Solved About to install macrium reflect and image..

brooksndun

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Hi,

I am installing Macrium Reflect and about to image my hard drive.. on a Toshiba Satellite Laptop.

I factory restore the toshiba laptop and now it has norton and all kinds of toshiba crapware software.. So i uninstalled that and now just want to create an image to save as a backup/recovery image that can be used for anytime I want to restore this to factory defaults but without the toshiba crapware..


what is this "sys prep" I read about every so often, and when do you use that? i'm assuming I do not need to use that for restoring images created with macrium.
 

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As long as you are using the WinPE boot disk (otherwise disable Secure Boot) all you do is: pop it in the drive; boot up to the Macrium interface; Select image source; Select image destination and follow the rest of the prompts. If it's your first time, make two images just in the very unlikely event one fails.

Edit: Sorry, This is for re-imaging. Just go ahead and image the drives. Do the small drives before C: once each - separately- as well, just in case they get corrupted at some time in the future.
 
Last edited:

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Are you installing the free Macrium or the paid Standard version ?
 

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Hi,

StringJunky -
Do the small drives before C: once each - separately- as well, just in case they get corrupted at some time in the future.

"do the small drives" ?? - I just would like to image my whole drive as to use to put back for a clean-like install that i have right now on my toshiba laptop.

David, - Macrium Free is what I am using now.. I could pay for the standard if that is what I "need" to to do what I want.
 

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You can use the free.

I like the Standard because of the boot time menu.
I find it easier to use.
A personal choice.
I'm lazy.
 

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Hi,

StringJunky -
Do the small drives before C: once each - separately- as well, just in case they get corrupted at some time in the future.

"do the small drives" ?? - I just would like to image my whole drive as to use to put back for a clean-like install that i have right now on my toshiba laptop.

Do what pleases you, but those other drives don't change - unless you change the number of drives possibly - so I feel you are adding unnecessary bulk and time to your imaging/reimaging procedure. Possibly, you are also increasing the risk of something going wrong because you are simultaneously doing multiple drives; it's a more complex procedure for Macrium to do.

Just so you don't learn the hard way, like I did: If your image came off a, for example, 100GB hard drive or partition it will NOT transfer to a smaller drive or partition but it will to the same size or a bigger one. If transferring to another different drive or setup you must consider the ORIGINAL size of the partition imaged and not the compressed size of the image, which will be just over half-size of the original.
 
Last edited:

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Ok, I think we have a misunderstanding about what I am doing.

1. I have a Toshiba laptop I just bought. its new.
2. I uninstalled Norton,crapware,bloatware,games, everything toshiba put on it from the factory.

3. I now set settings in windows to want.. (changed power settings,background pictures etc..)

4. I now want to image that "custom" windows I just did.. (you know, I uninstalled norton etc..)

5. this is all on 1 computer. the toshiba laptop.. i'm not transfering anything to any other hard drive or computer..


So, I just want to make a Recovery Boot USB and then copy the Image of the drive I have right now to the USB for recovering later..

make sense now?

so now where are the "smaller drives" ?? so i think we had a misunderstanding. I guess? right?
 

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A picture---

screenshot_227.jpg
 

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    Intel Celeron N2840 @ 2.16GHz
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    Acer Aspire ES1-512 BIOS: Insyde Corps V1.07
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Ok, that makes more sense. Thank you both. I now finally see what you are referring to when you say "do the small drives"..

So if I was to not "image" those "smaller" drives, that just means I can't restore from factory anymore right? Or will Windows actually not run because it needs those?

That's my last question and then this is solved..
 

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Ok, that makes more sense. Thank you both. I now finally see what you are referring to when you say "do the small drives"..

So if I was to not "image" those "smaller" drives, that just means I can't restore from factory anymore right? Or will Windows actually not run because it needs those?


That's my last question and then this is solved..

If you don't image those drives nothing changes. I only suggest you do them once each so you can put one back if it gets corrupted.

Someone could correct me on this because I'm new to W8.1 but as long as you don't mess with the position or size of the drives using a partition tool you should still keep your ability to do an oem factory reset if you wanted to. C: drive is the only one you should concern yourself with imaging-wise on a regular basis I think.

To be clear: If you look at the screenshot, whatever drive is not checked will not be copied or replaced ...it will be intact. If you copy only C, only C will be put back and the others won't be touched ...the same goes with copies of the other drives.
 

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I image all my drives.

The smaller ones take very little time to image.

I have Macrium set to auto-verify the image.
This adds 20 minutes to the process on my computer.

There is the option to just backup the drives needed to restore Windows.
I would rather have everything restored.

I use high compression.
My 45 GBs of drives compresses to about 20 GBs in the image.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
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    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
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    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
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I now want to image that "custom" windows I just did.. (you know, I uninstalled norton etc..)

There is an additional option you could also consider. Now you have your system set up as you want it, you can create a Custom Recovery Image that would let you refresh your system (get a clean set of Windows files) without losing the programs you have installed or getting the bloatware back.

This isn't the same as the System Image. Your System Image will give you your programs and files at the time you create it. So if you don't use it for some time, you will need an up to date copy of your files and folders to complement it, otherwise you could lose stuff you've done, and any new changes you've made since you created it (programs, settings) would also be lost.

Each has its uses.

This tutorial explains more: http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/3610-refresh-windows-8-create-use-custom-recovery-image.html
 

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you will need an up to date copy of your files and folders to complement it, otherwise you could lose stuff you've done

I make a new image after getting Windows Updates or making other changes. :)

I keep 2 images.
It takes time but it is time well spent in my opinion.

