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#930
Neptune:
The imaging process just creates a huge file with an mrimg extension. It can be treated like any other huge file. No special requirements, folder, or format. It can be saved anywhere there is enough space EXCEPT on a partition contained in the image file itself......that is, if you choose to include both C and D in the image, you can't save the image file on C or D.
Normally, you'd make and restore an image while booted from your system drive. The USB recovery media method is needed when your system drive is unavailable for whatever reason......it died, it's alive but you can't boot from it, etc.
The paid version has a few features you might consider, but they may well not be useful to you. I used the free version for close to 10 years without incident.
Thanks for the reply ignatzatsonic, I thought it was required process at some point like if you don't use USB rescue media, don't you have to reboot to restore and select rescue media from windows boot menu or something like that?
If your system drive is working well and you have installed Macrium on it, you would:
Boot normally.
Open the Macrium application just like you'd open any other application.
Select the task you want from Macrium menus.
The task would typically be to make an image or to restore an image. You then follow prompts, navigating as necessary. It's fairly intuitive, but you ought to practice making an image or 5 just to understand the process.
The restore image menus are a bit more complex than the make image menus.
You wouldn't "select rescue media" precisely because your system drive is working well.
You COULD use the rescue media if you insisted, but it's slower. Might take a minute to even get it loaded. If you did choose to use rescue media, you would arrive at the same Macrium interface you would see if you booted from your system drive and ran Macrium from there.
You should of course make rescue media and confirm it will in fact boot your PC. If it won't, it's useless and you could end up in a major bind if you can't boot the system drive.
Once you give the final "go ahead and do it" command, it's automated. You'd just watch the progress bar. It would reboot if you are restoring.
I didn't want to complicate things but you can instigate a restore of the system drive from a running system if you have created the boot menu. MR will automatically reboot to the rescue environment before beginning the restore. I personally have never done it that way but I am assured that it works.
I'm chiming in here to add my two cents. I always create an ISO file, a recovery USB, and a Windows Boot Menu. I store the ISO file in a folder on one of my removable USB drives. My rationale is that in the event of a "disaster", I first try to boot from the HDD containing the windows boot menu (C:); if that fails, I use the USB rescue media. If that fails, I would burn the ISO file to a CD and boot from it.
Every time MR notifies me of an update, I update all three of those media. I routinely test the ability to restore (after updates, for example) by first, booting from the Boot Menu. Then I test my USB drive. If I can boot into MR with both, and see/find my backup files, I then "browse" them in MR to make sure they're readable and that in a "G*d totally hates me and I'm a loser" scenario, I can at least pick data off of one of the backups. Clearly, you want to restore it, but if that failed, I my goal is to have a readable image on a different drive that I can read.
I started with Macrium Reflect Free. It saved my azz when I had a failing HDD on a Win 7 machine. I've been of the mind to financially support those software that are mission critical when they've proven themselves. MR is one such software and I purchased the Home edition, never looking back. I use the free version on three other machines, but on the Nebuchadnezzar, I use the paid version.
Finally, please bear in mind that I'm no expert; rather, I'm just sharing my thoughts.
I haven't done any Restore Image process yet I don't know how it works but from the tutorials after clicking Restore Image button doesn't it popup "This restore must be completed in win PE rescue environment create rescue media and add to windows boot menu..." (I created full C backup) Do you mean it's possible to not use rescue media boot option and just create image, click restore image, it restarts pc in restored state without boot options?
That's what I thought in order to restore you need to create rescue media USB or add to boot menu? either way you have to boot from win PE right? Do you always use boot from USB rescue media method?