Back UP-back up back upBac------------

[Maxxwire]

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr44/Maxxwire_Photos/Album%202/macrium.jpg

 

This is the Tale of how Disc Imaging Guru garybear and Macrium Reflect Saved Me 100 Hours of Pure Drudgery Restoring my Comuter!

 

Last night I tried to access a particular function in a program I regularly use which Vista could not find the plugin for and the CPU immediately revved to 100% and the desktop froze up. This morning when I started the computer the cursor disappeared and the desktop once again froze up and it was then that I realized I was going to have to do a re-Image Restoration of the hard drive.

 

I pulled out my Macrium Reflect Windows PE Rescue CD which has a miniaturized 107 MB version of the Vista OS on it, inserted it, restarted the computer and sat back and watched the Magic happen! I chose one of 3 backup Images that I had made which was on the 1.5 TB Seagate firewire drive and followed the simple and well explained instructions. The initial verification of the 11.6 GB compressed Image took 8 minutes to verify, 13 minutes to overwrite the original Image on the C drive and 9 minutes later after a restart and a Disc Check I was sitting in front of my 32" Sony Bravia monitor looking at the desktop of my perfectly re-Imaged computer which is an exact replica of the original right down to the most obscure settings in each and every program and ready to roll just like nothing ever happened!

 

All this in exactly 30 minutes from when I first inserted the Rescue CD into the computer!!

 

garybear I can't thank you enough for introducing me to Macrium Reflect which saved me what probably would have been 10 straight days of 10 greuling hours each day restoring the OEM Recovery to the current state which took Macrium Reflect only 30 minutes to do.

 

About a year ago I started searching for a better backup and I first considered upgrading my Vista Home Premium to the Ultimate version for the enhanced backup program, but everyone I asked about it said that the backup program in the Utimate version was inferior to most any of the third party Image backup programs and now I know why I couldn't find one person who having used both programs ever recommended the Microsoft backup solution over Macrium Reflect not to mention the enormous cost savings!

 

Thanks again garybear! You have changed my whole attitude toward computing by introducing me with this new reality of Image Restoration Consiousness....

 

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr44/Maxxwire_Photos/Album%202/macrium.jpg

 

~Maxx~

[solbjerg]

Hi Maxx

Nice tale about our gentle giant gary (Sir Gareth) -and with beautiful pictures!

Good to hear that you recovered so easily :-)

I have it installed too - haven't had occasion yet to use it - but nice to know it's there!

Cheers

solbjerg

[garybear]

Ok you guys

 

Hi friends. I hope your satisfied. Your posts have made tears flow down this old man's cheeks, like I was little boy. If you only new how much I idolize you both and how much joy your posts have brought me to night. I always hoped I could give back some thing to this forum because I have gotten so much from it. To night I'm on top of the world because of your kind posts. I started out on this forum with very little knowledge and now I can almost hold my own. I probably will never have the honor of meeting either of you, but rest assured you at the top of my list when I think about my friends. Ok that's enough of the mushy stuff, get back to work.Live well my friends and know that you have made this old mans night.{garybear}PS I was so involved in my own ego I forgot my friend Ted ,who introduced me to Macrium. Thank you Ted you started this whole thing.

[Ted]

Hi there, Gary,

Okay, maybe I started it off, but you're the one who's done all the research and actually put it through its paces. You deserve heaps of credit. Well done!

[itsmejjj]

http://www.driverchecker.com/

 

 

* Keep all your device drivers up to date .

* Analyze and fix your driver problems automatically.

* Remove old, out-of-date drivers with no traces safely.

* Immediate free technical supports by submitting your problems.

* Access to the largest device drivers database(1,553,638+) in the industry

 

well looks ok -seems handy? tell me i am up to date --

 

 

this one ?

 

http://driverrobot.com/

 

 

im not that sure about this ---

 

thy supposed to keep i eye on your drivers let you know if there are new one one could install-

 

thy are not free ---

 

 

 

--my ask--

 

{garybear} hi sir -thank you and i the same--

 

If you have questions about Macrium Reflect !!

 

can you post how you do this from scratch?

and describe the process ? step by step --

thank you --

 

 

 

 

 

NOW MY ANSER!!

 

 

Gary,BEAR ----

one thing you did a wonderful thing -with the posts -i was apprehensive when i asked you to give a step by step post on this -felt that perhaps i should of not put you on the spot-or make you look silly -- i needed not of worried --its what i class a 10+ and some! you came up as a ACE !

any one can follow it -i will try to ask the Malcolm-- people if thy inted to make this win 7 computable --see how i go

 

i have all this in my data base --where i keep posts that are useful as reference --

 

 

 

max you stated --

 

All this in exactly 30 minutes from when I first inserted the Rescue CD into the computer!!

 

gezzz that's slow ---

 

 

only takes me would you be leave 5 min !

NO, how about 20 ? no umm what about 2 hours ?--- YES ?

itsmejjj

[Maxxwire]

max you stated --

 

All this in exactly 30 minutes from when I first inserted the Rescue CD into the computer!!

