Macrium Reflect has been a reliable Windows backup solution for decades, offering comparable reliability to R-Drive Image with a more appealing interface. Its primary drawback has always been its price, although a feature-limited free version is still available online.
Feature-Rich Imaging and Backup
Macrium Reflect Home Edition is an imaging program, creating container files containing all sectors with data from a drive or partition, including the OS and applications. It can even copy blank sectors for a perfect replica. Beyond imaging, it can also create container files containing only selected files and folders.
Reflect supports full, incremental (changes since the last backup), and differential (changes since the initial full backup) images. You can also configure how many versions are retained and when older files are purged.
Macrium Reflect interface showcasing numerous options
Reflect doesn’t offer the widely-used VHD format, but it does support vBoot, creating VirtualBox virtual machines from your Macrium backups, including the VirtualBox runtime. Double-clicking a Reflect image (.mrimg) file mounts it under Windows.
Reflect offers a plethora of options, including granular scheduling, network share definitions, detailed retention rules, NTFS reparse rule behavior, password protection, compression settings, and notifications. Unique features include options for appending backups, automation scripts, and a background service that locks backup images. Remarkably, it even supports optical discs.
Boot media is also provided via Windows PE/RE. However, a Linux option is notably absent.
Macrium Reflect's Guardian feature prevents accidental deletion or overwriting of backups
Pricing and Availability
Macrium Reflect Home is priced at $80 for a perpetual license with free minor upgrades and one year of support, or $40 annually. This is considerably more expensive than the $45 one-time purchase for R-Drive Image.
Pricing options for Macrium Reflect: perpetual and yearly
While Macrium discontinued its free version in 2023, it can still be found on download sites like TechSpot and Filehorse. Macrium also offers 30-day trials of the Home Edition and other versions.
Performance and Reliability
Macrium Reflect is incredibly reliable. Testing for this review highlighted its speed, stability, and lack of glitches. Boot disc creation and operation were equally smooth and problem-free. The interface is arguably one of the best in the industry – logical, attractive, informative, and likely more user-friendly than R-Drive’s.
Post-backup definition options in Macrium Reflect
Macrium Reflect's Windows PE/RE boot media
Final Verdict
Despite the “Home” moniker, Macrium Reflect is a professional-grade imaging and backup solution. Its speed, reliability, and comprehensive features make it a top contender. While the price may be a barrier for some, the investment is likely worthwhile for users seeking a robust and user-friendly backup solution.
