Find version/build number in True Image Home 2009

I've looked in the obvious places in the program and tried a few left/right clicks on various icons etc but I can't find out what version/build number I'm presently running.

Most programs you only need to open it, click Help in top menu, click About and the information is there...but not True Image Home 2009; way too simple!

I'm positive this information was readily available in older versions of the program? Would appreciate it if someone could tell me where I should look in version 2009. Thanks.

 

Hit the Alt key ... the Help menu will then appear near the top.

 

Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for the fast answer, appreciated. Frustration level has now been diminished by one simple key action.

BTW, how did you know this? If the answer is something obvious in the program or the actual Help File I'd smack myself!

Thanks again.

 

Some other user on the forum found it. It's been mentioned a few times. Beats the heck outta me how the programmers could even think of doing something like that.

BTW, here's another gotcha with ver 2009. When you use the Rescue CD to do a Recovery/Restore, the Total Progress window will complete in about 5 seconds, leaving the Time Remaining display stuck at about 2 seconds and leaving you without an estimate of when the restore will be done, unless you're good at calculating it from the movement of the Current Operation Progress bars. This feature was working correctly in the Beta version, but not in the Release version.

 

Ok, now I don't feel so bad about not finding the version number. (What an absolute silliness on the part of the programmers).

Thanks also for the tip about the Rescue CD. I will keep that in mind should I ever have to do a recovery, though hopefully by then those same programmers will have fixed that problem. Maybe the latest update Build #9709 23.01.09 addresses this issue. Yep, maybe.

Thanks again for your help, appreciated.

 

The progress bar is as useless in making a backup from the rescue CD as well in the same way.

You've got to hand it to Acronis programmers, they know how to bug. Quality is job nyet.

 

This is so incredibly stupid.

I am a great fan of True Image which I have been using since it first came out.

However, an interface which requires me to go to the support forums in order to find out how to find the build is just so.....so...... inadequate!


Clavain.

 

You are too kind. Just wait until you try a Backup or Restore using the Rescue CD.

 

Ok, now I'm getting a little apprehensive about the effectiveness and user-friendliness of True Image Home/Rescue CDs etc. and whether these problems mentioned above affect how I use True Image Home 2009.

I use the program as a basic safety net and select the "My Computer" backup option (ie "Create an image of the entire disk or a partition"). I select only my C:\ drive to back up to a dedicated folder on an external hard drive. Are these hanging problems/inaccurate progress bars etc likely to occur if I have to do a recovery/restore from my external HD? Or are these issues only related to using Rescue CDs? (BTW, I am presuming here that I can recover/restore from my ext HD and that I don't have to use a CD?).

I haven't created any Rescue CDs that I'm aware of but after I installed the program I did a "System Volume Backup" to another folder on my ext HD. As I don't really know what a "System Volume Backup" is, I may well have be repeating my normal backup of C: drive? (Need to read the manual).

My program's "Protection State" page shows "Acronis Bootable Media: Created" but how or when I did that I don't now recall (too long ago + bad memory) but I haven't copied anything to a CD.

If I'm likely to encounter the problems mentioned in posts above, am I better off switching to another program like Nortons Ghost (if it's available)? I just want something totally reliable and simple to use for when/if I have a pc disaster and want to properly restore my system, quickly. After reading the glowing reviews of True Image Home 2009 in a number of pc mags I'm a little disappointed at some of the 'quirks' the software apparently has.

Cheers,
Terry

 

Terry, it is imperative that you make the Rescue CD (I think it is called Create Bootable Rescue Media in the software menu) and boot with it to make sure it can "see" your external drive.

I don't know what a System Volume Backup is ... I think that was introduced in versions later than the Ver 9 which I still use. In any case the Backup you need to do is where you backup the entire contents of the hard drive - put the check mark against Disk 1.

The quirk where the Total Progress bar ends too soon should probably be fixed in the next update. It actually was working correctly in the Beta version of 2009. But if you know to expect it, ignore it and just look at the Current Operation progress bar and you will get the Backup done.

 

"...it is imperative that you make the Rescue CD...and boot with it to make sure it can "see" your external drive".

Thanks for the tip, appreciated. I've now created a Rescue CD using the method you described (ie via the program's "Create Bootable Rescue Media" option) so that's another small step forward.

I don't know the steps to follow to boot with the CD so I don't know yet whether I can "see" my external HD or not.

"I don't know what a System Volume Backup is ... " Me neither; I browsed the Help file and it mentioned the term a few times but it didn't explain what it was/did. Something to follow up on anothe time.

In any case the Backup you need to do is where you backup the entire contents of the hard drive - put the check mark against Disk 1. When I do a general backup (via "My Computer" backup option) I make sure the box for Disk 1 (which is my C drive) is checked; so all good there too.

The quirk where the Total Progress bar ends too soon should probably be fixed in the next update.. Ok, I'll just forget about that problem for the time being. Maybe its been sorted in the latest update issued 23.01.2009? I've emailed Acronis Support and asked them about this issue.

Thanks for your assistance and advice.

Terry

 

To boot with the CD, you need to start the computer with the CD in the drive. If your system is a desktop, put the CD in the drive and restart the computer. Have the external drive connected before restarting.

