what are the best alternatives to Acronis True Image?

[domg]

I'm also very unhappy with TI11. Went back to TI10. And now, I have just had a disaster (using TI10) where my backups just would not restore in an emergency. Problem w SATA drives? I really don't know. And at this point I really don't care. I just can't carry on using Acronis -- it's too risky. Especially in the situation now where Acronis seems to be completely deaf to its users' requests and opinions.

I'd like to know what other products others have considered and/or used, and maybe which look the most promising? I've been recommended Driveclone Pro and R-drive. Comments & suggestions gratefully received.

dom

[Ade 1]

Originally Posted by domg

I'd like to know what other products others have considered and/or used, and maybe which look the most promising? I've been recommended Driveclone Pro and R-drive. Comments & suggestions gratefully received.

dom

I'm using ShadowProtect Desktop and it's working great!

[domg]

What about a recovery CD? No problems? Also updates -- are they free, or do you pay annually for them?

Originally Posted by Ade 1

I'm using ShadowProtect Desktop and it's working great!

[DonKid]

Originally Posted by Ade 1

I'm using ShadowProtect Desktop and it's working great!

Me too.
One of the best.No headaches anymore.

[Escalader]

Originally Posted by domg

I'm also very unhappy with TI11. Went back to TI10. And now, I have just had a disaster (using TI10) where my backups just would not restore in an emergency. Problem w SATA drives? I really don't know. And at this point I really don't care. I just can't carry on using Acronis -- it's too risky. Especially in the situation now where Acronis seems to be completely deaf to its users' requests and opinions.

I'd like to know what other products others have considered and/or used, and maybe which look the most promising? I've been recommended Driveclone Pro and R-drive. Comments & suggestions gratefully received.

dom

FWIW, I have had very good imaging results with Paragon products.

http://www.paragon-software.com

Load the trial and test drive it.

I chose paragon after reading the posts of the day on ATI lack of support issues. That scared me at the git go.

Paragon have good user support and I needed that as a new imager at the time.

There are other tools as in this threads posts, but not having used them I'm not going to comment on them.

[person2006]

i just bought paragon drive backup for 29.95. after my 1st restore image. the system went into chkdsk. no errors. i think i will just use acronis true image 11from my bartpe disc i made, and wait for an update. handy backup is "works with vista" certified[2 versions lawsuit pending]. so is paragon drive backup. true image is not certified for vista. shadowprotect is not certified for vista either. paragon works great. don't know why i had a chkdsk one time after restoring image. there were no errors anyway, and chkdsk is part of windows doing its job. did more restores, and no more chkdsk. so right now i use paragon drive backup standard for 29.95, nice price and solid image software. and i use true image 11 bartpe plug in disc, that works just as good as paragon. paragons boot disk is very solid. it even has a "check restore disc integrity" checker, makes sure yur restore disc will work. paragon has a whole bunch of image integrity options. good for real real serious images.

[Woody777]

I am currently using Paragon Hard Disc Manager. Paragons products are very Good & certainly should be considered. There are other products that would work also but I have greater faith in Paragon than some of the others.

[domg]

Thanks Woody. Quite a lot of people (also outside this forum) have now recommended Paragon -- seems partic good value for $29.95. I assume the backup/restore section of Hard Disk Manager is the same as the standalone Drive Backup Personal. I already have apps which perform the same functions as the rest of HDM, so don't need them. Will investigate!

Originally Posted by Woody777

I am currently using Paragon Hard Disc Manager. Paragons products are very Good & certainly should be considered. There are other products that would work also but I have greater faith in Paragon than some of the others.

Is it possible to exclude file types or folders from imaging in Paragon Drive Backup?

[Robin A.]

It is not possible to exclude files or folders types from images.

I have used Drive Backup v. 8 for several years with 100% reliability, always from BartPE, in a Dell Computer running Windows XP SP2. I created the BartPE with a Mustang plugin, now unavailable. I only use basic options, to create images of ths system partition every month or so.

[mata7]

Originally Posted by Ade 1

I'm using ShadowProtect Desktop and it's working great!

is the CD required to restore a image with ShadowProtect Desktop or can you restore with out CD?

Thanks

[Peter2150]

Originally Posted by mata7

is the CD required to restore a image with ShadowProtect Desktop or can you restore with out CD?

Thanks

The CD is required. Shadowprotect, doesn't use secure zones or any of those kinds of things. You can image from windows or the CD, but restore is from CD. CD is winpe or Vistape based.

Pete

[mata7]

thanks peter

[ErikAlbert]

When ATI10 came out and I had to pay $30.00 for the upgrade, I decided to use ShadowProtect Desktop v2. No regrets. I use it since 2007.06.24 and it never failed until now.
I use SP regularly to keep my clean images up-to-date. I hardly use SP to restore my system due to a disaster,
the dead FDISR takes care of that.

[sukarof]

I can fall into the Shadowprotect praising line. I do restore with shadowprotect in average 5 times a month (mainly because it is so easy and fast) and have done so for a year soon, so I can vouch for its reliability (I never do a verify btw).
It has only failed me once with one image (the images done after the faulty one has been perfect, as usual), I dont know why and Storagecraft cant help me coz this fool deleted the faulty image file to gain space .
But I suspect it had something to do with Windows 2008 server that I tested.
ShadowProtect is expensive, but well worth the money imo.

[lodore]

paragon
shadow protect desktop
both fantastic products.

[Ed_H]

Another vote for ShadowProtect. I switched from Acronis TI after it failed to restore a couple of times. ShadowProtect restores have worked flawlessly on my PC.

[person2006]

Originally Posted by Peter2150

The CD is required. Shadowprotect, doesn't use secure zones or any of those kinds of things. You can image from windows or the CD, but restore is from CD. CD is winpe or Vistape based.

Pete

active disk image is winpe also.

[jonyjoe81]

I have true image 9.0 on one computer and easy image 3.0 (19.99) on another computer. I've only done one restore on easy image and it worked fine with the recovery cd having no problems recognizing external usb drives.

With true image 9.0 I've done numerous restorations and all have been successful (with minor repairs). As long as I have a "boot corrector", I can repair any restored drive that won't boot up. I've yet to spend more than 5 minutes in getting a drive to boot up.

Paragon drivebackup has a recovery cd with a built-in boot corrector" (19.00) value. That alone makes that software useful. I've used paragon, but found the interface confusing and the backups took twice as long as true image.

I have yet to run into any hardware problems with true image, I found there are workarounds for all hardware problems. I only recommend paragon drivebackup because of the power of the "boot corrector", but I would consider paragon a downgrade from true image because of the slowness in doing the backups.

I tried the demo of shadowprotect and it is very similar to true image in interface and speed of backup. If it was the same price as true image, then it would be a worthwhile contender.

[sukarof]

Sorry for the OT but I am a bit curious about this "boot corrector" what does it do and why does it have to do what it does?
I hope ATi 9 is reliable, I have it at work on one of our computers. I have not had to restore anything yet.

[person2006]

Originally Posted by jonyjoe81

I have true image 9.0 on one computer and easy image 3.0 (19.99) on another computer. I've only done one restore on easy image and it worked fine with the recovery cd having no problems recognizing external usb drives.

With true image 9.0 I've done numerous restorations and all have been successful (with minor repairs). As long as I have a "boot corrector", I can repair any restored drive that won't boot up. I've yet to spend more than 5 minutes in getting a drive to boot up.

Paragon drivebackup has a recovery cd with a built-in boot corrector" (19.00) value. That alone makes that software useful. I've used paragon, but found the interface confusing and the backups took twice as long as true image.

I have yet to run into any hardware problems with true image, I found there are workarounds for all hardware problems. I only recommend paragon drivebackup because of the power of the "boot corrector", but I would consider paragon a downgrade from true image because of the slowness in doing the backups.

I tried the demo of shadowprotect and it is very similar to true image in interface and speed of backup. If it was the same price as true image, then it would be a worthwhile contender.

for 80 bucks shadowprotect should be "certified for vista" just like an asus m3a motherboard is certified for vista. paragon slower than true image?, not anything noticeable to me on a amd 4200+dual core 3 gigs crucial memory 7800gtx video sata 150[striped 128 chunk size]

[person2006]

Originally Posted by sukarof

Sorry for the OT but I am a bit curious about this "boot corrector" what does it do and why does it have to do what it does?
I hope ATi 9 is reliable, I have it at work on one of our computers. I have not had to restore anything yet.

probly goes to a certain driver and then goes to a list of other drivers if it does not work. ti 11 should have this. ti is gonna end up like the winzip of disc imaging. everyone will just use a different unzipper.

[sukarof]

Originally Posted by person2006

probly goes to a certain driver and then goes to a list of other drivers if it does not work. ti 11 should have this. ti is gonna end up like the winzip of disc imaging. everyone will just use a different unzipper.

Ah..sorry, I could have googled for it, I didnt know it was a stand alone software, I thought it was a internal part of ATI.

[markymoo]

Surprise Surprise, another Acronis True Image renegade has escaped .

Welcome you got superior choices.

In no particular order as it depends on your needs.

The reliable three.

Image for Windows - My favourite.
ShadowProtect
Drive Snapshot

from domng
I just can't carry on using Acronis -- it's too risky. Especially in the situation now where Acronis seems to be completely deaf to its users' requests and opinions.

That's what happens when companies turn corporate. They screw the little guy. They ignore individual users complaints as they can afford to from the revenue marketing makes.

[linp]

In my opinion "Drive snapshot" is also a good choice,
http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/index.htm
see for usage tips also: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=187031
Nothing to install, just an executable, i have done aproxx. 30 restores , not one failure.
Lin