reflect.

Questions:

1) Which partitions do I need in the image?

2) If I need both 2 and 3, how do I tell Reflect to create an image of
both of those?

3) Do I want to "Clone this disk" or "Image this disk"? Those seem to be
the only options Reflect gives.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

A friend of mine has the problem he describes below and, As I don't know
anything about Macrium Reflect either, I couldn't help me. Maybe someone
here?

Here's what he wrote:

I have a hard drive with the following partitions:

1. PQSSERVICE (no letter), NTFS primary, 12/14GB

2. SYSTEM RESERVED(no letter), NTFS active, 25/100GB

3. Programs (C, NTFS primary, 64/200GB

4. Documents (E, NTFS logical, 105/350GB

5. Media (F, NTFS logical, 97/370GB

I want to install an SSD to be drive C:/boot drive and will create an
image that I will subsequently write to that SSD. I'm using Macrium Reflect.

Questions:

1) Which partitions do I need in the image?

2 and 3, I believe, but wait for the experts to speak up

2) If I need both 2 and 3, how do I tell Reflect to create an image of
both of those?

It's (sort of) obvious, although I find Macrium's user interface
requires a bit of caution to avoid getting confused.

3) Do I want to "Clone this disk" or "Image this disk"? Those seem to be
the only options Reflect gives.

Either way works. Imagining compresses the files a bit, so it requires
less time to write the backup. Also, the paid version of Macrium
supports incremental images.

You can't read or restore an image without the help of Macrium, except
it's possible that the format can be read by other software (speculative
remark).

 

[Wolf K]

2 and 3, I believe, but wait for the experts to speak up

[...]

The only expertise I have is in losing data and learning how to protect
it. ;-) So here goes:

I'd include 1 as well. It appears to be the repair partition, installed
by the manufacturer so that the user can repair the system without a
major reinstall. AFAIK, on some (most? all?) systems, the repair disk(s)
made by the user are actually backups of this partition.

I assume that the data partitions are backed up externally, otherwise
I'd include them in the image as well.

HTH

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

2 and 3, I believe, but wait for the experts to speak up


It's (sort of) obvious, although I find Macrium's user interface
requires a bit of caution to avoid getting confused.


Either way works. Imagining compresses the files a bit, so it requires
less time to write the backup. Also, the paid version of Macrium
supports incremental images.

You can't read or restore an image without the help of Macrium, except
it's possible that the format can be read by other software (speculative
remark).

I had to laugh when I read "Imagining compresses the files...".

Of course I meant imaging

 

[Yousuf Khan]

Macrium Reflect 5.x, has a pre-fabricated option called "Create an image
of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows". That
automatically knows which partitions are required and which aren't.

Yousuf Khan

 

[Char Jackson]

Questions:

1) Which partitions do I need in the image?

I would include all partitions, if you have room on the new drive.

3) Do I want to "Clone this disk" or "Image this disk"? Those seem to be
the only options Reflect gives.

Cloning is when you make a 'clone' (exact copy) of one drive to another.

Imaging is when you create a single file which you can then use to create an
exact copy of a drive.

As you can see, both options get the job done. One does it in a single step
while the other requires two steps. Each has its pros and cons.

 

[s|b]

Macrium Reflect 5.x, has a pre-fabricated option called "Create an image
of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows". That
automatically knows which partitions are required and which aren't.

Tnx! I did not know that! I always select manually by checking the
boxes.

 

[s|b]

A friend of mine has the problem he describes below and, As I don't know
anything about Macrium Reflect either, I couldn't help me. Maybe someone
here?

Here's what he wrote:

I have a hard drive with the following partitions:

1. PQSSERVICE (no letter), NTFS primary, 12/14GB

2. SYSTEM RESERVED(no letter), NTFS active, 25/100GB

3. Programs (C, NTFS primary, 64/200GB

This is Programs /and/ Windows, correct? IMHO that's a lot, my C: (SSD)
only has 25 GiB installed. W7 HP x64 SP1

4. Documents (E, NTFS logical, 105/350GB

5. Media (F, NTFS logical, 97/370GB

I want to install an SSD to be drive C:/boot drive and will create an
image that I will subsequently write to that SSD. I'm using Macrium Reflect.

Questions:

1) Which partitions do I need in the image?

I agree with Gene: 2 and 3, but you should make a backup of the other
partitions as well. BTW I gave up the idea of creating several
partitions. My SSD (C has one partition and so has my SATA (D.

2) If I need both 2 and 3, how do I tell Reflect to create an image of
both of those?

