"Worried" acronis won't work if i buy it

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by crowley, Jul 23, 2009.

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  1. crowley

    crowley Registered Member

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    Very interesting CAOgdin, if i haden't read page 50 of the user guide i would not have a clue what to do, and would have had to post a question again
    So really you know its there, you just have to look for it.:cool:
     
  2. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    Many of us TI users put meaningful labels on the drives so we know which one we are dealing with. Labels like OS, Data, Pictures, or you could even go with Win_C, Win_D, Win_E, etc. I always like to label USB drives with "USB" in the label - when you have the same folder structure in 2 drives it can get confusing as to where you really are even within Windows.
     
  3. crowley

    crowley Registered Member

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    Thank you for that seekforever


    My usb external hard drive shows up as D:
    Is it easy to put these lables on , so at least i will see something like
    USB D: or whatever drive letter is showing on the USB i would know it would be the right drive as i would have only 1 usb drive.....

    (if that makes sence) :)
     
  4. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

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    To give the drive a unique name, open "My Computer", r-click the drive you want to give a name to, choose "ReName", type in the name you want.

    What I like to do is use the make and size of the drive in the name. For instance if the drive is a Western Digital 160Gb, I would use WD160g as the name. Or WD160Ext, if it is an external drive.
     
  5. crowley

    crowley Registered Member

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    Thankyou for that DwnNdrty


    I have now got the full version of acronis true image home.
    And just trying to figure out how you create the backups, though i am reading about that.

    But just one thing that has been bothering me is, i created another "one click protection" backup and this time sent it to the external hard drive.

    All went well and "protection state" said "system volume backup/ created
    27-7-2009 18.15. your system is partially protected

    I then proceeded to do some file level backups, documents, pictures, etc

    And then i noticed "protection state" warning me that my system was not protected, and that i needed to do a system volume backup.

    This is where i got all confused as i had just done one.
    Its early days yet and i am only finding my way around but i am making a mistake somewhere.

    Anyway i performed another one click protection and "protection state" is ok at the moment or (your system is partially protected)

    I have been over the Chapter 5 creating backup archives a few times but carn't seem to figure out why this is happening, this has happened twice and its the third time i have clicked on the "one click protection".

    Can it be something to do with the file level backups i am creating thats causing this........

    Thanks guys
     
  6. bodgy

    bodgy Registered Member

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    The system protection state warning can be ignored. Just check the calendar and the logs to see if the task has actually run.

    With TI 11 (when this idea was introduced) TI would occasionally forget it's status, in a week or so's time you'll probably find it'll suddenly 'remember' and the warning will disappear.
     
  7. crowley

    crowley Registered Member

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    thanks bodgy, thats what i could not figure out, the task had run successfully
    and all was well.

    I thought there was something wrong, because on the trial version this did not happen.
    Though i only had the one system volume backup and nothing else.

    It was only when i started to add the data backups i thought was causing this.
    So this is nothing to worry about....:cool:
     
  8. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    I've just realised where you've been going wrong - you've been reading the manual and it's a well known fact that men never read manuals :D It's much more exciting winging it then when it all goes wrong and all else has failed then and only then look at a manual.
     
  9. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

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    FWIW, I never use the "one click protection". I just do the backups the old fashioned way - when the True Image menu comes up, choose My Computer (or whatever it is called by Acronis now) then choose Backup, then Full Backup.

    I also never use True Image for File level backups ... why put my data in a proprietary format when there are better alternatives. I prefer to use Karen's Replicator.
     
  10. crowley

    crowley Registered Member

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    It normally go's wrong when i don't read the manual, and it even go's more wrong when i do...:D
     
  11. crowley

    crowley Registered Member

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    One click protection and a full computer backup are they basically the same thing ?

    What is a proprietary format, is this still ok though for the general home user
     
  12. dh27564

    dh27564 Registered Member

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    Mudcrab your advice about the boot order in BIOS was just what I was looking for! Trying to press the F12 key at just the right time during startup to select the CD-ROM was frustrating. Went into the BIOS (F2) and the first boot device was listed as removeable (I believe). Changed it to CD-ROM with Hard Drive as boot device #2. How sweet it is!
     
  13. bodgy

    bodgy Registered Member

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    Yes and No :) If you only have one partition on your drive then yes a 1-Click and a full computer backup are the same thing. If, however, you have more than one partition on your drive or more than one hard disk in the computer, the One-Click will only image the partition that has the operating system on it.

