Creating an image from within Windows

I am using Vista and now my newly arrived copy of Acronis 11. My question is can I create a bootable image to my Secure Zone from within Windows Vista or must I do it from the rescue disk.

In the case of a disaster how do I go about booting the system straight from the Secure Zone without writing the image to the hard-drive first (or have I misunderstood the read-me file here)?

Regards

 

Precisely the reason for not creating or using the SZ on the system drive - when a second hard drive can be had for such a reasonable cost.

 

You specify that you want the image to be placed in the Secure Zone (SZ) when you create it. It can be done in Windows or by the CD version.

The images are stored in the SZ and when disaster strikes you boot up with the CD, select the image and restore it and off you go. HOWEVER, if your SZ is on the disk that died you will not be able to read your image and therefore will not be able to restore your system. The SZ is only secure in the sense that the partition is hidden from Windows and can't be accidently deleted; the files inside cannot be deleted or manipulated other than with TI. You can't copy an image in the SZ to another device with Windows Explorer.

The SZ is a great thing for systems with only one HD that is partitioned with only one large partition since you can create the SZ which provides a partition for backup storage. You can't store an image of a partition in the partition that will be restored since the first thing that happens on restoring is deleting the partition which would include deleting your image!

I never use the SZ as I prefer to store my images to various devices and to manage them as I wish with Windows Explorer.

 

Thank you for your replies.

DwnNdrty and seekforever... I have been using version 10 up to now and I have always kept my backups on a separate drive. Now that I am using Vista SZ seemed like a good idea because I was unable to restore a Vista backup some time ago and I ended up having to reinstall Vista I thought therefore that this would solve my problems.

I set up SZ on a USB drive last night and this morning when I booted up the Post screen showed "Starting Acronis Loader" as the last line. I thought that I had left the emergency disk in the CDROM drive but I hadn't. I restarted the PC but this time I switched off the USB drive before the reboot... when the POST got to the last line it showed "MBR2 Error" then booted up normally.

If I delete the SZ will this "error" go away. It's a pity the Help file and PDF are not a bit more descriptive in this respect. I think I will revert to keeping my backups separately as I did with version 10 but your comments on this post will be appreciated.

 

Is it Ok to "bump" a thread here?

 

Acronis recommends that Secure Zone be created on internal drives only. If installed on an external and the external is removed, this creates all kinds of problems.

When removing the Secure zone, do so using the Acronis options. Do not remove the SZ from Disk Management. Other cleanup may be necessary but that is a starting point.

 

Thank you GroverH... you don't mention what sort of problems are created but thus far all I have experienced is the "MBR2 Error."

And can the image be made from within Windows or must it be made using the boot disk... no-one seems to be able to answer this one!

Regards.

 

Some computers come from the manufacturer with the ability to boot into their own recovery software by pressing F11,. etc. The SZ has been known to render this useless. Check the Useful Forum Threads on the topic of "Secure zone & Startup Recovery Manager" for more information about the characteristics of this options. There are special procedures needed to remove the changes made by Startup Recovery Manager installation to the MBR--should you decide to remove the Startup Recovery Manger--if you have it installed

As for backups & restorations, both are equally possible via Windows or the Recovery CD. Both versions have most of the same options available. The CD does not offer scheduling but most other functions are available. The Recovery CD uses Linux drivers whereas the Windows version uses Windows compatible drivers. Some of our forum members will only backup using the CD since all Windows files are closed are non-conflicting; others members use both methods. Acronis has indicated the snapshots taken during backups are equally effective. The choice is yours. I use both procedures and always have backups sets created by both methods.

Be sure and maintain one current backup set where you backup/image the full disk with all partitions. Using this backup set, you can restore all or individual partitions or even restore to new disk should your disk fail. When restoring your system partition or a new drive, it is usually best to do so using the Recovery CD.

 

Thank you GroverH for a clear and speedy reply. Fortunately I don't have the F11 problem. I can't find this reference of yours though Check the Useful Forum Threads on the topic of "Secure zone & Startup Recovery Manager"

Your assistance is apprecaited... thank you.

PS: Just found a thread which probably answers my question.

Thanks again and congratulations on an extremely helpful forum.

 

The link I was referring to is the 8th thread from the bottom of the "Useful Forum Threads" listing. Glald to hear you found your answers.

 

GroverH... I must be the ultimate idiot but I cannot find the thread you are referring to... searched until I'm blue in the face!


(Edit) Damn... just found it!

 

The link to the Useful Forum Threads can be found in my signture below or as a permanent "sticky" posting on the main page of this Acronis True Image Product Line forum. The Acronis Secure Zone and Startup Recovery Manager is one of the many very Useful Forum Threads included in that posting.

 

Thank you GroverH... I did find ithe thread later (see the edit on my earlier post) however I am still having problems. This is perhaps in a different direction.

Two days ago I cloned my working disk to a USB disk of the same size and because I had run into Nvidia driver difficulties I decided to clone the drive back from the USB to the fixed drive. On startup I was greeted with the message that Winboot.exe was missing, fortunately it was easy enough to repair with the install disk. I read a post from Mudcrab on how to fix Vista so that a repair is not needed after a clone... is this modification easy and would you recommend it?

I have read in a variet of posts here that when backing up the drive the ENTIRE drive should be backed up which seems a bit harsh given that the drive could be quite big and there could be a great deal of information in other partitions. Is there a problem with Vista in this respect or have Acronis not addressed the problem properly?

Thank you again for your valuable help.

 

Were the backup used in the un-successful restore created by Version 11?

Should you need to do a restore with the old backup which had the old setting before repair, then yes, another repair would be needed. As I understand it, once the repair has been made, no other repair is needed providing you make all new backups and restore only the new backups. Yes, MudCrab's repair is straight forward but does need careful attention to detail.

Should you need to replace your system disk, a full image backup of all partitions provides all you need to re-create a new disk. Otherwise, a disk replacement via single partition backups would have you jumping thru hoops and you probably need help from the smarter guys on the forum.

Many of perform full disk images on a semi regular basis and do single partition images on a more frequent basis. Thus, should a drive replacement be needed, we can use the Full disk restore and then update the restore with newer partition backups. I never do "Files & Folders" backup and it is also not bootable.

Should have audio/video/photos, these are already compressed and can easily be backed up without compression via the Windows copy facility direct other drives or to DVD. I do not have the new version 11 (nor Vista) but I believe v11 has the capability of bypassing certain file types, etc so these could be excluded from the backup--should you already have these files backed up an alternate means.

Usually, you can restore a single partition without difficulty. If the partition is a data partition, this can be done from within Windows from either a full or single partition backup.

If you need to restore your system partition only, the restore should occur from the Rescue CD and the restore can be from a full or single partition backup.

If you need to replace your hard drive with an identical size, then the full backup restore would be used. However, if replaced with a larger drive, then the full backup is used but the restore portion is a partitions restore with resize --as detailed in Note-2 of my Restore Guide.

Partitions restore with resizing by Menorcaman:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=769388&postcount=5

These links below may or many not be applicable.
Recommend backup scheme for photos, music 32 replies--2 pages
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=164175

SAVE MY MUSIC COLLECTION! PLEASE (29 replies --2 pages)
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=167710

Best way for making functioning images
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=1047306

 

Once again a concise and extremely informative answer. I believe you have answered all my questions and I thank you.

I have no doubt I shall come across more problems in due course but a new thread will take care of them.

Regards from Down Under.