Macrium Drive Image and Restore - this saves massive amounts of time
Summary
TLDRThis tech tutorial showcases how to efficiently clone a Windows 10 system using Macrium Reflect. The process involves creating a system image on one PC and restoring it onto identical machines, saving significant time during setup. The video guides viewers through downloading the software, creating a backup image, and using it to restore the system on another PC. It emphasizes the software's utility for home users, who can use the free version, and the need for commercial users to purchase a license. The tutorial also covers creating a bootable rescue media and changing the system hostname post-cloning to avoid network conflicts.
Takeaways
- π₯οΈ The video demonstrates using Macrium Reflect to clone a Windows 10 operating system from one PC to three identical systems.
- π οΈ Macrium Reflect is suitable for both home and commercial use, with the free version available for home users and a paid license required for commercial environments.
- π The software can create a system image, which is a backup of the environment, and this image can be restored easily onto another system.
- π The process involves downloading and installing Macrium Reflect, selecting the correct edition based on the user's environment (free for home, paid for commercial).
- πΎ A system image is created by selecting the 'Image this disk' option within the software, which then stores the image in a specified location, such as a USB drive or NAS.
- β±οΈ The time taken to create the system image can vary depending on system speed and the medium it's being backed up to, typically between 20 minutes to an hour.
- π To restore the system image, a bootable rescue media is created using a USB stick, which allows the software to run and restore the image without the need for an existing operating system.
- π§ Advanced options in the rescue media creation process include enabling multi-boot support for MBR and UEFI, as well as adding BitLocker support for encrypted drives.
- ποΈ Before restoring, it's important to delete all partitions on the target drive to ensure a clean restoration of the system image.
- π After restoring the system image, the PC should be restarted, and the bootable and external USB drives can be removed.
- ποΈ Post-cloning tasks include changing the system hostname to avoid conflicts on the same network, which can be done through the Windows settings.
Q & A
What is the purpose of the video?
-The purpose of the video is to demonstrate how to use Macrium Reflect software to clone a Windows 10 operating system from one computer to another, saving time when setting up multiple identical PCs.
What type of PC is used in the demonstration?
-An HP PC with an 8th generation Core i5 processor is used in the demonstration.
Why is a fresh copy of Windows 10 important for the demonstration?
-A fresh copy of Windows 10 is important because it ensures that the system is clean and ready for cloning, with all HP drivers and Windows updates installed.
Is Macrium Reflect free for everyone?
-Macrium Reflect is free for home users, but commercial users need to purchase a license to use the software legally.
What does Macrium Reflect allow users to do?
-Macrium Reflect allows users to create a system image or backup of their environment, which can be restored easily onto another system.
How can a home user obtain Macrium Reflect for free?
-A home user can obtain Macrium Reflect for free by searching for 'Macrium Reflect free backup at home' on Google and selecting the free edition for personal use.
What is the process of creating a system image with Macrium Reflect?
-The process involves selecting the option to back up a local disk, choosing the location for the image file, and then running the backup to create an image of the operating system.
Why is it necessary to create a bootable rescue media?
-A bootable rescue media is necessary to boot off the USB stick, load Macrium Reflect, and then restore the system image onto another system, as you cannot overwrite a running operating system.
What are the steps to restore the system image onto another system?
-The steps include creating a bootable rescue media, booting from the USB stick, selecting the system image from an external drive, and then using the restore options in Macrium Reflect to overwrite the target system's drive.
What are some post-cloning tasks mentioned in the video?
-Post-cloning tasks include changing the system hostname to avoid conflicts on the same network and renaming the PC to ensure it has a unique name.
How long does it typically take to create a system image with Macrium Reflect?
-The time it takes to create a system image can vary based on the system's speed and the backup destination, but it usually takes between 20 minutes to an hour.
