My bloviated meandering follows what Sailfish graced us with on 5/3/2021
9:22 AM:
> My bloviated meandering follows what J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us
> with on 5/2/2021 11:54 PM:

>> Macrium Reflect Free lets you select partitions, from whichever discs,
>> you want, and makes a single .mrimg file. I have my laptop's single HD
>> partitioned into C: (system) and D: (data), and when I run Macrium, I
>> select the tiny hidden partition plus the C: partition to make my
>> image. (I back up D: using something more like a copy.)
>>
>> (Above is Macrium 5 as booted from the CD, but I imagine 7 from the
>> running system is similar. [I just feel happier imaging a system
>> that's not actually running, plus it reassures me that the CD is still
>> OK.])
>
> Hmm, are both C: & D: on the same volume, just as different partitions
> or are they on separate volumes as my SSD (C:, SATA0) and internal disk
> (I:, SATA3)?
>
To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul

I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and, Voila!, it
does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one .mrimg file.

Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I replace
the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery tool similar
Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed disk backup from the
..mrimg file?

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

Sailfish graced us with on 5/3/2021 9:43 AM:
> My bloviated meandering follows what Sailfish graced us with on 5/3/2021
> 9:22 AM:
>> My bloviated meandering follows what J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us
>> with on 5/2/2021 11:54 PM:
>
>>> Macrium Reflect Free lets you select partitions, from whichever
>>> discs, you want, and makes a single .mrimg file. I have my laptop's
>>> single HD partitioned into C: (system) and D: (data), and when I run
>>> Macrium, I select the tiny hidden partition plus the C: partition to
>>> make my image. (I back up D: using something more like a copy.)
>>>
>>> (Above is Macrium 5 as booted from the CD, but I imagine 7 from the
>>> running system is similar. [I just feel happier imaging a system
>>> that's not actually running, plus it reassures me that the CD is
>>> still OK.])
>>
>> Hmm, are both C: & D: on the same volume, just as different partitions
>> or are they on separate volumes as my SSD (C:, SATA0) and internal
>> disk (I:, SATA3)?
>>
> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>
> I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and, Voila!, it
> does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one .mrimg file.
>
> Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I replace
> the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery tool similar
> Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed disk backup from the
> .mrimg file?
>
Paul graced us with on 5/2/2021 1:57 AM: :
//
Macrium has it, but it's only for the entire MRIMG file, a kind of "all
or nothing". It's also the reason the rate of backup is capped, because
computing a hash or checksum (a good one), that has limits as to how
fast it will go. You can do CRC64 at 1500MB/sec, but that's hardly a
good choice. MD5 is reasonably good (for catching a flipped bit), and
runs at 300MB/sec plus. SHA1 is slower. If you include such things in
the backup process, there is a price to be paid, especially if the
software is not particularly multi-core by design.
//
Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the backup
or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to perform it
after the backup would be good as a minimum means of verification.

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

On Mon, 03 May 2021 10:52:13 -0700, Sailfish
<NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote:

>Sailfish graced us with on 5/3/2021 9:43 AM:
>> My bloviated meandering follows what Sailfish graced us with on 5/3/2021
>> 9:22 AM:
>>> My bloviated meandering follows what J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us
>>> with on 5/2/2021 11:54 PM:
>>
>>>> Macrium Reflect Free lets you select partitions, from whichever
>>>> discs, you want, and makes a single .mrimg file. I have my laptop's
>>>> single HD partitioned into C: (system) and D: (data), and when I run
>>>> Macrium, I select the tiny hidden partition plus the C: partition to
>>>> make my image. (I back up D: using something more like a copy.)
>>>>
>>>> (Above is Macrium 5 as booted from the CD, but I imagine 7 from the
>>>> running system is similar. [I just feel happier imaging a system
>>>> that's not actually running, plus it reassures me that the CD is
>>>> still OK.])
>>>
>>> Hmm, are both C: & D: on the same volume, just as different partitions
>>> or are they on separate volumes as my SSD (C:, SATA0) and internal
>>> disk (I:, SATA3)?
>>>
>> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>>
>> I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and, Voila!, it
>> does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one .mrimg file.
>>
>> Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I replace
>> the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery tool similar
>> Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed disk backup from the
>> .mrimg file?
>>
>Paul graced us with on 5/2/2021 1:57 AM: :
>//
>Macrium has it, but it's only for the entire MRIMG file, a kind of "all
>or nothing". It's also the reason the rate of backup is capped, because
>computing a hash or checksum (a good one), that has limits as to how
>fast it will go. You can do CRC64 at 1500MB/sec, but that's hardly a
>good choice. MD5 is reasonably good (for catching a flipped bit), and
>runs at 300MB/sec plus. SHA1 is slower. If you include such things in
>the backup process, there is a price to be paid, especially if the
>software is not particularly multi-core by design.
>//
>Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the backup
>or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to perform it
>after the backup would be good as a minimum means of verification.

You can verify a Reflect image at any time. In the Reflect program, select
the Restore tab, browse for the image to be verified and select it, then
under the Other Actions dropdown, select Verify Image.

--

Char Jackson

Char Jackson wrote:

>
> You can verify a Reflect image at any time. In the Reflect program, select
> the Restore tab, browse for the image to be verified and select it, then
> under the Other Actions dropdown, select Verify Image.

And yes, the software prepares boot materials for you.

There has to be boot materials, so you can do a
"bare metal restore".

On Windows Backup, the Windows Installer DVD is used
for the "bare metal restore" option.

As long as the backup is stored on a different disk
than the failed disk drive, you can "bare metal restore"
when the replacement hard drive shows up.

New disk <=== Backup disk
|
Boot CD to bootstrap
restoring to disk

Paul

On Mon, 3 May 2021 at 10:52:13, Sailfish
<NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses usually
follow points raised):
>Sailfish graced us with on 5/3/2021 9:43 AM:
>> My bloviated meandering follows what Sailfish graced us with on
>>5/3/2021 9:22 AM:
>>> My bloviated meandering follows what J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us
>>>with on 5/2/2021 11:54 PM:
>>
>>>> Macrium Reflect Free lets you select partitions, from whichever
>>>>discs, you want, and makes a single .mrimg file. I have my laptop's
>>>>single HD partitioned into C: (system) and D: (data), and when I run
>>>>Macrium, I select the tiny hidden partition plus the C: partition to
>>>>make my image. (I back up D: using something more like a copy.)
>>>>
>>>> (Above is Macrium 5 as booted from the CD, but I imagine 7 from the
>>>>running system is similar. [I just feel happier imaging a system
>>>>that's not actually running, plus it reassures me that the CD is
>>>>still OK.])
>>>
>>> Hmm, are both C: & D: on the same volume, just as different
>>>partitions or are they on separate volumes as my SSD (C:, SATA0) and
>>>internal disk (I:, SATA3)?

My C: and D: partitions are on the same physical hard drive. Macrium
lets you select partitions to go into the .mrimg file, whether they're
on a common drive or on several. (I've not looked into what it does with
RAIDed systems.) It also stores some partitioning information: at least
twice I've restored from a .mrimg to a blank drive, and it has recreated
the partitions that were imaged. (I think it also has the ability to
recreate them at different sizes, but I've always resized afterwards -
one thing at a time!)
>>>
>> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>> I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and, Voila!,
>>it does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one .mrimg file.
>> Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I
>>replace the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery tool
>>similar Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed disk
>>backup from the .mrimg file?

Yes, it has the ability to create a boot CD; I wouldn't consider any
imaging software worth bothering with if it didn't. I'm pretty sure
Acronis can too; the one built in to Windows can use a Microsoft disc.
The Macrium one (for v5 at least - I suspect v6 and 7 too) will fit on a
mini-CD, which I've done - mainly because I like them, but also being
smaller I can still keep them with my physical backup drive and they
don't stick out beyond it, so less likely to be damaged. Making such a
CD should be the first thing you do with the software - IMO before even
making an image, unless you know the HD is about to fail. And then check
you can actually boot from that CD!
>>
>Paul graced us with on 5/2/2021 1:57 AM: :
>//
>Macrium has it, but it's only for the entire MRIMG file, a kind of "all
>or nothing". It's also the reason the rate of backup is capped, because
>computing a hash or checksum (a good one), that has limits as to how
>fast it will go. You can do CRC64 at 1500MB/sec, but that's hardly a
>good choice. MD5 is reasonably good (for catching a flipped bit), and
>runs at 300MB/sec plus. SHA1 is slower. If you include such things in
>the backup process, there is a price to be paid, especially if the
>software is not particularly multi-core by design.
>//
>Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the backup
>or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to perform it
>after the backup would be good as a minimum means of verification.
>
There is an option when making an image (though it's under Advanced, and
off by default) to verify it; IME it about doubles the time taken,
though that probably is influenced by where your image is (in our case,
on an external drive via only a USB interface). Char has said you can
check the integrity of the .mrimg file any time, which is good to know.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The desire to remain private and/or anonymous used to be a core British value,
but in recent times it has been treated with suspicion - an unfortunate by-
product of the widespread desire for fame. - Chris Middleton,
Computing 6 September 2011

On 2021-05-03 6:30 p.m., J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
> On Mon, 3 May 2021 at 10:52:13, Sailfish
> <NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses usually
> follow points raised):
>> Sailfish graced us with on 5/3/2021 9:43 AM:
>>> My bloviated meandering follows what Sailfish graced us with on
>>> 5/3/2021  9:22 AM:
>>>> My bloviated meandering follows what J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us
>>>> with on 5/2/2021 11:54 PM:
>>>
>>>>> Macrium Reflect Free lets you select partitions, from whichever
>>>>> discs, you want, and makes a single .mrimg file. I have my laptop's
>>>>> single HD partitioned into C: (system) and D: (data), and when I
>>>>> run Macrium, I select the tiny hidden partition plus the C:
>>>>> partition to make my image. (I back up D: using something more like
>>>>> a copy.)
>>>>>
>>>>> (Above is Macrium 5 as booted from the CD, but I imagine 7 from the
>>>>> running system is similar. [I just feel happier imaging a system
>>>>> that's not actually running, plus it reassures me that the CD is
>>>>> still OK.])
>>>>
>>>> Hmm, are both C: & D: on the same volume, just as different
>>>> partitions  or are they on separate volumes as my SSD (C:, SATA0)
>>>> and internal  disk (I:, SATA3)?
>
> My C: and D: partitions are on the same physical hard drive. Macrium
> lets you select partitions to go into the .mrimg file, whether they're
> on a common drive or on several. (I've not looked into what it does with
> RAIDed systems.) It also stores some partitioning information: at least
> twice I've restored from a .mrimg to a blank drive, and it has recreated
> the partitions that were imaged. (I think it also has the ability to
> recreate them at different sizes, but I've always resized afterwards -
> one thing at a time!)
>>>>
>>> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>>>  I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and, Voila!,
>>> it  does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one .mrimg file.
>>>  Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I
>>> replace  the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery tool
>>> similar  Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed disk
>>> backup from the  .mrimg file?
>
> Yes, it has the ability to create a boot CD; I wouldn't consider any
> imaging software worth bothering with if it didn't. I'm pretty sure
> Acronis can too; the one built in to Windows can use a Microsoft disc.
> The Macrium one (for v5 at least - I suspect v6 and 7 too) will fit on a
> mini-CD, which I've done - mainly because I like them, but also being
> smaller I can still keep them with my physical backup drive and they
> don't stick out beyond it, so less likely to be damaged. Making such a
> CD should be the first thing you do with the software - IMO before even
> making an image, unless you know the HD is about to fail. And then check
> you can actually boot from that CD!
>>>
>> Paul graced us with on 5/2/2021 1:57 AM: :
>> //
>> Macrium has it, but it's only for the entire MRIMG file, a kind of
>> "all or nothing". It's also the reason the rate of backup is capped,
>> because computing a hash or checksum (a good one), that has limits as
>> to how fast it will go. You can do CRC64 at 1500MB/sec, but that's
>> hardly a good choice. MD5 is reasonably good (for catching a flipped
>> bit), and runs at 300MB/sec plus. SHA1 is slower. If you include such
>> things in the backup process, there is a price to be paid, especially
>> if the software is not particularly multi-core by design.
>> //
>> Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the backup
>> or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to perform it
>> after the backup would be good as a minimum means of verification.
>>
> There is an option when making an image (though it's under Advanced, and
> off by default) to verify it; IME it about doubles the time taken,
> though that probably is influenced by where your image is (in our case,
> on an external drive via only a USB interface). Char has said you can
> check the integrity of the .mrimg file any time, which is good to know.

