The Macrium download comes in two pieces. The smaller file,
is the Macrium application. The larger file contains
WinPE material, which Macrium uses to make a boot CD.
You need the boot CD, only if restoring your backup to a new hard
drive. Imagine, for example, the hard drive with C: on it, breaks
thirty seconds from now. There is nothing to boot the computer
with. If you have the Macrium CD, you can boot into the Macrium
environment, find your backup .mrimg file stored on your
external USB hard drive, and restore that to a brand new
replacement hard drive installed inside your computer.
That's what the boot CD is for.
If you downloaded the Macrium smaller file, that *includes* a
Linux-based boot CD. But that one, doesn't have as many functions
as the WinPE one does. The Linux based boot CD, is good enough
to complete a restoration. So it is perfectly functional, and
"good enough". (Note - when the Linux CD boots, you don't
need to know anything about Linux - all you see is the
Macrium program window, and you cannot escape from Macrium.
As a consequence, there is no way to verify the disc is
actually Linux based.)
The WinPE boot CD, includes a fuller set of functions. You
can backup/restore/clone. Whereas the Linux CD has fewer
of those functions.
If you're on dialup networking, this represents a hard choice.
On the one hand, the smaller Macrium file is barely within
the bounds of a download over dialup. If you selected the
WinPE file as well, that would kill you and take forever.
Using the smaller file alone, meets the requirements of
a full backup and restore function. So it does protect you
if the C: hard drive breaks, and you've just plugged in
a completely empty new drive. But I like the WinPE disc,
as it can do anything the Windows installation of Macrium
can do.
For people on dialup, I recommend a visit to the public library.
I've used them before, when I was between ISPs (new install
didn't happen on the date it was supposed to). You could
download both files, while you visit the library. Or,
you could drink coffee at the Starbucks and use their
Wifi networking.
You could also (gasp!) buy the software from Macrium. I
don't even know what their retail software looks like,
what is in the box and so on. But that might be worth
investigating if you cannot afford the download.
Note that Macrium provides frequent online updates,
so even after it is installed, it'll pester you to
install the latest update. You can click "No" to that,
so that is not a big deal. But in terms of bandwidth
usage, it's like a lot of other software that never
leaves you in peace for a minute.
Paul