 

gezzz that's slow ---

only takes me would you be leave 5 min !

NO, how about 20 ? no umm what about 2 hours ?--- YES ?

itsmejjj

 

jjj- I have no idea how long it takes you all I do know because I have done it before is that I would have spent at least 100 hours doing this System Recovery from the OEM Recovery available by accessing F-11 and then having to manually restore it to its current state and by comparison Macrium Reflect is 200 times faster and 100% accurate! FYI I took every precaution and fully 15 minutes of the Image Restoration was spent on a full verification of the Image along with a Windows Disc Check because there are times where accuracy takes a back seat to speed and this is definitely one of them.

 

~Maxx~

[Maxxwire]

Hi Maxx

I have it installed too - haven't had occasion yet to use it - but nice to know it's there!

Cheers

solbjerg

 

solbjerg- Up until yesterday morning that was exactly my thinking also and I wasn't going to use Macrium Reflect until I absolutely needed to, but when the OS began to freeze up and fail I had the Rescue CD at hand and everything in the PE environment was exactly as described and each step was very clearly explained and easy to understand. Rest assured my friend that Macrium Reflect will come through for you if and when the time comes to use it!

 

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr44/Maxxwire_Photos/Album%202/macrium.jpg

 

~Maxx~

[garybear]

ok knock it off

 

Ok you guys knock it off. My head is getting so big from your praises, I can barely get through the door. I am very humbled to be in the presence of some of the smartest people in the world. What a blessing to have so many friends from so many different places in the world. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the whole world would get along and share their knowledge instead of trying to change each others religion or the way they believe. If we all would share our knowledge with one another and try to understand each other instead of fighting it would be a wonderful world. I'm hoping our new president will do just that. I have been watching Maxx and JJJ discuss their OS"S. They don't yell at each other or try to change each other. They give their opinion and and state how they feel but they do it in a very professional way. Every one on this forum is a pro and I'm damned proud to be a part of it. Live well my friends and thank you for being a blessing in my life.{garybear}

[Maxxwire]

Every one on this forum is a pro and I'm damned proud to be a part of it.

 

We have a lot to be thankful here at the IObit Forum. It takes a community to create this beneficial environment. In this case Ted turned you on to Macrium Reflect and you in turn brought that knowledge to this thread which jjj started on 9-18-2009 and I in turn promptly backed up my computer with Macrium Reflect on 9-21-2009 just 16 days before I found myself needing to do a full System Restore! We have an extraordinary international synergy here on the IObit Forum and in this case thanks primarily to jjj for starting this thread in such a timely manner also to Ted and your Reflect Guru self I was able to avoid a tragedy that would have cost me an entire year's worth of work! You guys are the best!!!

 

~Maxx~

[Ted]

Hi there, Maxxwire,

 

Glad to know my little spark ignited a healthy flame with beneficial results and very happy you were helped by it.

[Maxxwire]

Ted- Just 1 of the beneficial results of the Macrium Reflect Image Recovery has been the complete confidence to do something that I have wanted to do for months and that is to dump my resource hungry Antivirus program which became more of a hassle than a help in that it would reach right into the virtual space that I run my browser in and want to quarantine Malware that would have dissipated into digital dust once the Sandbox was closed anyway.

 

I am now running the lightweight Comodo Firewall Pro and Proactive Defense + HIPS in case the virtually impossible should happen and a piece of Malware somehow manage to make it out of the Sandbox only to be immediately detected by the Hostbased Intrusion Prevention System. CIS with the AV ran for a relatively light 62 MB of RAM, but removing the Antivirus cut it down to a featherweight 15 MB...

 

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr44/Maxxwire_Photos/Album%202/Firewall-D15MBRAM.png

 

As a result my Vista Ultralight computer is now able to boot to the desktop for 511 MB of RAM which is about half as much as the original OEM Vista which took as much as 1,035 MB of RAM. The original OEM Vista used as much as 2,200 MB of RAM in a session on the internet and now I can accomplish the same set of tasks for maximum of <675 MB of RAM which represents a 325% improvement over the original Microsoft offering of Vista. With so much untapped potential for improvement its no wonder that Microsoft chose to turn Vista into the Win 7 Operating System which will be released later this month.

 

Thanks Ted for having a hand in helping me to be able to take my computer even closer to the lean blazing fast machine that I know Vista can become.

 

~Maxx~

[Ted]

Thanks Ted for having a hand in helping me to be able to take my computer even closer to the lean blazing fast machine that I know Vista can become.

Really glad to have helped you Max. It's funny, though, I probably know less about Macrium and its capabilities now, than everyone else on the forum. I'm being left behind :-(

[Maxxwire]

Ted- You will always have the distinction of being the one who threw the snowball off the side of the mountain which eventually grew into an avalanche of Macrium Reflect use!

