OldGuy said:
I want to completely backup my laptop's Win XP Pro with just installed
applications pristine C: drive to
1) a different partition on the same drive
2) an external USB drive
I want to use an Image (not a clone).
A) Macrium Reflect Free says it does do both Image and Clone.
I ran the Image backup and it ran to completion.
Question: If C: crashes completely (NOT a hardware failure, but is a
software mishmash), how do I restore ALL from that Image? Say C: is
not bootable. i.e. I expect to restore to the pristine bootable Win
XP Pro with installed pristine apps that I started with.
Presumably you saved the backup images to a different partition than the
Windows partition you backed up. That lets you do a restore but not if
the *disk* on which the Windows partition goes bad. So it best to save
the backup images to a partition on a different hard disk or to
removeable or external media.
For your #1 scenario, that will let you restore the Windows partition
provided that the hard disk for that Windows partition and your backup
partition doesn't die.
For your #2 scenario, the hard disk with the Windows partition can die,
you replace the hard disk, and you restore to the new hard disk.
Obviously in this scenario, the backup location must have media present
and available at the time you perform the backup. That means a disc
must be in the drive (of sufficient capacity to encompass the entire
backup) or the external drive powered up and visible as a drive within
Windows. While you may do these manual operations when you manually run
Macrium Reflect Free, you need to do the setup beforehand (put in a disc
or leave powered up an external drive) if you want to schedule periodic
image backups.
A scenario you didn't mention is using another hard disk on which there
is a partition to where you save your backup images. That is, Windows
is in a partition on one hard disk and your backups are in a partition
on a different hard disk. Since the other hard disk will always be
powered up, you can schedule your backups to save there. The downside
is that if your computer gets zapped, say, by lightning then it's
possible all your hard disks get zapped. Of course, in scenario #2
where you are using an external drive (that is still attached to your
computer), it can get zapped, too, either through its power cord or
across the USB cable. To protect against destruction of hardware, you
could use the external drive but have it connected (both power cord and
USB cable) only when you manually instigate an image backup; else, it
sits protected in a drawer against physical shock and completely
disconnected from everything.
Now, to restore the image to your hard disk (the old one or a new one),
you'll need the backup media (disc, external drive, other hard disk)
along with the bootable rescue CD you were supposed to make for Macrium
Reflect Free. When you create that bootable WinPE, you need to ensure
it includes SATA drivers if that's the interface for your hard disks.
You didn't mention what hard disk(s) you have. If you expect to access
a networked host to get at the backup images you saved over there, the
WinPE boot disc will need the drivers for the network interface in
whatever host in which you are performing the image restore. As I
recall, the WinPE image used (from Microsoft) is for Windows 7 so it
might have the SATA and network drivers needed for the hardware in the
host you are trying to restore but you should check. Boot using the
Macrium rescue CD and make sure you can find wherever you stored the
image backup files.
B) I used Macrium Reflect to create the recovery disk. I choose the
Win (not Linux) recovery disk. I used a DVD.
It ran to completion. It downloaded some large 1.5 GByte file and wrote
to the DVD.
Actually Macrium makes it easier than some other backup programs. They
are all downloading, installing, and using Microsoft's AIK (Automated
Installation Kit). It is used to create images of Windows that then are
used to prep multiple hosts with the same image (obviously when using
multiple licensing). Under the conditions of using Win7 as a rescue
environment, Microsoft permits its use since you are trying to rescue
another license of Windows.
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5753
Some backup programs (that provide the plug-in needed under the WinPE
environment - not all do) have you go to Microsoft's site to download
their AIK and install it and then you have to figure out how to use it
to create a modified image to put on your bootable rescue media. Easeus
is like this so it is a difficult chore to create a WinPE boot disc.
See what I had to go through with Easeus ToDo Backup at:
http://forum.easeus.com/viewtopic.php?t=22410
It's a very manual operation and prone to error. It took me around 3
tries to get an image file that had the necessary drivers and would work
with the Easeus function in their GUI to create a bootable rescue CD.
Macrium makes the process far easier. They will do the download and
install for you (you only need the minimal installation for use by
Macrium Reflect) and they provide scripts to run through the process of
creating the boot image for the rescue CD.
I tried to boot from it but nothing happened. I looked at the DVD and
found stuff on it but nothing that looked like anything bootable.
Do you have your BIOS configured to include optical drives as a boot
device? Presumably you put the WAIK-modified image (that includes
Macrium's plug-in to run their restore from there) on a CD or DVD (since
that's what you mention). However, maybe your optical drive isn't
internal and instead connective via USB. That means you need to
configure your BIOS to allow booting from the USB device.
So if you put some other bootable disc in your DVD drive, like the one
to install Windows, does it boot okay?
Question: what should I have gotten?
If your BIOS is configured to include the optical drive as a boot device
and if the image was properly modified (to add the Macrium plug-in for
its restore program) and if the necessary drivers were included in the
image (SATA since Windows XP doesn't include them and if you're using
SATA disks instead of IDE) then you should've seen what looks like a
boot into Windows 7; however, that's only the initial boot screens since
right after Windows 7 loads then the Macrium plug-in gets loaded and you
should see their restore GUI on the screen.
