Why should I choose Macrium Reflect?

TheMystic said:

I figured that out.

Isn't that obvious?

No. But I see that most users don't seem to understand or consider potential risks. I prefer to look at things with a healthy dose of skepticism, rather than assuming or taking things for granted.

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Potential risks of what??

TheMystic said:

No. But I see that most users don't seem to understand or consider potential risks. I prefer to look at things with a healthy dose of skepticism, rather than assuming or taking things for granted.

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I consider anything off the internet could be a potential risk!!! But like all things in life, I way up ALL options, use trusted sources and leave my "Paranoia + Big Brother" in the cupboard where it belongs or I would be a very bitter twisted individual that thinks everyone is out to get me

I wouldn't worry too much about it. They know that they'd catch HELL if it turned out that they were lying.

Here is an example post from someone comparing it to Acronis True Image: Macrium 8 Phoning Home?
But like I said I only use the bootable ISO, so it doesn't affect me.

hdmi said:

Here is an example post from someone comparing it to Acronis True Image: Macrium 8 Phoning Home?
But like I said I only use the bootable ISO, so it doesn't affect me.

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That is exactly the kind of behaviour that raises plenty of questions. A great software should first respect user settings and never override configurations set by the user. It is okay if the software refuses to work without necessary permissions and it is understandable. But to keep overriding user settings and making itself work is bad behaviour.

And the statement "All data we collect will be used strictly in accordance with our privacy policy" is effectively a useless statement as far as the user is concerned.

I'm pretty sure that the Incoming firewall rule is there so that Macrium Site Manager (if you choose to use it) can centrally reach out into your installed instances of Macrium to help you manage them.

TheMystic said:

That is exactly the kind of behaviour that raises plenty of questions. A great software should first respect user settings and never override configurations set by the user. It is okay if the software refuses to work without necessary permissions and it is understandable. But to keep overriding user settings and making itself work is bad behaviour.

And the statement "All data we collect will be used strictly in accordance with our privacy policy" is effectively a useless statement as far as the user is concerned.

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Hi,
So you have the same view for win-10 and now 11 seeing the only setting is switching to basic telemetry sending as the least instead of None.
Plus ms hiding more telemetry sending in every app they offer including defenders sample sending and nags you if you disable that one.

All app/ os hide behind "anonymize data sending" so nothing new.

TheMystic said:

Using Macrium Reflect?

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Yes, file and folder backup every day

Hi folks
If Macrium had anything untoward in it - it most certainly would have been pointed out -- so many people on this Forum use it without problems that I can't see any issue here at all.

Backing up systems and data is up to you however you do it --these days a lot of user data is often far more valuable than the machine itself especially if it's things that can't be recovered e.g music, old videos / photos, old documents etc etc.

Any system is better than none - but for a free program (for basic system backups and disk cloning) it's fine and remember images can be mounted and browsed if you need to recover individual files - even in the Free version.

Cheers
jimbo.

Add to this that there are groups of people, much more technically minded than most of these forums users, who make it their business to monitor popular/ widely used apps under great scrutiny to see what they are doing beyond what they expose to the user.
If these companies take liberties and hide data harvesting in their apps then we do hear about it, and these companies know that they will eventually be found out, governments are beginning to bring out laws relating to personal data use and the transparency of company policies regarding collection and use of that data.
Limit the personal data you keep on your devices, educate your self as to how your devices work so you have a chance of spotting "unusual or undesired" operations, always have multiple backups of any data you deem valuable to you.
Research apps before downloading, there are plenty of online resources available, check user forums to see what other people think, know, have experienced.

Some observations:

1. Barring a few comments that attempted to answer the points raised in OP, there were more comments where participants acted like fanboys trying to blindly defend the company instead of addressing the points directly.

2. Some members even resorted to getting personal, and that was completely unnecessary.

3. It is ridiculous to say the OP was a review, because it was neither a review nor a post to undermine any product (or company). I merely presented my view on how built-in utilities can be sufficient for personal systems. I also sought to understand why a large number of members use Macrium Reflect as their program of choice for backups. I posted my initial impressions based on the very little time I spent with the product. A lot of reviews and articles you find on the internet are largely sponsored, so a forum of users is the best place to find some genuine reviews or opinions. I'm disappointed to see fanboyish comments instead of independent, neutral opinions on the subject of OP.

5. Anyone who has seen my other posts, would know that I have raised the issue of privacy and security several times. Some of my posts are exclusively about Windows Firewall configurations. I don't use 3rd party security solutions and so I do my homework in finding the best programs that meet my requirements. This post too, is simply one such post. There was another post where I had summarized the list of programs members recommended here in this forum. And a post prior to that which gathered the required information.

6. I prefer making an informed choice, and try to minimize the risks around public information sharing. The right term for anyone doing that is Prudence. Taking things for granted or assuming that your data is totally safe with a company that makes a very good/ popular product is ignorance.

7. Just because an individual chooses (or is forced to due to lack of choice) to share data with one company doesn't mean he should be fine sharing the same with others too. That is a ridiculous argument. If Microsoft/ Apple/ Google is collecting Telemetry, I am really constrained to a large extent because my laptop is an essential tool and I have to use the OS from these companies for my work/ education. So where there is a choice, I would use prudence in choosing the right product for me. Far better thing to do than simply assuming or taking things for granted.

Anyways, going forward, please stick to the topic of the post and answer the points directly, instead of shooting the messenger. I'm just a normal user like many of you, trying to find answers for things I don't know and helping others with things I know.

Thanks.

You're the one who brought most of the criticism onto yourself by starting this 'discussion' And some of your comments in the OP would naturlly lead to comments you concider off topic.

BunnyJ said:

You're the one who brought most of the criticism onto yourself by starting this 'discussion' And some of your comments in the OP would naturlly lead to comments you concider off topic.

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Was the topic against forum rules? Or are members prohibited from questioning some of the practices that their favorite program engages in? All my comments answered the points raised by others, and I sought to clarify them.

TheMystic said:

Was the topic against forum rules? Or are members prohibited from questioning some of the practices that their favorite program engages in? All my comments answered the points raised by others, and I sought to clarify them.

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Your topic covered a wide range of things concerning a specific software product and that's what brought up the wide range of replies. EDIT.. you can post anything you like.. but you have no control over how others choose to reply

Lost of software is downloaded that way so the user is getting the latest version. It's not a conspiracy to steal anyone's information.

You asked people for their reasoning as to why they use and recommend a certain piece of software, you also included the topics of privacy concerns and what data if any a company may be harvesting through various methods when you opt to use their software/ services, on an open forum, unfortunately any rules you create regarding replies can just be ignored if participants decide to go that way. Don't be surprised/ offended when that happens.
I agree that personal attacks are totally unnecessary.
The reason your thread has generated such a wide array of responses is because that is what happens when a lot of people want to give their opinions.
Your opinions may not align with every one else and that will generate more discussion, again, this is an open forum.
If people saw your OP as a review then you may want to look at how you structure your posts in future, and you did appear to be singling out Macrium in particular, whether that was your intention or not, that was how it was perceived.

DigitalGoat said:

You asked people for their reasoning as to why they use and recommend a certain piece of software, you also included the topics of privacy concerns and what data if any a company may be harvesting through various methods when you opt to use their software/ services, on an open forum, unfortunately any rules you create regarding replies can just be ignored if participants decide to go that way. Don't be surprised/ offended when that happens.
I agree that personal attacks are totally unnecessary.
The reason your thread has generated such a wide array of responses is because that is what happens when a lot of people want to give their opinions.
Your opinions may not align with every one else and that will generate more discussion, again, this is an open forum.
If people saw your OP as a review then you may want to look at how you structure your posts in future, and you did appear to be singling out Macrium in particular, whether that was your intention or not, that was how it was perceived.

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To me at least, it seemed to be a review.. I still have no idea what it was for. As for personal attacks.. I really didn't see any .. but that's a subjective thing.