You can also add it to your windows boot menu and boot directly into
Macriem, its under tools>rescue media.

Rene

Paul graced us with on 5/3/2021 12:39 PM:
> Char Jackson wrote:
>
>>
>> You can verify a Reflect image at any time. In the Reflect program,
>> select
>> the Restore tab, browse for the image to be verified and select it, then
>> under the Other Actions dropdown, select Verify Image.
>
Char, thanks, I'll give it a try.

> And yes, the software prepares boot materials for you.
>
> There has to be boot materials, so you can do a
> "bare metal restore".
>
Paul, Exactly. I'll keep an eye out for the Reflect boot materials when
I give this a test run.

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us with on 5/3/2021 4:30 PM:
> On Mon, 3 May 2021 at 10:52:13, Sailfish
>>>>
>>> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>>> I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and, Voila!,
>>> it does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one .mrimg file.
>>> Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I
>>> replace the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery tool
>>> similar Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed disk
>>> backup from the .mrimg file?
>
> Yes, it has the ability to create a boot CD; I wouldn't consider any
> imaging software worth bothering with if it didn't. I'm pretty sure
> Acronis can too; the one built in to Windows can use a Microsoft disc.
> The Macrium one (for v5 at least - I suspect v6 and 7 too) will fit on a
> mini-CD, which I've done - mainly because I like them, but also being
> smaller I can still keep them with my physical backup drive and they
> don't stick out beyond it, so less likely to be damaged. Making such a
> CD should be the first thing you do with the software - IMO before even
> making an image, unless you know the HD is about to fail. And then check
> you can actually boot from that CD!

+1

>> Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the backup
>> or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to perform it
>> after the backup would be good as a minimum means of verification.
>>
> There is an option when making an image (though it's under Advanced, and
> off by default) to verify it; IME it about doubles the time taken,
> though that probably is influenced by where your image is (in our case,
> on an external drive via only a USB interface). Char has said you can
> check the integrity of the .mrimg file any time, which is good to know.

Excellent! The time penalty shouldn't be a problem since I normally
start the backups just prior to calling it quits for the day.

One last thing and it's is something I like about Acronis. Do you know
if there's a setting I can enabled to shut down the machine after the
backup is complete?

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

Mark Lloyd graced us with on 5/2/2021 9:34 AM:
> On 5/1/21 4:46 PM, chris@here.com wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
>> It always amazes me how many people don't use image backup programs.
>> So many can be had free. What amazes me more are those in Win 7
>> groups who have major Win problems because they didn't back up their
>> Win 7 with the built in image backup program. Many had no idea such a
>> utility was built into Win 7. My incremental backups have saved my
>> comp quite a few times. As one of the great poets has said: Shite
>> happens.
>
> I recently had a hard drive fail (it doesn't even spin any more), and
> had to recreate some files. I would have lost a lot more if I didn't
> have a backup.
>
I lost hundreds of family pix from when the older kids were wee little
ones, along with other important data that are gone from history. Ever
since then, I've become very anal about backup (multiple backup, actually.)

I'm glad you were able to your data.

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

On 2021-05-03 7:29 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
> J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us with on 5/3/2021 4:30 PM:
>> On Mon, 3 May 2021 at 10:52:13, Sailfish
>>>>>
>>>> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>>>>  I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and, Voila!,
>>>> it  does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one .mrimg file.
>>>>  Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I
>>>> replace  the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery
>>>> tool similar  Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed
>>>> disk backup from the  .mrimg file?
>>
>> Yes, it has the ability to create a boot CD; I wouldn't consider any
>> imaging software worth bothering with if it didn't. I'm pretty sure
>> Acronis can too; the one built in to Windows can use a Microsoft disc.
>> The Macrium one (for v5 at least - I suspect v6 and 7 too) will fit on
>> a mini-CD, which I've done - mainly because I like them, but also
>> being smaller I can still keep them with my physical backup drive and
>> they don't stick out beyond it, so less likely to be damaged. Making
>> such a CD should be the first thing you do with the software - IMO
>> before even making an image, unless you know the HD is about to fail.
>> And then check you can actually boot from that CD!
>
> +1
>
>>> Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the
>>> backup or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to
>>> perform it after the backup would be good as a minimum means of
>>> verification.
>>>
>> There is an option when making an image (though it's under Advanced,
>> and off by default) to verify it; IME it about doubles the time taken,
>> though that probably is influenced by where your image is (in our
>> case, on an external drive via only a USB interface). Char has said
>> you can check the integrity of the .mrimg file any time, which is good
>> to know.
>
> Excellent! The time penalty shouldn't be a problem since I normally
> start the backups just prior to calling it quits for the day.
>
> One last thing and it's is something I like about Acronis. Do you know
> if there's a setting I can enabled to shut down the machine after the
> backup is complete?
>

Yes there is. Its under other tasks>edit defaults>shutdown.

Rene

Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/3/2021 6:38 PM:
> On 2021-05-03 7:29 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>> J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us with on 5/3/2021 4:30 PM:
>>> On Mon, 3 May 2021 at 10:52:13, Sailfish
>>>>>>
>>>>> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>>>>> I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and,
>>>>> Voila!, it does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one
>>>>> .mrimg file.
>>>>> Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I
>>>>> replace the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery
>>>>> tool similar Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed
>>>>> disk backup from the .mrimg file?
>>>
>>> Yes, it has the ability to create a boot CD; I wouldn't consider any
>>> imaging software worth bothering with if it didn't. I'm pretty sure
>>> Acronis can too; the one built in to Windows can use a Microsoft
>>> disc. The Macrium one (for v5 at least - I suspect v6 and 7 too) will
>>> fit on a mini-CD, which I've done - mainly because I like them, but
>>> also being smaller I can still keep them with my physical backup
>>> drive and they don't stick out beyond it, so less likely to be
>>> damaged. Making such a CD should be the first thing you do with the
>>> software - IMO before even making an image, unless you know the HD is
>>> about to fail. And then check you can actually boot from that CD!
>>
>> +1
>>
>>>> Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the
>>>> backup or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to
>>>> perform it after the backup would be good as a minimum means of
>>>> verification.
>>>>
>>> There is an option when making an image (though it's under Advanced,
>>> and off by default) to verify it; IME it about doubles the time
>>> taken, though that probably is influenced by where your image is (in
>>> our case, on an external drive via only a USB interface). Char has
>>> said you can check the integrity of the .mrimg file any time, which
>>> is good to know.
>>
>> Excellent! The time penalty shouldn't be a problem since I normally
>> start the backups just prior to calling it quits for the day.
>>
>> One last thing and it's is something I like about Acronis. Do you know
>> if there's a setting I can enabled to shut down the machine after the
>> backup is complete?
>
> Yes there is. Its under other tasks>edit defaults>shutdown.
>
Thanks

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/3/2021 6:38 PM:
> On 2021-05-03 7:29 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>> J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us with on 5/3/2021 4:30 PM:
>>> On Mon, 3 May 2021 at 10:52:13, Sailfish
>>>>>>
>>>>> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>>>>> I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and,
>>>>> Voila!, it does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one
>>>>> .mrimg file.
>>>>> Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I
>>>>> replace the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery
>>>>> tool similar Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed
>>>>> disk backup from the .mrimg file?
>>>
>>> Yes, it has the ability to create a boot CD; I wouldn't consider any
>>> imaging software worth bothering with if it didn't. I'm pretty sure
>>> Acronis can too; the one built in to Windows can use a Microsoft
>>> disc. The Macrium one (for v5 at least - I suspect v6 and 7 too) will
>>> fit on a mini-CD, which I've done - mainly because I like them, but
>>> also being smaller I can still keep them with my physical backup
>>> drive and they don't stick out beyond it, so less likely to be
>>> damaged. Making such a CD should be the first thing you do with the
>>> software - IMO before even making an image, unless you know the HD is
>>> about to fail. And then check you can actually boot from that CD!
>>
>> +1
>>
>>>> Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the
>>>> backup or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to
>>>> perform it after the backup would be good as a minimum means of
>>>> verification.
>>>>
>>> There is an option when making an image (though it's under Advanced,
>>> and off by default) to verify it; IME it about doubles the time
>>> taken, though that probably is influenced by where your image is (in
>>> our case, on an external drive via only a USB interface). Char has
>>> said you can check the integrity of the .mrimg file any time, which
>>> is good to know.
>>
>> Excellent! The time penalty shouldn't be a problem since I normally
>> start the backups just prior to calling it quits for the day.
>>
>> One last thing and it's is something I like about Acronis. Do you know
>> if there's a setting I can enabled to shut down the machine after the
>> backup is complete?
>
> Yes there is. Its under other tasks>edit defaults>shutdown.
>
tl;dr
Skip to bottom "Testing Reflect Restore on Bifurcated Win7 System"

I'm a bit speechless at this moment (and not only because I find it a
habit to keep quiet as I type on the keyboard.) My prior use of Reflect
was for doing Clone backups and using Windows Image Backup for doing
image backups.

What I've read over the past few days about Reflect's full functionality
was so amazing, I found it hard to believe; especially from Macrium's
Free product.

The image below is the completion results of using Reflect's image
backup feature. Note: the long disk IDs are needed by me to keep track
of each disks' SATA location, partition drive letter and purpose. I have
another 4TB drive that I use for backup images and large personal data
(photos, images, videos, &c).

As can be seen, the complete backup of my OS drive (SSD) and
program+data drive (H166_3TB) only took a bit over 2 hours and that
included the verification. Oddly though, Windows Image Backup took over
that amount of time CRC64 hash nor the verification.

The Suspend/Shutdown feature was also appreciated as well as the ability
to easily add the image recovery program available from the boot menu.

There is something I'm a bit unclear of, though. the MRimg file took
464GBs of storage; where as, Windows Image Backup took 571GBs. Since
they both made a image of the same drives and partitions, does that mean
that Reflect has a better compression algorithm?

MRimg Run: https://imgur.com/a/FeUfEOs

Testing Reflect Restore on Bifurcated Win7 System
-------------------------------------------------
Now for the nail-biting part, the smoke-test. As mention earlier, I have
a previous system that is bifurcated with SSD being OS files and hard
drive having program files and normal sized files like Excel, Word and
other data. I'm in the final stages of transitioning to the sing hard
drive solution. Once I'm confident that I've moved all the pertinent
programs and files from the split system to the single drive system, I
plan to then use the SSD for things like video editing, graphics-intense
gaming and such. Of course, in doing so, I'll be reformatting the SSD
drive. Before I do that, I want to insure that the backup I made on the
split system can really be restored using Reflect, i.e. trust, but
verify. That is also the reason I made a Windows Image Backup just in
case Reflect Restore doesn't work. Note: I have reflect Restore on a
separate hard drive and and independent Win7 OS.

Before I venture into this, does anyone have other suggestions as to
precautions I might have missed?

