Macrium Reflect Free version 6 - rescue disc will not boot.

[Plastic Nev]

I can now report that I used a Verbatim DVD+R disk and successfully burned a rescue disk, which after shutting down, then using the F12 key to get to the boot menu and changing it to the DVD drive, then hitting the enter key, the disk then booted up OK with no problems. It does take a couple of minutes to boot to the main page as any disk is slower than the main hard drive, however there were no problems for me.

I will now suggest trying again with a different make of disk, and also doing some checks of your DVD/CD drive with other known to be good disks to make sure the drive is working correctly.

Nev.

 

[Kick]

Hi Nev.

Thanks for getting back so quickly and for the reassurance given.

I have closed Macrium fully so I don't believe the problem is there - I tested the drive by rebooting the system while leaving the ESATA on; I still got the error message. I then created an image backup on an old 80gb salvaged PATA drive rigged up to to an IDE/SATA usb2 cable device. It worked well and I was able to disconnect it using the Windows 'safely remove hardware' routine. After what you have said, it probably isn't worth investigating the cause of the ESATA removal errors further - I've now ruled out file indexing and background defragmenting - perhaps it's just Explorer behaving badly. Hopefully it's not the ESATA drive itself showing signs of wear.

Cheers and best regards, Kick.

 

[Kick]

Hi Nev again,

Your last post came through as I was completing my reply to your previous post.

My DVD/CD drive is functioning properly - I have used three different discs for the WinPE rescue disc with the same negative result. I'll try again with version 6 as I've now got the installer for for the latest version 5 to fall back on. I'll report back when I have news.

Thanks for your continued support.

Cheers,Chris.

 

[Kick]

Progress Report:

I used Revo Uninstaller to delete Macrium Reflect 5 and then ran the version 6 installer. There was a definite change in the process as this time I could see that files relating to WinPE were downloading so I was hopeful. However at the end of the downloading processan error was reported "Downloaded file 'BootSect.exe' failed MD5 check.". Despite this error report, the installation of the program itself started and soon completed. The program ran when I double clicked is executable file and suggested I create the rescue disc which I did. It does not boot but I now have some sort of idea as to why this might be. The original error message suggested trying again with the browser cache cleared and my anti-malware disabled. I am not ready to do that just yet so will revert to version 5 once more until I feel brave enough to have another go. I have attached the log file of the download part of the installation process.

It seems that uninstalling the earlier version of Macrium Reflect, rather than installing version 6 over the top, has had a positive result in installing the newer version although, for me, there's a little more to sort out - still, any progress is welcome.

Cheers, Kick.

 

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, the download log does show the failed MD check and also that it is a part of the Windows PE, however no clue as to why it failed in the log.

Which antimalware/antivirus are you running? It may well be conflicting with the download. Disabling it while actually downloading from the internet may seem risky, however it doesn't actually carry that much risk as your firewall should prevent anything getting in while the AV is disabled.

Nev.

 

[Kick]

Hi Nev,

My anti-virus program is Avast Free Antivirus 2015 and my Firewall is Comodo 8.2.0.4591. Comodo usually gives an audible warning when it stops something so I guess it was Avast that is likely to have interfered as I heard no warnings. I'll probably have another go at installing version 6 later today or sometime over the weekend and report back.

Cheers for now, Kick.

 

[Kick]

Update:

No good news to report I'm afraid. I cleared previous remnants of Macrium Reflect and did a fresh install of version six after clearing browser cache and disabling Avast. As with the last test, as soon as the program's preinstallation WinPE downloading had completed the same error message appeared. The logfile is identical to the one attached to my last post. It seems there is something about my system that is not liked by WinPE.

I am back with Macrium Reflect version 5.3.7299.0 which has proved reliable on both my Windows 7 and Windows XP/Puppy Linux 5.7.1 dual boot systems (as a test some time ago I restored the Puppy ext3 partition with no problems). I'll probably hold fire now and wait to see if Macrium reintroduce the Linux rescue disc option version 6 - there seems to be some demand for that so I'll see if they secumb to the pressure.

Despite no luck yet over version 6, this has been a useful learning experience for an old fogey like me. It's good to know there is plenty of help out there from the likes of the contributors to this forum.

Cheers and regards, Kick.

 

[Plastic Nev]

Hum, that's a shame I was putting bets on it being the Avast blocking that file during the download, I doubt it will be the Comodo firewall as I am also running it and had no problems.
As you say, something on your computer isn't happy with it, however finding what it is could be difficult.
The only other suggestion worth a try is to go into safe mode with networking and see if it will download fully then.

Nev.

 

[Kick]

Hi Nev,

Yes, that's an option I could try but I'll leave it for a while as I want to set up a datafile partition on the system and then redirect my data files from C: to the new partition. When that's all done and things are running smoothly I may have another go installing Macrium Reflect v6. I will report back after that.

Regards, Kick.

 

[Plastic Nev]

OK for now then Kick, best of luck and let us know how you get on when you try again.

Nev.

 

[Kick]

Hi Nev,

Good news - I now have Macrium Reflect 6 Free installed and have successfully created a WinPE rescue disc.

I followed your advice regarding using Safe Mode and ultimately it resolved the issue but not entirely as I had expected although I wasn't that sure what to expect.

Firstly I had to make a few attempts before I could get into Safe Mode (this was down to how I used the F8 key at bootup but I eventually got timing right).

- Once in Safe Mode, I tried to uninstall Macrium Reflect 5 but got a Windows Installer error - I then decided to install version 6 anyway.
- The process ran as it should and began download and zip the PE element and then created the installer stub. However it did not go any further despite being set to install the program - I guess this related to the previously seen Windows Installer error.
- Having ensured nothing was running, I rebooted the system for a normal startup.
- Once in normal mode, I checked my download folder which included a new Macrium folder that contained the version 6 installer stub and a zipped folder of the PE files - this was real progress.
- I then uninstalled version 5 without problem.
- I ran the version 6 installer stub and installed the program successfully.
I then set the program's options as I wanted and then created the rescue CD.
- Booting the system from the rescue system worked, as warned is was quite slow (much like using a UBCD4Win live CD on a Windows XP system) - mission accomplished.

So many thanks for resolving my issue with Macrium Reflect - we can now count this thread as resolved.

Best regards, Kick.

 

[Plastic Nev]

Good news Kick and thanks for letting us know it worked out OK.

Nev.

 

[Kick]

Still no problems but today I needed to create backup image files after some late Spring cleaning of my system. When I started Reflect I found there was an update available which I downloaded and installed. Once I completed the backup image files, I thought creating an additional WinPE Rescue disk might be wise. Followers of this thread will know that after several unsuccessful attempts to create a WinPE rescue disk, following Nev's advice to try Safe Mode to install version 6 and the WinPE component, I succeeded.

When I started the process of creating the new rescue disk, I was immediately confronted with a message stating there was a new update for WinPE. I was a bit concerned about accepting the update as I was in normal mode rather than safe mode but decided to go ahead. I am happy to report there were absolutely no problems and the new disk boots correctly.

 

[Plastic Nev]

Great stuff Kick, considering you are working with images, rather than creating clones, I would now recommend you do not accept any further updates of the program. That way you don't then need to keep making new rescue disks each time you allow an update.

Nev.

 

[Kick]

Great stuff Kick, considering you are working with images, rather than creating clones, I would now recommend you do not accept any further updates of the program. That way you don't then need to keep making new rescue disks each time you allow an update.

Nev.

Hi Nev,

The WinPE component update apparently cured the odd bug although, as far as I understand, the bugs affected only parts of the paid for editions. I will heed your advice over future updates.

Thanks and best regards, Kick.