MR refused to investigate bug in Free version -- claiming it is at End of Life

Mark Phelps · Mar 10, 2023

I discovered a bug in the MR Free v8.0.7279 when migrating to it from the paid 8.1.7401 version and reported that to MR vendor. When they replied telling me that the Free version gets no support, I replied that I was not asking for support, but instead, was reporting a bug -- which I presumed they would want to investigate and fix. They replied that MR Free is at End of Life and receives no support. Period.

I know the MR Free version does not receive support, but I thought they would at least investigate bug reports to then put out fixes for it.

I guess NOT!

So, for me, that means I need to migrate all my MR Free machines to some other product -- one that DOES continue to receive support. I have tested Hasleo Backup Suite and it appears to provide much the same features, take the same amount of time, and the images take the same amount of space, as with MR Free v8.0. So, I am switching those PCs over to using Hasleo.

glasskuter · Mar 10, 2023

What, exactly, is this bug you speak of?

Dru2 · Mar 10, 2023

Mark Phelps said:
I discovered a bug in the MR Free v8.0.7279 when migrating to it from the paid 8.1.7401 version and reported that to MR vendor. When they replied telling me that the Free version gets no support, I replied that I was not asking for support, but instead, was reporting a bug -- which I presumed they would want to investigate and fix.

Unless it's a security bug you can prove poses a massive risk, as is with most software vendor, they aren't going to deal with it.

Bree · Mar 10, 2023

Mark Phelps said:
I discovered a bug in the MR Free v8.0.7279

glasskuter said:
What, exactly, is this bug you speak of?

I asked the same thing yesterday, I'm curious as to what it may be.

I've not seen any significant bug on any of the four or five machines I use Reflect Free v8.0.7279 on.

MisterEd · Mar 10, 2023

I don't see what the problem is. End of support means just that. I.E., no more updates or fixes of any kind. If that is not satisfactory then your only choice is find another program to replace it.

BTW, I used to use Acronis True Image 2021 (perpetual license). Its last update broke the mobile backup option. Since that was important to me I reported it to Acronis. They told me that it was essentially EOL so no updates or fixes were coming. They said my only option was to buy a subscription to their current backup program. Note that Acronis True Image is a paid for program so I expected better support than that.

I have a number of free programs that have different levels of support and updates. I like when there is support but don't assume or expect it. An example is Core Temp which is a free program. The developer maintains a forum and responds to bug reports. I have reported some myself. Currently it does not report the data for my AMD Ryzen 7 6800H correctly. Hopefully, the bug will be eventually fixed but I don't expect anythying more than that.

pparks1 · Mar 10, 2023

This right from their website. Seems really clear.

Unless it's a security patch, it's not going to get fixed. And support for security patches ends on Jan 1, 2024.

flashh4 · Mar 10, 2023

Did you save a copy of the bug report ? Or the name ?

Dru2 · Mar 10, 2023

MisterEd said:
I don't see what the problem is. End of support means just that. I.E., no more updates or fixes of any kind. If that is not satisfactory then your only choice is find another program to replace it.

BTW, I used to use Acronis True Image 2021 (perpetual license). Its last update broke the mobile backup option. Since that was important to me I reported it to Acronis. They told me that it was essentially EOL so no updates or fixes were coming. They said my only option was to buy a subscription to their current backup program. Note that Acronis True Image is a paid for program so I expected better support than that.

As said, unless it's a serious security flaw (and their reputation is at stake) unsupported products won't get support. This isn't unusual and most software vendors take this approach.

As a side note, I was using ATI 2018 for the longest until I broke down and went subscription. Yeah, I like Acronis that much for data backups.

cereberus · Mar 10, 2023

Mark Phelps said:
I discovered a bug in the MR Free v8.0.7279 when migrating to it from the paid 8.1.7401 version and reported that to MR vendor. When they replied telling me that the Free version gets no support, I replied that I was not asking for support, but instead, was reporting a bug -- which I presumed they would want to investigate and fix. They replied that MR Free is at End of Life and receives no support. Period.

