Acronis Secure Zone Question

I running Windows XP Service Pack 3. I using Acronis True Image 2009 build 9646. Now when I loaded ATI onto my PC which has a Western Digital internal Hard Drive C: at 160GB. I have 68GB used on this hard drive. When I installed ATI it wanted to set up the Acronis Secure Zone so I let it. It set up the ASZ on my hard drive and partitioned a space for it. But it partitioned 75GB for the ASZ. Is this normal?

I now only have 10GB of free space on my hard drive. I don't think this right. Should I have the ASZ on my hard drive? Or should I have made this on the external hard drive that I have? I appreciate the help, I'm a newbie with the external hard drive and backing up all data.

If I'm lacking needed info let me know. Thanks again

 

I think you had the opportunity during the setup to set the size you wanted. You can remove it and start again if you really want it.

I never use the SZ because you have to use TI to manage the backups in it. If you just create them to your external HD you can put them in a regular folder, copy them, delete them just like any other file.

Some users like the SZ because it can offer some automatic features but with TI2009 just what it offers isn't clear to me compared to other options.

In short the SZ is not essential for TI to run - its main purpose was really to let users with one drive setup with one large partition to easily create a partition to store their images in. Images can't be stored in the partition being restored because one of the first things done on restore is to delete the partition which would delete the image file.

Note that the Secure in SZ is only secure in the fact that the partition is hidden and the files are not easily deleted by accident. If the drive goes bad the backups in the SZ are gone too!

 

If I'm understanding everything you said. I would just be better off not having a ASZ and just doing a backup of MY COMPUTER (hard drive C to my external harddrive. Would I still be able to restore these these files using the bootable media?

What I purchased ATI for was to make sure I had a backup of my whole system with the Operating System. So that if I had a hard drive fatality or wanted to install a new hard drive I would have the backup to do it from. I'm really sorry to sound so stupid, but I'm just trying to make sure that I'm doing things right. I don't want to go through the trouble of purchasing this program and the external hard drive and then mess up the backing up process.

thanks for the help.

 

Assuming TI correctly sees your drives, you would be able to restore normally from the external drive to your internal drive. This is how a lot of people do it.

You would need to create the TI CD, boot it and make sure it sees your drives. I would also recommend making sure TI can successfully Validate your image. If you have a spare drive available, doing an actual restore is the best test.

 

Thank you...I will try this. Thank you for the information and advice.

 

Since you are new at this, you may not be aware that the TI recovery CD environment is Linux, not Windows. For this reason it is imperative that you do a test restore (best) to a spare HD or at least a validate using the CD. Just because an archive can be validated in Windows doesn't always mean that it can be properly read in Linux. Once you have determined the Linux environment works on your PC then Windows validations are fine.

If you start an image restore of the active partition, typically the C drive, in Windows TI will gather the necessary information and then reboot into the Linux environment stored on your HD. The reason for this is that Windows cannot be running to do the restore of its partition.

Not testing the recovery environment before it is really needed is where a number of users come to grief; until you have a degree of confidence the backup will restore, you don't have a backup system in place. This applies to any backup program, not just TI.

 

That is exactly how I feel. For a new user I'm really overwhelmed by this whole backup thing. I know it is needed and I want to make sure my data is as secure as possible, but I feel like I'm making things worse instead of better.

I had no idea about the Linux enviroment. Is this why when I loaded the rescue CD and then rebooted my computer - It said loading Acronis (something) and then press F11. I pressed F11 and the Acronis start page loaded, but looked all funny (I know good technical term).

My son might have an extra Hard Drive for me to try this with. I don't have to make sure the drive are the same right? ie...IDE to Sata

Thank you...

 

regina,
If you have some extra time, I believe you would find it beneficial if you were to read my guides listed on line 2 of my signature below. While the guide relates to prior versions, the procedures are still applicable.

 

I will definitely read the guide and I appreciate the help. Thank you so much and have a Merry Christmas.

 

Just hang in there, read Groverh's and any other guides, ask some questions and do some test imaging and restores if you get a spare HD. You'll be an expert in no time!

The test HD is best if it is the same type, IDE or SATA, that you actually use so you can be sure that the whole disk sub-system exactly as you use it is functional. The drives don't have to be the same make or size as long as it is big enough.

 

Hello regina3303,

Thank you for your interesting in Acronis True Image

Acronis does not recommend creating the Acronis Secure Zone on a detachable drive. If you activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and then for some reason disconnect the drive Acronis Secure Zone resides on, your computer may boot with a long delay or not boot at all. You will need to either reconnect the drive with the Acronis Secure Zone or fix the master boot record (MBR).

You can always change size of Acronis Secure Zone within the program from Tools -> Manage Acronis Secure Zone.

In case you have a question or an issue don’t hesitate to contact us using Live Chat, use this link

Best regards,
--
Dmitry Nikolaev

 

Just use ATI to remove the SZ and then don't bother with them anymore. Create a bootcd and use that for restores. Keep you archive disk in a safe place.

 

Hi,

I´m using TI 2009 to backup my data on the ASZ. The Backupprocess works (though it´s significantly slower than backing up to a normal partition) but my problem is the search/restore operation.
How do I search files in my backups? With normal .tip Backups on other partitions I could use the search function of Acronis oder just open the .tib-file and browse through the archive. The backups on my ASZ are nowhere to be found... well there are some generic named "file backup(2)" things when I search for them manually, but nothing with the filename I entered when creating the schedule. I also can´t browse these backups (only restore) und I can´t search files in them with the search feature...

I liked the idea of a hidden partition that´s used solely for backups, but it seems to have only disadvantages compared to "normal" backups. I also had anticipated that TI2009 would support Vistas Shadow Copy feature for filebackups, but that doesn´t seem to be the case.

Am I doing anything wrong, or should I just delete the ASZ and use my normal .tib files?

 

The traditional way to explore .tib files in a secure zone is to mount the image and then use Windows explorer.

However so many things have been changed in version 2009, IMHO for the worse, maybe this simple process has been broken.
I have not tested it as I have no intention to move from a prior version of TI which works just as I like it.

Xpilot

 

You can only mount a full image. I´m just backing up some folders (file backup).

 

I understand. That is a path I have never trod. I go for full drive protection.

Xpilot

 

Acronis' great strength is its ability to restore an entire system, but when it comes to file backups - dare I say it - there are far better solutions, many of them free. Why put your file backups in a format which requires proprietary software (Acronis) in order to read or restore them?

If compression is needed then WinRAR is one such that creates archives in rar or zip format and requires only a double click to run any selected profile (set of files). rar and zip archives can be read by many free programs as well as by WinRAR.

If compression is not needed then synchronisation programs such as SyncBack or M$' SyncToy will create duplicate sets of folders to another drive and can run automatically on a schedule. Both are free.

Running Acronis in tandem with other backup solutions can give you the best of all worlds.