Macrium Reflect...Imaging VS Cloning, and how to keep drive J mirrored

Hi there
You CAN use the same HDD that windows is on but it needs to be in a different partition -- for example create say a 30 GB small "D" partition for your image file. It needs to be a primary partition - not part of an extended logical partition.
The size should be dependant on the backup size plus a little bit (around 5% say) extra and when backing up to this partition you can make it bootable depending on backup software used --Macrium can create bootable recovery image..

This way you can boot from "D" to restore your system without needing an external device.

The problem you could have though if the HDD becomes defective you've probably lost both your OS and the backup -- personally I'd get something like a 64 GB USB device and have program and backup image on that device.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
You CAN use the same HDD that windows is on but it needs to be in a different partition -- for example create say a 30 GB small "D" partition for your image file. It needs to be a primary partition - not part of an extended logical partition.
The size should be dependant on the backup size plus a little bit (around 5% say) extra and when backing up to this partition you can make it bootable depending on backup software used --Macrium can create bootable recovery image..

This way you can boot from "D" to restore your system without needing an external device.

The problem you could have though if the HDD becomes defective you've probably lost both your OS and the backup -- personally I'd get something like a 64 GB USB device and have program and backup image on that device.

Cheers
jimbo

Ahh I see. Gotcha thanks for the clarification. Well I don't have the space on my 2TB back up SSD to create a separate partition that I can copy all my data to, so I'll just buy a new SSD to replace the other one in case it goes bad.

see comments:

isamu said:

so let me see if I got this straight.....

In case a disastrous incident occurs, whether that's my main C drive crashing, or my OS gets corrupted. All I would have to do is....

1)Insert the rescue media DVD

More than insert. You would restart and boot from the DVD. How do you know it's bootable? I'd prefer to see you use a USB, but DVD will work.

You probably should remake this DVD/USB periodically if you update Macrium. I think Macrium web site can tell you when you should make new recovery media. You don't have to do it with every update, but sooner or later you will.

You can't get yourself in a situation where your rescue media fails. If that happens, you are dead in the water.

2)Use it to point windows to my .mrimg file

More accurately---when you boot from the DVD, you are running off that DVD and the Macrium interface is what you see. You point Macrium to the .mrimg file.

3)Windows start the process of recovering all my data to a new *DIFFERENT* hard drive(???), and back to it's original state, with all my programs in tact as if nothing happened.

Is all this...correct?

Pretty much, but not as if nothing had happened. If "something happened" on July 23 and you restored an image made on March 3, the system (AND YOUR DATA) would be as it had been on March 3. Beware of this. The cat pictures from April 19 have gone bye-bye unless backed up by some other means.

Here's the thing I'm still confused about....is there a way to use the *SAME* hard drive that the image file is on, to get Windows back in working order when it's recovering data? In other words, are two HDDs required during the recovery process? Or can the same HDD that the image file is on, be used as the target to get a full functioning hard drive? Please clarify. Keep in mind both SSDs are the same size, 2TB(the back up drive is actually a few hundred megabytes smaller for some unknown reason).

You'd be foolish to do that. That would work only if your drive is still in working order. What if it isn't? Isn't that what you are trying to protect yourself from---drive failure?

ignatzatsonic said:

see comments: <snip>

Got it. thank you!

ignatzatsonic said:

How do you know it's bootable? I'd prefer to see you use a USB, but DVD will work.

Yes, the dvd is just temporary. I'll be getting a usb and use that instead. For a rescue media what is the minimum size you'd recommend for a USB thumbdrive? 8Gb? 12? 32?

ignatzatsonic said:

You'd be foolish to do that. That would work only if your drive is still in working order. What if it isn't? Isn't that what you are trying to protect yourself from---drive failure?

yes you're right, it would be foolish not to mention the drive would be too small anyway.

ignatzatsonic said:

The cat pictures from April 19 have gone bye-bye unless backed up by some other means.

Yes, that is why I'll be doing either differential or incremental backups on a periodical basis. Which leads me to my question....

In your personal opinion, which is better....making differential or incremental image backups? Are there any significant advantages one has over the other? From what I've read, the incrementals take up less time and slightly less space, but if one of them goes bad for some reason, then it screws up the entire full image, rendering it unrecoverable(?).

I use a 4 GB USB flash drive, but I think it would fit on a 1 GB. You certainly don't need 8 or larger. But they are cheap.

I do full images ONLY. I don't want complications or introducing points of failure. I want the simplest most straightforward method possible. I want it to be easily repeatable without a lot of variables to track.

I don't have drive space issues so I don't care about image size. I don't care if it takes me 8 minutes to make a full image.

I'm indifferent to my cat pictures and all other data when imaging. That stuff is backed up by an ordinary file-by-file backup program where all data remains in original file format (.jpg, .doc, .mp3, etc, NOT somewhere within a .mrimg image file)

The occupied space on my primary Crucial SSD is about 45 GB. The image file of all of that is about 24 GB. I keep 3 images now totaling about 62 GB.

My images are smallish because my data is on another drive. Having data elsewhere simplifies my backup strategy and Windows installations.

If you keep EVERYTHING on C, your occupied space may be 800 GB and an image file of that might be 400 GB. That can complicate things.

So you decide on storage locations and backup strategy based on those factors.

I feel safest with a backup device that does both: Boot my full Windows with all software loaded (but not my data that sits somewhere on other drives and NAS drives) and has enough space for a normal compressed backup of all my system partitions. For this I bought cheap 240 GB Kingston SSDs that I put in USB 3.0 enclosures. As Software I used WinToUSB and EaseUS Todo Backup that also can do bootable external Windows clones. Both cost the same.
With this I can run my full Windows from USB on any of our PCs and notebooks in case my main PC gets broke. Or I can restore the latest backup to the PC if only Windows got ruined, or a new drive if the old one dies or gets to small.
I even could restore a backup of my main PC to a new one that obviously is not that dissimilar as it booted the restored Windows from the old one without any bigger driver problems.