I am attempting to enter the modern age by doing the following ( My Win 10 DAW pc is new Dec 2017 and has been offline due to win updates hosing my previous DAW).
 
Sonar 8.5 --> Macrium Disc Image --> Upgrade win 10 to Pro --> Upgrade to Cakewalk Bandlab --> Go back online for G.A.S. and other mandatory options.
 
I switched to metered connection to keep updates temporarily off my back, downloaded the macrium executable and am studying how to image. Dealing with health issues has rendered this somewhat daunting mentally, so I have some basic questions in the last days of this helpful forum.
 
My question is this:
 
I see I have to create a restore disc (DVD) and then create a disc image. Is there anything I should be advised to do outside of just using the defaults in this, any special settings or boxes to check that people have found necessary? The process appears to be quite deep and capable of all kinds of things. I just want to start regular series of images for the inevitable day something goes wrong. I have never used this software before.
 
Thanks!

I currently use the free version of Macrium to backup (disc image) my C: partition for safety purposes.
 
DVD is fine as rescue media, but I prefer using a USB thumb drive.  (In the BIOS, set Removable media or USB device as your first boot option and you're good to go).
 
I don't advise backing up/restoring with Windows up and running.  While it's technically possible, too many things can go wrong so why risk it when it's unnecessary?  By booting off the rescue media, you are backing up or restoring using Macrium and a very basic DOS/linux O.S.  Bottom line, do it "offline" and you're much less likely to have any surprises than with Windows juggling a shadow copy of itself as it tries to back itself up.
 
I created my rescue media on Win 10 (backing up the same), and I don't recall choosing anything other than the default settings.  Best thing to do is try it for yourself.  If the rescue media isn't created properly, it likely won't let you backup anyway. 
 
If you run into any problems with the settings, post back and I'll see if I can make a screenshot of my setup.  Of course, I would be happy to answer any questions as well, though keep in mind I only do a basic "main partition backup/restore", so if you want to do anything fancier, I'm probably not the guy to ask. 

Macrium Reflect Free is reliable and relatively easy to use.  Main points to keep in mind:
 
1. Image file backup to an image file archive drive (internal SATA or USB) works well when Windows is running.
2. Restore to a system drive must be done by booting system from the recovery media (CD or USB thumb drive) with backup archive drive attached (either internal SATA or USB drive).
3. Always create the recovery media after installing Macrium, and perform a test boot. The Macrium rescue media creation wizard will download and build the Windows PE recovery environment on your rescue media, and download any necessary drivers automatically.
4. Make sure that you can locate any backup image files that you have created so that they are available for restore if needed.
 
Backup, backup, backup... 

I don’t have any experience of Macrium so I don’t have anything to add to the answers above (using Acronis True Image myself). However, seeing your planned installation steps and list of software I was immediately struck by what wasn’t there. You say that you will install SONAR 8.5 and then Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB), but you never mention any installation of SONAR X3 Producer in between, a product you apparently own. Is that correct?
 
If so, you may not know that CbB doesn’t contain many of the plug-ins that came with SONAR X3 Producer. And the recommended way of making sure those plug-ins will be available in CbB is to install SONAR X3 Producer before you install CbB.

JonD & abacab
 
Absolutely invaluable advice, thanks so much! I am adding this info to my reference library under backups so I have a permanent record of this thread.
 
I do keep this machine offline and will keep it offline now until I get to Win 10 PRO. Just to set up the metered connection and get Macrium, gave windows almost enough time to download 1803. I got a notification that I should download and update immediately which I will not do...yet.
 
But here's what happened. My very first step after installing Macrium, was to create a rescue disc. The screen came up and said "WIM file not found, press click to build". I pressed build and got a "Failed".
 
Failed to generate Win PE VIM: The VIM could not be mounted.
 
The log entry gave two error messages.
 
Error 183: Cannot create a file when that file already exists
 
Error 50: The request is not supported
 
I googled the error numbers and "VIM not found" as well as searched the Macrium site. Nothing. I tried to join the forum but the free version gave me a license key which was not supported on registration. I couldn't find anything in the Knowledgebase.
 
