OK, then: I’m chuckling. I’ve noticed for the past two months that while Macrium Reflect Free (v8) notifies me updates are available, it never downloads them. Then, I used one of my two remaining paid-for v8 licenses and presto! v.8.8.8325 is now available for download. That poses a free Macrium Update conundrum — namely, are they or aren’t they? So I asked Copilot about company policy on updates for that free version.

Here’s what it told me:

Yes, Macrium has stated a policy regarding updates for the free version of Macrium Reflect. As of January 1, 2024, Macrium Reflect Free v8.0 no longer receives feature, compatibility, or bug fix updates. Security patches were provided until that date, but no further changes are made to the v8 Free code base.

You can continue to use Macrium Reflect Free, but to receive updates and new features, a paid license is required.

Timing the Free Macrium Update Conundrum

Again, I’m chuckling because I’ve managed to go nearly two full months before catching this on my various testbed PCs. That’s also a clever use of notifications from Paramount Software (the makers of MR). It let me know — somewhat more slowly than I’m sure they intended — that my old free licenses were orphaned.

Now that I’ve updated as many of them as I can, I need to figure out how many MR version X licenses I’m actually still using. I’ve sent at least 3 or 4 such machines back to Lenovo after installing paid-up versions on them. I need to reclaim them so I can use them for other such machines as and when they show up here at Chez Tittel.

And now, at least, older members of my mini-fleet can get their Macrium updates on. Boy howdy: Isn’t that just the way things go here in Windows-World from time to time? Keeping up isn’t a full-time chore, for sure, but it does require paying a certain amount of attention…