How to make image backup with Macrium?

Laz123

I've got W10 on an HP Envy, with a 128gb ssd C drive and a 1tb D drive with about 700gb free (also an E recovery partition) plus an external F 500gb with about 140gb free.

I want to do a backup image of C instead of a clone as I understand it's better in this way as you can do incremental update backups of an imaging rather than a cloning. Bearing in mind I've never done this type of thing before and don't want to mess up my system, can I just go ahead using Macrium to either back up to D or F or do I have to create a partition on either of them first as there's data there already which might be lost? And if so what type of partition.

I you could talk me through the process in idiot's terms I'd be grateful.

TIA

Le_Kirk

Don't know which version of Macrium you have but here is a link to what looks like a comprehensive guide.

forgotmyname

Personally i would install all my essential software and then take a clone of the SSD. Easy to revert back but not so far back that all your software needs to be installed again.

Clone is quick to restore a complete drive.

Then keep that safe and make backups which you can increment or just create a full backup and keep 2 or 3 or whatever and just delete the oldest.

Ive had so many drives fail over the years, I am really careful on where i store stuff.

I also create virtual machines and wanted to test an upgrade on a program, so cloned it and the original stopped working. Lucky that happed before i installed the update, so i could just copy the copy...

were

keep a few old clones too, just in case a new one is corrupt.

Also it is good to create a Recovery Drive to a usb Stick, but with Macrium, possibility not that important.

Test that you are able to do a restore, and YOU have the knowledge and equipment ready to do so

Laz123

I really didn't want to read through the War and Peace of instructions hence my question but thanks anyway.

dipsomaniac

any reason why you don't want to use the win10 disk image utility? i have tried a couple of image utilities including macrium and find windows the easiest to use

Jivesinger

dipsomaniac wrote: »

any reason why you don't want to use the win10 disk image utility? i have tried a couple of image utilities including macrium and find windows the easiest to use

There was some fuss in the media about Paint being 'Deprecated' in the next release of Windows 10 due later this year. Microsoft swiftly said that a version of Paint would appear in the Windows Store.

But on the same list was the Windows System Image Backup, which is also shown as being deprecated.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4034825/features-that-are-removed-or-deprecated-in-windows-10-fall-creators-up

System Image Backup (SIB) Solution

We recommend that users use full-disk backup solutions from other vendors.

'Deprecated' doesn't mean it will be removed straight away, but it does seem the writing is on the wall for the System Image Backup feature, and even Microsoft are recommending the use of other utilities.

dipsomaniac

thanks. makes sense as microsoft still call it windows 7 disk image.

in all my 27 years of having pcs i have never restored from a disk image. i have the images on the server but haven't used them. when i recently d/l the chromium virus/malware it was so easy to just do a factory restore i didn't bother with a disk image.

Jivesinger

dipsomaniac wrote: »

in all my 27 years of having pcs i have never restored from a disk image.

When your hard disk dies, a backup is pretty much your only hope, so you have perhaps been lucky with hardware.

I also restored my old laptop a couple of times when it was running XP and it got messed up. Although that was to an image I'd taken when it was new, so pretty similar to restoring to factory settings.

Also when I upgraded to Windows 8, the first time it completely failed and was blue-screen-of-death-ing, so being able to go back to the backup image I'd taken before attempting the upgrade was very useful.

I think I've probably restored backups more recently too.

Heedtheadvice

A few things I might add; and I am a fan of Macrium!

Here are several versions of Reflect. Release 6 still has the Free version that will do most of what a home user will require, will do full and differential backups but not incremental. Although I use free I do like the incremental facility -it just costs!

It is good to make a reflect boot disk in case of the need to recover when windows is broken. Can be done to usb but I prefer CD, but each to his own.....

It is very useful to keep all data separate from system and programs/apps as this makes it easier to backup/recover.

If system is on SSD then clone (as has been mentioned) or clones is useful but macrium will do backups for essential bits of windows too. Apart from time and memory requirements it is often advantageous to have several backup copies/types.

I would suggest backup (unless to nas or raid array) to, as a minimum, if you value your data, to two separate external methods (hard drives) backed up alternately that each will hold all your data/system/progs. However with separate copies of system/progs and data.
You can do this to your D or F drive without new partitions (can just be new folders) but if you prefer to keep separate to new partitions. However if you want to backup what is on those drives (presuming they are not just backups themselves) far better to new external drives, they are not very costly these days. They haven't heard advantage of not being connected all the time so are less prone to a 'common' failure mode, can be stored in a safe location and less risk of inadvertantly damaging the backup such as if trying to free up space!

This requires a bit of organisation of data locations but then makes separate backups subsequently easy.

As writ by were, clones for system/progs on SSD and then images of the selected partitions on disks with the data locations updated most frequently (assuming they change frequently) and system areas less frequently and after important changes.

Macrium menus etc. are fairly self explanatory - for options if you do not have the knowledge just use the defaults.

Heedtheadvice

and I would add......
Disks can be pretty reliable these days but worth the small set up/maintenance effort if you do get a failure, serious virus or ransomeware. I suppose it depends on you levels of paranoia of consequences of failure!