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#31
Macrium Reflect Free now supports differential images.
Note: most people say incremental when they mean differential actually.
A differential image is a snapshot of the difference between pc since the full image backup was taken, and when differential image was made.
An incremental image backup (afaik) is the difference since the previous incremental image. Thus if you made a full image on day 1, and incremental image on days 2 and 3, to recover pc to state on day 3, you need images on days 1,2 and 3.
Hoeever with differential images, you only need images made on day 1 and 3. The image on day 3 contains all changes since day 1 ie is cumulative.
Thus incremental images will be more space efficient than differential images. This facility is not offered by any of the main free packages. In fact MRF is the only one I know that offers differential backups. For domestic use, differential backups are perfectly adequate.
MRF is far faster, more space efficient than the basic windows offering. MS have not developed it since windows 7. They tried to hide it in windows 8 to an obscure link, and have confused people in windows 10 calling it 'backup and restore (windows 7)'.
One great feature about MRF is its new ability to install a dual boot option, so you do not even need a recovery drive unless hdd fails or is badly corrupted.
The Rescue drive has a good feature to rebuild boot sectors if corrupted.
There are a number of other features in the way it works eg smart sector copying that are far superior to the windows system.
MRF is the only package I found that will reliably backup tablets which are often unusual having a 32bit eufi install. Windows version failed miserably on my tablet, and was spotty on my Sony Vaio. MRF has never let me down.
To summarise, MRF is a Rolls Royce compared with an old Ford car.