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I've not been happy with Macrium Reflect Free, and perhaps their paid versions..
tomos:
^ I've done images for two different programmes for a while (well one is via the Windows OS) - mainly because I havent tested either and would simply hope that at least one would work if a restore had to be made.
(FWIW I'm more careful with data backup - but that's easier to restore...)
Steven Avery:
A bit more.
Just a note, I am really talking here about the home systems, usually one to five PCs floating around or with friends, each one different than the other. You are using an image largely for malware and sluggish slowdown and disk fail (buying a replacement) and OS corruption protection. There are other applications with cloning and biz use that are different.
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On most systems, one major limitation of the free version in restoring on the same computer, with an attempted restore after you change the partition size. My understanding: even if the partition could fit, a free version will plead ignorance and not try.
Here Aomei is said to be an exception:
"[2014-11-27] New Features in AOMEI Backupper 2.1 ... Support for restoring system to a smaller partition."
http://www.backup-utility.com/new-features.html
This is one reason I would make Aomei one of the versions, if you using free versions.
Note: I would still make a new image right after any partition changes. The partition changes often have to do with a Linux multi-boot, or special partitions for data or whatevers.
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Another concern would be restoring an image on a totally different system. I think this is a sophisticated usage, and even when it is supported, it can be problematic. As long as you do the data backup independently of the image, I think this can be bypassed as a consideration.
Do the data backups!
Do not rely fully on images for mission-critical, unless you have personally confirmed that the image can also be seen and restored file-by-file and is recent enough. For my take, I don't bother with that type of ongoing image check, my ongoing backups will be data file-by-file. I like DriveHQ for remote because of a strong file manager and some support for mapping. Locally I have a Western Digital MyBook Essentials and some others.
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Another element is creating a Windows PE disk, which I have found problematic.
Here Aomei says why they encourage this:
http://www.backup-utility.com/features/create-bootable-disc.html
Since the purpose of the created CD in my case is simply to restore a partition(s), I don't see any need for Windows PE.
It is good to have a stash of rescue CDs, even if you could conceivably create them on another puter in an emergency.
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Those are my thoughts on this, with no special expertise.
Steven
MilesAhead:
There's an advantage if you have several identical systems such as in a business environment. You can assume if one software backs up and restores on one machine it will do the same on the others. But for home use most people buy a new PC and try to get some bang for the buck with off the shelf systems that are on sale at Best Buy or whatnot. There tends to be a few years between purchases. This means the new PC will likely have some hardware or controllers a bit different than the old.
I made the mistake of assuming that if my backup imaging program worked on an HP desktop running Vista 32 bit it should not have a problem with the new system, an HP desktop running Vista x64. But for some reason I still don't understand, the new system had a raid controller set to run in non-raid mode. Why put it on and disable it I have no clue. But the imaging software, when it came time to restore(I was trying out the new Windows 7) would only use "compatibility mode." I was lucky it worked at all. I got my Vista OS back. But it had to run for 9 hours to do it. The Windows 7 install was flawed. Leaving it on was not an option.
I changed to another software and it worked normally. This is why I say the best is the one that works on your hardware. If you have disparate machines I advise downloading the trial versions and actually doing restores before you buy. Of course this in itself is risky since presumably none of these machines are "guinea pig" PCs and hosing the OS is not good. So now we are back at the crux of the problem. How do you know you can restore if the first backup image restore you try hoses things? Maybe sector by sector image to an identical HD before you start? I dunno'. :)
I guess those more hardware oriented than I would know enough to check out all the ins and outs of the HD controller before buying the machine.
Steven Avery:
Hi,
If you are backing up and restoring on one puter ...
And if you do it with multiple programs on multiple backup medium and have the appropriate rescue CD and the CD drive works (maybe USB is an alternate)
It would be hard to hose the system or even to have a fail on the partition restore. No matter what you do e.g. to the c:\. I think you would have to hose the master boot record, MBR, which may or may not be handled by the backup or a fix-MBR program.
The solution then would be either:
a) installing OS CDs that came with the system
b) burning OS CDs, since (a) may not occur anymore, which are installed
or the puter may have a special partition for this
c) having it done at a store with OS install equipment .. mine says they charge about $80 (assuming it is a legal PC.)
granted .. I have tech-savvy stores here in Queens that are easy to work with
It is fun and a learning experience to do an OS install from scratch .... once.
Steven
MilesAhead:
Hi,
If you are backing up and restoring on one puter ...
And if you do it with multiple programs on multiple backup medium and have the appropriate rescue CD and the CD drive works (maybe USB is an alternate)
It would be hard to hose the system or even to have a fail on the partition restore. No matter what you do e.g. to the c:\. I think you would have to hose the master boot record, MBR, which may or may not be handled by the backup or a fix-MBR program.
-Steven Avery (February 05, 2015, 10:23 AM)
--- End quote ---
What I'm saying is that it is not always trivial to get to the position of having multiple backups with multiple products. During times of transition, such as USB 3.0 coming on or various HD controllers, the backup products introduce support for the new hardware and often the support has bugs. You don't know you have anything to rely on until you do that first backup and restore.
Another change that gave me headaches was the changes made by Vista and later to NTFS partitions. I used Paragon Drive Backup in XP and it worked gangbusters. But when I moved to Vista, it claimed to now support Vista NTFS partitions. It seemed to. But after making a backup capsule come to find out it slightly hosed the MBR to where the system would still boot, but the partition info was not quite right. These kinds of issues limit the ability to use the shotgun approach. Once you have a reliable backup that restores then you can experiment with others. During periods of stable hardware across the majority of PC makers it's much easier.
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