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

On 2021-05-04 12:40 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
> Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/3/2021 6:38 PM:
>> On 2021-05-03 7:29 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>>> J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us with on 5/3/2021 4:30 PM:
>>>> On Mon, 3 May 2021 at 10:52:13, Sailfish
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> To: J. P. Gilliver (John) & Paul
>>>>>>  I decided to see for myself what you were referring to and,
>>>>>> Voila!, it  does appear to afford imaging separate drives into one
>>>>>> .mrimg file.
>>>>>>  Say my disk get a head crash and and I'm unable to boot and I
>>>>>> replace  the crashed disk. Does Reflect have a bootable recovery
>>>>>> tool similar  Windows' that would allow me to recover the crashed
>>>>>> disk backup from the  .mrimg file?
>>>>
>>>> Yes, it has the ability to create a boot CD; I wouldn't consider any
>>>> imaging software worth bothering with if it didn't. I'm pretty sure
>>>> Acronis can too; the one built in to Windows can use a Microsoft
>>>> disc. The Macrium one (for v5 at least - I suspect v6 and 7 too)
>>>> will fit on a mini-CD, which I've done - mainly because I like them,
>>>> but also being smaller I can still keep them with my physical backup
>>>> drive and they don't stick out beyond it, so less likely to be
>>>> damaged. Making such a CD should be the first thing you do with the
>>>> software - IMO before even making an image, unless you know the HD
>>>> is about to fail. And then check you can actually boot from that CD!
>>>
>>> +1
>>>
>>>>> Also, is there a means to test the MRIMG CRC checksum after the
>>>>> backup or is it only done at restore time. Clearly, being able to
>>>>> perform it after the backup would be good as a minimum means of
>>>>> verification.
>>>>>
>>>> There is an option when making an image (though it's under Advanced,
>>>> and off by default) to verify it; IME it about doubles the time
>>>> taken, though that probably is influenced by where your image is (in
>>>> our case, on an external drive via only a USB interface). Char has
>>>> said you can check the integrity of the .mrimg file any time, which
>>>> is good to know.
>>>
>>> Excellent! The time penalty shouldn't be a problem since I normally
>>> start the backups just prior to calling it quits for the day.
>>>
>>> One last thing and it's is something I like about Acronis. Do you
>>> know if there's a setting I can enabled to shut down the machine
>>> after the backup is complete?
>>
>> Yes there is. Its under other tasks>edit defaults>shutdown.
>>
> tl;dr
> Skip to bottom "Testing Reflect Restore on Bifurcated Win7 System"
>
> I'm a bit speechless at this moment (and not only because I find it a
> habit to keep quiet as I type on the keyboard.) My prior use of Reflect
> was for doing Clone backups and using Windows Image Backup for doing
> image backups.
>
> What I've read over the past few days about Reflect's full functionality
>  was so amazing, I found it hard to believe; especially from Macrium's
> Free product.
>
> The image below is the completion results of using Reflect's image
> backup feature. Note: the long disk IDs are needed by me to keep track
> of each disks' SATA location, partition drive letter and purpose. I have
> another 4TB drive that I use for backup images and large personal data
> (photos, images, videos, &c).
>
> As can be seen, the complete backup of my OS drive (SSD) and
> program+data drive (H166_3TB) only took a bit over 2 hours and that
> included the verification. Oddly though, Windows Image Backup took over
> that amount of time CRC64 hash nor the verification.
>
> The Suspend/Shutdown feature was also appreciated as well as the ability
> to easily add the image recovery program available from the boot menu.
>
> There is something I'm a bit unclear of, though. the MRimg file took
> 464GBs of storage; where as, Windows Image Backup took 571GBs. Since
> they both made a image of the same drives and partitions, does that mean
> that Reflect has a better compression algorithm?
>
> MRimg Run: https://imgur.com/a/FeUfEOs
>
> Testing Reflect Restore on Bifurcated Win7 System
> -------------------------------------------------
> Now for the nail-biting part, the smoke-test. As mention earlier, I have
> a previous system that is bifurcated with SSD being OS files and hard
> drive having program files and normal sized files like Excel, Word and
> other data. I'm in the final stages of transitioning to the sing hard
> drive solution. Once I'm confident that I've moved all the pertinent
> programs and files from the split system to the single drive system, I
> plan to then use the SSD for things like video editing, graphics-intense
> gaming and such. Of course, in doing so, I'll be reformatting the SSD
> drive. Before I do that, I want to insure that the backup I made on the
> split system can really be restored using Reflect, i.e. trust, but
> verify. That is also the reason I made a Windows Image Backup just in
> case Reflect Restore doesn't work. Note: I have reflect Restore on a
> separate hard drive and and independent Win7 OS.
>
> Before I venture into this, does anyone have other suggestions as to
> precautions I might have missed?
>

Nothing specific, just make sure that drive letters and names are all
correct.
Macrium has to be one of the best written and well behaved programs I
have ever used.

Rene

Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/4/2021 11:40 AM:
> On 2021-05-04 12:40 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>> Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/3/2021 6:38 PM:
>>> On 2021-05-03 7:29 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>>
>> Testing Reflect Restore on Bifurcated Win7 System
>> -------------------------------------------------
>> Now for the nail-biting part, the smoke-test. As mention earlier, I
>> have a previous system that is bifurcated with SSD being OS files and
>> hard drive having program files and normal sized files like Excel,
>> Word and other data. I'm in the final stages of transitioning to the
>> sing hard drive solution. Once I'm confident that I've moved all the
>> pertinent programs and files from the split system to the single drive
>> system, I plan to then use the SSD for things like video editing,
>> graphics-intense gaming and such. Of course, in doing so, I'll be
>> reformatting the SSD drive. Before I do that, I want to insure that
>> the backup I made on the split system can really be restored using
>> Reflect, i.e. trust, but verify. That is also the reason I made a
>> Windows Image Backup just in case Reflect Restore doesn't work. Note:
>> I have reflect Restore on a separate hard drive and and independent
>> Win7 OS.
>>
>> Before I venture into this, does anyone have other suggestions as to
>> precautions I might have missed?
>>
> Nothing specific, just make sure that drive letters and names are all
> correct.
> Macrium has to be one of the best written and well behaved programs I
> have ever used.
>
Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The DOS-like
version of the UI came up fine and I was easily able to select the image
restore option and select only the SSD for the operation. After
prompting for some confirmation, the program proceeding as though it was
restoring properly, however, the progress bar stayed at the beginning
for a long period of time and then Reflect finally indicate that there
was something wrong with the image file and stopped.

I then re-booted and this time entered Win7 and attempted the restore
using the Win7 version. It, too, refused to move the progress bar
forward and periodically blanked the screen and after a short delay
issued a message that the display driver was causing problems and then
after about two minutes of this, it finally reported that the image file
was corrupted and then stopped.

Perplexed, I opened File Manager and noticed that the SSD drive was
missing, Going into Disk Management I discovered that it was no longer
initialized. I then re-initialized and re-formatted it. Then, still in
Win7, I ran Reflect against and did a verification on the IMAGE file and
was relieved to see that no errors were detected.

Still in Win7, I once again had Reflect attempt to restore the SSD drive
and, bemusedly, it went through without a hitch.

