Macrium Reflex brand new user - totally confused

After having a dead computer, I'm trying to set up my new one correctly. Seems like everyone loves Macrium, so I downloaded their free version. I also watched on-line tutorials and read lots of posts about it, but I'm way past confused at this point. All I was trying to do to start was a disk image, and I don't understand word one about the screen I'm looking at. It shows:

MBR Disk 1
F:\\ (which is one of my internal hard drives on which I keep all my data files.)

GPT Disk 2
1 System (none) FAT32 (LBA Primary
2 None - Unformatted Primary
3 Windows C:\\ NTFS Primary (my other internal hard drive which holds all my system/program files
4 Windows RE Tools (none) NTFS primary

GPT Disk 3
1 EFI (none) FAT32 (LBA Primary)
2 E:\\ Unformatted Primary (my external hard drive for backups)

I can't figure out what all this really means. I've tried checking everything but E, and press Image this Disk, but the next page is gobbeltygook to me too. I can't find a way to tell it to put the image on my E drive.

Is there anywhere I can go to get some real beginner kind of instructions? For someone who doesn't know what FAT32 or LBA Primary, NTFS, or a heap of other things are? I read the tutorials but it's just not working for me. I don't want to waste your time, but I just want to do a backup (then differential backups) and image my system.


WINVER Info is: Version 1909 (Build 18363.1139

Hello @way2ob2se

Have you looked at Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect

- - - Updated - - -

You can just skip creating a schedule and make just an image of all the partitions on your boot drive only (the one that contains C: drive) initially to run thorough the process.

You don't really need to understand all the partitions in each drive at this point to make a backup image.

Post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management if possible.

Your boot drive appears to be GPT Disk 2.

To "back up" your Windows installation, you would need to confirm that there are check marks under ALL FOUR of those partitions you show.

Then click "image this disk" just below those checkmarks, like shown in this pic.

You can then just use the suggested defaults on the next few screens to make your first full image.

You can worry about the finer points later. Just get the first one done.

You will be asked to select where you want to save the image file, most likely on an external I'm guessing. Other than that, just roll with defaults for now.

I take it you are trying to create an image of your system so if something goes wrong you can use the image to restore .

The simplest tool for that purpose is Aomei Backupper. There is a free version which is probably all you need
Free Backup Software for Windows - AOMEI Backupper Standard

Here's the next screen.

Notice that I have chosen D:\computer\images as the destination for the image file.

It'll be a big file, likely 20 GB or more.

@way2ob2se,
You can start watching this @ 4:23 mark where he starts making a backup image and explains the process:
Backup and restore Windows with Macrium Reflect - YouTube

Note that he only made an image of one drive and that would be a good way for you to start. Then you can go back and make images of your other drives once you get one done.

Here's the remaining 4 screens, a total of 6.

The first one below won't exactly match your default choices. You can just accept the defaults for now. I changed mine a bit as you can see. This is the edit plan page.

The second screen below is the summary page, showing what will happen. Nothing to change here.

The third screen below is the options page; just accept defaults.

The last page shows the the image in progress. As long as the green progress bars are moving across, let it go. Might take 5 minutes or 30, depending on size.

When it's done, go see if you can find the image you just made. It will have an mrimg extension.

ignatzatsonic, steve108 and dalchina - thank you all for your replies and instructions. I'm attaching screenshots of the Disk Management screen and the Minitool Partition Wizard screens

A relevant bit of information is that when my old computer died from fried capacitors, I was in a panic and went out and bought this computer because it was on sale. Being the dummy I am, I bought one with less disc space than my old one. When the big-box-rent-a-tech was copying from my old drive to the new one (I think there were actually two identical pieces), he said he couldn't do the restore unless I bought a separate additional hard drive, which I did. He said he would make the smaller drive the c: drive and the large new one the f; drive. I just said "fine" because I didn't know anything about what's where. So I've been plodding around and decided that since c: was the "Windows" one, I would put all my data on the f: drive. I've read in several places that it was good to do it that way. I don't understand partitions, and don't know why they are there. I appreciate you pointing to the tutorials and the videos...but I've spent hours reading and watching, but they all seem to assume I know what FAT and UEFI and partitions and such mean.

There are 3 separate physical disks attached to the machine in that screenshot. Disks need to be partitioned before windows can use them. There can be one or more partitions on a disk.


Disk0 contains The F partition which you have been putting data on

Disk1 contains the efi system partition 200mb with no drive letter, and your windows partition C:, and a partition called Recovery with no drive letter

Disk3 contains a 200mb system partition with no drive letter and a larger partition E: