Backup via Boot CD?

Hi, I have TI 9 and it is my understanding that a complete restore of winXP is only possible if winXP is bypassed via the boot cd? Please confirm.

What is the best way to run a full backup? By booting from the CD or can I simply run TI under winXP? My guess is, that not all system files will be copied if the backup is done under windows.

I think that TI is a great product, it saved my data twice (couldn't restore windows itself though, might be my user error by not reppairing the MBR afterwards)

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

If you want to do a complete restore of windows you will need to boot from the cd. Because if you try and restore ontop of windows whilst its running you will not get all the files due to some of them being locked by your running Windows.

I haven't used ver 9 but for ver 8 there is a fix mbr tool that you sometimes have to run to fix the mbr. I have had to do it a couple of times after a restore.

I found the link on the forum..

http://www.acronis.com/files/support/mbrautowrite_en.exe

 

I allways make whole main disk backups from winXP, storing the image files on the second HD. Plain - no Secure Zone, because I want to delete the previous images myself, selectively. But yes, to restore I use the boot CD and the restored Windows work fine. That was verified in TI9 build 2302 and 2323.

 

Thanks jumping & bvolk!

So, I can create the backup directly from winxp
without any concerns that some system files don't get copied because they are in use?

Out of curiosity: does anyone know how TI manages to do that?

 

Yes you can backup your system with windows running.

When you run a backup within a running system, true image will create a snapshot of the system and it will backup all the files from the snapshot regardles if they are in use or not.

 

As I understand TI blocks all other access to the partition being backed up. How that can be done while running under Windows and backing up the very partition Windows resides on, beats me.

On the other hand, if you try to restore the Windows partition with TI running under Windows, you get the prompt to close down all running processes, but some of them are of course needed by Windows. I think the manual says somewhere that you can't restore the boot partition from Windows. Well, as a home user I often back up and seldom restore, so the need for the rescue CD to restore the boot partition is no drawback to me.

But there is a catch I learnt about in this forum: for the C: disk to be bootable after restore, you must see that 'Disk 1' is checked (not only the C: partition !) when you back up.

 

Hello resc,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

In addition to the above posted advices, I would also like to note that you can find more information on how to use Acronis True Image 9.0 in the respective User's Guide.

Please also take a look at this article explaining how Acronis True Image works and why it is possible to create an image without rebooting your PC.

Thank you.
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Alexey Popov