Restoring Operating System

robandot · Dec 6, 2011

Hi,
I recently installed Macrium reflex Free which seems to work well. However I would like to test the restore function from the created image with Oracle virtual pc.
I have an OEM 64 bit Vista Ultimate OS installed on my PC.
The Oracle requires a cd to be loaded,but of couse I do not have one.
Please, is there a solution or should I download Windows virtual PC and if so, will it "adopt" my current Vista OS or will I still need a cd.
Thank you for any advice,
Cheers,
Rob

Lottiemansion · Dec 7, 2011

Hi,

You will not be able to image to a virtual PC as the drivers will crash it during boot up!

The best way to "Test it" is to a spare partition or another hard disk!

robandot · Dec 7, 2011

Ta for prompt reply,
Cheers

whs · Dec 7, 2011

I have developed this little imaging test for my students. It is risk free and does work well. If you want to inform yourself about the recovery steps, here is a little video tutorial where it is covered: Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Forums

Imaging test

1. Shrink 2GBs from C and define a logical drive (partition) - let's call it Y
2. Copy some files (any files) into Y - I always also copy the sample picture folder in (you'll see why)
3. Define a test folder on your external backup disk - call it Mtest
4. Make an image of Y to Mtest - requires that you make a new definition
5. Delete a couple of pictures from the sample picture folder on Y (I alwaysuse the 2 animals)
6. Reboot and tap (ESC, F2 or whatever it is on your system) to get into the BIOS boot sequence
7. Set your boot sequence to CD/DVD reader
8. Put in the Macrium recovery CD and let it run, then hit Enter
9. Now you are in the recovery wizard, set it to Mtest where it says"Locate Image" and to Y where it says "Choose partition tooverwrite with the image data".

Note: the partition letters may not be the same as on your system. Macrium uses its own lettering. Best is to go by the size of the partitions and open it with the little + in the front.

10. Watch out when it asks whether to replace the Master Boot Record - say no.

11. When you have to specify whether the partition is “active”, “primary” or “logical” – take“logical”.

12. When you get the little window saying "Your computer will now reboot", you have to hit"Cancel" (on the bottom) to get it to reboot. That's a little strange way to end the session, but that's the way it is.
13. Check whether the 2 animals in the sample picture folder are back. That shows you that the recovery worked.

When you have done these steps, you did the whole cycle and have learned

1. That your recovery disc works
2. How to recover
3. That you are not the dummy you thought you were

Now you can delete the little 2GB partition and add the space back to the originatingpartition.

If you are notfamiliar with the creation and deletion of partitions, watch this tutorial: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/72427-data-partition.html

robandot · Dec 7, 2011

Thanks whs, much appreciated, I will study procedure,
Cheers,
Rob

patch41 · Dec 10, 2011

Thanks Whs for your excellent video tutorial, Learned a lot, Patch41.
(ps tipped the scales)

whs · Dec 10, 2011

You are most welcome.

MilesAhead · Dec 11, 2011

13. Check whether the 2 animals in the sample picture folder are back. That shows you that the recovery worked.

Only thing I would add, if you want a bit more fun, run an MD5Sum on all the files in the test folder and copy it someplace. After doing the restore run MD5Sum again and see if they all match.

Restoring Operating System

robandot

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Lottiemansion

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robandot

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whs

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robandot

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patch41

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whs

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MilesAhead

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