True Image Full BU Speed

Sorry I posted this first in General Forum but here it goes again. I installed Acronis True Image after a major problem with Ghost. The first thing I did was a complete back up of the C:/ drive from the wizard. I had set my default backup to my external hard drive. The backup took all of 5 minutes onto an external hard drive. Checked it out and 11 gigs were compressed to 5 gigs in the file on the external hard drive. I find this hard to believe. I could believe 3 hours, but 5 minutes? Is this possible? I do have my old Ghost files on the same external but in a completly different file. It is almost like True Image is adding on to the Ghost files but this isn't possible.

 

Try this ... make the bootable TI cd and do another Backup from its menu. If you accepted all the defaults for the first Backup, do the same with this one. It will take a little longer, since it is being done from the CD, but the size should be the same.

 

Yes it does like that. My VC: partition with Vista Ultimate x64 and program files will compress to a 5GB tib file. This is about 15GB to 5GB (actually about 11GB, because the pagefile and the hiberfile are excluded in the image)

This is, however, not the normal comperssion. This is one level higher than the normal compression level. I found that this gives the best speed with my CPU. In normal compression, the CPU is not properly utilized. I wish they could do a true 64bit version which might let me use the max compression level without sacrificing time.

 

Thanks DwnNdrty, Sounds like that might work but I am the carefull (chicken) type and will not use the boot disc till I have a workable full backup. Murphy's law always seems to pick on me. I'ld try again from the wizard like before but I doubt it will be any different.
Anusha, you seem to have had the same size backup as me. How long did your back up take with normal compression?

 

If Murphy seems to pick on you, then all the more reason to create that TI boot cd and make sure it works as you will need to use that CD in case of a catastrophe.

 

I can't really remember. I never counted the time. It didn't take 10 minutes though. I let it run in the background and always when I checked after about 10 minutes, it had finished the job.

 

If you didn't validate the image when you created it you don't know that it is good. I suggest you run a validation from windows to be sure its good. As DwnNdrty has suggested you at least need to make a bootable Rescue CD and know that it works before disaster strikes. Being a chicken may cost you in the long run. What happens if your machine can't boot windows?

 

There is absolutely no reason not to create the rescue CD. Not having it ready to go is just one more step to deal with if your HD dies. What's worse, is even though you can create it on another machine since it is machine independent, you have absolutely no idea if it will work on your machine.

I also strongly suggest that early validations be done with the rescue CD as well as Windows. It is the rescue CD's Linux OS, TI program, and drivers you have to ensure work when rescuing. Validating in Windows is NOT using the same environment as the rescue CD so why would a Windows validation be seen as a 100% test when you aren't using it during the restore. Once you have confirmed that the rescue CD's Linux environment works fine then you can have more faith in a Windows validation.

As always, the only real test that TI will restore your system is to do a complete test restore to a drive.

 

Anusha I think you are misunderstanding what DwnNdrty and seekforever are telling you they are is advisng you to make the rescue CD and try booting with it making sure it works and also you can see the drive ( hopefully another internal drive or better yet external drive) you are hoping to image to and doing a back up with it and a validation. Some people recommend doing an actual restore to the other drive to make sure it works. this rescue CD has a Linux operating system that loads off the rescue drive into your ram. ( the cd can be removed once the Acronis loader has loaded) it contains drivers for hard drives that may or may not work with your hard drive so a test of the "rescue CD" is necessary.

 

Hello Michael Gardner,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please notice that such backup times are absolutely normal when backing up to a local hard drive.

Thank you.
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Marat Setdikov