Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect  


  1. Posts : 17,661
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #170

    A few days ago a fellow member wrote this about Macrium Reflect on another thread:

    Stevekir said:
    I have a file that I have set up to be backed up Full once per week, with 4 Differential backups during the week. The Full and the Diffs are set to be retained (I assume for that week). This obviously means that there will be a Full backup every week. But what about the 4 Differentials. I know what a Diff. is but I don't understand what Retaining 4 Diffs means.
    He then asked several questions about differentials. I will quote my reply here, it just might help possible readers of this tutorial, too:

    Kari said:
    Stevekir said:
    1. During the week there will be four Diffs made at equal intervals of 1.75 days (7/4 = 1.75).
    No. You can set backups to be made monthly, weekly, every day, every specific week day or every X days where X is an integer (1, 2, 3 etc.). It can't be a fraction (1.75, 0.6, 2.5 etc.).


    Stevekir said:
    2. The first Diff. will record all the changes since the Full backup was made; the second will also record all the changes since the Full was made and so on.
    Yes. A differential image backs up changes since last full backup, an incremental image changes since last full, differential or incremental backup.




    Stevekir said:
    3. At the end of a normal week the Full and the Diffs would be deleted and a new Full immediately created, with the new Diffs created in turn during that new week.
    Let's call subsequent full backups as Full1, Full2, Full3 and so on, and respectively differential backups as Diff1, Diff2, Diff3 and so on.

    You have a backup schedule to make a full backup once a week and a differential every second day. Retention rules are set to keep one full and four differentials.

    According to your sample backup definition, Full1 will be deleted when Full2 will be created, Diff1 will be deleted when Diff5 will be created, and so on.

    • Week 1, Day 1, a full backup Full1 will be made, followed by differentials Diff1 on Day 3, Diff2 on Day 5 and Diff3 on Day 7
    • Week 2, Day 1 a new Full2 will be created and according to retention rules, Full1 will be deleted
    • Diff1, Diff2 and Diff3 will now become obsolete and useless; they could no longer be used to restore Windows because to restore a differential image its parent full image is required
    • Based on above, you should change retention rules so that a full backup is kept until its last child backup (differential or incremental) is deleted, in this example case if you only want to keep differentials for one week and you create a full every week, you should keep two full backups, deleting Full1 only when Full3 will be created and last child differential of Full1 will be deleted


    Stevekir said:
    4. If during the week a crash occured and the computer was re-booted, the last Diff created before the crash would be double-clicked on and the Full backup would be updated to the time/date of that last Diff.
    No. Full image would not be updated. You just begin restore process selecting the last differential as image to be restored, it then uses its parent full image as base restoring it, then applying changes in itself.


    Stevekir said:
    5. That updated Full Backup could then be used to restore the computer to the position it was in when the last Diff.was created.
    No. See above.


    Stevekir said:
    6. This is the reason for creating Diffs. and the only reason.
    You create differential and incremental images because they will be made faster and will be smaller than full backups.

    Kari
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 11,247
    Windows / Linux : Arch Linux
       #171

    kado897 said:
    That's a shame.
    Hi there
    I'm not sure what you mean by "Doesn't support encryption" in Free version.

    If you are imaging a Disk it will just image it whatever is written on it whether encrypted or not -- and whatever file system it happens to be using. That's the whole point of "Imaging". - In this mode though you have to image the entire HDD / SSD and you can't use File backup or "Incremental / Differential" backups,

    If you need individual file backups the best solution is to be gleaned from Linux systems --especially those of you that have NAS servers -- use RSYNC or a GUI version - GRSYNC --zillions of options and really good and fast for file backups. Free and built into Linux as standard (RSYNC - GRSYNC --the GUI version can be installed by your package manager and works very well indeed too).

    For example : Using the GUI version GRSYNC. This option shown will copy any files from the source disk that don't exist on the destination. There are loads of other options such as skip newer etc etc.

    Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect-snapshot21.png

    For the OS backups simply use the free version of Macrium -- you don't need paid version for DATA backups if you have NAS and Linux. If you can handle the command line then RSYNC can be run as a scheduled job from your linux system using CRONTAB - run it whenever you like automatically -- Linux systems these days have perfectly safe read / write to Windows file systems provided you set SAMBA shares accordingly - so even if the data files are on RAID drives you can still save and restore data.

    Cheers
    jimbo
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 189
    Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
       #172

    Using the free edition so i dont have "Complete SSD trim support", and i have a ssd, there can be problems in a eventually restored image?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 19,516
    W11+W11 Developer Insider + Linux
       #173

    Pipppero2007 said:
    Using the free edition so i dont have "Complete SSD trim support", and i have a ssd, there can be problems in a eventually restored image?
    It's enough to have SATA in AHCI mode set in BIOS.
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 189
    Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
       #174

    Thanks
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 285
    win 7 8 10
       #175

    thanks for the help, I have always used powerquest drive image, Symantec live state, Symanatec Desktop recovery.
    was a little slow on Macrium buttons but this post helped, thanks a lot all
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 1,871
    W10 pro x64 20H2 Build 19042.610
       #176

    Pipppero2007 said:
    Using the free edition so i dont have "Complete SSD trim support", and i have a ssd, there can be problems in a eventually restored image?
    If you do a restore you will see Macrium flash a message saying 'attempting trim... trim successful'.

    Its a non problem, simply run Windows own 'Optimise' routine on the restored image when its all done.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 189
    Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
       #177

    Mooly said:
    If you do a restore you will see Macrium flash a message saying 'attempting trim... trim successful'.

    Its a non problem, simply run Windows own 'Optimise' routine on the restored image when its all done.
    Plaase, do you mean the defrag built in in win?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 1,871
    W10 pro x64 20H2 Build 19042.610
       #178

    No, 'Defrag' and 'Analyse' are disabled if you have an SSD. Trim or 'Optimise' takes seconds to run unlike a conventional drive having to be defragged.

    Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect-capture.png
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 1,871
    W10 pro x64 20H2 Build 19042.610
       #179

    Pipppero2007 said:
    Plaase, do you mean the defrag built in in win?
    Maybe I misunderstood you. Optimise is built into Windows.
      My Computer


 

Tutorial Categories

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Tutorial Index Network & Sharing Instalation and Upgrade Browsers and Email General Tips Gaming Customization Apps and Features Virtualization BSOD System Security User Accounts Hardware and Drivers Updates and Activation Backup and Restore Performance and Maintenance Mixed Reality Phone


  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 15:49.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums