HP 590-p0057na Desktop PC - Using Macrium and Bootable USB PD

[JayLiam]

I recently purchased the above PC - W10 Home 64 bit v 1903.
Being new to W10 and HP, beginning to realise, even more things have changed from W7 than I thought.

From wihtin Windows I've enabled System Restore and created a Windows Restore Point along with a Windows Recovery USB PD but am inclined to try Macrium Reflect Free in the future.
I believe simply booting from say a USB PD is not as simple as I'm used to with W7.

From this thread
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03659945
I think I can follow the sequence and I understand the instructions also apply to W10.

Presumably this would allow me to restore from the Windows Recovery USB PD I created from within W10 and in the future restore backups of the system, ie OS - C Drive, using Macrium Reflect.
Can anyone please confirm if my understanding is correct and if it is relatively straightforward with this PC to use Macrium in the future or are there potential issues with the way the PC is configured.
I've used backup software for about 25 yeas and for this W10 PC decided on Macrium.
I've recently used Macrium with a W7 PC and it seemed straightforward and a restoration was successful.

Thank you in advance.

[Grzwacz]

Greetings,

Welcome to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

I have been using Macrium Reflect Free (MRF) and a MRF USB recovery flash drive on Windows 10 for many years. No problems, works great so far!

Always test to verify you can do a successful recovery. A failed test means you may have to reinstall the operating system unless you also have a good clone on a different disk.

Also have W10 USB installation media matching the current version of W10 installed on the PC to run repair options when needed.

A cloud backup is also a good recovery option.

Regards

[JayLiam]

Many thanks for the reply.

"Always test to verify you can do a successful recovery. A failed test....." - I always verify the backup but I suspect you are referring to something different. How do you verify you can do a successful recovery.

"Also have W10 USB installation media ...." - Is this the USB Drive you create enabling you to boot from it and then restore the backup from say an external USB HDD.

I assume there is no safe way round following the instructions on the link I provided to enable booting from a USB PD.

A final thought regards a clone on an external USB HD.

I would be inclined to pursue this since there should be little risk as I would only use it as a 'last resort' if everything else fails.

[Grzwacz]

Hi JayLiam,

You're very welcome.

I use similar sized target SSDs when doing the following operations:

I do Macrium image backups on large capacity external USB drives. Also use Macrium to clone the OS disk to a different SSD when upgrading storage.

I test an image backup by booting to the Macrium recovery media (USB stick). Then restore the image on the large capacity USB drive to a second SSD.

Now boot to the second SSD to verify the image works on the second drive.

You can create Windows backups using the Microsoft option in Control Panel. You will still create an image on a second internal drive or external USB drive.

I have never had to change Secure boot settings when using Windows recovery options or Macrium Reflect.

Then use the Windows installation media to boot to the W10 Setup screen. You then Select "Repair"

Troubleshoot, Advanced Options.

System Image Recovery.

You can also try a System Restore, or a Startup Repair, or Command Prompt options.

Regards

[JayLiam]

Many thanks again Grzwacz

Some rather interesting and new ideas for me to get my head around.

A bit wary of adding a further SSD/HDD to the PC in case it has to go back to the retailer. I assume the second SSD you refer to sits alongside the existing C Drive which you disconnect and attempt to boot off the second.
On checking it seems you can boot off an external HDD, I think USB, so perhaps there is some scope there.

Plenty of food for thought.

I've just moved home and amongst many other things am busy trying to sort out a failing W7 PC so that I can transfer operations to the new HP W10 unit in an orderly fashion.
Everything is backed up just don't want to mess up the new PC.

Hope to make some progress over the next few days - caution being my middle name.

You're never too old to learn - it just gets harder.

Much obliged.