True Image sees Backup Genie Backup as its own

[Mike Sansom]

I have two 120 gig hard disks in my machine one for linux and the other for XP I also have a 250 gig external usb2 Hard drive. All which are partitioned with Partition Magic,
the Xp HD has tree partitons C:Operating sys and programs D: data E: Photos.
want to mirror/clone this disk to the exernal drives 134 gig N:partition.

When I attempt IT states I already have backups ( presumably Backup Genies backs)but I havent used it yet,but I did make a start up disk before I did anything and was going to make another when cloning had finished. Question is TI recognising backup Genie back up which are on a different patition on the external HD. Do I have to remove the Genie backup first before using TI?

[Acronis Support]

Hello Mike,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

We are very sorry for the delay with the response.

Please be aware that the backups created with Acronis True Image are ordinary files (having .tib extension) and therefore they can saved to any supported storage device (e.g. internal, external or networked hard drive, CD, DVD, etc.) until there is enough free space.

Please also note that none of the currently available Acronis True Image versions has a capability of recognizing the backups produced by any other backup software and therefore cannot warn you about the fact that there are already some backups on the destination disk\partition.

The problem that you experience is most likely caused by the fact that you are trying to clone your system hard drive rather than create an image of it. When you pass through the Disk Clone Wizard and reach the step where you have to select the destination hard drive Acronis True Image warns you about the partitions persisting on the destination disk, as in case you proceed with the disk cloning procedure these partitions will be overwritten.

If that's the case then please note that there are two approaches available:

Clone Disk - copies\moves the entire contents of one disk drive to another;

Backup - creates a special archive file having '.tib' extension for backup and disaster recovery purposes.

The Clone Disk approach is meant for upgrading the hard drive (e.g. installing a larger disk), while the Backup approach is basically intended for the complete data backup and disaster recovery purposes.

Please also take a look at this FAQ article (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/faq/disk-clone-tool/) explaining the difference between the Clone Disk and Backup approaches in detail.

If you are interested in backing up your hard drive for the disaster recovery purposes, we recommend that you follow the Backup approach.

You can find more information on how to use Acronis True Image 9.0 Home in the respective User's Guide (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/download/docs/).

We also recommend that you take a look at Acronis True Image 9.0 Home FAQ page (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/faq.html), Acronis Public Knowledge Base (http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/support/kb/) and this article (http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/company/inpress/2006/06-15-1ati.html) providing the illustrated instructions on Acronis True Image 9.0 Home installation and usage.

If my assumption is not correct and the problem appears when you try to create an image of your system hard drive then please provide us with the following information:

- What exact Acronis True Image version and build number do you use?

You can find the full version name and build number by going to Help -> About... menu in the main program window.

- Create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=55317).

- Make a screen shot or provide the exact text of the warning message that you receive;

- Let us know when this warning message appears exactly;

- Reproduce the problem and collect Acronis True Image log which can be saved from Tools -> Show Log -> Diskette icon.

Then please submit a request for technical support (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/my/support/). Provide the files and information collected in your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov