newbie question

Can a data only hard drive be imaged and restored?

I have 2 hard drives, one for storage of photos etc. It has 3 partitions. Can I create an image of this drive and succesfuly restore it even though it does not have an OS on it? Tom

 

Re: Can a data only hard drive be imaged and restored?

Yes. Just accept the default settings as you prepare to create the image and you will not experience any problems.
Since your second drive only contains data, you could copy all that data to DVDs and then try a restore of the image to that disk. TI wipes the disk before restoring the image so, if your restore is successful, you will know that your images are not corrupt. (Veryifying your image does not always turn out to be correct).

 

Hi Mark, thanks for the reply. If I have to replace my 2nd hard drive (data only, mostly .jpgs) with a new one, how do I restore the data to it? Can I do that from the other hard drive with the OS on it?

 

Just start up TI in Windows and restore your image containing the data partitions. Since it is not a active system partition like C, it will do the whole task from within Windows.

A comment, IMO, it is a good idea to back up your data files such as your jpgs using a second method. Writing to DVD with a program such as Nero, Roxio or whatever is fine but be sure you do the "verify after burning", or copy them to an external USB drive. This way you are not relying on any technology such as TI to get your files back. Just an opinion. Remember, personally created data files exist nowhere else for no amount of money so it is best to have a second independent backup.

 

Hello tbecker1,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please accept our apologies for the delay with the response.

Please note that if you are not concerned about restoration of your operating system along with all settings and applications, but plan to keep safe only certain data, you could create a file-based backup (check Chapter 5.1 "Backing up files and folders (file backup)" in the Acronis True Image 9.0 Home User's Guide). This will reduce the archive size, thus saving disk space and possibly reducing removable media costs.

We also recommend that you take a look at Acronis True Image 9.0 Home FAQ page, Acronis Public Knowledge Base and this article providing the illustrated instructions on Acronis True Image 9.0 Home installation and usage.

Thank you.
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Aleksandr Isakov