3rd party software for creating a backup image of my system?

bobhurd said:

The 4 pack version of Macrium Reflect with full support and all features costs $140 according to their website. I didn't check else where to see if you can get it any cheaper.

Granted, if you don't ever need support and can make due with the limited free version of Macrium Reflect, by all means get it. However, if you feel you may need support and a full version of backup software, I continue to recommend Acronis True Image.

For ops needs, free version is fine.

Anyway, paid version has features that far excell over Acronis e.g. rapid delta restore. Also, Reflect is often discounted (especially Black Friday to 50%).

I have used both and frankly Acronis is not a patch on Reflect.

bobhurd said:

The 4 pack version of Macrium Reflect with full support and all features costs $140 according to their website. I didn't check else where to see if you can get it any cheaper.

Granted, if you don't ever need support and can make due with the limited free version of Macrium Reflect, by all means get it. However, if you feel you may need support and a full version of backup software, I continue to recommend Acronis True Image.

I used to use Acronis religiously. But Macrium does everything Acronis does, and is far lighter on resources.
Acronis does have an easier GUI, but Macrium only has one Service and three Processes that only use 8MB of RAM.

After I got used to Macrium... it's really no contest.



/edit

And if you ever decide to uninstall Macrium, you don't need a pick and shovel to do it... like you do with Acronis.




This is pretty much all you need to do to make a full OS image backup... and it runs very fast.








And this is the bootable version... I especially love the things shown by the black arrows.










If you want to see ALL the details, here's the User Guide...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...k036dxmurQJW-H

bobhurd said:

...Acronis is not a patch on Reflect.

I am unfamiliar with the quoted phrase.

British, informal
: to be much less good, appealing, impressive, etc.

Be Not A Patch On | Definition of Be Not A Patch On by Merriam-Webster

bobhurd said:

...can make due with the limited free version of Macrium Reflect, by all means get it...

I used Reflect Free for two to three years before I bought it - and then only to say thank you for such a useful and well supported piece of software.

Free automatically gets all the same patches as paid-for, and the more useful features like scheduling, differential backups and being able to boot an image as a virtual machine are all included in Free. TBH I hardly use the Premium feature I've paid for

bobhurd said:

I tried the free version of Reflect and found it to be no more difficult than my paid-for Acronis True Image...

I've always though the Reflect GUI was poorly designed, that is perhaps its one weak point - but one I found well worth getting to grips with. The GUI has had some redesign work for the (soon to be released) Reflect v8.