Question Macrium Reflect, GPT & MBR

[Mac029]

I want to use Macrium Reflect free ver to clone an SSD so I can boot from the clone HDD. The SSD is GPT and 250GB but so far I only use ~80GB. The HDD is MBR and has two 250GB partitions.

Can I use 'clone' to copy the recovery partition, the weird FAT32 26MB partition, unformatted 16MB partition and the 80GB C: partition (W10) to the first 250GB partition on the HDD and boot from it if I develop an issue w/the SSD? When I try this MR automatically makes the HDD MBR, so I presume this will work.

If not, can I image those partitions to same HDD partition, and will it boot? I plan to use the rest of the HDD to copy partitions from my DATA HDD, as one part of my backup routine.


Thank you,

Mac

 

[USAFRet]

The SSD is the current OS drive?
And you wish to clone this to the HDD to use the HDD as the OS drive?

Is there any data currently residing on the target drive?
Desktop or laptop?

So that we're all on the same page, please show us a screencap of your current Disk Management window.

 

[Mac029]

SSD is current OS drive. HDD is wiped. Want to backup OS to one partition, copy data to other partition. But not use this HDD to boot from. But I'd like to be able to boot from it in case the SSD fails. AIUI I can set the SSD as boot drive in UEFI yet possibly clone/image to this backup HDD internally. Even the UEFI/Bios boot files, so that I could switch.

If I leave this backup HDD in the system I hope to just re-set boot order if need be (if the SSD fails). If I connect this HDD periodically (SATA or externally) I hope to be able to pop it in the system and boot to it.

Thanks for the interest.

 

[USAFRet]

SSD is current OS drive. HDD is wiped. Want to backup OS to one partition, copy data to other partition. But not use this HDD to boot from. But I'd like to be able to boot from it in case the SSD fails. AIUI I can set the SSD as boot drive in UEFI yet possibly clone/image to this backup HDD internally. Even the UEFI/Bios boot files, so that I could switch.

If I leave this backup HDD in the system I hope to just re-set boot order if need be (if the SSD fails). If I connect this HDD periodically (SATA or externally) I hope to be able to pop it in the system and boot to it.

Thanks for the interest.

OK...for a backup situation, an actual clone is not needed or desired.
An Image is what you're looking for.

That is the basis for a good backup routine.
Macrium Reflect will do an Image, or series of Images on a schedule, to a folder on the HDD. You can use the rest of the drive as desired.
Having 2x viable and bootable OS usually leads to confusion.

A Macrium schedule can run nightly, weekly, however often you want.
In the extremely rare case of a dead SSD, you simply slot in a new drive, boot up from a Macrium Rescue USB, and recover the relevant Image.
Yes this works...it is the basis for my whole backup routine.

Again, a clone is not what you want to do.

Read here for my routine. You can trim that down to fit your needs.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Mac029]

An image will need to involve rescue media, then re-image another drive that you can then boot from. What I'd like is RAID 1 but not use up the entire HDD. But you can't use that to just a partition. Instead I'd prefer an exact copy, on a drive I can then boot from. Doesn't matter if the backup HDD is internal or not.

Yes, it's preferable to not have 2 bootable drives. I thought UEFI might now be intelligent enough that I can set one drive, in this case the SSD, and it won't get confused. Oh well, maybe someday.

My reasoning is that I've read SSD's, of all brands, have a failure rate of 10-13%.

Well, thanks for the help! I'll read on ...

 

[USAFRet]

An image will need to involve rescue media, then re-image another drive that you can then boot from. What I'd like is RAID 1 but not use up the entire HDD. But you can't use that to just a partition. Instead I'd prefer an exact copy, on a drive I can then boot from. Doesn't matter if the backup HDD is internal or not.

Yes, it's preferable to not have 2 bootable drives. I thought UEFI might now be intelligent enough that I can set one drive, in this case the SSD, and it won't get confused. Oh well, maybe someday.

My reasoning is that I've read SSD's, of all brands, have a failure rate of 10-13%.

Well, thanks for the help! I'll read on ...

10-13% fail rate?
Where did you read this? SSD's are proving to be more reliable than HDD's.

RAID 1 with an HDD and SSD drags the SSD performance down to that of the HDD. Don't do that.

 

[Mactwentynine]

Sorry, been searching and can't find the links to cite. Normally I copy & paste for my own knowledge. But I'm now seeing rates less than 1%.

Good to know RAID 1 can't use mixed.