Macrium Reflect Is taking a long time to create an image

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  1. Posts : 325
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    Macrium Reflect Is taking a long time to create an image


    I am using Macrium Reflect Free to create an image of my WD portable hard drive. It has about 1TB worth of files on it. I installed the latest version of Macrium Reflect and used all the default settings to make the backup. It has been 1.5 hours so far and is 7% complete. At this rate it is going to take about 13 hours to complete. Is this normal? It sure seems long to me. I am backing up to a Seagate 2TB portable hard drive.
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  2. Posts : 19,516
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #2

    Yes, it can take long time to complete. It also may have something to do with disk and system speed. It takes me 20 minutes to back up 240GB SSD to a HDD on a fast desktop computer. If backing up to USB2 connected storage it will be even slower.
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  3. Posts : 325
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Okay, thanks for your reply CountMike, yes, both portable drives are on USB2. I just wanted to see if the time sound right.

    Update, 7 hours remaining.
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  4. Posts : 15,441
    Windows10
       #4

    Typical usb 3 speed is around 25 MB/s

    So 1 TB will take say 11 hrs, but MRF does compress by about 33%, so 7 hours is about right. A usb 3 would halve this at least.
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  5. Posts : 706
    W10
       #5

    TrustMe said:
    I am using Macrium Reflect Free to create an image of my WD portable hard drive. It has about 1TB worth of files on it. I installed the latest version of Macrium Reflect and used all the default settings to make the backup. It has been 1.5 hours so far and is 7% complete. At this rate it is going to take about 13 hours to complete. Is this normal? It sure seems long to me. I am backing up to a Seagate 2TB portable hard drive.
    Why are you writing an image for backup? Why not just copying all files to the other disk? And when in future you want to backup the changes, I suggest to use FreeFileSync. A perfect programme also for one-way sync.
    I use Macrium Reflect for making a system image, but not for backing up other files.
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  6. Posts : 19,516
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #6

    It's easier to have it all in one large file than to chase them one by one. The file can be mounted to view, copy or replace parts. Later on you can do incremental or differential update to it.
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  7. Posts : 706
    W10
       #7

    It's easier to have it all in one large file
    Maybe, but when there is some corruption in that one big file, you loose probably everything? I donot take that risk.

    than to chase them one by one.
    That is automatically done by FreeFileSync.
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  8. Posts : 15,441
    Windows10
       #8

    CountMike said:
    It's easier to have it all in one large file than to chase them one by one. The file can be mounted to view, copy or replace parts. Later on you can do incremental or differential update to it.
    Personally, I prefer to keep OS+programs ion one partition, and data in a separate partition. This keeps the Macrium image relatively static and I only back that up monthly (or if I make significant changes to that drive), accepting it may be necessary to reinstall some updates.

    Then I use File History Backup to back up the data drive, on a more frequent basis (I choose weekly but could even go as low as hourly).

    The key advantage of doing it this way is if you decide to clean install OS, it does not affect your data partition.

    As an aside, anybody using Macrium (or any similar) using diff/incs should redo the full backup following the upgrade, as there is a strong chance it will completely fall apart if you try to restore a build+diffs/incs spanning two builds.
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  9. Posts : 19,516
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #9

    cereberus said:
    Personally, I prefer to keep OS+programs ion one partition, and data in a separate partition. This keeps the Macrium image relatively static and I only back that up monthly (or if I make significant changes to that drive), accepting it may be necessary to reinstall some updates.

    Then I use File History Backup to back up the data drive, on a more frequent basis (I choose weekly but could even go as low as hourly).

    The key advantage of doing it this way is if you decide to clean install OS, it does not affect your data partition.

    As an aside, anybody using Macrium (or any similar) using diff/incs should redo the full backup following the upgrade, as there is a strong chance it will completely fall apart if you try to restore a build+diffs/incs spanning two builds.
    That's how I have always done, keep OS and programs strictly separate from data. OS and programs can be replaced if you keep installation files but data can go to Neverland with small and expensive chances for it's return.
    For OS disk I keep MR backup fairly regularly but data is always in perpetual incremental backup on another HDD and most important stuff on external one.
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  10. Posts : 325
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Thanks everyone for the replys, originally I thought it would be faster to have MRF make a backup of the drive than to copy the files individually. I am on a laptop and going through a USB2 powered hub. As cereberus pointed out, the hub is slowing me down. MR is telling me I'm getting a transfer rate of 140Mb/s which is 17.5MB/s. I am going to have to invest in a USB3 hub.

    Usually I have two portable drives with the exact same files on them. One of the drives failed, so I'm just trying to make a backup of the other.

    @PoKo
    I am going to try FreeFileSync and see how that works.

    Update 30 minutes remaining
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