Testing Backup files on usb drive.

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Attempting to follow F.Langa recommendation for testing Macrim system backup. Have attempted to use VHD file with Virtualbox and reached most of win7 startup, but system test crashed.

Have 3 usb 2TB drives and am thinking about using a usb to sata cable adapter on the Iomega drive, move the macrim backup to a separate partition and test the win7boot from there.(As a P.S. went through the very painful recovery/reinstallation of win7 after dumping Win10. None of the backups I had at that time would install and run.)

As another option, also have another pc that I can dual boot as it is running xp(for older driver/system uses).

Would appreciate input from someone that has followed similar path.

Thank you.

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Similar path?
That would be like me following an alligator into deep water. NO THANK YOU!

I still use the same program (albeit a little later version) that I started using in 1997 when the original authors released it on the US. That is “Ghost”. I use the last DOS version, (Ghost 11.5) that was released in about 2005, that runs from any DOS boot disk or Flash Drive. It worked great on Windows 95 and still works great today on Windows 10, 32 bit or 64 bit, makes no difference.

You can’t buy it anymore, so I keep a dozen or more copies around the house, just for safety sake. I have it on both CD’s and Flash Drives.

I’ve checked several times and “Ghost 11.5″ is still out there floating around on the WWW.

With Ghost, I can backup just my C: partition with No compression, Fast (medium) compression, or HIGH (maximum) compression, which is ideal when backing up to DVD’s. And I can save the Backup Image File to any media with enough space to contain it. I’m currently using either a 1TB USB 3.0 drive, or a 3.5” standard 2TB hard drive, as my backup media. A directly connected SATA III drive is always the fastest.

I also use Ghost 11.5 for all my disk cloning needs, even going from a spinner to an SSD.
Or from an SSD to a spinner.

I tested Macrium Reflect several years ago, and found it seriously lacking, like several other so-called backup programs. And considering all the complaints I read concerning it, , , it’s not gotten any better.

Good Luck!
The Doctor

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If I read you right, you would like to restore the entire image to a test platform to ensure it works. I don’t recall reading this from Langa, but if you say you did then I missed it. It’s an interesting problem.

It’s really easy to test restoring individual files from a backup, because you can open and mount the image as a virtual drive. Once that’s done, you can access all the files stored in the image. But I take it you want to verify the ability to restore this image.

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The article by F.Langa was” Windows Secrets*>*Top Story*> How to safely test file and image backups
How to safely test file and image backups

By Fred Langa on April 16, 2015 in*Top Story”

And yes after my uncomfortable attempt to restore backups from two different backup image programs after uninstalling win10, I want to insure the validity of a Macrim backup. As you’re aware it take a lot of time to re-install from scratch.

What I’m trying to accomplish is a reasonable method to insure a bak validity from time to time.

Thank you.
I

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