Beginners Questions Please

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by wildchild, Jun 23, 2006.

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  1. wildchild

    wildchild Registered Member

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    Hi

    I purchased Acronis today, not sure if that was the right move having read some of these queries afterwards on the forum!

    HOWEVER I have already done it so... please can someone tell me if i've done this right? i've just created an entire disk backup of my c drive.

    It's created 4 files eg I called it completebackup and the files on an external usb firelite hard drive are completebackup1 through to completebackup4 - is this right that it's created 4 files? they're all the same size and I only asked it to do it once? :)

    I then asked it to 'mount' one of these files as a test to see if I could then view the file as I don't know what's in each of them? It said it couldn't partition/mount the external drive? - so how do I get to see what's in each of these 4 files that have just been created?

    I then verified one of these files which went though ok so I guess it thinks that all is ok, it took ages and there are supposedly 4 to do this with.. am I doing the right thing verifying these?

    What is the difference between backup and cloan please? either way I want a copy of my c drive and everything on it.

    And why would I want an acronis secure zone the sheer fact that there is one makes me think that everyone else puts something there - what do you use it for?

    Sorry if any of these questions are basic or sound silly to the more technically minded but i'm just keen to get this right due to a recent registry virus and pc crash and being able to restore data by the skin of my teeth!!

    If you've got this far I really appreciate any advice you can give me.

    Many thanks

    Wildchild.
     
  2. thomasjk

    thomasjk Registered Member

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    Wildchild:
    Your external drive is probably formatted Fat32. The max file size for Fat32 is 4GB. You must have about 16GB to backup based on four files. TI does this automatically based on the drive formatting.

    Verification automatically verifies all 4 pieces no need to do them individually.

    Cloning is used to migrate to a new usually larger hard drive. Creating a backup image is the normal process for hard drive backups. In an emergency you can restore the last image.

    I don't use the secure zone nor do many others. I don't thinks its useful since you already have an external USB drive.
     
  3. wildchild

    wildchild Registered Member

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    Thanks Tom

    That is exactly what I wanted to know, simple answers that make me feel more comfortable suddenly.

    The only bit I still don't understand is the mount? why wont it let me mount my backup so I can see what's in it? Does anyone know the answer to this please?

    Thanks again Tom have a good evening.

    Wildchild :)
     
  4. dld

    dld Registered Member

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    Wildchild... If your external drive is in fact formatted FAT32, my guess is that TI would need the four files of 4GB each to mount your C drive.

    If you are using WinXP why don't you format your external drive NTFS. Then you'll be able to mount your C drive with no problem.
     
  5. GroverH

    GroverH Registered Member

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    Download the user manual for TI9 from my link below. You will find it very helpful. Likewise, reviewing many of the postings on this forum will provide even more guidance. You will see the do's and don't, etc and the many suggestions offered. Like making sure you create the User Created Recover CD and that you do backups and restores from that CD. This makes sure your CD will see all your equipment--should windows fail.

    If you're willing to look, most questions have already been answered.

    Don't trust your backups just to one storage type--use multiple types so that if one method fails, you have alternate sources for accessing your backup files. You never know which piece of the many puzzle pieces will fail. Hard drives fail, media gets scratched. Windows won't boot or gets infected. Protect yourself!
     
  6. wildchild

    wildchild Registered Member

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    thank you all for your input.

    Grover I have read many posts in this forum and seemed to see many many problems for the product I had just purchased, after nearly having lost 3 years of work to a nasty registry virus I wanted to make sure I was definitely on track.

    I have downloaded the manual which i'm sure will keep me on the straight and narrow.

    Thanks

    Wildchild.
     
  7. GroverH

    GroverH Registered Member

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    Wildchild,

    The people without problems don't post so you never know about the happy ones. It's better to be informed about the possible problems and do your testing so you know you have all your bases covered.

    Try not to put all your backup eggs in one basket. If your data is important, make plain copies to DVD or other media. Have multiple Acronis Backups, etc. Being able to access your data from multiple methods helps to provide some assurance--should another virus hit or your hardware fails. Just make sure you are prepared should a disaster strike your computer!
     
  8. Greyhair

    Greyhair Registered Member

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    Hi Wildchild,

    You seem to have gotten the essentials right already. Don't worry about the questions you see on this forum, True Image works nicely for most people.

    Just remember Grover's advice. Test your recovery disk to make sure it sees your USB external drive and your DVD drive and make backups to both. Validate both. Your hard disk, your external hard disk and your DVD drive are bound to fail eventually, but you don't know which or when.

    Good luck,
    Dan
     
  9. mark3

    mark3 Registered Member

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    wildchild, further to the advice that has been wisely given, I would suggest that you purchase yourself a cheap disk, (eBay), and try a restore the image to it. If it works then not only are you assured that the image that you created isn't corrupted, but you also have a disk with your current OS on it. Should a disaster occur with your current disk then you can simply replace it with the cheap one for the time being. I keep one in the draw and frequently restore the image to it. That way, it is nearly always up to date.
    As it has already been mentioned, sometimes images verify correctly but do not restore properly and in the process destroy your current OS.
    The disk, by the way, does not need to be the same size as your current one. It only needs to be just a bit bigger than the used space on your current one.
     
  10. HelpFromFrance

    HelpFromFrance Registered Member

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    dld & wildchild,

    Found this on the forum for converting a fat32 into NTFS, it will avoid having to reformat your disk.

    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=136631

    Hope this helps,
    HelpFromFrance
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2006
  11. dld

    dld Registered Member

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    Wildchild.. You may want to read this thread if you are stuck with FAT32 and wish to mount a virtual image from a split backup.
    In order to mount a virtual image from a split backup, it would seem you first have to copy each file to a single directory on a HD. Then in order to mount a virtual image, you need only mount one of the files. TI would then find the additional needed files on its own.

    From the quoted thread, this seems to be the case if TI has done the splitting. In the case of FAT32, this may be different since in this case MS has done the splitting.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2006
  12. Azdon

    Azdon Registered Member

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    Wildchild, see the 2nd 'note' in chapter 11 of User Guide .
     
  13. Azdon

    Azdon Registered Member

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    dld,
    It probably doesn't matter, but why do you think MS does the splitting in the case with FAT32 size limitations? My guess is that TI checks what size it needs and splits if necessary.
     
  14. thomasjk

    thomasjk Registered Member

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    Wildchild, here is the link to an excellent explanation of how to convert from Fat32 to NTFS if you choose to do so. I used this approach and it worked perfectly.

    http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm
     
  15. dld

    dld Registered Member

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    The way I understand it, FAT32 file allocation splits any file larger than 4GB into multiple files. TI on the other hand splits into multiple files any DVD intended backup. TI would also keep a record of the DVD intended splitting.

    Wildchild quote: "I then asked it to 'mount' one of these files as a test to see if I could then view the file as I don't know what's in each of them? It said it couldn't partition/mount the external drive? - so how do I get to see what's in each of these 4 files that have just been created?" It would seem that TI cannot see as one backup the 4 files that were created by FAT32. The 4 files are probably the only files on his external HD. The fact that they may not be in a directory would not make any difference.
     
  16. TerryFox

    TerryFox Registered Member

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    Hi Wildchild .... I'm new to this software too , Though in the time I have use it ? It has work great for me , I love it ... :cool:
     
  17. Azdon

    Azdon Registered Member

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    dld,
    This is what I was referring to.
     

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  18. dld

    dld Registered Member

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    Azdon.. That makes it quite clear that TI determines the backup file size in FAT32. Thanks for correcting me.
     
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