how can I create bootable Macrium rescue on 5TB GPT drive w/o destroying existing partitions

DocDJ said:

Admittedly, building a flash drive is easier, but if you have a fire and have to leave the house fast, grabbing the disk and running is the best bet (other than having an off-site backup/restore you can trust). And if you have as many USB sticks as I do, it's problematic to keep the 2 devices with each other, but away from everything else. I am also paranoid about ransomware, so I have a USB switch to keep my Rescue files offline and not have to fiddlle with plugs every time i do a backup.

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If there's fire, my disks wouldn't be my priority. But I can grab my NAS box if I can.
If you are making backup images of your OS, you don't have to worry about ransomware or virus (they do happen sometimes no matter how careful you are). That is one of the main reasons why you are creating image backups. Just wipe out your drive and restore your clean image backup. Whenever I notice a slow down on my PC, I usually do an image restoration right away. My data is always separate from OS drive so I can restore images anytime.

badrobot said:

If there's fire, my disks wouldn't be my priority. But I can grab my NAS box if I can.
If you are making backup images of your OS, you don't have to worry about ransomware or virus (they do happen sometimes no matter how careful you are). That is one of the main reasons why you are creating image backups. Just wipe out your drive and restore your clean image backup. Whenever I notice a slow down on my PC, I usually do an image restoration right away. My data is always separate from OS drive so I can restore images anytime.

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My backup drive is right on my desk, so it's easy to grab & go. Sure, I could stop worrying about ransomeware, but considering the frequency of attacks, I keep Windows's ransomeware filter on, to minimize the need to recover. I also keep the "my documents" folder in a separate partition on a separate drive, and do backups on it and my system drive partitions. Folder protection is only on for system folders and things like C:\Users\{userid}\AppData. But I've been lucky that I have never had to wipe and restore on my own system. And I still need the instructions to get boot.wim onto my 5TB drive and make it bootable without reformatting it (which Rufus does). I think there must be more to it than just copying the file to my FAT32 partition. My boot.wim is less than 1 GB.

Hey SiW2, but isn't all this already included in the Macrium generated WIM file?
Otherwise what is the point of having the WIM file for booting at startup? Surely it includes these MR files? Ahhh... Or are you trying to say you are using your secret BAT file to convert the MR Backup WIM to an ISO and bundle other tools? Okay....

SIW2 said:

browse to macrium boot.wim

........

It is a bit bigger now because of the added stuff

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#Q. What tools would you bundle (eg. Portable apps) in order to adjust which disk or partition is used to load OS? Given there is no boot.ini to edit nowadays, it is not as transparent as it used to be.
PS. My MR Resuce ISO based on my system is 993MB! How is yours 720MB inc. other tools?
@SIW2 Could you OR anyone else please suggest 2-3 options that could be bundled in to MR's (or another) bootable recovery USB ISO etc? Reminds me of Hiren's boot CD! (3.2GB 2024.03) - perhaps can be integrated? Or Sergei Strelec ISO?


Anyone have any suggestions or info they can share on the following? Cheers!

#Q. Is anyone aware of WinRE limitations? What if your recovery takes 72 hours? Should we not be using WinPE? or ....??... Especially if recovering over a network, etc...
So when it comes to systems with non-"Basic" (Dynamic, Logical, EFI, EUFI UEFI ) disks attached, what do you do to boot to recovery from USB / CD? eg. if Windows partition is corrupt and cannot locate the .wim files...?
Is there anything we should all be aware of?
Cheers

#Q. What is recommended for MR Backup recovery and BitLocker? I am actually confused why MR doesn't include a recovery system for BitLocker... Should I be adding BitLocker tools to MR Backup ISO to load from backup prior to selective/full restore/backup? Or backup the encryption key to an encrypted source or some solution to avoid manually typing the decryption key?? Would love to know what other people are doing as this really should be standardised for the most common scenarios.

#Q. Has anyone used "WIM Tools" (2025)? Requires ADK but is very feature rich! Highly recommend!
Plus "DISMGUI" (2017) which offers a GUI for DISM. Add and remove all / 3rd-party drivers from WIM; add and remove packages; get, enable and disable features; change and set compression; etc... Highly recommended!
Any alternatives? Anything better?
NB. @DocDJ ^ ^ ^

Topgundcp said:

However I don't even use the dual Boot Menu since it is a nuisance to wait for the Boot Menu time out before booting into Windows.
I prefer to boot whatever I want via boot menu using Function Key (F11 for MSI MB)
as shown below:

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Don't you use a 1-2 second timeout like most 'tweakers'? ☺ Same as function key time-out...
You can just have one boot menu that links to each WIM, instead of 4-5 successive prompts.
Check WIM Tools and DISM GUI which I linked in my previous post. Brilliant tools. WIM Tools is maintained and current but command prompt UI, however DISM GUI was last updated 2017 but does have the best interface for ease-of-use.
I guess it gets down to what you use the most, become familiar with and comfortable.

I forget the toolkit that allows you to build a boot menu from multiple WIM files and unify them...

But you aren't wrong. Hitting a function key or key combination is an excellent way to access a unified toolkit. But which toolkit to use? Suggestions please!
I don't think Bart PE exists anymore. Hiren's isn't 'technically' legal. Sergei Strelec is the only one I know of that's left.
I am open to any suggestions!
Cheers!

Flipmode said:

I don't think Bart PE exists anymore. Hiren's isn't 'technically' legal. Sergei Strelec is the only one I know of that's left.
I am open to any suggestions!
Cheers!

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Take a look at this link:
I am using WIN10XPE to build my own.

your secret BAT file to convert the MR Backup WIM to an ISO and bundle other tools

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Almost.

It is very simple. It boots to recovery options ( if present in the wim) . Select pecmd tools and it presents a menu from which any of the included programs can be run.

If it is one of those winpe things from WADK without recovery options, it boots directly to the menu.

quick and easy to do.

There is an option to create iso if desired. But it is not necessary if the macrium ( or other ) wim is already on the boot menu. It adds the programs and menu into that wim.

Is there anything to manage your existing boot series and boot screen, add additional boot options and remove options, etc.
I miss the boot.ini but would love to be able to add additional WIM files to boot form?
Make sense?

Manage boot options and sources, eg. add and point to new wim or bootable images, etc. However the new bootable interface works...
Cheers

I miss the boot.ini but would love to be able to add additional WIM files to boot form

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winpe boot entry in the bcd store. Needs a few commands which is bit complicated for most people. That is why many imaging/partitioning programs have an option to do it for the user.