BunnyJ said:

Your topic covered a wide range of things concerning a specific software product and that's what brought up the wide range of replies. EDIT.. you can post anything you like.. but you have no control over how others choose to reply

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None of that required fanboyish comments or personal attacks. Responses should be limited to the topic being discussed, in a neutral, independent manner. So stop justifying such responses.

BunnyJ said:

Lost of software is downloaded that way so the user is getting the latest version. It's not a conspiracy to steal anyone's information.

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I only talked of possibilities. Didn't make a definitive statement. You can't rule it out just like that.

TheMystic said:

None of that required fanboyish comments or personal attacks. Responses should be limited to the topic being discussed, in a neutral, independent manner. So stop justifying such responses.


I only talked of possibilities. Didn't make a definitive statement. You can't rule it out just like that.

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Fanboy? gee..you brought up the topic.. I'm sorry that you don't like the responses.. you don't control how others react
Now I for one am done.

DigitalGoat said:

You asked people for their reasoning as to why they use and recommend a certain piece of software, you also included the topics of privacy concerns and what data if any a company may be harvesting through various methods when you opt to use their software/ services, on an open forum, unfortunately any rules you create regarding replies can just be ignored if participants decide to go that way. Don't be surprised/ offended when that happens.
I agree that personal attacks are totally unnecessary.
The reason your thread has generated such a wide array of responses is because that is what happens when a lot of people want to give their opinions.
Your opinions may not align with every one else and that will generate more discussion, again, this is an open forum.
If people saw your OP as a review then you may want to look at how you structure your posts in future, and you did appear to be singling out Macrium in particular, whether that was your intention or not, that was how it was perceived.

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OP was about backups, and Macrium was picked up because it is a favorite program for many. I posted my initial impressions and observations, but made it very clear that I have hardly used the program. Strange that people still construed it as a review.

i guess the point that I was trying to make is that software use is subjective. What's important in this discussion is simply taking the time to make a backup of your own personal data. But whether or not you take that time is honestly of no real consequence to me. And which software you decide to use doesn't need to satisfy me in any way...if it works for you, it works. These statements are not meant to seem like personal attacks, it's simply the truth.

You talk about fanboyism....and to me, that would indicate that I am doing anything and everything in my power to convince you that what you use is bad and you should use what I use. I don't think the vast majority of us on this forum who use Macrium software are fanboys, nor are we derogatory in any way against other software that fits a similar purpose. I clearly am not approaching this like a fanboy, as I stated above, you have choices and whichever choice you make, as long as it satisfies you, and backs up your data..at the end of the day is all that matters.

I've used a variety of tools over the years. I used to use Acronis True Image (around 2010) and it was pretty solid for me. But I recall some UEFI pains using that software, which prompted me to look elsewhere. I then purchased Paragon Backup and Restore (i think that is what's it's called) and it too worked really well for me. For little personal pet projects at work, using my own personal software would violate my licensing agreements, so I typically would use Macrium Reflect Free to handle those. Again, Macrium really didn't do anything significantly better, it just had a free version that I could use that was really functional and did exactly what I needed to do.

Thus for years, I used multiple backup solutions. And I managed larger backup systems at work running Veritas Backup Exec and Veeam Backup. After awhile of using Paragon and Macrium, it just made sense for me to use the same program for doing my backups instead of both. So, I began using Macrium at home and it worked well for me there too as well. For years, I used the free version and was perfectly happy with it.

This past year, they had a sale on the 4 pack of licenses and I felt compelled to go ahead and purchase it and support the company that had provided me with a good tool for many years. I've also worked for software companies for 20 years, so I try to adhere to licensing requirements and I support those who work well for me.

Moral of the story: For me, Macrium has worked well. There isn't a whiz bang feature for me that makes it the only tool I would use. There isn't anything that it's so great at that I feel compelled in any way to convince anybody else to use it. I share my experiences as simply a testimony to others that I have experience in the backup arena, and I have used Macrium successfully, and I find it to be a solid product. If this motivates just 1 person to check it out, who ultimately ends up backing up their data and it saves their bacon (even just 1 time), then it was worth my time to mention it.

I have nothing against any of your concerns. They just aren't that concerning to me.