I know the MR Free version does not receive support, but I thought they would at least investigate bug reports to then put out fixes for it.

I guess NOT!

So, for me, that means I need to migrate all my MR Free machines to some other product -- one that DOES continue to receive support. I have tested Hasleo Backup Suite and it appears to provide much the same features, take the same amount of time, and the images take the same amount of space, as with MR Free v8.0. So, I am switching those PCs over to using Hasleo.

Unless you tell us what the bug is, we cannot say if it is a serious one, if there is a workaround, if the paid version has same issue etc.

Most bugs do not affect the actual creation of image file and can usually be worked around.

Often a simple reinstall also solves most issues.

Regrettably, we are not mind readers so unless you tell us what the bug is as others have requested, we cannot help other than the comments made about support that is expected and whether your expectations are realistic.

ian50 · Mar 10, 2023

As I'd noted on another, similar thread, Hasleo Backup Suite while it is freeware at least currently, maintains a Support Group that are genuinely honest. I commenced using Hasleo about 4 months ago in both my Win11and Win7 installations as it offered Incremental Backup as an option in a freeware programme.

Of course the Hasleo developer is building a market niche. I came across several fatal bugs in Win11 (crashing the backup programme) that Hasleo Support addressed within 30 minutes or so of my email to them. To date, Support has overcome these bugs, both within a few days, and is apparently using the crash logs I sent them to develop the programme. My suggestion is that one could jump on this freeware bandwagon and use it - in conjunction with reliable MR and Aomei for safety - in the expectation it should develop into a backup/restore staple. (I have no economic skin in the game here).

Also used in my older Win7 installation. One bug here was fixed by HS in a day and the programme has been completely stable since.

I've also tested Restore in both Win11 and Win7 - works as it should. [I have told Hasleo I would likely post this experience and they raised no objection].

MisterEd · Mar 10, 2023

Dru2 said:
As a side note, I was using ATI 2018 for the longest until I broke down and went subscription. Yeah, I like Acronis that much for data backups.

I had a copy of ATI 2017 and 2018. I only used ATI 2018 because of the bugs in ATI 2017. ATI 2018 worked just fine. I wanted to back up more computers so I bought 3 licenses for ATI 2021. That was a mistake. Its interface was painfully slow. The last straw was when an update borked mobile backups. Acronis wanted me to buy subscriptions. I passed on that. I counter-offered by asking if I could downgrade my 3 ATI 2021 licenses to ATI 2018. After a number of back and forths they finally agreed to that but said I would have to pay a Service Handling Fee. I again balked because I had ATI 2021 less than one year and it was not my fault they had released a faulty product. They finally agreed to my terms and sent me at no cost 3 new product keys for ATI 2018. With the original key I have a total of 4 product keys for ATI 2018. That all happened in October 2021. I have used ATI 2018 with no problems since then. Maybe some day I will find another product or even buy ATI subscriptions but not right now.

BTW, how well does your new ATI subscription backup program work? Have they fixed the slow user interface that ATI 2021 had? Do know whether it does mobile backups?

Mark Phelps · Mar 10, 2023

The bug is this: When you remove MR 8.1 Home and replace it with MR 8.0 Free and regenerate the WinPE Boot record, despite no errors being shown, the record is not created properly. To fix this, you have to go into the BCD and remove the MR boot record. When you recreate it a second time, it is correct.

So, it is not a security issue -- but their app does not create a boot record properly, forcing the user to manually remove the old one.

To me, this is a "bug".

cereberus · Mar 10, 2023

Mark Phelps said:
The bug is this: When you remove MR 8.1 Home and replace it with MR 8.0 Free and regenerate the WinPE Boot record, despite no errors being shown, the record is not created properly. To fix this, you have to go into the BCD and remove the MR boot record. When you recreate it a second time, it is correct.