Lastly, I re-booted the system selecting the SSD+hard drive Win7 system
and it restarted fine.

I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but when I
find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot menu Reflect
restore procedure since that is the one I must have absolute confidence
in for secure restore confidence.

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

On 2021-05-04 10:08 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
> Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/4/2021 11:40 AM:
>> On 2021-05-04 12:40 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>>> Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/3/2021 6:38 PM:
>>>> On 2021-05-03 7:29 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>>>
>>> Testing Reflect Restore on Bifurcated Win7 System
>>> -------------------------------------------------
>>> Now for the nail-biting part, the smoke-test. As mention earlier, I
>>> have a previous system that is bifurcated with SSD being OS files and
>>> hard drive having program files and normal sized files like Excel,
>>> Word and other data. I'm in the final stages of transitioning to the
>>> sing hard drive solution. Once I'm confident that I've moved all the
>>> pertinent programs and files from the split system to the single
>>> drive system, I plan to then use the SSD for things like video
>>> editing, graphics-intense gaming and such. Of course, in doing so,
>>> I'll be reformatting the SSD drive. Before I do that, I want to
>>> insure that the backup I made on the split system can really be
>>> restored using Reflect, i.e. trust, but verify. That is also the
>>> reason I made a Windows Image Backup just in case Reflect Restore
>>> doesn't work. Note: I have reflect Restore on a separate hard drive
>>> and and independent Win7 OS.
>>>
>>> Before I venture into this, does anyone have other suggestions as to
>>> precautions I might have missed?
>>>
>> Nothing specific, just make sure that drive letters and names are all
>> correct.
>> Macrium has to be one of the best written and well behaved  programs I
>> have ever used.
>>
> Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
> rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The DOS-like
> version of the UI came up fine and I was easily able to select the image
> restore option and select only the SSD for the operation. After
> prompting for some confirmation, the program proceeding as though it was
> restoring properly, however, the progress bar stayed at the beginning
> for a long period of time and then Reflect finally indicate that there
> was something wrong with the image file and stopped.
>
> I then re-booted and this time entered Win7 and attempted the restore
> using the Win7 version. It, too, refused to move the progress bar
> forward and periodically blanked the screen and after a short delay
> issued a message that the display driver was causing problems and then
> after about two minutes of this, it finally reported that the image file
> was corrupted and then stopped.
>
> Perplexed, I opened File Manager and noticed that the SSD drive was
> missing, Going into Disk Management I discovered that it was no longer
> initialized. I then re-initialized and re-formatted it. Then, still in
> Win7, I ran Reflect against and did a verification on the IMAGE file and
> was relieved to see that no errors were detected.
>
> Still in Win7, I once again had Reflect attempt to restore the SSD drive
> and, bemusedly, it went through without a hitch.
>
> Lastly, I re-booted the system selecting the SSD+hard drive Win7 system
> and it restarted fine.
>
> I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but when I
> find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot menu Reflect
> restore procedure since that is the one I must have absolute confidence
> in for secure restore confidence.
>
> Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>

A couple years ago one of my SSDs disappeared in Windows 10, looking in
disk management I found it had lost its drive letter, reassigned it a
new letter and it returned to normal, never did figure out what caused
it, (shrugs shoulders) It has been fine ever since. Sorry, I know
that's not much help.

Rene

Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/4/2021 8:32 PM:
> On 2021-05-04 10:08 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>> Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/4/2021 11:40 AM:
>>> On 2021-05-04 12:40 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>>>> Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/3/2021 6:38 PM:
>>>>> On 2021-05-03 7:29 p.m., Sailfish wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Testing Reflect Restore on Bifurcated Win7 System
>>>> -------------------------------------------------
>>>> Now for the nail-biting part, the smoke-test. As mention earlier, I
>>>> have a previous system that is bifurcated with SSD being OS files
>>>> and hard drive having program files and normal sized files like
>>>> Excel, Word and other data. I'm in the final stages of transitioning
>>>> to the sing hard drive solution. Once I'm confident that I've moved
>>>> all the pertinent programs and files from the split system to the
>>>> single drive system, I plan to then use the SSD for things like
>>>> video editing, graphics-intense gaming and such. Of course, in doing
>>>> so, I'll be reformatting the SSD drive. Before I do that, I want to
>>>> insure that the backup I made on the split system can really be
>>>> restored using Reflect, i.e. trust, but verify. That is also the
>>>> reason I made a Windows Image Backup just in case Reflect Restore
>>>> doesn't work. Note: I have reflect Restore on a separate hard drive
>>>> and and independent Win7 OS.
>>>>
>>>> Before I venture into this, does anyone have other suggestions as to
>>>> precautions I might have missed?
>>>>
>>> Nothing specific, just make sure that drive letters and names are all
>>> correct.
>>> Macrium has to be one of the best written and well behaved programs
>>> I have ever used.
>>>
>> Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
>> rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The
>> DOS-like version of the UI came up fine and I was easily able to
>> select the image restore option and select only the SSD for the
>> operation. After prompting for some confirmation, the program
>> proceeding as though it was restoring properly, however, the progress
>> bar stayed at the beginning for a long period of time and then Reflect
>> finally indicate that there was something wrong with the image file
>> and stopped.
>>
>> I then re-booted and this time entered Win7 and attempted the restore
>> using the Win7 version. It, too, refused to move the progress bar
>> forward and periodically blanked the screen and after a short delay
>> issued a message that the display driver was causing problems and then
>> after about two minutes of this, it finally reported that the image
>> file was corrupted and then stopped.
>>
>> Perplexed, I opened File Manager and noticed that the SSD drive was
>> missing, Going into Disk Management I discovered that it was no longer
>> initialized. I then re-initialized and re-formatted it. Then, still in
>> Win7, I ran Reflect against and did a verification on the IMAGE file
>> and was relieved to see that no errors were detected.
>>
>> Still in Win7, I once again had Reflect attempt to restore the SSD
>> drive and, bemusedly, it went through without a hitch.
>>
>> Lastly, I re-booted the system selecting the SSD+hard drive Win7
>> system and it restarted fine.
>>
>> I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but when
>> I find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot menu
>> Reflect restore procedure since that is the one I must have absolute
>> confidence in for secure restore confidence.
>>
>> Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>
> A couple years ago one of my SSDs disappeared in Windows 10, looking in
> disk management I found it had lost its drive letter, reassigned it a
> new letter and it returned to normal, never did figure out what caused
> it, (shrugs shoulders) It has been fine ever since. Sorry, I know
> that's not much help.
>
I also won't discount the possibility that I may have done something
incorrectly initially since I was fiddling with a lot of settings as I
was familiarizing myself with all the features. Kinda like a redshirt
feasting on pushing all the blinky buttons on the Enterprise when first
given a tour.

