Ist there a Feature like complete Image of a HD - but without 1 data folder ?

Hi !

i just bought the Trueimage 10 - german edition.

I have on C: 250 Gigbyte, but 220 Gigabyte are films or mp3`s and so on.

Is it now possible to make an image of the complete HD but without the folder where i have the 220 Gigabyte ?

The problem is - i want to have the possibility of the fast rebuilding of my complete system, but my target drive where i want to save the image is only 100 Gigabyte, and i don`t need to save e.g. every week all of my films or mp3`s - but i need every week a complete image of my PC.

Does anybody knows a solution for me ?

thanx and best regards

Fahrstuhl

 

The basic unit for imaging programs is a partition. If you re-partition your drive so your OS and apps are on C then the second partition can contain your data files.

You will need a partitioning program that can re-partition without destroying the data. However, it is always best to have a backup before doing it.

The easiest solution is to spend a bit of money and get another HD. I would make the 100GB C, the 250GB your data drive for mp3s etc and the new drive your backup drive. You could also consider having the backup drive in an external USB case so you can physically restore it away from your system for extra security.

 

hi !

thx for your post, i know that this is a possibly choice to re-size the partitions, but that`s not the way i prefered.

As i understand you right, is it not possible what i`m searching for, isn`t it ?

I never thought that i am the first person who have such a problem.

A complete image of my system partition dosn`t need the 220 Gigabyte with the entertainment data, i need only a image which rebuild my system if it crashs

has anybody any further suggestions ?

best regards

fahrstuhl

 

I think you should reconsider breaking the disk into at least 2 partitions. IMO, it does not make sense to keep data on the same partition as the system (OS and apps). With the data being separate you can redo the C partition easily at any time for any reason without worrying about losing data.

 

With so much of the space being your data, what Seekforever suggests is the way to go.

 

Hello fahrstuhl,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please note that Acronis True Image 10.0 Home does not allow you to exclude particular files/folders from the disk/partition image archive. This option is available for file-based backup. However, we can not guarantee that you will be able to restore your operating system to a working state by restoring the file-based backup of a system partition. Please take a look at this previous thread.

We would recommend that you use any partition utility such as Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0 that allows you to split one partition into two without loosing data. And after that you can use Acronis True Image 10.0 Home to create image archive of the system partition.

Thank you.
--
Aleksandr Isakov

 

I so completely disagree. In this era of large hard drives, why should I have to depend on the cumbersome process of repartition my hard drive just to keep a certain subset of data seperate from the operating system and programs?

No way. I should just be able to have a folder (that is, after all, what folders are for, the segregation and seperation of files based on need).

It is unfortunate that Acronis can't just exclude a folder when backing up. Since it can exlude files and it can put an image of the same partition it is backing up, I can't believe this would be all that dificult to implement in the Acronis TI program.

But being forced to buy a partitioning program or another hard drive (which is impractical for a notebook) just because Acronis can't exclude a folder is terrible.

I deafinitely would love to see this feature. Seperating a hard drive into cumb ersome folders just so I can backing it up properly is silly. Keep all your data in one folder hierarchy and that does keep you data seperate from your operating system.

Thanks for listening to my diatribe!

Vic

 

viclair> I don't understand why you do not want another partition?

I HAVE had the same problem you are having, and taking ONE drive and making TWO partitions IS the best way to solve your problem.

and I will tell you why;
When you divide your drive into two parts, you put your O/S on drive C: (and nothing more), and put all your movies, music, and other data on drive D:.

Now, when you use acronis, it can back up "just" your O/S on drive C: with no problem. You are not backing up all the data on drive D: (which would take some time), and in the event you need to restore, you just restore your O/S on C, and your back up and running in no time.

And wasn't this the problem you're trying to solve?

 

Another compelling reason to keep your data files on a separate partition is that they are protected from system crashes caused by the O/S and other software related system failures. You can restore your O/S partition from an image and know your data is up to date even though your restore image for the O/S partition may not be as recent as you might like.

 

Another reason for using multiple partitions is that it is often easy to classify data by the frequency that you back it up. For example on one of my systems I have :

- a system partion , backed up once a week
- work/docs partition, backed up daily
- MP3/Photos partition backed up monthly
- Games partition - never backed up.

Not only does this segmentation ensure that am not backing up anything I don't need to, it also ensures that when backups run they run quickly. My work partition only needs to be small, and as a result my daily backups take a minute or so.

Having said that, the bottom line is that you need to do what works best for you.

F.

 

There are other programs that will back up your system based on the file structure. Imaging programs bypass the file structure and thus run a lot faster but as you found out the basic unit for an image is a partition.

There is some convenience in having everything dumped into one drive letter. I disagree with your comment about large disks making this more desireable, IMO, it is actually less desireable. I prefer the "super-folder" partition approach for better categorizing my data particularly in terms of backing up. LikeFoghorne I do not backup everything on the same schedule and I also like knowing that my images contain everything on the partition not that I might have left a box ticked that eliminates part of the backup.

I also like the fact that a screwed up file structure only impacts on the current partition not everything I own and the ability to blow away the OS without giving a second thought to my data files is worth any irritation about having other partitions.

 

I agree totally with viclair. I often have very large files on my OS partition that are transient and incidental to my system backup, and would like flexibility to exclude them. In fact that was why I bought TI 9 - becasue I mistakenly thought from the marketing blurb it supported excluding files. And having just bought TI 10 because I thought it supported Outlook backup and it doesn't, I'm not that well pleased with Acronis right now.