Acronis Truie Image

[JLS]

As much as I hate to say this but I have never backed up my hard drive before. I have an earlier version of Acronis True Image home and 2014 version. I have a number of large files on my drive that I want to back up. Do I have to move them to another drive before backing them up or can I just do a backup with them on the drive I want to back up? Also, I have 3 partitions on the drive I want to back up. I am not sure if it makes a difference in the steps when backing up the drive. I really think my drive is on the way out and I need to back it up asap. I have an external hard drive that I will use to back up my drive. Is Acronis a good software to use? I really would appreciate if someone could give me step by step instructions on how to back up my drive.

[Midknyte]

Do I have to move them to another drive before backing them up or can I just do a backup with them on the drive I want to back up?

If possible, move your data to another drive or partition. The more data you backup, the bigger the backup file will take to create and restore.

Also, I have 3 partitions on the drive I want to back up. I am not sure if it makes a difference in the steps when backing up the drive

You really only need to backup the boot partition with TI. I'm guessing the other partitions are just data, which you can copy/sync to an external drive.

All you have to do is follow the backup wizard.
www.acronis.com/support/documentation/ATIH2014/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIKKvEIKSsE

[fink]

Is Acronis a good software to use?

Yes. It's saved my butt numerous times.

I have an earlier version of Acronis True Image home and 2014 version

I'd generally use the latest version. It's updated with the ability to deal with newer drives (SSD) and has fixes and updates from earlier versions. Which is the earlier one you have?

[JLS]

Midknyte and Fink, I appreciate the reply and the help.


Midknyte, since my files are on 2 other partitions, I can just copy instead of moving them to another drive? So, I just have to back up my main partition containing my OS? Will it back up (save all of my settings eg firefox browser settings etc.)? I won't have to reinstall any of my programs or drivers either? It backs up all of them, too?

Fink, I have True Image Home 2013 and 2014 versions.

[JLS]

Also, they are both 1-pc versions. I only have 1 pc but if I have 2 pc's, I can't use the 1-pc version and back up another pc? How can it tell I would be backing up another pc by using a 1-pc version instead of a 3-pc? I am wondering if I should get a 3-pc version since I have been considering getting a tablet.

[JLS]

I read some reviews and the reviews for 2013 and 2014 are not that great, as well as previous versions. One user said that 2014 would not back up e-mails but I am not sure what exactly he meant because you usually have to log into an e-mail account to retrieve e-mails.

Also, below is a copy of review from one user of 2014 version. It sounds like a back up is not reliable at all and causes many issues? I am so unsure how to proceed to get a good working copy of a back up.


"1.0 out of 5 stars happy it worked for others September 24, 2013
By tw
I am happy this worked for others, but for me, disaster. I have 20,000 hours of commercial software dev from lower level languages on up. Acronis 2014 has a great scheme, and good pricing, but it constantly broke. Would run for hours, then choke with "server unavailable", "connection lost", ... I have a brand new Win 7 Pro machine and a highly reliable internet service. My machine runs great with everything else. Also, not going to recite the litany of details, but Acronis support was strange and in a couple ways very unethical in dealing with my situation. Uninstall required me to manually stop processes and services in windows. That should never happen. If you want to turn your computer off and get somewhere with it, you may get the "Operations being performed, please wait..." for 30-45 minutes before the computer will shut down. This is Acronis preventing you from getting where you need to be. There is NO option to suspend and just shut down. You are stuck waiting. Maybe this will get better, but way too many problems from design through implementation. Backup software requires a high level of trust. Sadly, none here for Acronis."

[Midknyte]

since my files are on 2 other partitions, I can just copy instead of moving them to another drive?

Yes, you would COPY the files to your external drive for a backup. A backup is a second (or third, etc) copy of your original data.

So, I just have to back up my main partition containing my OS? Will it back up (save all of my settings eg firefox browser settings etc.)?

Yes and yes. You can copy the data from your other partitions to the external drive individually. Otherwise, you'd have to create another drive image every time you add/modify your data files.

I won't have to reinstall any of my programs or drivers either? It backs up all of them, too?

Yes and yes. TI makes a snapshot of your partition/drive exactly as it is.

Please read the Acronis TI documentation from the link I posted earlier. That should answer a lot of your questions.

It sounds like that review is talking about the Cloud services in the new TI. I don't use that, so I can't really comment on it. TI2014 is fine for local backups.

[fink]

talking about the Cloud services

I don't use that either. Never would.

[JLS]

Thanks. I just realized I have True Image 2013 and I believe 2009 or 2010. Is 2013 version as good as 2014 and is 2013 good for SSD drives, as well?

[Midknyte]

2013 should be sufficient. It supports SSDs.
https://kb.acronis.com/content/2699

[JLS]

Thanks, Midknyte. I will see how it goes.

[Welshjim]

JLS--
I have used Acronis TI for some years. It works fine. At least I have never lost data.
Whatever version you use to backup, continue to use that version if you ever want to restore some or all of the backup. I have found that later versions cannot always restore backups from an earlier version.

"Do I have to move them to another drive before backing them up or can I just do a backup with them on the drive I want to back up?"
I think this has been said, but it is best to backup to an external drive. That way if the PC crashes you still have the backup. And it means you do not need to do any moving of files before you backup.

[JLS]

Hi, Welshjim. I apprecaite your advice and help, also. Does anyone know if it will be difficult for me to restore a backup to another drive (which would be my first SSD) that is a different size (smaller - about half the size of the original drive that was backed up)? Does that cause conflicts when you restore a backup to a different size drive than the original size that was backed up?

[JLS]

I forgot to ask another question. The drive that I will be backing up has 3 partitions. 2 of the partitions just contain data. I will be only backing up the main (c partition) that contains all of my programs and OS. When I restore to another drive, will it cause issues if I restore and not have any partitions on this new drive or must I still have partitions because the backup drive was from a partitioned drive? I hope I made myself clear.

[Midknyte]

Does anyone know if it will be difficult for me to restore a backup to another drive (which would be my first SSD) that is a different size (smaller - about half the size of the original drive that was backed up)?

You can restore an image to a smaller drive if there is enough space for the data.

Does that cause conflicts when you restore a backup to a different size drive than the original size that was backed up?

No.

When I restore to another drive, will it cause issues if I restore and not have any partitions on this new drive or must I still have partitions because the backup drive was from a partitioned drive?

You don't need to recreate the second and third partitions. Restoring an image will recreate that partition (in your case C: partition).

Just to clarify, a partition is area where data resides (like the C: drive), it is not the "splitter" (like an cubicle partition). You will always have at least one partition on the drive.