http://www.macrium.com/ReflectFree.asp
Just about everyone knows about DriveImage XML, the free drive imaging/backup tool for Windows XP (or at least if you have been interested in a free drive imaging tool). And a few months back, I posted about Microsoft's command-line imaging tool, ImageX.I was surfing the 'Net last night as my wife and I were watching the Daily Show, and I came across a really nice looking (feature and aesthetic-wise) application called Macrium Reflect!
Ghost for the rest of us...
Like the big boys Acronis and Norton Ghost, Reflect is a disk backup tool which gives you the ability to run a complete drive backup within Windows (akin to DriveImage XML). Not only that, but you can explore your archived images through Windows Explorer if you need to restore a file or folder later on down the road. This is an easy solution for those that are not well versed in the "good book of tech".
Being that you can save your drive contents as image files, you can see how useful this could be for those of you with multiple configurations (Vista, Windows - and although I have no way of testing this, it appears you can backup Linux partitions as well).
The program utilizes Windows Shadow Copy services, so it allows you to perform backups online while Windows is running. This of course, is nothing new, but it is worth mentioning.
Freeware to get excited about
I have to say, this is a premium quality program that works as well as it looks.
I saved a 7.3Gb image using high compression at 3.1Gb, in about 12 minutes. Not bad! DriveImage XML is notably slower than this...not only that, but I've had some issues using it with my boot CD (for some reason, the computer doesn't recognize the image when I perform a restore - - - probably just me).
Schedule that backup!
You can set Reflect to run a scheduled backup at a time of your preference. You can restore your partitions easily, but you must restart the computer in the 'Reflect Environment', which is available via the Windows boot menu after you specify the restore option.
Reflect also works as a PE-based plugin (PE 2.0 is not supported with the freeware edition)...
There is a $39 paid version available which gives you additional options like the ability to backup Windows servers, file/folder backup & restore, differential/incremental backups, run programs before and after the imaging/restore process, and more...But, even with all that said, the free version certainly has enough options to make this a viable tool for any user who isn't supporting their own network server(s)!
Over the network you go
Like DriveImage XML and Microsoft ImageX, you can make a backup image o f your PC over the network to a shared drive. Now that is useful.
Overall, out of all three tools (DriveImage XML, ImageX and Reflect), Reflect is the easiest to use and the best-looking of the bunch with a good assortment of configurable options.
Likes
- The GUI is nice and easy to follow
- Compression works well
- Speed is more than acceptable over a network connection
- Fully featured for the home user
- Built-in ability to create a rescue CD
- Inclusion of a BartPE/PE plugin
- Backup to a network drive
- Online backup
- Enough options to make it configurable but not overwhelming
- Cannot restore an image from a larger hard disk to a smaller one, even if your backed up data is less than that of your destination disk's capacity - (major)
Alternates:
- DriveImage XML - cfj review: online disk image backup
- Microsoft ImageX - cfj review: command-line backup, good for system admins
- Self-Image: GUI backup tool, compresses to gzip format
- XXClone: GUI backup tool, supports disk-to-disk cloning only
- Paragon Backup & Recovery: disk image backup (added 10/29/09 - thanks NTBower!)
8 comments:
This is available for free on Giveaway of the Day 6/16/08.
"Cannot restore an image from a larger hard disk to a smaller one, even if your backed up data is less than that of your destination disk's capacity - (major)"
Could you give me an example of what this means?
I'm having trouble deciding between DriveImageXML or Macrium Reflect Free edition. In my setup, I've got a 300 GB HD partitioned into three- Vista, XP, and my data. I want to just make an image of my Vista partition which is about 33GB/80GB. Also, my external HD is also around 300GB. Would I be able to use Macrium for this, or should I stick with DriveImage? Thanks for the review.
It means that unlike ACronis TI, you cannot say create an image of a drive that is 100GB and restore it to a drive that is 80GB, even if the image created is say 1MB!!! That is major. For instance, I have a 1.2TB RAID 0 using two 640GB disks. Let's say I want to reimage only one of those disk after I decide I don;t like RAID. Well, you will need a disk 1.2 TB or larger--even if your restore image in only say 40GB! Very bad limitation. On the other hand, if you want to image your drive and reinstall the image on the same drive configuration, then it;s great--and much better than not having an image. Most people will be fine with this limitation, but it is something to think about, especially if you work on computers and need to reinstall the image for a client on a smaller HD.
I was just fixen to purchase this backup software but now i see a problem. can't backup to a smaller HDD? what up with that?
So My raid has 4 164Gig hdd so about 600 Gig now my backup HDD is a 1 T Hdd so you are telling me I couldn't but the Image back on to the 600 Gig hdd?
and what if I just wrote the file to DVD?
You can backup your drive so that you are creating a backup image to your smaller drive. You cannot restore your drive to a smaller drive, however. This is something I've requested from Macrium, and I understand it is "in the works"...you may want to contact their technical support before you purchase so you don't get something that won't fit your needs!
Hi Jim,
Since you are only creating an image of your vista partition which is only 80GB you might be able to use reflect. I have not tried it before but if it's a bootable partition my guess is that reflect will work. It will give you an option as to which partition you want to backup. Just select the vista partition. You should have no problem restoring it to the original partition. If you want to restore it to another disk it will need to be 80GB or more. You can test it and maybe let me know if it works as Im interested in the result.
DJ
Paragon just released their Backup & Recovery 10 Free Edition (http://www.paragon-software.com/home/db-express/index.html), I just downloaded it but didn't try yet - they claim that by features they beat all available free backup solutions.
Macrium can indeed restore to a smaller drive. If you look in Macrium's support forum, or maybe just do an internet search, you can use MS's Roboform as sort of a file helper to do it. Paragon can do it without a helper. I've used both, and both are good stuff. I lean towards Paragon because it doesn't require Roboform, and Paragon was about three times as fast creating an image than Macrium was, but I've read others have the opposite speed result, so YMMV. Both are good. Try them both. I've looked at a good number of other programs recently, and even many of the paid ones aren't as good as these two.
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