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Larry M.
Posts: 2706
Joined: 2/20/2003
From: Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Status: online
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Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 5/29/2007 18:20:59
For the second time Acronis True Image 10 Home - http://www.acronis.com/ - saved my bacon following a recent hard drive crash. After installing a new hard drive I was able to restore my entire XP Pro operating system (including all programs & files) to its last working state within an hour.
When I bought Acronis True Image 10 Home I hoped I would never have to put the program to use, but now that I’ve successfully restored my computer on two separate occasions without issue, Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement.
Tips: (1) use an USB external hard drive to store Acronis *.tib files, (2) Create full backup archives, not incremental backups, (3) Create a new full backup archive minimally once a week, (4) Download the Acronis Master Boot Record .exe file to a CD from http://download.acronis.com/support/mbrautowrite_en.iso in order to initiate the Restore process, and (5) Copy working file changes to a CD/DVD daily so that all files can be brought “into step” after the Acronis restore process completes.
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Larry M.
Indecision is the Key to Flexibility.
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treetopsranch
Posts: 1005
From: Cottage Grove, OR, USA
Status: offline
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 5/29/2007 19:32:16
Whew!!
Larry, I bet not one in a thousand ever does any kind of a backup. I have been backing up my data files but not the system or program files. I can see that your steps are necessary to save a lot of grief when that internal drive hits the dust.
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Don from TreeTops Ranch, Oregon
"I've got a taste for quality and luxury"
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Reflect
Posts: 4769
From: USA
Status: offline
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 5/30/2007 7:53:04
quote:
Tips: (1) use an USB external hard drive to store Acronis *.tib files
Can you elaborate please? What do these files do and why on a thumb drive?
Take care,
Brian
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Larry M.
Posts: 2706
Joined: 2/20/2003
From: Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Status: online
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 5/30/2007 18:02:59
quote:
What do these files do and why on a thumb drive?
Brian,
*.tib is a proprietary file extension for Acronis. Acronis compresses files as it backs up. My system writes/stores about 30gb compressed for each full backup and Acronis annotates each file in the backup series, e.g., 5-30-071, 5-30-072, etc. as it writes to disk. Typically my system backup results in 7 or 8 *.tib files of approximately 4gb each. On restore, selecting any one of the *.tib files in the desired date backup series will call-up and automatically group all files.
I use an external Iomega 160gb H:\ hard drive. Thumb drives won't, of course, accomodate the kind of storeage Acronis needs for a full system backup. I actually use an old slaved internal F:\ drive as well - redundancy coincides with my highly developed condition of paranoia after two (2) crashes in 10 months. A backup to the backup makes for a good night's sleep.
... and while Jaybee correctly observed that Acronis can automatically schedule backups, I prefer to choose the time to make sure I get a "Operation Completed" screen prompt. Additionally, I always validate backups. Sure, an extra 20 minutes or so but, since files are on another drive, operating system slow down is negligible.
BTW, Acronis can selectively restore files from any backup series. I'll be happy to pass on steps for everything if you wish 
Hope this helps.
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Larry M.
Indecision is the Key to Flexibility.
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caz
Posts: 3517
Joined: 10/10/2001
From: Somewhere south of Chester, UK
Status: offline
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 5/31/2007 4:41:53
You can also mount backups as a virtual extra drive which is handy when used with a laptop - you do need to have Acronis on the laptop though to do this because .tib files are hidden by design. All in all, Acronis justifies Larry's enthusiasm. I also use the Acronis Disk Director suite for any partitoning on the fly too.
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Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will dance, or more on your keyboard.
Cheshire cat. www.doracat.co.uk
I remember when it took less than 4hrs to fly across the Atlantic.
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Reflect
Posts: 4769
From: USA
Status: offline
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 5/31/2007 7:49:43
So I am a Ghost person, been loyal since day one.
However I am now looking for a new solution as Ghost server suite 2.x only does "business" systems. Blew my mind, it will not backup 95/98/nt/xp home or vista home (I am only concerned with XP and Vista).
Normally I install a client on the workstation. Then the ghost cast server will discover it. I can then create a dos based networked boot disk (ghost recognizes the network card and inserts the drivers into the boot disk image). If I need to restore I just pop in the dos boot disk, point it to the image on the server and away it goes.
So when backing up with Acronis do you make the backup while in Windows or DOS prompt? Also when restoring from a HD crash what would the steps be?
Sorry to ramble, just on the fence.
Take care,
Brian
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Reflect
Posts: 4769
From: USA
Status: offline
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 5/31/2007 13:26:37
Larry,
Thank you for taking the time to go in depth with me on several of these posts. I appreciate it.
Take care,
Brian
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Bivvyman
Posts: 4
Joined: 12/19/2002
Status: offline
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 6/3/2007 3:58:47
Hi Larry , thanks for info so far , could Acronis be used to copy programmes + data to a second computer say a laptop ?
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Larry M.
Posts: 2706
Joined: 2/20/2003
From: Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Status: online
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 6/3/2007 7:24:56
quote:
could Acronis be used to copy programmes + data to a second computer say a laptop?
Data (files), yes (using intermediate media such as CD/DVD/USB thumb drive). Programs, per se, no.
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Larry M.
Indecision is the Key to Flexibility.
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clum1
Posts: 758
From: Glasgow, Scotland
Status: offline
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RE: Acronis gets my unequivocal endorsement. - 6/4/2007 8:01:04
You may want to check out BootIT NG; there's a free trial copy available (it may be free for personal use IIRC) and it images pretty nicely too - you can't dig individual files out but it allows you to image to file, partition, CD or DVD.
Calum
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