So, it is not a security issue -- but their app does not create a boot record properly, forcing the user to manually remove the old one.

To me, this is a "bug".

Seriously - you think this was important enough to get all worked up about.

This is so trivial and you already found a solution.

I fully support the Reflect team's stance on this - if bug does not impact the actual backup or restore or general security and is easily fixed, don't bother wasting resources on it.

gmcgee78 · Mar 10, 2023

I agree it is not worth bothering about. Macrium is the best.

Ghot · Mar 10, 2023

Mark Phelps said:
I discovered a bug in the MR Free v8.0.7279 when migrating to it from the paid 8.1.7401 version

Maybe I'm missing something, but why didn't you roll back to 8.0.xxxx paid version?

Dru2 · Mar 11, 2023

MisterEd said:
I had a copy of ATI 2017 and 2018. I only used ATI 2018 because of the bugs in ATI 2017. ATI 2018 worked just fine.

Sorry you had issues, but those weren't my experiences as I never used ATI 2021. For me, all I ask the program to do is backup my data (automatically) and restore when needed. It does all that without issue.

MisterEd said:
BTW, how well does your new ATI subscription backup program work? Have they fixed the slow user interface that ATI 2021 had? Do know whether it does mobile backups?

I never used 2021, was going to get it, but by the time I decided it was hard to find, and thus my move to Cyber Protect Home (subscription). The only reason I moved from 2018 is it was getting long in the tooth, and I didn't want issues down the line as 11 continues to be updated.

Anyway, the only slowness I experience is when the program is launched (normal), but once open no slowness.

Haydon · Mar 11, 2023

Ghot said:
Maybe I'm missing something, but why didn't you roll back to 8.0.xxxx paid version?

Yeah, in the bigger scheme of things, MR/Paramount made such a big decision based on business exigencies, and that's to be compared to the easy alternative that the OP has.

kado897 · Mar 11, 2023

Mark Phelps said:
The bug is this: When you remove MR 8.1 Home and replace it with MR 8.0 Free and regenerate the WinPE Boot record, despite no errors being shown, the record is not created properly. To fix this, you have to go into the BCD and remove the MR boot record. When you recreate it a second time, it is correct.

So, it is not a security issue -- but their app does not create a boot record properly, forcing the user to manually remove the old one.

To me, this is a "bug".

cereberus said:
Seriously - you think this was important enough to get all worked up about.

This is so trivial and you already found a solution.

I fully support the Reflect team's stance on this - if bug does not impact the actual backup or restore or general security and is easily fixed, don't bother wasting resources on it.

This could be a bug in the 8.1 uninstaller not cleaning up properly.

Mark Phelps · Mar 11, 2023

I posted this to share my experience -- not to get into disputes about how serious, or not, this is.

And yes, it could be a bug in the MR 8.1 uninstaller, not the MR 8.0 Free version -- which is why I asked MR vendor to investigate it. So THEY could determine which product is at fault -- and fix it.

The fact I discovered a workaround does not change the fact that this is still a bug -- and should still be fixed.

I'm done with this -- that is my position.

Dru2 · Mar 11, 2023

Mark Phelps said:
I posted this to share my experience -- not to get into disputes about how serious, or not, this is.

And yes, it could be a bug in the MR 8.1 uninstaller, not the MR 8.0 Free version -- which is why I asked MR vendor to investigate it. So THEY could determine which product is at fault -- and fix it.

The fact I discovered a workaround does not change the fact that this is still a bug -- and should still be fixed.

I'm done with this -- that is my position.

Sorry to hear that, and I know how you feel as I've had that happen to me, but the fact still remains... if the bug isn't serious Macrium isn't going to give it the attention you noted, especially for a discontinued version. This is pretty much what everyone has said... in their own different ways.

Good luck.

MR refused to investigate bug in Free version -- claiming it is at End of Life

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