Computer Hope
Other => Reviews and recommendations => Topic started by: patio on February 19, 2009, 09:29:12 AM
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The issue of not having proper backups comes up here more than we care to see.
A solid backup strategy would solve most people's woes and make things easier so you will often see me recommending my image program of choice Acronis True Image.
There are others such as Norton Ghost or Paragon but these are paid apps and some people are on a budget...
Along comes a FREE solution called Macrium Reflect (http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp)
On first try it backed up a 150G partition about 1/3 full in approx. 6 minutes...this seemed too good to be true.
Stored the image on a secondary partition and wiped C:
Created a bootable CD using their tool and re-booted to the CD.
Reflect loaded asked which image file i wanted to restore and to where. I pointed it to the C: partition (Vista Ultimate X64) and let it do it's thing.
Less than 10 minutes later it says it's done.
I hesitated and then removed the boot CD and re-booted. BOOM ! Back into Vista with no glitches at all...programs , data, all intact and running perfectly.
Since i'm used to paying for a product to take care of this regular chore needless to say i was impressed !
However there are some features you won't be able to use in the FREE Edition...some of these may be important others not...
Windows Server 2003 compatibility
File and Folder backup
Differential disk images and backups
Incremental disk images and backups
VBScript Generator
Email notifications
Password Protection
AES Encrypion
Auto Verify Images
Run programs before or after backup
Shut down PC after backup
Windows system event log support
Windows PE 2.0 Rescue CD with RAID support
Windows boot menu
Technical support by email and forum access
Commercial/Business use
A few other observations:
It wants to give it's own file name to each image created...make sure to create your own so they can be tracked; burned to CD/DVD etc.
It wants to save to the last folder/partition it used. Not such a big deal unless you move/swap drives and partitions around as much as i do...so pay attention to where the image is being saved to.
The info on using it a Bart's PE enviornment are OK but incomplete...however these can be found at the Bart's site anyways.
Overall Score : I'd have to give this one a 9 out of 10 as a FREE alternative to the paid apps out there. It's a solid performer without alot of bells and whistles...just what i look for in software.
Conclusion: Although for my needs the missing features are a drawback so it won't replace ATI for me but for ALL others out there that are stubborn or putting off backups you now have NO EXCUSE.
Get it now. No telling how long the FREE version will be around.
patio
02_19_09
Step by Step Guide (http://www.tipsfor.us/2008/10/17/ghost-windows-for-free-with-macrium-reflect-a-visual-guide/)
Reason for edit: Tutorial added
Kudos to Broni.
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An added tip i neglected to mention...
Image files should always be verified by the app that created them before being relied upon as backups...most people skip this time consuming step.
Always store them on a partition/drive that does NOT get de-fragmented....this will ruin a good image file.
patio.
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See i told you people ignore backups.... ::)
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remember when backing up that your reverse lights are on.
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Macrium Reflect suprisingly enough does this automatically...i had never seen those white lights on my hard drives prior to this...
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I got hit by a trailer that was reversing. I didn't see any white lights, then it hit me, and I did.
In any case your quite right in declaring that people don't do backups. I myself am in the "too lazy" sub-group, despite losing copious amounts of work as a result of not having a backup.
However you have driven me to perform this "backup" thing people speak so highly of. I better not be all sticky afterwards. I hate when that happens.
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Trust me...you'll do fine.
No stickiness i promise.
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thanx for the heads up, as I suspected vista falls short on backup. love this forum....
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I would also like to post back... I was in fact not sticky afterwards. However I felt a certain emptiness... so I ate a sandwich.
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PBJ ? ?
With bananas ?
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well, actually, yes, PBJ.
However this caused an interesting conundrum- I got jam on myself, and thus ended up sticky anyway.
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I KNEW it ! !
;)