Appreciate your help.

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

On Tue, 4 May 2021 at 20:08:46, Sailfish
<NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses usually
follow points raised):
[]
>Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
>rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The DOS-like
[]
>I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but when I
>find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot menu
>Reflect restore procedure since that is the one I must have absolute
>confidence in for secure restore confidence.
>
>Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>
I'm not familiar with the "boot menu option". I use the "boot from CD"
option, having made the CD; _that_ is the one _I_ "must have" "for
secure ["bare metal"] restore confidence". Apologies if that's what you
meant.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Anybody who thinks there can be unlimited growth in a static, limited
environment, is either mad or an economist. - Sir David Attenborough, in
Radio Times 10-16 November 2012

On 2021-05-05 7:32 a.m., J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
> On Tue, 4 May 2021 at 20:08:46, Sailfish
> <NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses usually
> follow points raised):
> []
>> Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
>> rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The DOS-like
> []
>> I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but when
>> I find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot menu
>> Reflect restore procedure since that is the one I must have absolute
>> confidence in for secure restore confidence.
>>
>> Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>>
> I'm not familiar with the "boot menu option". I use the "boot from CD"
> option, having made the CD; _that_ is the one _I_ "must have" "for
> secure ["bare metal"] restore confidence". Apologies if that's what you
> meant.

I use the boot menu option, But have a current copy of Macrium Reflect
on both a DVD optical disc and a USB flash drive, Triple redundancy. :-)

Rene

J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us with on 5/5/2021 5:32 AM:
> On Tue, 4 May 2021 at 20:08:46, Sailfish
> <NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses usually
> follow points raised):
> []
>> Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
>> rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The DOS-like
> []
>> I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but when
>> I find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot menu
>> Reflect restore procedure since that is the one I must have absolute
>> confidence in for secure restore confidence.
>>
>> Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>>
> I'm not familiar with the "boot menu option". I use the "boot from CD"
> option, having made the CD; _that_ is the one _I_ "must have" "for
> secure ["bare metal"] restore confidence". Apologies if that's what you
> meant.

Yes, you are correct, it is what I meant. I have several system restore
DVDs for the various Windows versions I have accumulated, several I have
no real use for anymore, like Win98, 2000, XP, &c (I have those
installed on Virtual Box [VB].) Having the restore ability as part of
the boot menu is too convenient to ignore.

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that my initial
problem was either due to the SSD itself, as Rene surmised or from a
"short between the headsets" when my eyes fell upon tempting new items
to explore and twiddle further before initiating the restore. I plan to
try it again, this time only going directly to the "Restore image" feature.

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/5/2021 7:10 AM:
> On 2021-05-05 7:32 a.m., J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
>> On Tue, 4 May 2021 at 20:08:46, Sailfish
>> <NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses usually
>> follow points raised):
>> []
>>> Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
>>> rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The DOS-like
>> []
>>> I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but when
>>> I find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot menu
>>> Reflect restore procedure since that is the one I must have absolute
>>> confidence in for secure restore confidence.
>>>
>>> Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>>>
>> I'm not familiar with the "boot menu option". I use the "boot from CD"
>> option, having made the CD; _that_ is the one _I_ "must have" "for
>> secure ["bare metal"] restore confidence". Apologies if that's what
>> you meant.
>
> I use the boot menu option, But have a current copy of Macrium Reflect
> on both a DVD optical disc and a USB flash drive, Triple redundancy. :-)
>
heh, I believe we either have a Backup sage in our midst or someone else
who had experienced the loss of important data in the past.

--
Sailfish
CDC Covid19 Trends: https://www.facebook.com/groups/624208354841034
Rare Mozilla Stuff: http://tinyurl.com/z86x3sg

On 2021-05-05 10:13 a.m., Sailfish wrote:
> Rene Lamontagne graced us with on 5/5/2021 7:10 AM:
>> On 2021-05-05 7:32 a.m., J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
>>> On Tue, 4 May 2021 at 20:08:46, Sailfish
>>> <NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses
>>> usually follow points raised):
>>> []
>>>> Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
>>>> rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The DOS-like
>>> []
>>>> I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but
>>>> when I find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot
>>>> menu Reflect restore procedure since that is the one I must have
>>>> absolute confidence in for secure restore confidence.
>>>>
>>>> Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>>>>
>>> I'm not familiar with the "boot menu option". I use the "boot from
>>> CD" option, having made the CD; _that_ is the one _I_ "must have"
>>> "for secure ["bare metal"] restore confidence". Apologies if that's
>>> what you meant.
>>
>> I use the boot menu option, But have a current copy of Macrium Reflect
>> on both a DVD optical disc and a  USB flash drive, Triple redundancy.
>> :-)
>>
> heh, I believe we either have a Backup sage in our midst or someone else
> who had experienced the loss of important data in the past.
>

No, never lost anything of value. I use and play with a lot of utility
programs and sometimes they break Windows, It is so much easier to do a
Macrium restore than reinstall Windows and 70 or 80 programs, All my
important stuff is stored on the internal and backed to a disconnected
external drive.

My C" drive is kept neat and clean, programs are on D" they are
automatically backed up daily NVMe to NVME, takes 4 minutes, and an auto
backup weekly to an external spinner, restore also takes about 4
minutes, I only keep 4 copies on each drive so space is not a problem.