Simply check their boxes. Or you can do as Yousuf suggested.

3) Do I want to "Clone this disk" or "Image this disk"? Those seem to be
the only options Reflect gives.

I always create an image. You can use Macrium Reflect to explore images
(Restore > Explore Image). If you have Macrium installed, doubleclicking
on an image file (.mrimg) will work as well.

When you copy the image to the SSD and boot, you should not forget to
disable defragmentation and Superfetch/Prefetch. It may also be a good
idea to move your TEMP directories to another drive.

 

[Juan Wei]

Gene E. Bloch has written on 7/6/2013 9:29 PM:

It's (sort of) obvious, although I find Macrium's user interface
requires a bit of caution to avoid getting confused.

If it were that obvious, both my friend and I would have spotted it!

Either way works. Imagining compresses the files a bit, so it requires
less time to write the backup. Also, the paid version of Macrium
supports incremental images.

I think you're thinking "backup".

The desire here is to create a bootable image that can be written to an
SSD, said SSD to replace the boot drive in his machine.

 

[Juan Wei]

Wolf K has written on 7/6/2013 10:19 PM:

2 and 3, I believe, but wait for the experts to speak up

[...]

The only expertise I have is in losing data and learning how to protect
it. ;-) So here goes:

I'd include 1 as well. It appears to be the repair partition, installed
by the manufacturer so that the user can repair the system without a
major reinstall. AFAIK, on some (most? all?) systems, the repair disk(s)
made by the user are actually backups of this partition.

He has rescue DVDs so I don't think he needs "1".

I assume that the data partitions are backed up externally, otherwise
I'd include them in the image as well.

By "data partitions", do you mean 4 and 5?

I think what he wants to do is write a bootable image to an SSD, pull
the current, HD and install the SSD as the bootable drive.

Then he will put the original HD back in so he can then get to
partitions 4 and 5 as before (not withstanding some drive letter tweaking).

 

[Juan Wei]

Yousuf Khan has written on 7/7/2013 1:05 AM:

Macrium Reflect 5.x, has a pre-fabricated option called "Create an image
of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows". That
automatically knows which partitions are required and which aren't.

Ah, to have 20-20 vision! That's great. I'll pass that along.

Thanks.

 

[Juan Wei]

Char Jackson has written on 7/7/2013 2:51 AM:

I would include all partitions, if you have room on the new drive.

No, there's no room for 4 and 5.

Cloning is when you make a 'clone' (exact copy) of one drive to another.

Imaging is when you create a single file which you can then use to create an
exact copy of a drive.

When you clone a boot drive and "restore" it to a second drive, will
that drive be bootable?

 

[Juan Wei]

s|b has written on 7/7/2013 8:24 AM:

This is Programs /and/ Windows, correct? IMHO that's a lot, my C: (SSD)
only has 25 GiB installed. W7 HP x64 SP1


I agree with Gene: 2 and 3, but you should make a backup of the other
partitions as well.

Why? he's not doing anything to 4 and 5.

BTW I gave up the idea of creating several
partitions. My SSD (C has one partition and so has my SATA (D.

Why not partition a large HD?

I always create an image. You can use Macrium Reflect to explore images
(Restore > Explore Image). If you have Macrium installed, doubleclicking
on an image file (.mrimg) will work as well.

What's the point of exploring an image?

When you copy the image to the SSD and boot, you should not forget to
disable defragmentation and Superfetch/Prefetch. It may also be a good
idea to move your TEMP directories to another drive.

Thanks.

Will changing the TEMP environment variable do the trick?

 

[s|b]

Why? he's not doing anything to 4 and 5.

You're right. For a moment, I thought we were talking about the same hdd
instead of copying the data to a SSD.

Why not partition a large HD?

It's much easier to move files. You should ask yourself: what's the
point of using partitions if you can create folders instead of
partitions?

What's the point of exploring an image?

Say you made a backup image and after that you changed some file, but
you want to change it back. You can then explore the image (with Macrium
Reflect) and "extract" the file without having to install the whole
thing.

Will changing the TEMP environment variable do the trick?

That'll do just fine.

 

[Juan Wei]

s|b has written on 7/7/2013 4:13 PM:

You're right. For a moment, I thought we were talking about the same hdd
instead of copying the data to a SSD.

You were not alone.

It's much easier to move files. You should ask yourself: what's the
point of using partitions if you can create folders instead of
partitions?

I use Total Commander instead of Win Explorer as a file manager. The two
panes make moving and copying files very simple.

Say you made a backup image and after that you changed some file, but
you want to change it back. You can then explore the image (with Macrium
Reflect) and "extract" the file without having to install the whole
thing.

I see. "Backup thinking" again. ;-)

That'll do just fine.

Thanks.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Gene E. Bloch has written on 7/6/2013 9:29 PM:

If it were that obvious, both my friend and I would have spotted it!

Well, I spotted it...

I think you're thinking "backup".

The desire here is to create a bootable image that can be written to an
SSD, said SSD to replace the boot drive in his machine.

I'm thinking imaging and cloning. By the backup, I meant the files
resulting from imaging and cloning. I thought that was pretty obvious
too.

Both schemes allow you to create a bootable disk form the backed up
data; if you're lucky, the clone itself would be bootable without
needing to be copied to another disk. The image would have to be
restored to the other disk to be bootable. You'd do that from inside
Macrium.

 

[Juan Wei]

Gene E. Bloch has written on 7/7/2013 7:04 PM:

I'm thinking imaging and cloning. By the backup, I meant the files
resulting from imaging and cloning. I thought that was pretty obvious
too.

Both schemes allow you to create a bootable disk form the backed up
data; if you're lucky, the clone itself would be bootable without
needing to be copied to another disk. The image would have to be
restored to the other disk to be bootable. You'd do that from inside
Macrium.

I guess my problem is that when I think of backups, I think of data --
docs, spreadsheets, music, videos, config files, etc. I do not think of
operating system files as being part of a backup.

Here's an excerpt from a PCWorld article that may be of interest others
as unenlightened as I.

Both cloning and imaging create an exact record of your drive or
partition. I'm not just talking about the files, but the master boot
record, allocation table, and everything else needed to boot and run
your operating system.

This isn't necessary for protecting your data--a simple file backup will
handle that job just fine. But should your hard drive crash or Windows
become hopelessly corrupt, a clone or image backup can quickly get you
back to work.

When you clone a drive, you copy everything on it onto another drive, so
that the two are effectively identical. Normally, you would clone to an
internal drive made external via a SATA/USB adapter or enclosure.

But imaging a drive is more like creating a great big .zip file (without
the .zip extension). Image backup software copies everything on the
drive into a single, compressed, but still very large file. You would
probably save the image onto an external hard drive.

So what are the advantages of each?

Should your primary hard drive crash, a clone will get you up and
running quickly. All you have to do is swap the drives.

On the other hand, if your drive crashes and you've backed it up to an
image, you'd have to buy and install a new internal hard drive, boot
from your backup program's emergency boot disc, and restore the drive's
contents from the backup.

So why image? An image backup provides greater versatility when backing
up. You can save several images onto one sufficiently large external
hard drive, making it easier and more economical to save multiple
versions of the same disk or back up multiple computers.

You can find several programs that can do these chores, including the
backup tools in Windows 7 and 8. But I recommend Macrium Reflect Free,
which is free for personal use. It's easy to use, can clone and image,
and in my experience, is extremely reliable.


Sooooo, it looks like he should CLONE partitions 2 and 3 to his SSD.

 

[Ken Blake]

I guess my problem is that when I think of backups, I think of data --
docs, spreadsheets, music, videos, config files, etc. I do not think of
operating system files as being part of a backup.

It is (or at least can be).

Clearly, backing up data is what's most important to almost all of us.
But, especially if you've done a lot of customization, backing up the
operating system can also be important.

What you should back up is of course up to you. We are not all the
same.

 

[Juan Wei]

Ken Blake has written on 7/7/2013 7:51 PM:

It is (or at least can be).

Clearly, backing up data is what's most important to almost all of us.
But, especially if you've done a lot of customization, backing up the
operating system can also be important.

What you should back up is of course up to you. We are not all the
same.

Troll!!!

We're talking here about cloning/imaging the operating system, program
files, etc from an existing hard drive to an SSD, with the goal being a
replacement of the HD with the SSD, and you're introducing a red herring.

Can we stick to the original question please?

 

[choro]

s|b has written on 7/7/2013 4:13 PM:

You were not alone.


I use Total Commander instead of Win Explorer as a file manager. The two
panes make moving and copying files very simple.

You can have 2 copies of Windows Explorer up and running on your screen
and just drag and drop anything you wish. If onto different drives then
the original is NOT actually moved but copied to the other drive. If on
the same drive, the file is just moved. But don't forget about CUT and
PASTE versus COPY and PASTE. With a bit of common sense, there is no
need for imitators of Windows Explorer unless they are vastly superior.

Any ideas anybody?