what is needed here?

[rbig]

Some new issues raised by guys reponding to my previous problem:

Got a Windows XP computer , with 60gb har drive hooked to it.

I use Acronis as a true image backup to the USB drive.

I have the full Acronis true image backup on the USB drive.

If my pc crashes, and I put a new internal hard drive in (I assume I'll get
it back from the shop with a fully functional blank disk): what do I need
to do to get into the USB hard drive and run a recovery through the Acronis
backup?

[K0LO]

-{ Quote: "...If my pc crashes, and I put a new internal hard drive in (I assume I'll get
it back from the shop with a fully functional blank disk): what do I need
to do to get into the USB hard drive and run a recovery through the Acronis
backup?" }-
The Acronis bootable recovery CD. This CD contains its own operating system and is capable of running independently of Windows.

To make one, go to the Tools menu in Acronis True Image and run the Bootable Media Builder application.

[shieber]

Insert ATI BootCD into CD drive. Turn off PC. Replace bad drive with the new one. Connect the USB drive. Turn on PC. ATI will boot up; choose Full mode. Use ATI to Recover manually. Choose the tib file on the usb as the source and select hthe partiton to restore -- then choose the new drive as the target.

See the guides noted in the signature of any message by Glover for info on restoring a drive to a drive of a diff size. If you have a spare drive, a test restore wouldn't be a bad idea.

[seekforever]

-{ Quote: "... If you have a spare drive, a test restore wouldn't be a bad idea." }-

It is an excellent idea and the only way to test the entire process that you can do a restore in case of a HD crash. If you don't want to do the spare HD method the next best thing is to boot up the TI rescue CD and then validate your archive with it. This ensures TI can read your archive properly.

Why the emphasis on using the boot CD? The reason is the recovery environment is not Windows but a memory-resident version of Linux. A weakness in this approach is the sometimes inadequate driver support for various hardware and you don't want to find this out when you really need to restore.

[rbig]

Wow! Good news. Thank to all on getting me straightened out on Acronis.