Macrium Help

Redbatman said:

Alright but just to be safe should I format my USB 3.0 drive to NTFS. Or should I be fine?

It really does not matter as Macrium splits backup file into smaller sections if fat32.

Redbatman said:

Alright but just to be safe should I format my USB 3.0 drive to NTFS. Or should I be fine?

Not sure if you're still talking about your 16GB flash drive or a new external HDD. Most flash drives come pre-formatted as FAT32, which has a maximum file size of "4GB minus 2 Bytes" (and a max volume size of 32GB for some OSs). If your 16GB flash drive is formatted FAT32, this could(?) be part of the problem with Macrium in your OP as you are likely trying to create a single image file larger than 4GB (which is what I imagine is why Josey Wales asked about the formatting), which would fail on FAT32.

If you're trying to image something that should fit on your 16GB flash drive, you should probably verify that the flash drive is formatted as NTFS, and reformat it to NTFS if it is FAT32. (You can also convert it from FAT32 to NTFS if it has files on it you want to keep on it, though it would probably be simpler to just copy them to another location, reformat, then copy them back.)

[Edit: Oops! my first 2 paragraphs above probably not relevant to your situation, given cereberus' post just before mine -- I had forgotten Macrium would split an image into FAT32-size chunks -- but I'll leave the info for readers who may not already understand the issue]

If you're talking about a new external HDD, it is probably already formatted as NTFS, which is fine.

(BTW, the estimated time of 10-16hrs reminds me of when I backed up a very full laptop 30GB HDD to an external USB HDD over USB 1.1 about 11 years ago and it took about 24-30 hours as I recall. Are you by any chance using a USB 1.1 port? If so, your Macrium image will probably take a similar 10-16hrs on either your 16GB flash drive or an external USB HDD.)

cereberus said:

Actually some usb3 flash drives are very fast. My san cruzer extreme reads at 250 MB/s (2000 Mb/s) and writes at 100 MB/s (800 Mb/s).

This was relatively speaking...the speed. There is no Flash Drive on earth that could be faster than an external drive.

Why does the OP need/want/have to use a flash drive? I don't see any mention of that anywhere. And the OP has made no response about the possibility of an external drive.

@Redbatman- could you explain to us the need to use a flash drive and not an external?

Thanks

Redbatman said:

Well dalchina suggested windows backup so I'm thinking doing that now instead, that's why I was asking if I should still format my flashdr I've for that.

Windows backup IS NOT reliable ... a lot of us use Macrium Reflect. The choice is yours, I have windows backup turned off, have for a long time.

OldMike65 said:

Windows backup IS NOT reliable ... a lot of us use Macrium Reflect. The choice is yours, I have windows backup turned off, have for a long time.

Are you seriously considering using Windows Backup (legacy Windows 7 software) to back up to a 16GB flash drive?

Redbatman said:

Well dalchina suggested windows backup so I'm thinking doing that now instead, that's why I was asking if I should still format my flashdr I've for that.

Er no, I didn't.

Mooly said:

Sorry guys, I have to take issue with the repeated comments that Windows Backup is unreliable... in my experience it is not, in fact I've ditched Macrium on my Creators installations and gone back to using Windows own offering and I am not regretting the move at all.

It may be 'legacy software' but remember it is also an integral part of the OS and so not prone to compatibility issues and bugs that require frequent patches such as Macrium.

If all you wish to do is create system images of your Windows installation then imo Windows backup is terrific. I think a lot of the bad press relates to users not fully understanding the intricacies and details of how it actually works. Used as intended and I've found it totally reliable and trouble-free.

On a USB 16GB thumb? Not arguing, honest, but that seems to be his intent. I'm still trying to figure out why.