Several questions about AcronisTrueImage 10

I kept reading about how simple this program is to use. After looking at the program and reading for the past hour in this forum -- I'm now thinking they meant simple -- if you are a computer tech!

I have a new Dell XPS 410 and I purchased an Iomega 320 GB external hard drive for the purpose of backing up my entire system with Acronis True Image. The only thing I am interested in making as far as backups is my entire system -- everything!

I did a backup last night which only took a little over an hour and resulted in 7 files. Tonight I clicked on the first file, "MyBackup1" (there is no .tbs on these file names) and ran a verification. It concluded and appeared to be ok. Do I have to verify all 7 files or only the first one? I'm concerned about all the people who seem to find their backup files are corrupted when they attempt to do a restore. There have been several suggestions to do a test backup of the system. My system is working great -- no problems -- and I certainly don't want to do a test backup and create any.

I created the Acronis bootable media rescue disk on a CD. But, is there any reason why I can not create this on my external hard drive?

I read about starting this Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and that in order to do that you have to create the Acronis Secure Zone? What scared me about that is that it further stated that the Recovery Manager will overwrite the MBR with its own code and if you have third-party boot managers installed you have to reactivate them. I don't even know what this means. But, since I purchased this external hard drive for my backups, do I have to create this Secure Zone and activiate the Recovery Manager?

Right now I'm having some second thoughts about the money I have spent to use this "simple" program. Can someone answer these questions? And please keep it simple because in addition to being new to Acronis, I am no computer tech.

Thanks,
Nikilet

 

Well , you should do a test restore ; if it's 'bad' what good will it do if you NEED it someday only to find out it DIDN'T work. If restore doesn't work now you can get it fixed here so it will work when you DO need it. I admit it's scary though.

 

Well, you didn't get a corrupted file, so you don't have to worry about that. Most people don't, but those who do come here for help. We never hear from the great majority of the people because they don't have problems.

Your external disk is formatted FAT32 which is how almost all external drives are sold. The maximum file size on FAT32 is 4GB, so when the backup file is larger than that, it is automatically split into 4GB pieces. Your backup required 7 pieces, so it is between 24 and 28GB total.

This is the ultimate test of a backup, a successful restore. Unless you have a spare hard drive to restore to, I wouldn't do it. Why risk your system which is running well.

Yes, it won't work. You need the bootable Recovery CD to boot your system in the event that your hard drive fails or becomes corrupted. What you do need to do is to boot your system from the Recovery CD and confirm that you can see both your C drive and your external hard drive. Finally, you need to validate the image on the external drive while booted from the Recovery CD. If it validates successfully, I think you can be quite sure that it will restore properly if you ever need to do so.

No! Do not create a SecureZone and do not activate the Recovery Manager. Your instincts here are right on! You don't need either.

Your instincts were also right when you decided to buy TrueImage and the external hard drive to provide backup for your system. As you use the program (and with a little help from this forum when needed), you will get confident that your system is protected against just about every danger except a fire or theft. That's pretty good protection.

 

Wow! Thanks for all the information.

Since the file size is limited on this external hard drive, which I didn't realize, if one has to do a restore which file do you click on -- or do you have to click on each one? I assume as far as validating, you have to validate each file

I see in the user's guide that to create the bootable disk they say to use a CD-R/RW. I just used a CD-R. Does it make a difference?

To boot from this disk so that I can check to see that both drives appear and to validate, what is the procedure? I thought you were only supposed to insert and use this if Windows won't boot so I don't want to do something stupid. I'd rather ask a stupid question -- if that's what this is.

Also, I tried to set the e-mail notification and it says it can't send the test e-mail and this could be due incorrect e-mail settings. I know that the information I inserted is correct so do you have any idea what this means?

Thanks,
Nikilet

 

You should only use a spare drive instead of the original drive as the target for a test restore; after all, if the test doesn't work, you don't wnat ot be left without your original drive intact.

sh

 

I forgot to mention that- my bad.

 

You can click on any of the files TI will recognise that it is a part of a split backup. To prevent the files being split change the file system on your external drive to ntfs

If you use CD-RW you can format it and reuse the CD when the next build is released, but be aware that CD-RW is not as reliable as CD-R

You will possibly have to enter the bios to change the boot order so that the CD boots first, some computers are already set up to boot from a CD first so insert your rescue CD and reboot to see, if it doesn't work then look in your motherboard manual to see which key you need to press to enter the bios.

I have never bothered with this so can't help

Thanks,
Nikilet[/QUOTE]

 

Sorry I've been so long responding but haven't been online for a bit. Again, I thank you for all the helpful information.

I didn't know you could change the file system on this external HD from FAT to NFTS. Can you tell me how or direct me to a good source for the explanation?

You didn't answer whether I have to validate each one of the 7 files involved in the backup. I know I ask too many questions all at once but could you answer this for me? I only validated the first file.

Thanks,
Nikilet

 

You don't say what operating system you have. In Windows XP you can use the convert command as shown here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb456984.aspx or here http://www.ntfs.com/quest3.htm or Google for "Convert Fat32", if you have a partitioning program such as Acronis Disk Director or Partition Magic they should also be able to convert Fat32 to ntfs. As I don't have Vista I cannot say if the convert.exe is included or not.

TI will know that all 7 files are part of the same backup, so you can click on any to validate or to restore them.

 

Hello Nikilet,

[quotet]I didn't know you could change the file system on this external HD from FAT to NFTS. Can you tell me how or direct me to a good source for the explanation?[/quote]Check out this <Microsoft article>.

You just need to select any one of the .tib files and TI will automatically validate all the files belonging to the split image set.

Regards

Menorcaman

 

Sorry Como, didn't mean to butt in. I didn't see you were active and you obviously type much faster than I do!!

Regards

Menorcaman

 

No problem

I doubt it, I probably started some minutes before you

 

Hello Nikilet,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

In addition to what has been said, let me comment on the e-mail notifications issue you encountered.

Please make sure you use the latest build (4942) of Acronis True Image 10.0 Home. To get access to updates you should first register your software. You can find the full version name and build number by going to Help -> About... menu in the main program window.

It is possible that the reason is that some SMTP servers cannot decode the provided e-mail address. Thus, please try to use brackets in the e-mail address:

- E-mail address: (placed in "<" and ">" brackets);
- Outgoing Mail server: your_mail_server;
- User Name: your_user_name;
- Password: (correct for your account).

Please try temporarily disabling antivirus/firewall/anti-spyware software just to find out if any of it blocks the sending attempts. Generally that's not a requirement for this tool to work but that would help us exclude or confirm the version that something blocks the emails.

Please also try using e-mail address on a different hosting (redirect from it to your address if necessary).

If the issue persists, please create a screenshot of the Acronis True Image window where you enter e-mail settings. Then submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov