Solved Macrium Rescue Media doesn't see backup drive


Scott

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Aloha from Maui, new member here :) Using Macrium Reflect Home v8.o.6161. The main program sees it just fine.
MR8a.jpg

When I boot to the rescue media, either USB or from the boot menu, it thinks the backup drive has an error.
MR8b.jpg

If I browse for image file, I actually find it on D drive as opposed to my actual backup V drive .
MR8c.jpg

Why is the rescue software reassigning a different drive letter to my backup drive? Does it need to be formatted in a specific manner? It's currently GPT/NTFS. My backup drive is a new 2TB Samsung 870 internal SSD. I'm doing this to prep for Windows 11 upgrade, in case I want to go back. But I'm liking Windows 11 so far, I'm actually dual booting it on a separate drive.

Thoughts?

Also, whats the average backup size of a typical Win 10 install with a few games, MS Office, etc.? Mine is 241GB.
 
Windows Build/Version
Windows 10 21H1 19043.1288 / Windows 11 22000.194
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3374
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-12700F
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI
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    G.SKILL Ripjaws S5 Series 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5
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    EVGA GeForce RTX 3050 XC Black Gaming
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    RealTek HD 7.1
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    ASUS TUF Gaming 27" 2K HDR Gaming
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 990 Pro 1TB NVMe (Win 11)
    SK hynix P41 500GB NVMe (Win 10)
    SK hynix P41 2TB NVMe (x3)
    Crucial P3 Plus 4TB
    PSU
    Corsair RM850x Shift
    Case
    Antec Dark Phantom DP502 FLUX
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black + 7 Phantek T-30's
    Keyboard
    Logitech MK 320
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    Razer Basilisk V3
    Internet Speed
    350Mbs
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    Windows 10 22H2 19045.4170
    On System One
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3374
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-11700F
    Motherboard
    Asus TUF Gaming Z590 Plus WiFi
    Memory
    64 GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2060 KO Ultra Gaming
    Sound Card
    SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung F27T350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB
    Samsung 870 EVO 500GB SSD
    PSU
    Corsair HX750
    Case
    Cougar MX330-G Window
    Cooling
    Hyper 212 EVO
    Internet Speed
    350Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
Aloha from Maui, new user here :) Using Macrium Reflect Home v8.o.6161. The main program sees it just fine.
View attachment 9990

When I boot to the rescue media, either USB or from the boot menu, it thinks the backup drive has an error.
View attachment 9982

If I browse for image file, I actually find it on D drive as opposed to my actual backup V drive .
View attachment 9986

Why is the rescue software reassigning a different drive letter to my backup drive? Does it need to be formatted in a specific manner? It's currently GPT/NTFS. My backup drive is a new 2TB Samsung 870 internal SSD. I'm doing this to prep for Windows 11 upgrade, in case I want to go back. But I'm liking Windows 11 so far, I'm actually dual booting it on a separate drive.

Thoughts?

Also, whats the average backup size of a typical Win 10 install with a few games, MS Office, etc.? Mine is 241GB.
Hi there

@Scott

The software assigns a different drive because it's based on a Windows PE / RE environment -- a minimum "Windows bare rescue" OS with drivers etc with its own boot manager which will assign volumes according to how the program loads and the order it finds the drivers --I wouldn't worry about it -- simply use the diskpart command with listvol from the command box if you get confused as to what drive is what.

I find as for size of Windows -- I have Office2019, some old W7 games, VLC, some SAP software to connect to clients SAP systems, VmWare workstation, Photoshop and a few other things and I'm using 50GB of an 80GB size disk. I have another Windows install -- defined as 80GB and the third at 60 GB (Windows 2k22 Server) .

I'm using these as "VHDX" drives on a 256GB SSD -- you could have separate partitions if using VHDX "Virtual drives" (not Virtual machines) if you want - but if you only use a single version of Windows --use a small OS partition and keep all your data etc on a separate partition -- if you hose up the OS / have to restore etc you don't lose your data when restoring (also makes backups quicker and easier).

So the backup size is around 20 - 30 GB for these Windows systems. Yours is large because you probably have a lot of data on the OS drive (private data e.g music files /. videos etc) -- always better to separate those off the OS partition.

When creating the backup USB -- choose the relevant version in the "BUILD" option -- I've found chosing the appropriate based on PE rather than the RE versions is usually far better for W10 / W11 etc -- also create the ISO and use Rufus to create a bootable USB from the ISO. Use an 8GB USB stick (max) --using bigger sticks can cause problems with NTFS boot -- shouldn't do but I've found some computers just don't like booting with USB sticks > 8GB with NTFS format -- nothing in the boot spec that should be a problem for EFI boot but some computers for one reason or another just don't like it.

Skjámynd 2021-10-14 101035.png


For Rufus :




Cheers
jimbo
 
Last edited:

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    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
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    2 X Intel i7
@Scott

At default compression settings (medium), the backup size will be about 1/2 the size of the data on the C:\ drive.
If you right click the C:\ drive and choose Properties, just divide the "Used Space" by two, to get the approx. size of the backups.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦22631.3374 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
Thanks for the replies guys.

@jimbo45

I went a ahead and created rescue media under the WinPE environment per your recommendation. I didn't realize Rufus 3.16 could create bootable USB's that work with secure boot turned on. v3.14 couldn't.

@Ghot

So I moved my library folders to a different drive, about 200GB worth, and that brought my backup size down to 106GB. The strange thing is I tried a backup with high compression and the file size was the same.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3374
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-12700F
    Motherboard
    ASUS TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI
    Memory
    G.SKILL Ripjaws S5 Series 64GB (2 x 32GB) DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3050 XC Black Gaming
    Sound Card
    RealTek HD 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ASUS TUF Gaming 27" 2K HDR Gaming
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 990 Pro 1TB NVMe (Win 11)
    SK hynix P41 500GB NVMe (Win 10)
    SK hynix P41 2TB NVMe (x3)
    Crucial P3 Plus 4TB
    PSU
    Corsair RM850x Shift
    Case
    Antec Dark Phantom DP502 FLUX
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black + 7 Phantek T-30's
    Keyboard
    Logitech MK 320
    Mouse
    Razer Basilisk V3
    Internet Speed
    350Mbs
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Winows Security
    Other Info
    Windows 10 22H2 19045.4170
    On System One
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3374
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-11700F
    Motherboard
    Asus TUF Gaming Z590 Plus WiFi
    Memory
    64 GB DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2060 KO Ultra Gaming
    Sound Card
    SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung F27T350
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB
    Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB
    Samsung 870 EVO 500GB SSD
    PSU
    Corsair HX750
    Case
    Cougar MX330-G Window
    Cooling
    Hyper 212 EVO
    Internet Speed
    350Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Security
So I moved my library folders to a different drive, about 200GB worth, and that brought my backup size down to 106GB. The strange thing is I tried a backup with high compression and the file size was the same.


Yeah, I've only made backups with compression set to medium. The higher the compression, the slower the backup.
I have 36GB on my C:\ drive. On medium compression, my backups are about 18GB.



000000 MACRIUM 2.jpg
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦22631.3374 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?

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