2009 (12.0.0.9615): problems with restore sequence

Hey guys,

I've made a few backups to my vista x64 system (1 full backup and several incrementals)

here's my drive partitions (on one disk):
c: system
d: temp
e: programs
f: portfolio
g: files
h: acronis secure zone (by the way is this necessary if i have the manager on a disk?)

the only drive i'm backing up is the c drive. (for the moment)

here are some problems i've come across:
1. trying to restore from boot, the only partition available for restoring to is the E drive why can't i select the C?? (doing from within windows the C partition appears perfectly)

2. when restoring the partition, should i also select the "MBR and track 0"?
(I haven't added the MBR as i assume its only if you can't boot your PC? (correct me if i'm wrong)

3. I want to back up my "C:\Users\USER\AppData" folder...but it gives me some errors...is it possible to back this up? or is there some cache/windows thing preventing the backup? (see image)
http://i38.tinypic.com/2rm8gg5.jpg

4. renaming backups inside the program does not change the name of the "*.tib" file on disc

5. time remaining goes from 1.5hrs to a more realistic 25 min (within the 25 min) ...is that normal or a bug?

(Acronis True Image Home 2009 Build 12.0.0.9615)

thanks for any help.
Johnny

 

<bump>

anyone?

 

The SZ is not necessary unless you want (or need) to use any of its features (the ASRM, for example).

Is the C: partition grayed-out? Is the E: partition larger than the C: partition? If so, is the E: partition the only partition larger than the C: partition?

Have you checked the C: partition for any errors (run chkdsk /r on it, for example)?

Unless you know the MBR has been corrupted, it's not necessary to restore it when restoring back to the original drive.

This folder would be backed up in your C: image backup. Were you trying to do a Data (files & folders) type backup of this folder?

I haven't tried this. Personally, I don't like the database approach of tracking the TIB files that TI 2009 uses. I prefer to manage them myself and just browse to them as needed.

It depends on the computer, but it's fairly normal. Go by the actual time instead of the estimate. After you've run several backups/restores, you'll know how long they really take.

 

wow, thanks for the full feedback mudcrab!! I really appreciate it as being a desinger/song writer i need all my settings for my 2D and 3D apps AND my DAW! so its a nightmare restoring everything...takes a solid day at least. not anymore thanks to Acronis!

--- follow up ---

c: system (40gb)
d: temp (35gb)
e: programs (50gb)
f: portfolio (100gb)
g: files (180gb)

here are some pics i took of the occasion (form the ASRM method):
http://i33.tinypic.com/14j7u34.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/bezq6a.jpg

NB: although it says its "E" in the second image, the file size says its in fact the C partition. (i stopped as i was afraid it was going to write files to my E partition)

btw, what does the green/yellow stars mean on the partitions? (healty?, backed up?, ?)

finally, is there any way to add custom program locations to "my application settings"? yes, i was trying the "my data" way to try and back up my adobe/DAW settings. as they are changing on a daily basis for sure, and i wanted an independant backup of those so i could do a major restore of C and then run my latest "personal settings" backup to bring it all right back to my latest. do you recommend a good way of doing this? (appart from copying specific folders inside the appdata (vista) folder...what i did in the past)...or maybe use syncback (just for preferenes)?

 

It is better to give your disks and partitions meaningful names, the Linux system that TI uses to restore assign different letters than Windows, this is applicable whether you start the restore from Windows or the rescue disk.

A number of us prefer to use a program such as Microsoft synctoy to back up data files

 

thanks for the feedback como....

I do have the names on each drive. and each acronis backup is named something like "vista64_C_2008-11-07_Main", "vista64_C_2008-11-09_Main_Inc_01", etc

synctoy...sounds good!

 

When a disk needs replacement, the type of backup that offers the most possibilities for restoration/replacement is the “disk” backup. This backup type (disk option checked) includes a backup of all partitions within the single disk. For best chance of success, source disk should be in boot position while the backup image is being created.

Once you have a “disk” backup, you can then restore/overlay any of the single partitions; or restore all the partitions so the entire disk can be replaced. Conversely, if your backup is a “partition” type (not all partitions selected), it becomes difficult and cumbersome to create a replacement disk because of the missing partitions. This is why a “disk” type backup is recommended. Your disk-partition arrangement is illustrated within Windows Disk Management.

When restoring a “partition” type backup image to a new disk, if you restore only the Windows partition from a drive that had multiple partitions (recovery, diagnostic, etc), Windows may not boot properly. Therefore, the best bet to return to a working state is to restore all partitions on the disk. If the new disk has more capacity than the old disk, use the “disk” type backup for the restore but use the “Partition restore with resize” method to restore the individual partitions.

 

thanks for the info Grover!

for the moment i am backing up only thinking about my current drive.

