Many Ghacks users use the backup software Macrium Reflect Free for their backup tasks on their Windows devices. The free for non-commercial use version is being retired by parent company Paramount Software UK Limited on January 1, 2024.
Users of Macrium Reflect Free may receive information about the end of the product as a service announcement during updates. It states:
Macrium Reflect Free - Service Announcement
This is to notify that Macrium Reflect Free Edition is being retired. Security patches will be provided until 1st January 2024, but there are no planned feature changes or non security related updates following this update.
Note: This notice only applies to Macrium Reflect Free.
Please see the section 'Macrium Reflect Free Product - End Of Life (EOL)' in our support policy for more information.
The information is not shown in the Macrium Reflect interface nor on the Macrium website when you open the Macrium Reflect Free section. There is a product support policy page on the website, however, which provides information on the end of life of Macrium Reflect Free.
Paramount Software UK Limited plans to provide security updates for Macrium Reflect Free until January 1, 2024. No further updates will be provided after that date. Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7167 was the last release to receive bug fixes, compatibility updates and features. Users of the free version may continue to use it, but they are on their own when they run into issues.
All commercial versions of Macrium Reflect remain available. Macrium Reflect Home is available for €57.95 regularly.
Macrium Reflect Free alternatives
With Macrium Reflect Free being retired, users of the backup software face a tough decision. While they may continue to use the free version, it is not advised to do so. Imagine running into a bug that prevents recoveries or that the app starts on the system. While it is possible to pay for Macrium Reflect Home, a license is good only for a particular major release version.
If you purchase a Macrium Reflect 8 Home license, support is guaranteed until the release of Macrium Reflect 9 plus one year.
There are free alternatives available for Macrium Reflect, here is a short list:
- AOMEI Backupper -- Another free solution with paid upgrades. The Standard Edition is free to use, supports file, system, disk and partition backups to all sorts of storage devices, including Network/NAS and cloud. It lacks some features, including differential backup, encryption or dynamic disk backups.
- Paragon Backup & Recovery Free -- This is the backup solution that I use. It supports all major features, including file, partition/disk and entire computer backups, scheduled backups, incremental and differential backups, and more.
- Rescuezilla -- An open source backup solution that supports creating and restoring data backups. It is operating system agnostic.
Now You: are you affected by the decision? Have another backup suggestion? (thanks Peter for the tip)
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