I also have factory recovery disks.
 

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Also, formatting your usb as NTFS will result in 1 big image file.

Using Fat32 will result in a bunch of 4 GB size files.

I prefer 1 big file. :)
 

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A full system image is the best way to go.. Or at least keep and have one... As that image will contain ALL the system partitions..

Then you make windows partition back up images as you go...

Then if need be you be you restore the whole system back to a working state and then restore your windows to the latest backup version..

The reason I say this is, although you may get a windows virus, it is usually a system file failure in a system partition that causes the data lose..
 

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Hi,

Now everybody chips in! ha.

The Bold points are the important keys to either what you need to know, or what I need to know from you guys

So I like all your ideas, but now I'm just getting mixed between systems of restoring..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. I was originally going to make a Macrium (free) Boot Recovery USB.

2. I was going to then use that Boot USB (macrium) to image (apparently) all drives (including the "smaller" ones) [there is only 1 hard drive but i guess all the extra hidden partitions are the "smaller drives"]

3. I will then have a image of my hard drive of the toshiba laptop (including the "smaller drives" [hidden partitions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


now, what is the point of using a "custom refresh" or anything else because, wouldn't after I installed some more programs and I like my system a month down the road just why wouldn't I just use the Macrium boot usb again and create an image again ???

yes i understand having 2 or 3 backups .. I could do that.. but why now all the custom refresh and different ways.. I thought Macrium just "clones"/"images" the entire drive and i was going to try to save that image to the Macrium usb boot stick. -(that newly created image size would be a fresh windows 8.1 install, and my usb is only 32 gigs though so I'm not sure if it will fit.)

that was my plan.. so now with that information, which "method is most efficient/secure/ just better?

-and if I "compress" the images would that do anything later down the road for example does that make it read slower when restoring etc?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo g750
    CPU
    i5
    Motherboard
    Some Chinese Crap..
    Memory
    8
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 755
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Hi,

Now everybody chips in! ha.

The Bold points are the important keys to either what you need to know, or what I need to know from you guys

So I like all your ideas, but now I'm just getting mixed between systems of restoring..

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. I was originally going to make a Macrium (free) Boot Recovery USB.

2. I was going to then use that Boot USB (macrium) to image (apparently) all drives (including the "smaller" ones) [there is only 1 hard drive but i guess all the extra hidden partitions are the "smaller drives"]

3. I will then have a image of my hard drive of the toshiba laptop (including the "smaller drives" [hidden partitions]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


now, what is the point of using a "custom refresh" or anything else because, wouldn't after I installed some more programs and I like my system a month down the road just why wouldn't I just use the Macrium boot usb again and create an image again ???

yes i understand having 2 or 3 backups .. I could do that.. but why now all the custom refresh and different ways.. I thought Macrium just "clones"/"images" the entire drive and i was going to try to save that image to the Macrium usb boot stick. -(that newly created image size would be a fresh windows 8.1 install, and my usb is only 32 gigs though so I'm not sure if it will fit.)

that was my plan.. so now with that information, which "method is most efficient/secure/ just better?

-and if I "compress" the images would that do anything later down the road for example does that make it read slower when restoring etc?

I quoted the whole post to make it easier to respond to. :)

A picture---

screenshot_228.jpg

I format my usb's as NTFS, hence the 1 big image file.

High compression under Edit Defaults under Other Tasks tab.

screenshot_228.jpg

Using this method it takes about 2 hours to make an image.
About 25 minutes to restore an image.

I use the Standard version which has the boot time menu which makes restoring an image easier.

screenshot_228.jpg

I keep 2 images.
I format the oldest to use to make a new image with.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
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    Extended Model 2
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David Bailey, looking at your drive I see why you do it all at once. I forgot I shrink my original 400GB C drive to about 50GB then make a data partition with the unallocated space that's left. I backup important stuff in my data partition to an external. There isn't any point repeatedly imaging my data drive along with C.

brooksndun - All the partitions on a hard drive are 'virtual' drives; Windows sees them as separate hard drives that's why they are sometimes called 'drives'. Partitions and drives, as names for the drive letters, are used interchangeably.
 

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  • OS
    Windows 8.1 with Bing x64
    Computer type
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    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire ES1-512-CSYW
    CPU
    Intel Celeron N2840 @ 2.16GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer Aspire ES1-512 BIOS: Insyde Corps V1.07
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    4GB DDR3L SDRAM
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    Intel HD
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    10Mb/s 3 Network HSPA+
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    IE11 and Firefox
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Hi,

Ok i'm going to try Macrium Reflect, select all my partitions/disks and then just backup/create image.. I may or may not do compress but I probably will have to if it doesn't fit on the USB.

thanks. I will mark this as "solved" once I fully finish the backup.

Later on, after I imaged the entire drive once. Then, I would only have to back up the windows partition (C:\) later on if I wanted later images.. correct? and with that, It wouldn't overwrite the "efi" and other "partitions" if I don't have them checked/ticked in Macrium Reflect correct. I would only select/check/tick the C: and then backup that.. it would then only overwrite the C: I'm assuming from what I read earlier.

Hope that makes sense. I think we are on the end of this post here.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo g750
    CPU
    i5
    Motherboard
    Some Chinese Crap..
    Memory
    8
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 755
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
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