But searching the help file gave this: Press CNTR and then can skip this step. The Build button has a dropdown which says Skip.
 
So I did that, and got the rescue media on DVD ( I have so many lying around) and then did my fist image of the C:// drive to a WD external 1 Tb HD. This way I can keep two at a time.
 
So I don't know if it worked or not. I do not know how to test it by booting into the rescue disc. Is it as above, set the DVD as the boot option in the BIOS?
 
Thanks again, I feel much better now! Just have to test the Rescue disc and hope it worked.

Canopus
I don’t have any experience of Macrium so I don’t have anything to add to the answers above (using Acronis True Image myself). However, seeing your planned installation steps and list of software I was immediately struck by what wasn’t there. You say that you will install SONAR 8.5 and then Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB), but you never mention any installation of SONAR X3 Producer in between, a product you apparently own. Is that correct?

Yes sir I didn't accurately state what I've done. I have Sonar 8.5 Producer, X1, X2, and X3 installed. X1 and X2 always freeze up on my old Win 7 machine before Win update in the Fall 2017 killed it with a BSOD which I am going to try and fix one of these days. But as a result I just stayed with 8.5 (offline) for my projects as I like it. But I do want to move on now and learn Bandlab.
 
I very much appreciate your helpful and accurate comment!

Just remember that image is useless until you have a working rescue disk.  You will need to adjust your boot priorities option in your BIOS to boot from a CD or thumb drive.
 
The rescue environment will let you locate a backup image file on an attached drive, and restore that to your intended target drive.  It's always recommended to test to make sure that you can find everything you will need, but stop short of actually proceeding with the restore.

abacab
Just remember that image is useless until you have a working rescue disk.  You will need to adjust your boot priorities option in your BIOS to boot from a CD or thumb drive.
 
The rescue environment will let you locate a backup image file on an attached drive, and restore that to your intended target drive.  It's always recommended to test to make sure that you can find everything you will need, but stop short of actually proceeding with the restore.

Thanks abacab
 
Well I'm not sure I have a good rescue disk since the very first step failed to build the win PE VIM. Yet error message seems to say it is already there. So I assume I need to check it via the BIOS, which is new to me. Is there any danger to this, if I boot does it automatically restore? If it fails to boot can I get back in the BIOS to change it to boot normally?
 
Since I've never done this, I'm leery to screw up. All is working very well on this new pc now, I just want to be able to go online and view Groove tutorials and install a year's worth of new plugins, and I'm sure Microsoft will hose me like all my other pcs so I know I need to backup...
 
If it doesn't boot, I'm screwed anyhow, since I can't create one.

Well the rescue disk did not boot into windows, so it failed. Macrium will not create a rescue image, etc for me on my pc. I'm screwed from the git go. Fireberd suggested starting over, uninstall and reinstall, etc. It's my only hope. Since I have terminal cancer, I have to try and be productive, not fighting all this techie nonsense, Microsoft, macrium...just to record. I'm about at the end of wanting to do this anymore...maybe one more try...I was looking forward to learning Bandlab with my new pc, new interface, all new...Well, what will be, will be...

robbyk
 
So I assume I need to check it via the BIOS, which is new to me. Is there any danger to this, if I boot does it automatically restore? If it fails to boot can I get back in the BIOS to change it to boot normally?
 

Setting the boot priority in the BIOS doesn't remove your normal boot, it just allows a CD/DVD or thumb drive to override the normal boot if you have one inserted.  Your normal C: drive will still boot if healthy if you do not have another boot media inserted.
 
You do have to tell you BIOS to look for these alternate rescue media, otherwise all it can detect by default is your C: drive boot sector.  If that is not healthy, you will be unable to boot Windows.
 
The recovery media will never automatically restore your drive.  You will still have to step through prompts to make that happen, as clearly outlined in the user guide.  The test boot is just to ensure that you can successfully boot to the live WinPE recovery environment, which is just a graphical utility based on a cut down version of Windows, so that you can restore a full Windows image to your hard drive if desired.