The old proverb "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" still
holds true in the computer world. :-)

Rene

On Wed, 5 May 2021 11:08:51 -0500, Rene Lamontagne <rlamont@shaw.ca> wrote:

>No, never lost anything of value. I use and play with a lot of utility
>programs and sometimes they break Windows, It is so much easier to do a
>Macrium restore than reinstall Windows and 70 or 80 programs, All my
>important stuff is stored on the internal and backed to a disconnected
>external drive.
>
>My C" drive is kept neat and clean, programs are on D" they are

Hi Rene, not criticizing, just curious. Does putting Windows on C and
installing programs on D buy you anything, in terms of system reliability,
or is it more of an organizational approach?

>automatically backed up daily NVMe to NVME, takes 4 minutes, and an auto
>backup weekly to an external spinner, restore also takes about 4
>minutes, I only keep 4 copies on each drive so space is not a problem.

Do you keep just the latest 4 copies? If so, I wonder if there'd be a risk
of discovering a corrupt file or wanting an earlier version of a file and
not being able to step back far enough to find a good copy.

>The old proverb "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" still
>holds true in the computer world. :-)

--

Char Jackson

On 2021-05-05 1:08 p.m., Char Jackson wrote:
> On Wed, 5 May 2021 11:08:51 -0500, Rene Lamontagne <rlamont@shaw.ca> wrote:
>
>> No, never lost anything of value. I use and play with a lot of utility
>> programs and sometimes they break Windows, It is so much easier to do a
>> Macrium restore than reinstall Windows and 70 or 80 programs, All my
>> important stuff is stored on the internal and backed to a disconnected
>> external drive.
>>
>> My C" drive is kept neat and clean, programs are on D" they are
>
> Hi Rene, not criticizing, just curious. Does putting Windows on C and
> installing programs on D buy you anything, in terms of system reliability,
> or is it more of an organizational approach?

No, no real gain, I back them up as a set.
When I got my first SSD it was Only 50 GB so to save space for Windows I
decided to put all programs on Another drive, so stayed with it since.
If I ever have to reinstall windows I will probably put Windows and
programs all on one drive.

>
>> automatically backed up daily NVMe to NVME, takes 4 minutes, and an auto
>> backup weekly to an external spinner, restore also takes about 4
>> minutes, I only keep 4 copies on each drive so space is not a problem.
>
> Do you keep just the latest 4 copies? If so, I wonder if there'd be a risk
> of discovering a corrupt file or wanting an earlier version of a file and
> not being able to step back far enough to find a good copy.

The 4 weekly copy's cover me for i month back so I don't think I have
any worries as there is no real important stuff there, and besides older
copies are outdated weekly with new patch Tuesday stuff.

>
>> The old proverb "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" still
>> holds true in the computer world. :-)
>

Rene

On Wed, 5 May 2021 at 08:10:33, Sailfish
<NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses usually
follow points raised):
>J. P. Gilliver (John) graced us with on 5/5/2021 5:32 AM:
>> On Tue, 4 May 2021 at 20:08:46, Sailfish
>><NIXCAPSsailfish@NIXCAPSunforgettable.com> wrote (my responses usually
>>follow points raised):
>> []
>>> Well, mixed results on this. I re-formatter my SSD drive and then
>>>rebooted and selected the bootup Reflect boot menu option. The DOS-like
>> []
>>> I don't have a clue of what went wrong on the first attempts but
>>>when I find time, I will again start from scratch and try the boot
>>>menu Reflect restore procedure since that is the one I must have
>>>absolute confidence in for secure restore confidence.
>>>
>>> Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.
>>>
>> I'm not familiar with the "boot menu option". I use the "boot from
>>CD" option, having made the CD; _that_ is the one _I_ "must have"
>>"for secure ["bare metal"] restore confidence". Apologies if that's
>>what you meant.
>
>Yes, you are correct, it is what I meant. I have several system restore
>DVDs for the various Windows versions I have accumulated, several I

"system restore DVDs" implies you mean ones made by Windows. I meant a
Macrium CD (used to restore from a .mrimg file on a different drive).
When you said "bootup Reflect boot menu option", I assumed (from the
word "Reflect") that this was something Macrium. I don't have Macrium
_installed_ on this machine: the CD is one I made years ago on another
machine.

>have no real use for anymore, like Win98, 2000, XP, &c (I have those
>installed on Virtual Box [VB].) Having the restore ability as part of
>the boot menu is too convenient to ignore.

So I assume you _do_ have Macrium installed on the HD (or SSD).
>
>The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that my initial
>problem was either due to the SSD itself, as Rene surmised or from a
>"short between the headsets" when my eyes fell upon tempting new items
>to explore and twiddle further before initiating the restore. I plan to
>try it again, this time only going directly to the "Restore image" feature.
>
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

What's awful about weird views is not the views. It's the intolerance. If
someone wants to worship the Duke of Edinburgh or a pineapple, fine. But don't
kill me if I don't agree. - Tim Rice, Radio Times 15-21 October 2011.

On Wed, 5 May 2021 at 13:55:35, Rene Lamontagne <rlamont@shaw.ca> wrote
(my responses usually follow points raised):
>On 2021-05-05 1:08 p.m., Char Jackson wrote:
>> On Wed, 5 May 2021 11:08:51 -0500, Rene Lamontagne <rlamont@shaw.ca> wrote:
[]
>>> My C" drive is kept neat and clean, programs are on D" they are
>> Hi Rene, not criticizing, just curious. Does putting Windows on C
>>and
>> installing programs on D buy you anything, in terms of system reliability,
>> or is it more of an organizational approach?
>
>No, no real gain, I back them up as a set.
>When I got my first SSD it was Only 50 GB so to save space for Windows
>I decided to put all programs on Another drive, so stayed with it since.
>If I ever have to reinstall windows I will probably put Windows and
>programs all on one drive.
>
My C: - Windows _and_ software - is a 100 (well, 99.9) GB capacity
partition; it's only 46.2 GB used after many years on 7 (and not being
at all miserly about what software I install), so yes, you won't find it
very big. (Unless - possibly - you have Apple software to back up your
iPhone; my friend has, and we haven't figured out where you tell it to
store the backup[s] on other than C:. [With the result her C: approaches
the 100G we've made it.])
[]
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

What's awful about weird views is not the views. It's the intolerance. If
someone wants to worship the Duke of Edinburgh or a pineapple, fine. But don't
kill me if I don't agree. - Tim Rice, Radio Times 15-21 October 2011.