If the computer doesn't boot the CD but goes into Windows instead, then you have to change the boot order in the Bios so the computer looks for a bootable CD first, then if it doesn't find one, it boots the hard drive.

 

LOL, I not just saying that, your comment actually did make me laugh out loud.

Nothing like a bit of humour

Clavain

 

My apologies for apparently not replying to your post. I did type a reply and thought it had been posted but I can't see it here, so obviously I stuffed up the "Send" part, somehow? (I'm still subscribed to this thread so when Calvain posted I came back here and couldn't see my "last" post).

Essentially I replied: I did what you said and it all works ok so thank you for your time and advice, much appreciated.

Also, thanks to you, I understand the fundamentals of how the program works. When my system crashes I need the Rescue CD to get me in the side door so I can access True Image and restore using the True Image backup file/s I have on my external hard drive. Bit like needing the key to the padlock on your toolbox.

Regards,
Terry

 

Just to make sure we're on the same page ... you must make the Rescue CD now, boot with it, and make sure it "sees" your external HD and more importantly, the Image you have on the external HD. Do a "dry run" as though you're doing a restore, right up to where you can pick out the Image, then cancel out.

The Rescue CD has all the basic True Image functions on it.

 

We are on the same page.

It's been two weeks since I did it, but from memory I...

1. Shut down pc.
2. Booted with Rescue CD.
3. Screen showed two icons, Windows icon and Acronis True Home Image icon.
4. Clicked on Acronis THI icon.
5. Acronis THI opened.
6. Navigated to the backup files I previously created with Acronis THI and stored on my external hard drive.
7. Could have selected the backup file I wanted and hit "Restore" button (or whatever it was called) to invoke the program to restore my system.

Sounds good?

Regards,
Terry

 

About pressing Alt to see the menus... It's a Vista 'feature'. Not done by the Acronis team. Me thinks they know better. You'll also need to use Alt to see the menus in Windows Explorer...you know to change useful things like 'folder options'! Dunno where the boys in Redmond have their heads buried but it's not someplace bright! Must be their slow and steady push to take customization of the interface out of the hands of users. Wouldn't want us end users to actually like our computing experience now would we...

Byte

 

Thank you so much for this! I spent far too long on this.

FYI - I am a software engineer. The reason I could not find this is I long ago configured Vista to "turn on" that toolbar at all times. A properly designed winform will inherit that user option and always display it (like everything else on my system.)

*****FYI the rest of this post is unrelated (aside from usability concerns.) Please ignore - I don't want to waste peoples' time, but I *am* upset and more than a little worried so I am going to leave it****

I am an experienced software engineer that is about to completely build a new system, but I have been more befuddled with True Image 2009 than any other software in my life.

First, the other day I freaked out to find my 350GB data backup missing from the GUI. Then when I tried to update the incremental set, it filled my entire drive (200GB free) and failed! (The increment should have only had 5 gig's or so added!) I still don't know what to do...(I question the integrity of the source drive.)

Next, I had to delete my [huge] full computer image backup in order create a "Secure Zone" and put it there. (Somehow missed that in the Tools-> [OMG...I JUST NOW (I NEVER USE CAPS!) JUST NOW FOUND THE PART THAT SHOWS YOUR DISK PARTITIONS AFTER 20 MINUTES, AND NOW ACRONIS IS STUCK IN AN INFINITE-LOOP ON A DIALOG!]

I'm sorry, I cannot believe this...I was on the "Create Backup Task" dialog, and no matter what I did (cancel, next->, etc) it would say "processing" and go back...I had to forcefully shut it down. I can't believe that happened WHILE posting this!

I am literally about to cry. I am about to build a new system and I wanted to clone the main drive [I have an MSDN license and countless configurations I want to copy...enough that I am calling off the project since it appears I have no backup.] Plus I have countless data that is now probably gone.

Oh yeah, I started this post because I also took forever just finding the freakin' version number.

I'm sorry, I never make posts like these. And Very soon when I calm down I am going to need to salvage this (extremely critical) mess....

MikeY

 

Hello Mr Byte

Thanks for the interesting info about Vista's menus. That I'm sure will be helpful to know in using explorer and other programs.

I really though can only let the programmers at Acronis off the hook partially. They do not have to use the vista dll file that causes the menu to be that way. They could write their own. -- For example the latest version of Adobe Acrobat has the xp style menu.

Now on the the subject of some of the bugs.. Occasionally I have received a restore error out during the reboot. Does someone know how to test the integrity of the file? I did see a feature for that, but if I test it that way, can I trust that my restore file will work?

The program has several other bugs too. For example in my new pc with vista home basic 32 bit, but running on a 64 bit motherboard, I get an error when I try to create a acronis secure zone. I've done things like making registry edits so that I can boot as an administrator and I also purchased the acronis license and registered the product; all to no avail.

My build is 9709

Another bug that has slowed me up is that my restore's will not start by any obvious method. The job appears on the job list as idle and when I right click on it and select start, nothing happens. The way that I work around that is I right click and choose edit schedule; then I select run once only > At that point the task becomes scheduled to run in about 15 minutes. so to run it now I edit the time to run box to just one or two minutes in the future. ... wow, what a pain.

I do though for the most part like the results that I get in the end.