Imaging Software that handles MSR partition

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I have long been uneasy with my current choice of disk imaging software as it has the quirk of being “blind” to the MSR partition on the GPT disk in my Windows 10 Pro system.

I had used the software for many years on MBR partitioned disks for which it worked flawlessly and gave me a false sense of security.

When I first tried to restore a system image at a disk level of a GPT Windows 10 system, because it was blind to the MSR partition at image creation, it did not recreate the partition structure correctly on a subsequent disk restore (MSR partition not created) which led to unable to boot because subsequent partitions created by the OEM device maker were then off by one for partition number. Imagine my surprise and bewilderment (and panic when could no longer boot).

I found the cause and have since resorted to restoring partitions one by one (which leaves the MSR intact). That works but feels very fragile to me.

My question is whether there is an alternative that does preserve the partition structure on restore of a disk from a disk image (ie would put the MSR partition back in the proper order).

Does Macrium Reflect Free do this (handle the MSR partition properly)?

What I want to do is create bootable media of the imaging software (to CD or USB flash drive), boot from this media, and create a full system image of the chosen disk.

Then, if I needed to restore, boot using the bootable media and restore from the selected system image (kept on external USB drive) and have the system disk restored (including the MSR partition) to be identical to how it was when the image was created (ie preserve partition structure automatically).

Is Macrium Reflect Free the tool I want? Any specific version?

Are there other choices for what I want to do? Free is great, but purchased OK – if it works reliably and dependably.

Just not happy now needing to know precisely what the partition structure always is so I could recreate manually via diskpart. That is why I call this fragile.

Sorry for posting here. I have the nagging feeling this has been covered in detail somewhere, but I am not finding it. Thanks in advance for both advice and patience.

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UEFI / GPT booting does not require specific partitions in a specific order, you can actually use a single partition, but best results are with 2 partitions – and maybe the optional recovery partition.

Any backup app worth its salt will happily backup and restore all the partitions in the same order. If your backup app doesn’t do that, it is time to get a better app.

There are plenty of free backup apps, but I don’t recommend Macrium unless you are technically inclined. See these threads for some real world tests and recommendations.
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/veracrypt-and-backup/
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/my-windows-10-backup-software-choice-and-why/

cheers, Paul

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castiel

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Yes, Macrium Reflect Free should restore the exact partition layout of a disk image. (I was able to restore a deleted recovery partition caused by a Windows upgrade, Macrium chose the correct location on the disk.) [You may also be able to rearrange partitions. You can instruct Macrium to capture the partions that are required for Windows to boot.]

Other backup solutions:

AOMEI Backupper is recommended here by users and also TeraByte Unlimited’s Image for Windows. Clonezilla may do well at this task.

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castiel

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Thank you for the thoughts shared so far. I also see a bit after posting my question that Susan posted her “Tasks for the Weekend” that delves into making Windows backups (images) and has links for Macrium Reflect, Easus, and Acronis so talk about great timing for me!

Not sure why losing the MSR partition on a restore years ago caused a boot failure, but it did. I get that the MSR has nothing to be backed up, but it seems the partition structure should be captured at creation of disk image and then restored back to the same state.

I never tempted fate after that (not being able to boot is bad). Maybe today it would not cause a problem (?).

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its because the software wrongfully creates the msr partition when restoring to an image to a new gpt disk if the image is that of a gpt disk, this is a failure on their part because users can choose to delete this partition and also MBR2GPT doesn’t create it in the first place.

I’m assuming you’re talking about Acronis True Image, which its name seems to be a lie because it doesn’t restore GPT disks 1:1 (and it doesn’t even include the MSR in the backup).

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The MSR partition isn’t actually a partition your install does anything with – it’s reserved space used for servicing, much in the old days when you partitioned a NT machine, you had the 2.2Gb boot partition, the rest of the drive, and a sliver at the end you had to leave intentionally blank..

The MSR partition has a partition  number and thus if you remove it and “fix” the partition table with some methods, you can effectively drop the partition number for the Windows installation (usually 3 to 2..), which as the bootloader on partition 1 continues to try to hook Windows on partition 3  – which is no longer at its designated partition number  –  so it doesn’t boot.

If you use DISM, you back up the boot and Windows partitions and recreate the partitions and load just those if you restore (old non FFYU methods..) – it works fine as MSR is literally a spare space, Microsoft specifically recommend not even trying to image it.

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Sorry – had things to do – have dug out the relevant page with the info about imaging MSR (or rather, confirmation of No, don’t bother) – section 1..:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/capture-and-apply-windows-system-and-recovery-partitions?view=windows-11

This of course assumes you’re going to use Microsoft imaging, but as it’s the same software product being imaged it should be safe to go with the guidance..

 

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