Beginners setup guide

Hi,

I am a little confused on how to setup a backup. I have setup my system on a separate drive - and I want to make and image of this C drive, that I can use to restore if something goes wrong. I want to save this image on my d drive, separate to the sutems C drive.

Is there a step by step guide for beginners?

1. the help menu seems to just be descriptive - not useful.
2. Am I backing up my compuer or sustem state?
3. What is the default for saving these files in my document on my c drive - what if my c Drive crashes?
4. When Do I use one click protection?
5. what is secure zone - do I need to set it up?

It seems that there are different ways to do the same thing - is that correct?

I wouild appreciate your help.

Cheers.

 

Look for any message by GroverH. In his signature are links to some easy-to-understand guides for using True Image.

 

GroverH:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/member.php?find=lastposter&t=234054
Although the docs are for the older ATI home version 9 and 10.
I don't know how relevant they are for ATI home version 11 and 12(2009).

> the help menu seems to just be descriptive - not useful.

True. But you need to know it all to make good decisions. The program is
easy to use once you actually know all about the different backup methods.
That's why the help is 20% about the software, and 80% about backup.

> Am I backing up my computer or system state? It seems that
> there are different ways to do the same thing - is that correct?
> When Do I use one click protection?

On the 'back-up & restore' page, there are four modes of FILE back-up,
and one mode of DISK imaging. On the 'utilities' page there is an additional
mode of DISK imaging called 'clone'. All are different and have different
purpose. So no, there are not different ways to do the same thing. The
only thing they have in common is that they 'copy data'.

The exception to this is the 'one click protection' feature. It is simply a
simplified 'wizard' which sets-up an initial back-up DISK imaging schedule for
first-time users without them having to learn how to use the scheduler. So
you could argue there are two ways of making the same kind of DISK image.

Anyway, you'll have to decide which one or two methods you're going to utilise.
It really depends on your equipment, the kind of back-up routine you are
comfortable with, what kind of data you want to protect, how fast you need to
recover, and from which 'level' of data-loss disaster you need to be able to
recover from. Eg. Protecting against a destroyed/stolen laptop takes a lot more
time, effort and money than protecting your Word documents.

> What is the default for saving these files in my document on my c drive

documents/mybackups

> what if my c Drive crashes?

Exactly why you have to decide which methods you're going to use, and
how long you want to spend recovering from a disk fault. You need to go
through each method and learn exactly what it does, why you'd use it,
and what you need to be able to do in the event of data/OS loss.

> what is secure zone - do I need to set it up?

You don't need to use an 'ASZ', and its not even advisable for some of
the backup methods. I wouldn't use encryption either, unless you really
need it.

 

Thank you for your reply.

the only real reason i want to use this software is to be able to wind back my sytem drive to a clean state. As you know, using the computer connected to the web - collects junk and slows things down after a while.

when this happens - i usually do a complete disk format and reinstall all programs. Now I want to get me system running well, and want to make an image of the sytem (not data) so I can easily get things going again when things slow down or becomes corrupt.

I use other methods for backing up data which I am happy with.
I also like to use the program for testing software - i think this is a great feature.

Kind regards,
Mil

 

Another option for this would be RollBack Rx. This is faster and you are much less likely to have problems restoring. This is not strictly speaking a replacement for a program like ATI as it will only protect against software problems while an image will protect against a full hard drive failure (assuming you are not saving your images to the same drive). There are a few "do not do things" associated with RollBack Rx installed on your PC so you if you are considering it as an option let me know and I will find the link to the relevant info. Personally I use both ATI and RollBack Rx. For me its an excellent combination.

Rollback Rx snapshot times (time to create) under 5 seconds and can be set to automatically create a snap every hour, time to restore to an earlier state, 3 to 5 min. Creating a full image with ATI,,,,, it takes about 2 hours to back up my 90 gigs of data and about 1/2 hour to restore it.