Macrium backup/restore of non-partition bits of a disk.

[Frank Slootweg]

This is probably a 'dumb' question, but seeing on micky's troubles of
late, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Does Macrium Reflect (Free) backup and restore the non-partition bits
of a disk, when you make partition-based backup of a disk?

N.B. I have of course studied the Macrium documentation, but did not
see a clear answer to this question, hence this post.

With the non-partition bits, I mean the GPT, the MBR (if any) and any
other parts which are not part of the partitions on the disk.

I make partition-based backup with Macrium. One Backup Definition File
backs up all partitions except C (done only once). And another Backup
Definition File backs up the C partition (Full and Differential backups).

N.B. Macrium has a 'Image this disk' - "disk", not "partition(s)" -
function, but as far as I can tell, that is just a partition-based
backup where all the partitions on the disk are selected/ticked, but can
be unselected/unticked. So I don't think there's a functional difference
between the 'Image this disk' function and my two partition-based Backup
Definition Files.

Are these backups sufficient to restore (by means of the Rescue Media)
the disk, i.e. the partitions *and* the non-partition bits, in case of a
(unfixable) boot failure, disk-replacement, etc.?

In other words, does the 'all partitions except C' image file, contain
not only the contents of these partitions, but also the GPT, etc.?

My partitions are:

1 - WINRE (None) NTFS Primary, 276.3 MB of 650.0 MB
2 - NO NAME (None) FAT32 (LBA) Primary, 104.5 MB of 260.0 MB
3 - (None) Unformatted Primary, 128.0 MB of 128.0 MB
4 - Windows (C:) NTFS Primary, 224.23 GB of 911.06 GB
4 - RECOVERY (D:) NTFS Primary, 17.28 GB of 19.43 GB

N.B. The system is Windows 8.1.

Thanks in advance for your response.

[Ed Cryer]

Post by Frank Slootweg
This is probably a 'dumb' question, but seeing on micky's troubles of
late, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Does Macrium Reflect (Free) backup and restore the non-partition bits
of a disk, when you make partition-based backup of a disk?
N.B. I have of course studied the Macrium documentation, but did not
see a clear answer to this question, hence this post.
With the non-partition bits, I mean the GPT, the MBR (if any) and any
other parts which are not part of the partitions on the disk.
I make partition-based backup with Macrium. One Backup Definition File
backs up all partitions except C (done only once). And another Backup
Definition File backs up the C partition (Full and Differential backups).
N.B. Macrium has a 'Image this disk' - "disk", not "partition(s)" -
function, but as far as I can tell, that is just a partition-based
backup where all the partitions on the disk are selected/ticked, but can
be unselected/unticked. So I don't think there's a functional difference
between the 'Image this disk' function and my two partition-based Backup
Definition Files.
Are these backups sufficient to restore (by means of the Rescue Media)
the disk, i.e. the partitions *and* the non-partition bits, in case of a
(unfixable) boot failure, disk-replacement, etc.?
In other words, does the 'all partitions except C' image file, contain
not only the contents of these partitions, but also the GPT, etc.?
1 - WINRE (None) NTFS Primary, 276.3 MB of 650.0 MB
2 - NO NAME (None) FAT32 (LBA) Primary, 104.5 MB of 260.0 MB
3 - (None) Unformatted Primary, 128.0 MB of 128.0 MB
4 - Windows (C:) NTFS Primary, 224.23 GB of 911.06 GB
4 - RECOVERY (D:) NTFS Primary, 17.28 GB of 19.43 GB
N.B. The system is Windows 8.1.
Thanks in advance for your response.

Not a dumb question at all, Frank.
Yes, the MBR is always on an image backup by default.
Check my claim here;
https://forum.macrium.com/18091/MBR-backup-when-imaging-whole-disk

I've used Macrium for decades, never had a problem with it, restored
partitions by the score. I used to earn my daily bread as a programmer,
and I'd like to meet the ones employed by Macrium. They seem faultless
to me.

Ed

[Frank Slootweg]

Ed Cryer <***@somewhere.in.the.uk> wrote:
[...]

Post by Ed Cryer
Not a dumb question at all, Frank.
Yes, the MBR is always on an image backup by default.
Check my claim here;
https://forum.macrium.com/18091/MBR-backup-when-imaging-whole-disk
I've used Macrium for decades, never had a problem with it, restored
partitions by the score. I used to earn my daily bread as a programmer,
and I'd like to meet the ones employed by Macrium. They seem faultless
to me.

Thanks Ed, for your response and for your pointer to the proof.

As indicated in that thread, what goes for the MBR (in a MBR-based
system) also goes for the GPT (in a GPT-based system). My system is
GPT-based.

[Stan Brown]

Post by Frank Slootweg
Does Macrium Reflect (Free) backup and restore the non-partition
bits of a disk, when you make partition-based backup of a disk?

I don't think there _are_ any non-partition bits on a disk. My copy
of Macrium shows two partitions with a label of "(None)" and one with
"NO NAME".

In my copy of Macrium, there are three options under "Create
Backups":

* Image selected disks on this computer. (And you're correct,
"disks" here means partitions.)

* Create an image of the partition(s) needed to backup and restore
Windows.

* Create a File and Folder backup.

The middle option seems like what you want.

Now I have Macrium 8. If you have an earlier Macrium that doesn't
have that middle option, I'll bet that checking C and all system
partitions will do what you need. System partitions are typically
under half a GB, so they should be easy enough to identify.

[Frank Slootweg]

Paul <***@needed.invalid> wrote:
[...]

So perhaps it always backs up the disk particulars and details, even
if only one partition is being backed up.
All I know is, it will ask you a question about geometry, if the backup
image no longer matches the disk you are restoring to. This to me implies
it backs up disk details, as well as the partition.
It wouldn't need to do that, for the payware "file by file" option.
And Macrium supports resizing partitions during Restore, but it does
not allow moving the origin of the partition. If you drag and drop
the Restore partition, that allows moving the origin, but then the
boot functions might not work, as not as much work is done during the
Restore.

Thanks. For me that indeed confirms that Macrium backs up the MBR/GPT,
otherwise it couldn't do/complain_about the things you mention (restore
to a different geometry; not allow to move the start of a (to be
restored) partition).

[...]

[Stan Brown]

It wouldn't need to do that, for the payware "file by file" option.

Whoa! Somehow I missed that on the website, that file backup is not
in the free edition. Of the four partitions that I back up, three
require that feature. (Two are encrypted with Veracrypt, and Macrium
doesn't offer the image to do image backup, which I guess makes
sense. The third needs to have some file exclusions, which is not
offered with disk imaging -- again I guess that makes sense.)

I've been running the trial version for about ten days, and was
planning buy anyway. It's quixotic of me, but I figure if I'm going
to use a good product I should pay for it, or contribute to the
program author.

For others who may have been on the fence about buying, you can get
20% ($14) off on a perpetual license. Just google "Macrium Reflect
coupons" without quotes, or go to RetailMeNot.com.