Macrium Reflect

Overview

Reflect is the backup tool people recommend when the question is how to get a machine back rather than how to get a file back. It images whole disks and partitions at the block level, which means the restored result is the machine as it was, boot sector and installed software and licences and all, not a folder of documents you then have to reinstall around.

Rapid delta imaging is what makes daily imaging practical. After the first full image, subsequent runs read the change tracking data and write only the blocks that actually differ, so an incremental of a large system disk finishes in a fraction of the time and a fraction of the space. Retention rules then consolidate and purge old images automatically so the destination never fills silently.

The rescue environment is the part that has to work when nothing else does. Reflect builds a bootable recovery image on a USB stick or as a boot menu entry, carrying the storage and network drivers from the machine it was built on, so a dead system boots into the restore tool, sees its own disks and its own network shares, and puts the image back. Restoring to different hardware is handled by a redeploy step that injects drivers for the new machine.

The higher editions extend the same engine outward. Server adds imaging of server operating systems with the relevant service awareness, and Server Plus adds consistent backup of database and mail server workloads so an image is taken with the data in a coherent state rather than mid write. File and folder backup, scheduling, image verification, mounting an image as a drive letter and encryption of the destination are common to all of them.

Key Features

• Block level disk and partition imaging producing a bootable restore
• Rapid delta imaging writing only changed blocks after the first full run
• Scheduled full, differential and incremental jobs with automatic retention rules
• Bootable rescue environment on USB or as a boot menu entry with drivers included
• Restore to dissimilar hardware with driver injection during redeploy
• Mount any image as a drive letter to pull individual files out of it
• Image verification with checksum validation after every run
• File and folder backup alongside full disk imaging
• Server editions covering server operating systems and live database and mail workloads
• Destination encryption and compression with selectable strength

What Changed in This Build

• Rescue environment refreshed with a wider storage and network driver set
• Faster consolidation when retention rules purge older incrementals
• Improved handling of very large destination volumes
• Scheduler reporting rewritten with clearer job history

System Requirements

Processor	Intel or AMD 64-bit
Memory	4 GB minimum, 8 GB recommended
Storage	1 GB for install plus a separate destination with room for the image set
Media	USB stick of 1 GB or larger for the rescue environment
Permissions	Administrator rights for imaging and restore

Release Details

Full title	Macrium Reflect
Version string	8.1.8854
Publisher	Macrium Software
Category	Utilities
Licence	All editions included, fully unlocked
Platform	Windows 10, 11 and Server, 64-bit
Interface language	Multilingual, 14 interface languages
Archive size	684 MB
Mirrors	4 active, all reporting online
Listed	refreshed 1 week ago, checked again 40 minutes ago

Installation Notes

• Build the rescue media immediately after install and test that it boots. A backup you cannot restore from is not a backup.
• Image to a different physical disk, ideally one that is not permanently attached. An image sitting on the disk that failed is worth nothing.
• Verify at least the first image of any new schedule. Verification costs time once and tells you whether the set is sound.

Before You Start

Read the notes above before running setup. Most of the problems people write in about are covered there, and almost all of them come down to an older version of the same software still being installed, a graphics driver that predates the release, or a security suite quarantining part of the package mid install.

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Frequently Asked