macrium reflect 5.1 question

sunnystaines

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now that norton have scrapped releasing ghost 16 and only doing commercial backup software, i downloaded the free macrium reflect after reading various good posts all works ok, but the back up image took ages.

now when i do my next backup image will it just overwrite the old one and update its changes or will it copy the whole lot again taking ages, any tips please on this point.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    w7
The free Macrium doesn't have the ability to do incremental or differential backups. So, you would have to run full backups each time.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-Built in July 2009
    CPU
    Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS
    Memory
    8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" Acer x233H
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
    Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX modular
    Case
    Antec P182
    Cooling
    stock
    Keyboard
    ABS M1 Mechanical
    Mouse
    Logitech G9 Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    15/2 cable modem
    Other Info
    Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset.
You should keep two (full) backups. When I do a new backup, I keep the previous backup. If something should happen during the new backup and it would be bad enough that you would have to do a complete hard drive restore you still have the previous back up.

If you deleted all backups and just started a backup and something would happen, you would not have a backup to use to restore.

I used to use Acronis and recently moved to Macrium. I bought a 4 license version as I have multiple PC's. I guess I could have used the free version, but I feel better having the full paid version.

I always do a full backup so that was not an issue for me. Where I worked, before retiring, I was a regional LAN/WAN Network Manager for a large portion of central US (basically everything west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains). When we started converting field offices from "dumb terminals" to LAN's we initially did server backups nightly with a full backup on Monday evening, incremental backups on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday. We had all the data but with all the backup tapes (it was an SCSI tape system for backups) if a server required restoring, the tech had to make sure they did it in proper order. As it turned out it took longer to restore the server with this method. It was changed to a full backup every night and with only full backups, it avoided potential problems of restoring out of sequence, and with just one backup the server downtime was minimized.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Built
    CPU
    i7 6700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero
    Memory
    16 Gb G Skill TridentZ DDR4 3400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel (i7 CPU)
    Sound Card
    RealTek Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    27" Dell SE2717HR
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080
    Hard Drives
    500GB Samsung 850 SSD, 3TB for backups
    PSU
    EVGA Supernova 750 G2
    Case
    BeQuiet Silent Base 600
    Cooling
    Deepcool Captain 120EX
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Wireless
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    Cable - 100MB Downlink
    Browser
    Edge/Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft
    Other Info
    Sonar Platinum 64 bit recording studio software with MOTU 896Mk3 Hybrid recording interface unit.
I use C: drive (120GB SSD) strictly for Windows OS & installed applications and put data on another Drive so my backup only contains what's on C: Drive. For data, I keep a separate backup on external HD. With this arrangement, it only take ~ 7.5 minutes to do a complete backup of 50GB which compressed down to 27GB. If anything goes wrong with Windows, all it takes is another 7.5 minutes to restore without worrying about losing data.

I also make 3 separate copies of backup.
  1. The first one is the Original Windows Activated (8GB) and it's on an external HD. In case I want to completely refresh Windows without going thru re-activation process
  2. The 2nd is Windows with all well known 3rd party software such as Microsoft Office, Adobe etc...
  3. The 3rd backup is what I am currently running and over write this when I install/remove/update/test 3rd party software or drivers.

For Laptop, I would suggest to divide the HD into 2 partitions, 1 for OS and the 1 for Data.

PS. it is important to run sfc/scannow before the backup and verify the image after the backup
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Macrium free

Although incremental backups are not available, Macrium is faster and more reliable than the Acronis I used for years.
I keep a old baseline backup and weekly new system backups deleting last weeks. Use File history with Macrium or use a couple of thumb drives occasionally for your data.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro x 64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 8300, Dell Inspiron 15 R N5010
    Memory
    6 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GE force 420
    Hard Drives
    1TB
    Browser
    Edge, Chrome
    Antivirus
    Defender, MBAM, Router
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