Just a couple of small peeves of which I would like to make you aware:
1) Location of TEMPORARY "Work Files":  They should be in a TEMP Directory!
    However, I find them in C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect\
2) Extreme reliance on storing [User Entered] MR Configuration Data in the Registry!
    Please provide an option so we can control where this gets stored:
       It could either be an .INI file or a Registry Key which points to a Directory.
Rational for User Control:
1) I want a CLEAN SEPARATION of CODE (OS, Application Programs, etc.)
       FROM
    USER DATA (Application Configuration Data, Application Data, etc.)
and, you ask, why do I want this?
2) Because I want them to reside on separate partitions:
    an OS Partition containing just code and a DATA Partition with ALL my data
    which SHOULD include, at a minimum, ALL User Entered MR Configuration Data.
Being a "mad (not in the angry sense), retired, software engineer", I may do a half-dozen Restores of my OS Partition everyday from a "pristine" Backup (which I created after doing a "clean install" of OS or all of the Applications).  It annoys me that I have to repeatedly reenter all of the MR Configuration Data.

By the way, I have found this "data separation" to be an extremely effective approach to "malware".  If I even think my system might have been infected, I immediately Restore the OS Partition from my "pristine" Backup.  And, I hope you noticed, it relies heavily upon MR.

I do not see any temp files in the program data path you mention.  I see the log files, which are not temporary.  When Reflect does an update, the files ARE in the temp folder.  Please let us know which files you are referring to.

I agree with you about things like separating programs and data.  But it is Microsoft that has created this mess.  Before the registry, most programs had INI files to keep the sort of data that is now in the registry.  One could put the program and its INI file wherever.  And if you wanted to move that program to a new computer all one had to do was copy the program files and INI to the new computer. No need to reinstall - just copy files and you are up and running.  Of course there are issues with that - especially for software manufactures related to copy protection.  I do my best to keep the OS in its own partition and all other programs and data on other partitions.  But with the registry and the use of Win/system32 and similar common storage areas, it is difficult to keep the OS and programs separated.  Backup programs like Reflect help minimize the issues, but sometimes one would just like to reinstall a clean Windows WITHOUT having to reinstall every piece of software. 

I am not sure why you are singling out Macrium on your quest.  It is MS and Windows that has created the intertwined mess that we have today.  Wouldn't it be wonderfull if there were TWO registries?  One for ONLY Windows and one for all the applications?  The OS could combine them at boot time so they looked like the current registry but they could be kept in physically different places on the disk. The same would apply to System 32 and its ilk to provide that separation of OS and app.  However until MS sees the light, I think we are stuck with the Windows world as it is.  You may want to try some other OS to see if you can get some satisfaction there.

Good luck to you and let us know if you find a solution somewhere this side of heaven.

Oh, they are "Log Files"!  I didn't realize that.  I ran a "Folder & File Backup" and the following were created:
     Restore File Name.html; Restore File Name.mrcdat; Restore File Name.vsslog
     When I run it again, the "Restore File Name" has a number appended.
Also, the ever popular:
     bmp.tmp; Delete.bmp; Delete16.bmp; OK.bmp; OK16.bmp; XMLFiles.dat
It's my shrewd guess is that they are what is displayed when I "click" on the "Log" Tab?
They won't last very long on my system but it is useful information to know.

"Try another operating system"?  Let me think.  No, I don't think so!
I have the same complaint about most software products.  Most of the time, there are "Well-known hacks" to an .INI file or undocumented Registry Keys that allow you to relocate data like this.  However, you really have to doggedly pursue finding someone who knows exactly how to do it.  Very few products make it easy.  But, it is really convient being able to just Restore your OS and in less than ten minutes, you are running again as if nothing had happened!

Harrison

Thanks for posting.

The files in  'C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect' are not temporary files and should not be deleted.  If you want to delete logs then there is a delete function in the log tab:


Other files are either required to display the html backup logs, or are text logs of operations in Reflect that can be used to help with problems.

A backup log with the same name but a number appended is a re-run of a failed backup or a another run of a backup where a user defined static file name is used.

'XMLFiles.dat'  stores your backup definition file names and is loaded by Reflect at startup to populate the backup definitons tab with your definitions. Do not delete this file.

Also under 'C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect' are folders containing the base Windows PE files from Microsoft. These files are the raw files from Microsoft and are copied to the 'staging area'  (C:\Boot\Macrium) when rebuilding your rescue media. If these folders are deleted then they will be re-downloaded if you rebuild Windows PE.  Basically, the files in 'C:\ProgramData\Macrium\Reflect' are required for normal operation of the software and all temporary files are copied/created in the Windows acoount %TEMP% folder.

Kind Regards

Nick

Macrium Support

See our reviews on

Just to clarify for anyone reading these posts: I don't delete these "Log Files", they get "deleted" when I Restore the OS Partition.  However, the MR state should still be "internally consistent" because it was when I did the Backup.  Problems like this due to a Restore of the OS are exactly why I posted this suggestion to the WishList forum in the first place.  My goal is to loose NO information when doing a Restore.

Thank you Nick and et al. for replying so quickly to my posts.  I found a new OpenVPN problem to keep me occupied so I will go tilt that windmill for awhile.