Windows 10: Macrium image seemed slow

I used Macrium (free) latest version tonight to create a full image of my C drive (Samsung evo SSD), 230 gb used plus the secondary mechanical I drive, 180 gb used. So about 410 gb in all to do the image from scratch. It took about 1 hour 50 minutes. The transfer rate generally averaged out at 450 - 500 Mb/s, some short periods where it hit 750 Mb/s but generally sustained at what I said. The drive I was backing up to was a USB 3 Toshiba 3TB external HD (about 66% full). Should the transfer rates be as low as that? I am sure several images ago it was closer to 900 Mb/s, albeit I haven't done an image in quite a few months and probably it was an older version of macrium. I ensured I am plugged in using USB 3 cable to a front USB 3 port on the PC. The main thing is the image got done but I felt it was a bit slow, not terrible but certainly could be faster. I presume the external HD even though it is USB 3 is the bottleneck here? Especially as backing up from the main C: SSD wasn't really all that much quicker than when it moved onto the mechanical 7200 rpm secondary I hard drive. What transfer rates do others see on the current macrium version if imaging to an external HD via USB 3?

Thanks,
Wayne

:)

 

Windows 10 ... should it not be 0?

Thus far your posts have been more like rants than requests for help. Please describe in detail the imaging problem and full error messages. Since this particular problem seems limited to Macrium, have you asked for help in

their forums? FWIW, I've used Macrium Reflect to create images in Windows 10 without any problems, so it's not a basic incompatibility issue between Macrium and the OS.

 

Correct Format for USB Stick | FAT32? | NTFS? | Some Other Format?

Windows 10 on PC.

I plan to use Macrium Reflect Free to create a System Image on a USB stick (not a removable USB drive). Macrium will create the Image as a .mcimg file. The file will be approximately 74 GB. In the future, when
I want to restore to the System Image, I plan to use Macrium to perform the restore. Because Macrium will be used for the restore, the USB stick does not have to be bootable.

Given this scenario, what format should be used for the USB stick? FAT32, or NTFS, or some other format?

Thanks

 

Yes, that's about right for that much data. Mr is not only copying data but also checking every byte as well as archiving. You probably noticed that .mrimg file is quite smaller that sum of what you are backing up.

 

Thank you. Yes, I noticed it is smaller than amount backed up as you suggest. Can't remember the exact differential as not at home to check it. I think that's re-assuring to hear though. At the end of the day I'm pleased I got the image done. I'd let it slide for a few months (I think my last one may of been soon after the anniversary update) and quite a bit has been done on the PC since then so it's good to have an upto date image. It would of been a bit of a headache should I have had to return to my previous image. Lots of work bringing in all the changes/updates/installations done since early August!!!

 

I make just system backup (minimum required partitions) twice a month or when something very new is installed. .mrimg is about 25% smaller than what total disk space used. It takes about half an hour for me but much less data as everything but OS and few choice programs are on secondary HDDs from which just most important stuff is backed up to external drives.
MR has a nice feature to be able to shut down computer after backup is done so you can leave it over nite to do job and shut everything off.

 

I'm going to add to the backup time; I recommend making a full OS partition and a full data partition image onto two "twin" usb external media devices. Experience has taught me Murphy's Law rarely does, but can strike one of the two backup devices, forcing a restore from the 2nd usb ext device and a fix-format of the 1st usb ext device.

 

Don't have to make it twice, you can copy .mrimg file to as many places you want to. It's faster to make it on disk and then copy to other places.

 

Even though I prefer making two separate backups, thinking such is a tiny bit more secure, your idea of copying one image to another place is a good one for many others *Smile

 

Never had a problem with it. As long as file transfer is reliable there's less of a chance of error than doing it twice.