Windows 10 Full Backup

If you deleted the MR boot then you’ll not be able to use this to recover so you’ll either have to install it again or create a boot USB.

 

It does ...

 

I intend to have another try at installing the MR boot menu and expect it to say Windows 1909.
If it says Windows 1903 again, then I am confused. Your post 42 shows Windows 2004 which I presume is your current version.

 

Why not just create USB rescue media using the menu option in the program? That's what I always use - quicker and much easier.

 

My Windows at present goes through the normal Windows boot procedure after shutdown or restart, but with MR a stoppage occurs at the choice screen, presumably you have to click Windows 10 every time to proceed with the Windows boot procedure. Is that correct ?

 

Are you setting up as Windows PE or Windows RE?
Windows PE requires further files to be downloaded.
If there’s a build button then click this to update the Rescue media’s version.
Yes. However I’m running Windows 20H2 (2009).
The RE showing 1903 is a bug:
https://forum.macrium.com/40820/Inc...ndows-10-20H2-Upgrade-in-Rescue-Media-Builder

 

My computer is vital to me, especially during this COVID crisis. My recent crash caused me astronomic worry and it is a miracle that without any help whatsoever I alone restored it back to its previous state using D drive factory windows version 1903 recovery via Windows procedures. I recovered all my files, bookmarks and passwords through syncing and other means.
Consequently my usual Gung-ho attitude has been severely dented and replaced by a nervous wreck.
Question ?
When I complete the MR boot menu and all looks fine, I assume all the MR clone/image/restore data goes onto my external drive.
Hence - with the external drive plugged in, the MR /Windows choice screen should appear after restart or shutdown.
If the external drive is NOT connected, then no choice screen will show and Windows simply goes through its normal boot routine as if MR never existed.
Is this correct Virginia ?

 

The windows boot menu will show Macrium & you can choose this & it will boot into the recovery console but the image/clone drive won’t show in the recovery list if it isn’t connected. In this case connect it & then choose refresh.
If you clone the hard drive to an external drive then you cannot use the external drive for anything else unless it is partitioned into two or more drives. This is why imaging is better.

 

@ Virginia
On the MR boot menu, can you choose between PE and RE ?
If so, which do I choose ?

 

Is the MR boot menu stored on my C drive with the MR program or on my external drive ?

 

It's stored on the same drive as 'C' likely just after the boot sector. Just a word of caution, I'd also get a small USB flash drive and put the restore media on it, because as Macrium say about the boot menu

Ref: https://blog.macrium.com/the-macrium-rescue-environment-cca57a4ebc61

 

@ Virginia
??????????????
Your panel - shows your current Windows 2004
https://i.imgur.com/Q9Fxv26.jpg
My panel - Shows the old factory Windows 1903. MR is up-to-date as checked.
https://i.imgur.com/CkFZ9rQ.jpg

Why am I out of date ?

 

PS - There is no USB hard drive listed !

 

It’s a bug which Macrium are in the process of fixing. It’s not affecting everyone.
Also I’m running the paid version so this will be more up to date.
Is the usb drive inserted?

 

No not at present

 

Does the bug prevent me using MR until it is fixed ?

 

The USB drive which will contain the boot media should be inserted before running the boot creation tool:


No it’s just it doesn’t show the correct build.

 

LATEST

I would gratefully thank Major Geeks and especially Virginia, for the immense help given to me in my efforts to provide a full backup of my Windows C drive using Macrium Reflect.

I have never done a system backup in all my 14 years of home computing. Until recently I knew almost nothing about backups or Macrium Reflect.
The whole thing was a big no-no.

But after all the help I have had on this thread, I have now created a full clone of my drive, installed the MR boot menu and it is all now finished and done with. Seems to be working perfectly. I now have a continual backup to my system, something I have never had before. It is immensely comforting. I intend to manually renew my clone every 2-3 weeks.

I had a Windows cumulative update that needed a restart. During this restart the MR/Windows 10 choice screen came up. I clicked Windows 10 and the whole restart then went through as normal.

https://i.imgur.com/MxH7NnY.png

 

Great news.
If you use the Macrium recovery boot does that work fine & can you see the clone?

 

Virginia, I did not click the MR recovery as I thought it would then go into the recovery procedure and replace my C drive.
I clicked Windows 10 and continued the normal boot.

 

I should be exactly the same as using the USB media to boot. It will go to the Macrium recovery environment.
It’s recommended to test that it will boot to this.

 

Perhaps after Christmas I will try it. Taking no risks before Father Christmas has been.

 

I understand.

 

Question ?
Can I erase the content of my 160 GB external drive by using the "delete existing partition" on MR ?

 

No.
You'll have 160 GB of unallocated space.

 

Thanks, but 160 GB of unallocated space (a clean drive) sounds what I want.

 

When you delete a partition you'll have to create a new partition.
Just format the drive.

 

As Eldon says you’ll just have unallocated space.
When wanting to erase a hard drive I use diskpart.
Open powershell with admin & enter:
Diskpart
List disk
Select disk X (where X is the number of the hard drive you wish to clean, this is found with the list disk cmd)
Clean

Now go to disk management & it’ll ask you to initialise the disk.
Then you can format the drive.

 

For the first question. A size of a disk image is not its full capacty, just only the space that is actually used. Therefore, you can usa an 1-Tb drive for saving many copies of a 80-Gb drive. You can also use some compression tool, either external such as WinRAR or internal.

For next questions. I strongly support an idea of using third-party disk image backup tools, to avoid situations with "insufficient" or "misfunctioned" external drives. Unlike built-in Windows tool, external utilities are often much less sensitive for hardware used.