Outlines
π οΈ Setting Up System Cloning with Macrium Reflect
This paragraph introduces a tech video focused on using Macrium Reflect for a specific use case to save time. The narrator has a freshly built HP PC with an 8th generation Core i5 CPU, Windows 10, and all the necessary drivers and updates. The goal is to replicate this setup onto three identical PCs using Macrium Reflect. The video demonstrates how to download, install, and use the free version of the software for home users, and mentions the need for a commercial license for business use. The process involves creating a system image that can be restored easily, showcasing the software's capabilities for full system backup and restoration.
π₯οΈ Creating a System Image with Macrium Reflect
The second paragraph details the process of creating a system image using Macrium Reflect. The narrator guides the viewer through backing up the local disk to create an image stored on a D drive in a newly created folder named 'Macrium Backup'. Options for creating a backup job for incremental updates are discussed, but for this demonstration, a one-time backup is performed. The video emphasizes the speed and efficiency of the backup process, which took only 2 minutes and 11 seconds, and suggests purchasing a license if the software proves useful, highlighting its value for system backup in an office environment.
π Restoring System Image for Cloning
In this paragraph, the focus shifts to restoring the system image created earlier onto another PC. The narrator explains the need for a bootable USB drive to run Macrium Reflect and restore the image, as it cannot be done over a running operating system. The process involves creating rescue media, selecting the appropriate drive and image file, and confirming the overwrite of the target volume. The narrator also provides a brief tutorial on how to change the system hostname after cloning to avoid conflicts on the same network, emphasizing the importance of renaming the cloned PC to maintain uniqueness.
π Finalizing the System Cloning Process
The final paragraph wraps up the cloning process by emphasizing the need to change the system hostname to avoid network conflicts and to personalize the cloned system. The narrator demonstrates how to rename the PC through Windows settings and advises making a note of the new name. The video concludes with a reminder to subscribe to the channel and a note that while the software is freely available for home users, commercial users must purchase a license, as the narrator's environment has done.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Macrium Reflect
π‘System Image
π‘Incremental Backup
π‘Home User
π‘Commercial Environment
π‘Workstation Edition
π‘NAS Drive
π‘USB Drive
π‘Rescue Media
π‘BitLocker
π‘MBR and UEFI
π‘Hostname
Highlights
Introduction to using Macrium Reflect for cloning a PC with a fresh copy of Windows 10.
The demonstration is for cloning an HP Core i5 machine with the 8th generation CPU.
A fresh, clean copy of Windows 10 with all HP drivers and updates installed is used as the base.
The goal is to replicate the operating system setup on three identical systems.
Macrium Reflect software can be used for free by home users, but commercial users need a license.
The software allows creating a system image for full system backup and easy restoration.
Instructions on downloading Macrium Reflect Free for home users are provided.
Demonstration of creating a system image using the software on a running Windows system.
Explanation of the process to create a drive image stored on an external drive.
The image creation process takes between 20 minutes to an hour depending on system speed.
A recommendation to purchase a license if the software proves useful.
The process of creating a bootable rescue media for system restoration.
How to use the bootable USB to restore the system image onto another system.
The importance of changing the system hostname after cloning to avoid network conflicts.
Final steps include renaming the PC and restarting it to complete the cloning process.
A reminder that commercial users must purchase the software, while home users can use it for free.
The video concludes with a thank you and an invitation to subscribe for more content.
Transcripts
welcome to another tech video so today
we're going to be looking at macrium
reflect and a specific use case that
we've got that um
enables us to save a huge amount of time
so
we've got um
we've got a pc over here this is an hp
core i5 machine eighth generation cpu
and what we've got is
we've built one from scratch so fresh
copy of windows 10 we've loaded all of
the hp drivers all of the windows
updates
and it's a fresh clean copy
and what we want to do is we've got
three others exactly the same and we
want to load
the operating system
that's completed on here onto another
system
[Music]
um in fact onto the other three systems
and we're going to show you how you can
do that today with some software from
macrium
if you're using in a commercial
environment you will need to purchase a
license however if you are a home user
then
the software is available for free and
it allows you to create a
system image
a bit like a backup of your of your
environment so you can set this to run
as an incremental job and gives you the
ability to
have a full system backup of your pc
that can be restored very easily we're
going to show you how you can do a
restore as well
first thing we want to do is we want to
go and get the software so we're going
to go to
google we're going to search for
macrium
reflect free
back up at home and you want to use
if you're in a commercial environment
obviously you need to buy the software
so we are using it in a commercial
environment so we've purchased
the
workstation edition
but as a home user you can use the free
edition to create
images of
your windows os so we're going to select
just to show you we're going to select
the reflect 8 free so we're going to
download
and we're going to select i need a
personal license and we're going to
select continue
and then we're going to install the
software
i'm going to select make sure it says
free up there
run the installer directly after
downloading perfect and then we're going
to say download
and then we're going to
install the software
just follow the guides through
so as a home user you would select home
and we're going to agree to the software
saying that yes we are a home user
don't want to register it
and then install
i'm going to say launch now
i'm going to close our browser down
there we go
right so this is a demonstration for
home users this is not to be used in a
commercial environment you would need to
buy the software like we have for our
environment so
what i'm going to show you today is how
you can use their free offering
to clone your existing windows computer
onto something like a nas drive or in
our instance as you can see here we've
got a usb
drive connected to the pc
so there are a couple of ways of doing
it and we're just going to show you
today the way that you would do it using
the software on your running windows
system so we are going to select the
option here
and that option is we're going to back
up a local disk
and we're going to create an image of it
we're not going to clone it we're going
to create an image of it and we're going
to use that image later
so we're going to click on image this
disk
and then we're going to select for
the folder location so it's going to be
on our d drive
and we are going to create a new folder
and we're going to call it
macrium
backup
and say okay
and that's going to create a drive image
of the operating system and it's going
to store it into this drive here there's
no other options that you need to set so
we're going to select next
and we are not creating a template for
any of this so we're just going to
untick all of these options here because
this gives you the ability to create a
backup job
if you want to have it running nightly
for instance to take a drive image of
your system and it would update it just
like a normal backup does
so we're going to select next
and then we're going to click on finish
we're going to untick this box because
we don't want to save it and we want to
run this back up now
so what this is doing this is taking a
sector by sector clone or image it's
cloning your drive and putting it into
an image that you can then use to
restore onto another system and we will
show you what we're going to be doing
with that a bit later on in the meantime
we're just going to let this one run
through
depends on the speed of your system of
course on how long it takes but normally
by experience this takes between
between
20 minutes and an hour depending on what
you're backing it up to and how you're
backing it up
all i suggest is
if you find the software useful do
purchase a license for it it is a
fantastic piece of software
we use it for backing up
our system here in the office and
that
has a nightly backup basically it takes
a drive image
and updates that and then we use
additional backup for data as well
okay so that was actually real time and
that was extremely fast so let's have a
look to see how long that took
two minutes 11 seconds to do uh the
whole system
now we're going to close this down and
we are going to
just quickly show you the backup on the
drive it's on the x external drive
itself
that was under
macrium backup
and there's our backup image so we're
going to use that on uh and restore this
onto another system now so we're going
to close this machine down we're going
to attach the usb drive to into the
other system and then we're going to
load the software again on the other
system and then do a system restore
okay so here we are on our system that
we're going to clone our data to so
just to make it clear we've got an hp
desktop that we've already
created our drive image and we've got an
exactly the same model of hp desktop
that we're going to be restoring to
now obviously you'll with the running
