Backup and restore with Macrium Reflect

[y lee]

Hi, is anyone using Macrium Reflect free edition to backup a Veracrypt non-system partition? I have an partition encrypted and in the Macrium GUI, it only shows as a unformatted partition which is contrary to both Veracrypt and Macrium documentation that the backup software should be able to see the contents of an encrypted partition. In this case, I can only do a sector-by-sector clone which is not practical because I have 3TB of data to do. Any idea?

Thanks.

[Adrian Kentleton]

I use Reflect to backup the contents of encrypted files and partitions. You need to mount the volumes, and (obviously) back them up into mounted encrypted volumes, before dismounting both.

[Gary Marks]

@y lee, I never paid much attention to it before, but my Macrium Reflect interface shows like yours. The system partition shows NTFS formatting, but my D: drive partition shows as "Unformatted Primary," even though it is currently mounted as a System Favorite Volume. Reflect lets me define a backup for that partition using the "Intelligent sector copy" method, but it might revert to full sector-by-sector if I actually started the backup. However, whether or not you are successful in using Reflect to back up that 3TB partition, let me suggest the alternative that I've used for many years. I back up my 8TB D: drive to a second hard drive using file synchronization software. The vast majority of the files remain unchanged, and copying changed files takes relatively little time, just as Reflect can make differential backups quickly. I don't know if it would suit your purposes, but it's my preferred method. I happen to use Beyond Compare for synchronizing files, but I've seen FreeFileSync mentioned here as well, and the word "free" always catches my eye :)

[y lee]

Adrian, of course my partition is mounted (with a drive letter) but still seen as RAW by Reflect. In Windows File Explorer the files can be seen and use just like in an unencrypted drive, but Reflect just doesn't see it that way. Can you be more specific how you can backup the files?

Gary, workarounds can get the job done but then it involves extra variables to manage. I still prefer simple backup-restore method if possible.

Thanks both for your help.

[DDD]

Just use the sector by sector copy method in Macrium Reflect, and do a test to make sure it works. I'm guessing the Macrium has to use its own driver in order to read the filesystem contents, so maybe that's why it can only see it as RAW. Don't use intelligent sector copy.

[Adrian Kentleton]

Apologies! You need the paid-for 'Home' edition of Reflect to do what you want, using the 'Create a File and Folder backup' feature.

[Adrian Kentleton]

You can try Reflect 'Home' edition free with no strings for 30 days; if you don't buy a licence, it auto-reverts to the standard 'Free' edition.

That being said, I can't see the point of using the feature. In my (limited) experience, images created using the feature are almost the same size as the original files being backed up. (No doubt it depends on how compressed the files are in the first place.)

One might as well just mount your volume, and backup the files using any standard backup utility, or eg Windows in-built 'robocopy', as I do.

[y lee]

DDD, by using sector by sector copy on a huge hard disk, the time needed to do a backup is not practical in my case. I assume it will take much longer to do sector by sector backup everyday.

[DDD]

I think the sector by sector copy is the only way to effectively copy it, but you can always try it out, do some tests. I've heard of some people using intelligent sector copy, but then having to do one or steps after restoring their images - it's somewhere on this forum.

[DDD]

Or, couldn't you mount the volume in Veracrypt, and then choose to copy that drive letter that Veracrypt assigns the volume? Then, Macrium should be able to see the files.

[Enigma2Illusion]

No. The mounted VeraCrypt volume still shows as a RAW device to Macrium Reflect. If you attempt to perform a backup of the mounted volume, Macrium Reflect will attempt to copy the entire volume since it does not see the filesystem for some reason.

@eyklee needs to open a support ticket with Macrium support to have them address this issue.

As discussed, the other solutions are:

1. Create another VeraCrypt volume on another HDD, mount it and use synchronizing software between the source and target (backup) devices.
2. Reflect has the option to backup Files and Folders. With the VeraCrypt volume mounted, select the drive letter to backup a contents of the volume and select the destination for the backup. Of course, set a password in Reflect backup to encrypt the output backup file(s).