Acronis Trial Download question

I read that you should use Acronis to backup your computer before you install anything on it. I just received a computer from Velocity Micro and I want to start installing programs on it. Can I use the free trial download to do the backup thing? I want to buy the software because I've heard it's good but I don't have the money right now and I need to start installing things on my new PC.
I only have one hard drive in the computer and I don't have an external hard drive either. Can I use DVD+R to do the backup?

 

Re: Acronis Trail Download question

The Windows version of the trial software is fully functional but time limited. The bootable rescue media created with the trial software isn't time limited but doesn't allow you create images; it can only restore images created via the Windows version.

Regards

 

Re: Acronis Trail Download question

Forgive me for being ignorant, but what do you mean when you say that the trial doesn't let you create images? I'm new to computers.

 

Re: Acronis Trail Download question

When you do a backup of your whole diskdrive (as opposed to backing up selected files) the data gets saved in a file which is called an image.

F.

 

Re: Acronis Trail Download question

As far as i know and i haven't tried the trial yet

If you install the trial as a windows program it is fully functional but time limited - so you can CREATE an image and you are supposedly able to back up to a cd or dvd drive. I'm presuming that you can also restore an image from the windows program untill the time limit runs out. From the windows program you can create a bootable cd version of true image - this is not time limited but can ONLY restore an image.

So in your case you could use the trial to make the image and then at a later date use the bootable cd to restore it.
Things to check for - make sure you verify your image to increase the chance it's ok and check that the bootable cd can see your dvd drive and the image on the dvd disc before before trusting it! It can have problems detecting hardware.

One thing i'm not sure about is can TI write the image file to the hard drive it is imaging? I thought it could as when you start the imaging process it reboots the pc and enters a different enviroment, therefore there are no issues. If this is the case i believe you can limit the size of the image (to say 4gb) write the image to the hard drive and then go in to windows and copy the image files to a dvd manually.

Hopefully somebody will post back if this is possible and a good idea. As i said i haven't used the trial yet - also check for bad sectors on your hard drive, hopefully there aren't any but this can cause problems.

What OS is your new pc? Vista? Doesn't that come with a new hard drive backup imaging option?
Also how is your hard drive set up? Does it have any recovery partitions on the drive? If it does i think you should avoid enabling the Startup Recovery Manager part of TI as there is a chance that this could break any recovery /reload factory default tools that comes with your pc.

Just some things to think about - i could be wrong but i'm sure somebody will put me right!!!!

 

Re: Acronis Trail Download question

I am also new to AI and have the trial version. From the above I take it to mean that you have a 15 day period to MAKE images. After that you have to buy AI 10 if you want to keep using it to make images. However I don't think there is any limit on restoring the files. So if you were on day 15 of your trial period you could make an image, then install your new software. If something blew up on day 16 or 17 (or 100) you could restore your system back to the way it was before installing the new software. Of course you would loose any other changes made since you made the image.

 

Re: Acronis Trail Download question

That's what i'm presuming - but not sure though. It could also be that after the time limit the installed windows program may not allow you to RESTORE images but you can use the bootable cd you made to restore images?

If so make sure you make the cd before the times up

and make sure the bootable cd can see your drive and the image file on the dvd disc!!

 

Re: Acronis Trail Download question

Hello jjbtnc,

Yes, using its special snapshot technology (see this <Acronis Technical Article> for details), TI can create an image to the same drive that's being imaged. You will get a warning message but you can just ignore it. As you are obviously aware, you cannot restore this image without moving it elsewhere first because TI will delete the destination disk/partition as part of the restore process.

Regards

 

Thanks for that - i thought that's how it worked. Sometimes if a program has a feature of burning direct to cd/dvd i still like to burn to the hard drive first and then copy over manually, with some programs you get less failures that way - not all the time, depends on my mood

 

Hello everyone,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for the delayed response.

Just would like to add one point to the excellent Menorcaman's descriptions.

This can be done when using Acronis True Image under Windows only. When booted from Acronis True Image Bootable CD the disk/partition image archive can not be placed to the same disk/partition.

Thank you.
--
Aleksandr Isakov

 

A valid point Aleksandr but as the thread is specifically about the trial version, and as the trial version rescue CD doesn't allow you to create images, I didn't think it necessary to mention it. With hindsight, I guess I probably should have qualified my statement.

Regards