 

~Maxx~

[garybear]

Really glad to have helped you Max. It's funny, though, I probably know less about Macrium and its capabilities now, than everyone else on the forum. I'm being left behind :-(

 

Hi Ted. Just keep making back up images and be assured if and when you need Macrium it will be there for you.Lets hope you never need it. Live well and thank you my friend.{garybear}

[Maxxwire]

Ted and garybear- I did a couple of fresh Image Backups last night which include my new security configuration and I got a nifty Macrium Reflect program upgrade to 4.2.2082 which includes a lot of upgrades for both Bart PE and Windows PE one of which was the ability to not only restore, but create a new snapshot while in the PE environment!

 

~Maxx~

[garybear]

Question

 

Ted and garybear- I did a couple of fresh Image Backups last night which include my new security configuration and I got a nifty Macrium Reflect program upgrade to 4.2.2082 which includes a lot of upgrades for both Bart PE and Windows PE one of which was the ability to not only restore, but create a new snapshot while in the PE environment!

 

~Maxx~

 

Hi Maxx. I did the up grade but I don't know what your telling me. Do I need to make a new Bart PE CD?? since its been up graded or is my old one still good?? Thanks {Gary]

[Maxxwire]

garybear- As far as I can tell once you access the 4.2.2082 Preinstall Environment in there are there are dozens of new improvements to the program in the way of features that can be executed in both Bart PE and Windows PE. I came away with the impression that the upgrades were to the program itself and not to the Rescue CD.

 

~Maxx~

[Melvin_Deal]

Macrium is easy if you're not behind a govt. firewall

 

Macrium Reflect free is a user friendly software, but You may need a few more writable dvds than Solbjerg advises; Have them on hand if need be. If you can't acquire blank discs, respond and I will send them. Macrium is good! Here's link to homepage:http: //www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp

[Maxxwire]

Melvin_Deal- It took 3 DVDs to hold the 11.6 GB Image backup that I did with Macrium Reflect and it takes about 4 times longer than backing up an Image to a hard drive.

 

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr44/Maxxwire_Photos/Album%202/ReflectDVDBurn41min.png

 

~Maxx~

[solbjerg]

Hi Melvin :-)

I haven't yet used dvd for backup I have it on a 16GB stick and on my external harddisk and on my D:\ drive.

Did I say anything about dvd/cd?

 

Hi Maxx

As usual well documented comments. Thanks!

 

Cheers

solbjerg

 

 

Macrium Reflect free is a user friendly software, but You may need a few more writable dvds than Solbjerg advises; Have them on hand if need be. If you can't acquire blank discs, respond and I will send them. Macrium is good! Here's link to homepage:http: //www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp

[garybear]

cd/dvd are not reliable for creating back ups(my opinion)

 

Hi Melvin. cd/dvd are not as reliable as what Maxx and solbjerg are using and Macrium has features that you can't use with cd/dvd. For instance you can't use the browse an image in window explorer. Which is real cool if you just want to copy and paste one thing instead of the whole image. If you want to be confident that you have a back up image of your OS ,get an external drive. I have a Seagate. Maxx has pictures of what they look like. You can do a search and find his great screen shot.PS Looks like we have another Macrium fan. Live well .{garybear}

[Maxxwire]

Melvin- This is the Seagate 1.5 TB Firewire Drive that I backup to looks like...

 

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr44/Maxxwire_Photos/Seagate-FreeAgent-Xtreme_1.jpg

 

I also use this drive to hold all of my data leaving only the Vista OS and the installed programs on my computer's C drive. The Seagate cost only $150 which averages out to 10 cents/GB of storage which I consider to be a great value and using it to restore an Image with Macrium Reflect is quick and easy.

 

~Maxx~

[Maxxwire]

Hi Melvin :-)

I haven't yet used dvd for backup I have it on a 16GB stick and on my external harddisk and on my D:\ drive.

 

Cheers

solbjerg

 

How did you back up an Image to your 16 GB USB Flash Drive. I ask because Macrium Reflect doesn't even recognize my Toshiba 16 GB USB Drive.

 

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr44/Maxxwire_Photos/23idx1i.jpg

 

~Maxx~

[solbjerg]

Hi Maxx

First I created the so called Rescue cd to my flash drive (8GB Dane-Elec) and then I copied the folder containing the Image from my D:\drive to it.

No problem in either case with recognizing the USB-stick.

Security settings in your Vista perhaps??

Cheers

solbjerg

 

 

How did you back up an Image to your 16 GB USB Flash Drive. I ask because Macrium Reflect doesn't even recognize my Toshiba 16 GB USB Drive.

 

http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr44/Maxxwire_Photos/23idx1i.jpg

 

~Maxx~

[Maxxwire]

solbjerg- I also have a 250 GB Western Digital drive hooked up to the computer with USB that Macrium Reflect also not recognize. I have the Vista UAC disabled with Comodo HIPS running security and it will let me run anything that I give permission to run. If I can figure a way of geting Reflect to recognize the 16 GB Flash Drive I'll see If I can put a Recscue Disk information on it, but Microsoft wants to get paid for each download of Windows PE.

 

~Maxx~