I thought Macrium did not include the recycle bin in Full images


wiganken

wiganken

Well-known member
Power User
VIP
Local time
11:37 AM
Posts
1,348
Location
UK
OS
Windows 11 Pro
Today I created a Full image of my ASUS device and thought "That's too big at 83.14 GB".
I checked in the recycle bin and saw that it contained a lot of stuff so I emptied it and ran another Full image and it was 77.86 GB.

Any thoughts?

MR backs up recycle bin.webp
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProAMD Ryzen 9 8945HS32GB DDR5 SO-DIMMIntegrated AMD Radeon 780M (4.00 GHz)
    OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    GMKtec K11
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS
    Memory
    32GB DDR5 SO-DIMM
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated AMD Radeon 780M (4.00 GHz)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 2250HM
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD
    Antivirus
    Bit Defender Total Security

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeIntel® Core™ Ultra 7 - 255H processor16 GB LPDDR5 SDRAMIntel Arc 140T onboard graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED 14" Laptop - UX3405CA-QL192W
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 - 255H processor
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5 SDRAM
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Arc 140T onboard graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 (16:10 WUXGA resolution) OLED Touchscreen
    Hard Drives
    1TB SSD
    Antivirus
    Bit Defender Total Security
There are a lot of other potential reasons why the backup size might have been so different and we can get into those later but in the meantime can I just suggest this...

Take the first backup that you did, the one that you said was 83.14 GB in size, and mount that backup using Macrium Reflect. Once it's mounted you can go in and see whether the recycle bin contents are in fact actually there or not. That will at least answer whether or not the recycle bin contents are even present in your backup.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro 26H2Intel i7-14650HX32 GBBuilt-in Intel Graphics
    OS
    Win11 Pro 26H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acemagic Matrix M5
    CPU
    Intel i7-14650HX
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Built-in Intel Graphics
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Varies as machine will often be moved to locations with different monitors
    Screen Resolution
    Varies
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    120W Power Brick (an especially compact GaN charger)
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro 26H2Intel i7-1255U16 GBIntel Iris Xe Graphics
    Operating System
    Win11 Pro 26H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    4 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging Using an Anker 160W Charger
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
From memory with restores Macrium does indeed back up and restore the bin. You will notice a restore does not restore the index file (applies to any backup software) and consequently that rebuilds in the background following a restore.

wiganken said:
Today I created a Full image of my ASUS device and thought "That's too big at 83.14 GB".
Click to expand...

What is the total combined size of all partitions you are backing up?

For example I backup my C and D partitions. That adds up to about 83GB excluding any smaller hidden partitions related to the operating system. Say another 1GB for all those:

1793702590096.webp


The Macrium image for all that comes in at around 50GB.

Screenshot 2026-11-03 104520.webp


If you are using the free version of Macrium then any restore is a full restore rather than a delta type restore meaning on the free version you get a complete restore, the drive is wiped and rebuilt. The delta restore (paid version) is much faster and only replaces the bits (literally) that have changed. The full restore can see the effects of trim and so on being applied and I have memories that restored images can sometimes seem to vary in the expected size a little. Sometimes it might be down to the way Windows reports free space as a day or so later it can jump back with no obvious reason. I don;t see that with delta restores.

The big question though is not whether the backup is too big but how much are you backing up in the first place. Only then can we see if an image is to big (which would be doubtful).
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

W11 Pro Future Platform 29600 branch latest b...Intel i58GbIntel HD Graphics
OS
W11 Pro Future Platform 29600 branch latest build
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Dell 7760 Mobile Precision 17"
CPU
Intel i5
Motherboard
Unknown
Memory
8Gb
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD Graphics
Sound Card
Realtek
Monitor(s) Displays
Internal
Hard Drives
2 x 256Gb SSD
PSU
Dell 240 watt
Mouse
Dell Premier Bluetooth
Internet Speed
50Mbps
Browser
Edge
Antivirus
Default Microsoft Security
wiganken said:
Today I created a Full image of my ASUS device and thought "That's too big at 83.14 GB".
I checked in the recycle bin and saw that it contained a lot of stuff so I emptied it and ran another Full image and it was 77.86 GB.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
By default Reflect excludes System Restore points, swapfile.sys, pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys. This is true for Reflect v8 and Reflect X. All other files are included unless you specifically add an exclusion yourself. This is done in a GUI option in Reflect X, it can also be done by editing the registry as an alternative. For v8 the registry option is the only one available.

How to exclude files from a Disk Image - KnowledgeBase X - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

web.archive.org web.archive.org
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two Other systems

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics
    OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to lid hinges starting to break up this laptop has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.

    I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.

    Info for 2021-2026:
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.

    In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
    Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
    In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
    Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.
    Upgraded to 26H2 by Enablement Package.

    Also running Insider Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
  • My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR was a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (1st gen) type 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device. This has now been sold. It has been replaced by my System Eight.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025, 26H2 on 29th September 2026.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, 1920x1080 touchscreen, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine. As its new home has an existing digital licence for Pro I've been able to upgrade the migrated OS from Home to Pro.
    29 Sept. 2026 Feature Update to 26H2 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM EIGHT is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e (5th gen) type 20LN, Celeron N4120, 8GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, a supported device for Windows 11. Currently running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Experimental 263xx and 29xxx builds as native boot vhdx.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Solved Discovered that a Full Macrium Reflect image does not include the recycle bin
Replies
5
Views
1K
wiganken
wiganken
Solved Where in the hades did MS put the Recycle Bin Folder?
Replies
5
Views
2K
EClaptonXRoads
E

Latest Support Threads

Latest Tutorials

Back
Top Bottom