operating system you're not going to be
able to use the software to restore
directly over that operating system
because obviously the os is going to be
running but what you want to do is you
want to come in to your macrium software
you want to get yourself a usb stick and
you want to insert the usb stick into
the one of the usb ports in the machine
and then what we're going to do is we're
going to click on what's called
rescue so this is we're going to create
a bootable rescue media and the reason
we need to do this is we need to boot
off that usb stick to load macrium and
then we're going to load the image from
the drive that we've created it on and
that will overwrite the operating system
on the current disk obviously you cannot
overwrite a running operating system so
we're going to click on rescue
that's going to build a rescue media so
we're going to say
it's going to create the software in a
windows 10 environment
and what we're going to do is we're
going to create it on our e drive
and we're going to enable it to be
multi-boot so mbr and uefi so that means
that it will take care of legacy system
boot as well let's have a look at the
advanced options
so we're going to be using 64-bit
and i think probably what we'll do is
we're going to add bit locker support
and automatically unlock bitlocker
volumes
okay we're going to enable legacy efi
screen resolution support
we're not going to enable anything else
and that's it we're going to say
we're going to actually move along to
drive devices and drivers that's fine
and
click on ok
and then we're going to select build
and
yes it is only going to be used for
non-commercial use because we're only
going to be using it at home or you will
be we have a
we have a license to be able to do this
because we've actually bought software
in
a work environment so we use a business
based version of this that we've paid
for
we're going to say ok to that
that's going to create a bootable usb
drive
takes a little while
and then we have our rescue media
created so we click on ok
click on close
close down the software now
what we're going to do is we're going to
shut down the machine
okay so with the uh with the bootable
drive in place you want to power up the
machine
and then we're going to boot from our
drive so we're going to go into
boot device options
i'm going to go into the usb stick that
we just created
now while that's booting you can now add
your external
usb drive
that you've got your drive image on
okay so here we've got our system so
macrium this is so as you can see here
we are going to
look at existing backups so we're going
to browse for an image file we're going
to go to our
this is our
this is our drive here local drive f
we're gonna go into there we're gonna go
into macrium backup
and here is our image that we created
earlier
so we're gonna double click that to
select it and we're now gonna go in and
we're gonna use the restore options
we're going to click on restore
and we're going to select our drive to
restore to
and
this is our drive that we're interested
in here this is our external usb drive
and this is our bootable drive so we
want to overwrite this drive
and what we do is we delete all of the
partitions first now you do want to
double check and make sure that
the drive that you are about to
overwrite is the correct one so we're
going to delete the partitions on that
so we've got our
drive image up here and we've got our
drive in the system that we're going to
restore it to
we're going to click on next and then
we're going to click on finish and it's
going to confirm if we want to overwrite
or it should do there we go
we're going to say yes all target volume
data will be overwritten confirm to
proceed
we're going to continue
and that will then go through and
restore everything that's on our
image
onto the drive that's in the system
so that's the restore completed so now
what we can do is
simply
click on ok
close
and then we're going to shut down the
system
and now we're going to remove the usb
drive bootable usb drive and we're going
to remove the external usb disk which is
now done
and then we're going to power up the
system
and we're going to log in
and there we have
a fully restored system as you can see
here it's the uh macrame reflect that we
originally put in now so
once you've cloned your system there are
a couple of things that you need to do
so the first one is you need to change
the system hostname because it's going
to be on the same network
um your computer is going to have the
the same name so we want to go in
and
we want to have a look at that and we
want to rename this pc so to do that you
go into settings and about and then
click on rename this pc
and it gives you the current name here
so what we're going to do is we're going
to call it
desktop
and we're going to call it something
completely different
in roughly the same format so
like that
just make something up but obviously
make a note of it because you don't want
to
inadvertently create a name that's
already in use
i'm going to click on next and then it's
going to want to restart the pc more
than likely yeah there we go so we're
going to restart the pc again
and there we go that's us booted back up
into windows and we're going to log in
and there we are with our new uh
computer name
so if you found that video useful give
it a double thumbs up don't forget to
subscribe to the channel i just wanted
to point out that
if you are a commercial user you must
buy this software like we've done
if you are a home user it's
readily available to use
and
we've run through all of the options for
you there so
yeah just want to say thanks for
watching and we'll see you in the next
one
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