6 replies to this topic

[Jeremy in SC]

When you restore a disk image with Macrium Reflect, do the restored files have: a)the original file date, b)the date the image was taken, or c) the date the image was restored?

 

Why does it matter, you ask?  Imagine the following scenario:

 

May 1, Disk Image captured using Reflect

May 10, Disc crashed, ransomware infects computer, etc.

May 11, You want to restore using the Reflect image, and if a) or b)are true, then there is no problem.  However, if c) is true, then any files edited after May 1 and stored to the cloud will be overwritten with the old info as the restored files have a "newer" date than the cloud files.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Jeremy 

Edited by Jeremy in SC, 17 May 2017 - 09:54 AM.

[Gary R]

I would imagine the best people to ask that of are the people who created the program

 

Macrium have a support forum ... http://forum.macrium.com/Default.aspx... where I expect you'll be able to get a reply to your question.

[Jeremy in SC]

Yeah, the only problem is that you cannot access the forum to post a question unless you have a purchased edition.  If you are using the free edition you are out of luck.  I'm thinking about taking an old laptop, getting it squared away, and running a little test to see what happens.  I'll post my results when I can find the time to experiment.

 

Jeremy 

[Gary R]

Yeah, the only problem is that you cannot access the forum to post a question unless you have a purchased edition. 

 

Sorry, I didn't see that.  Most freeware products usually offer some kind of forum based support so I didn't think to check.

 

I no longer use Macrium myself, so I'm afraid I can't offer any personal advice.

 

I did use it once, but on the one occasion that I actually needed to restore from a Macrium image, the backup failed, so I no longer have it on my machine.

[paws]

I have used Macrium Reflect on a number of occasions,  and over many years, both to make an image and also to restore one.

 

On each occasion the original file details have been as they were.

In short the answer for me has always been :

a)

 

The file date of the image file (the "container") of all the files in the disc image has always been the date the image was taken, that is to say

b.)

 

Hopefully you will find the same as I have done, but just one word of caution, I tend to use software that I know works Ok for me and I do not necessarily always use the latest version, so it's possible that the latest versions may act differently..... (but I doubt it.)

 

I hope this helps, the idea of taking a good disc image ( or two) once your machine is set up to your requirements, with all software installed ( and before it has the opportunity to accumulate undesirable code or  ineffective settings) is an excellent one.

 

Regular disc images taken at suitable intervals thereafter are a wise investment... with storage available today at very reasonable costs, a whole "library" of images can mean that in the event of operating system or software problems, that cannot be fixed in the usual ways in a timely manner then a disc image can be used to get up and running again in less time than it takes to walk the dog.

 

Regards

paws

[Jeremy in SC]

Thanks, paws.  I thought that would be the case, in terms of file dates.

 

I agree with you whole heartedly about disk images and other backups.  Currently my "must have" data backs up continuously to the cloud, is backed up to two physical external hard drives (located in different locations) weekly, and I image my disk every week, or at least every other week.  Should the worst happen, I can be back up and running within a couple of hours of getting a new computer, and most of that time would be waiting for data to be loaded. 

 

Thanks again for your input.  Since I've got an old laptop set up, I'm going to practice restoring it from an image.  Part of my reason for doing this is that I need to help my daughter who is a relatively new doctor protect her files.  I need to be able to say that I have used the software as described to recover data.  Besides, I know the day is probably coming when I get hit with ransomware and I want to be able to laugh at the data-hostage taker!

 

Jeremy

[paws]

Sounds like an excellent plan