I've read your "Beginner's Guides for TrueImage Home" (great stuff!) and I can see where the “disk” (FULL) backup would be the better option should my current one up and die on me.

EDIT: because I am a designer/music composer type, I have GBs of hi-res images AND GBs of WAV samples on my "files" partition. I really need a dedicated second drive to back it all up. for the moment I have just copies of the samples/images directories on my "passport" along with my "C" backup. do you recommend a dedicated internal HD for backup? or an external? (thinking about it as a future purchase)

@ MudCrab:
I forgot to mention before, its a new drive (few months old) and I ran the "chkdsk /r" on it, no errors on partition, again thanks for the info.

guys while we're on the subject of partitions, is there a program that you recommend for creating/modifying partitions on new drives? (i've used partition magic in the past) this time I just used the vista partition manager to create each while I was installing vista for the first time. what do you recommend?

thanks

 

I would not be happy to have GBs of data on a partition of my system disk, personally I would have at least one extra internal disk just for data. Depending on how important the data is to you I would also consider either a removable internal drive system or several external disks so that more than one backup can be kept, with one being off site.

Acronis has a program called Disk Director which apparently is similar to PM, you can download a trial to try. I have not tried it as I am still on XP and PM works just fine. I understand however that there is a disk partitioning tool in Vista anyway, which I guess is similar to Disk Management in XP.

 

There could be many variantions of good backup strategy for your situation.

Considering that your drive could fail from any variety of reasons including an electrical jolt, I suggest you consider some further investments in disk storage.

1. I would have two external drives for backup purposes and alternate their use so that one would be available should one fail. Each drive would contain all of your data. I would also have my images and mp3 files onto several copies of DVD's. There has been so many instances of people posting the loss of all their work which has taken years to accumulate and many had backups which were never tested and ended up being useless and of no help in their recovery.

2. I would split your disk into two partitions and transfer all your hi-res images & audio files onto this 2nd partition or it could even be a 2nd internal disk just to hold your images & audio files. You might want to read this discussion of the partition reasoning.

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=224587

Many of us use 3rd party programs to copy or syncronize their data files onto a backup drive. There are numerous posts about a backup strategy should you want to do a search.

You need to test whatever is your plans so you know you can recover should a fire (etc) destroy your backup of data. If your backup program (whatever it might be) fails, you need a recovery plan! Many people in your situation will have duplicate disk stashed away for their immediate use should their drive fail or something incident happen. Should you need to move to a newer computer, then your backup serves only for the transfer of persoanl files but your programs would need to be installed fresh onto your new computer.

 

Hello Johnny812,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

I may recommend you to check Acronis True Image Home 2009 User's Guide for some additional information on the program.

The "MBR and Track 0", as MudCrab noted, only needs to be restored in case MBR on the drive has been corrupted (when restoring to original drive), or if you have a nonstandart MBR (when restoring to a new drive), for example, with some boot manager installed.

The renaming feature Acronis True Image Home 2009 is intended to change only the displayed name for the backup; the name of the respective archive file will not change.

Regarding the problem with backing up the "C:\Users\USER\AppData" folder: could you please collect some information to let us investigate it thoroughly:

Please create Acronis Report and Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

Please clarify, does the error message appear when you are creating a task to back up, or when the task starts?

If it's the first case, at what step does it appear?

If it's the second one, please collect the application log of the operation:
- run the program;
- select Show log on the toolbar or from the Tools menu;
- select the corresponding log;
- click "Save the log entry to file" (the diskette icon).

Then submit a request for technical support or use our Live Chat service. Attach all the collected files and information to 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 do our best to investigate the problem and provide you with a solution.

In either case, as MudCrab pointed, the folder will be included into your C: partition image, and can be restored separately if needed.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

ok, I summited the log to support.

there are no options to show log on the toolbar/menu, the log is always on as a standard feature in the program (from what I can see) and I just selected the one i needed and saved it to a log file.

this isn't very practical as i change settings hourly (different track setups, fx settings, routings, general preferences, etc)...and each backup weighs in at <1gb (incremental). it would be nice if there was a "select which progam you want to backup settings for" or something similar.

thanks for you help in this matter.

Also, I had to revert back to a previous backup and it worked great from boot this time. it saw the C drive fine. the only difference is that I had the acronis secure zone set up on a previous install of vista. (i reinstalled vista + basic drivers and installed acronis straight after....followed by other drivers/software)....nice to jump back in time in just 21min!!

 

Hello Johnny812,

Please be informed that our software support Application Settings backup, you may create a backup of separate software settings. Please refer to 5.3 chapter of respective User's Guide.

Johnny812, could you please provide us with your case number, so we can check sent log and analyze it?

Thank you.
--
Alexander Nikolsky