Hi dalchina and bree.
I often take high definitions or 4k videos with my mobile phone and transfer them to the PC for further edit. I don't like editing video with the mobile phone. In that case, is it the best way without hassle is to quickly finish editing the videos and then send them all to a portable external hard drive (HDD) and then make one more copy on another portable drive, instead of bothering saving images of the videos?
It's entirely your decision as to which disks/partitions to image, and how to back up your data. Keeping two copies of video (or images) when the files are already compressed is perfectly valid of course, and in such a case, probably a great idea.
Bear in mind that disk imaging (the sort used normally by most people) creates files which are compressed versions of the used parts of the selected partition(s). If the data is intrinsically compressed, there is no size benefit in the image which contains a representation of it.
Indeed, a base image and a series of differential images, where new video files were added after the base image was created would be significantly inefficient, as each differential image would contain data almost as big as all the videos added to the partition(s) imaged since the base image was created.
Thus you do need to consider a trade-off between efficiency, convenience, and the size required for your backups, and the most appropriate method to use.
and differentials take longer the further you get away from the full.
In addition to Macrium have you investigated Windows file History?
Hi, I have one more question about Macrium Reflect. In case of system fails, like my case that I can never boot to Windows, not even the Advanced startup. It was just stuck at "Automatic Repair" forever and then went to a full black screen. Will I still be able to recover the system with the backup image created by Macrium Reflect stored on a portable device?
Last but not least, is it usually enough for a 128GB USB flash stick to serve as the backup of the system image and differential images? USB sticks are getting less expensive....
You could boot your PC from MR's bootable medium (Kyhi's- at the top of the Software and Apps section is more comprehensive and includes MR).
The means of recovery in that situation depends on what has happened from disk corruption to registry corruption. Restoring the imaged partitions may even not be what is necessary.
(See Macrium's separate Fix boot utllity on its boot medium e.g.)
Yes. To restore in the case of a complete drive failure and replacing with a new one, the process is to boot from a Macrium recovery usb which can restore the image from your external drive. You should make the recovery media as soon as you have installed Macrium so you'll have it handy, just in case.
That depends on how large your image will be. Look in File Manager at the properties of your C: drive and any other drives you want to include in the image. Add up the used space, the Macrium image will be no larger than this. Depending on how much it can be compressed, it may be smaller. An image size about 70% of the total used space being imaged is typical.Last but not least, is it usually enough for a 128GB USB flash stick to serve as the backup of the system image and differential images? USB sticks are getting less expensive....
Rather than a USB key I would look at an external drive. For around twice the price of a 128GB USB you can get at least 1TB, probably 2TB.
1TB and 2TB are the worst value compared to 4TB
but I will be spending at least $100 on Amazon for a 4TB portable drive as a recovery drive?
Does anyone know if I use my current 4TB portable drive to create a Macrium recovery drive, can the rest of the hard drive capacity be used for other storage?
Just wondering - if you did that, then blindly opted to subsequently update (recreate) the rescue medium from Macrium's GUI, how would you be sure you wouldn't lose the images?
Partiitoning requirements?
Had a quick look thru the documentation but couldn't find anything specific enough.
How to create USB rescue media
(older)
How to create USB rescue media
In this article we will explain how it is possible to simply create a USB flash drive to boot Windows PE.
Note: this article is only relevant to releases newer than v5.2.6474.
Introduction
USB based rescue media offer some advantages over CD/DVD based media:
- Boot times are much quicker
- Devices such as tables and some laptops don't include a CD drive, so USB booting is the only option.
- Image files can be stored on the rescue media.
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