    I've just noticed you are running a Toshiba machine, so this will probably have at least two partitions on it - one containing their installed programs including a copy of Vista, and the partition that you see containing the actual installed OS and all your programs. In your case if you wish to retain the Toshiba install (you might want to bring the laptop back into the same condition as when you bought it, if you wish to sell it later on for example), you should make a full disk image.

    If you have a Toshiba install Cd/DVD, then you either won't have this partition or you can probably delete it.

    The way in which the image is made is only known to Acronis. In other words, generally speaking you couldn't write a program that can access the data format used by True Image and someone elses program wouldn't be able to import Acronis information. This has no bearing on you being able to use it for home purposes.
     
  14. crowley

    crowley Registered Member

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    Very well put bodgy, Noted that down. thankyou

    On another subject.
    I have created a few backups, "One click protection" and a few file leval backups etc.
    How would i remove all these and start again...
     
  15. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    IMO, the real problem with using TI or similar with a proprieary format for data backups is if something goes slightly amiss with the archive every data file in the archive could become unavailable. Programs like Karen's Replicator, SyncBack and others copy the files in their native format and structure to the backup device. If some part of the copy goes bad then only that file(s) is lost.
     
  16. moorejack

    moorejack Registered Member

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    Hi Crowley - my hat's off to you for trying to get skilled in using a backup program. Two years ago, I bought Acronis TI and struggled with it for over a year. The user manual was confusing to me. (I think they don't hire enough English majors!) Granted, I am not very geeky - I was just trying to find the simplest program to do a clone of my internal hd. (Toshiba Satellite A-75 S231 laptop.)
    After spending endless hours, I realized it was hopeless - I never was sure of what I was doing, or if it would work when I needed it. So I gave up, gave the program away, ~Comment off topic to this forum removed.~ (Again, not enough English major.)
    So again - hope it goes well for you.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 28, 2009
  17. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    I am not so sure the problem is a lack of "English majors". Clear technical writing is a very special skill and a big problem is that they often have another bunch of geeks proof-read and do other checks on the manual and these geeks understand the intent of the words even if the explanation isn't clear. When I was involved in some similar work we used to have a number of "dumb-users" (the name actually came from a person who was very high up in management but was computer illiterate who and being part of the test group) who went through the drafts and tried all the steps. Since they didn't have a clue on what to do if it wasn't spelled out they were very good at finding faults in instructions.

    Just who the TI product is aimed at has been discussed on this forum before. Even though it is marketed as a home product, to be aware of what you are really doing requires an understanding of PC disk layout items such as MBR, partitions, physical disks, etc. This is in a time where fewer and fewer users really understand files and folders. I know lots of people who don't know where their photos are stored on their HD because the camera software puts it somewhere and the camera software finds it again. Ask how many understand how to use Windows Explorer to do basic file management.
     
  18. realafrica

    realafrica Registered Member

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    I am also worried it might not work for me.
    So I have a trial installed and I want to open a backup made with Acronis 3 years ago on a set of 6 DVD's and understand I need to use disc 6 to get things started, but the explanations in the help files are dire. I want to explore the contents to restore the odd file or 2, but I can't get anywhere with it.
     
  19. K0LO

    K0LO Registered Member

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    realafrica:

    Two conditions must be met for this to work. First, the backup made 3 years ago must be readable by the current version of TI. Acronis only guarantees backwards compatibility to the previous version, TI 11, but some forum posts have reported success with TI 2009 reading images created by TI 10 as well as TI 11.

    Second, the application must be able to see the whole backup set in order to explore or mount the contents. If your backup is spread out over six DVDs then you will need to copy all of them to a hard disk in the same folder. Then you should be able to explore or mount the backup and extract files from it.
     
  20. Faust

    Faust Registered Member

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    I'm not trying to be rude but I have alway found TI to be relatively simple to use with each version getting easier. So much so that if I'm feeling lazy I send the dog into my office to start the process though he does struggle with the keyboard at times :D
     
  21. DwnNdrty

    DwnNdrty Registered Member

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    It is all the "bells and whistles" that throw new users off. I cut my teeth on version 9 which had a much cleaner and leaner interface.

    And I know how new users feel ... two days ago I tried my hand at Paragon Drive Backup 9 Pro. For a drive that would take True Image 20 min to backup and about the same time to restore, Paragon took about 25 min to backup and 7hrs 11 min to restore. This is from the boot cd as was the True Image times. So I must have something not configured right for Paragon, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. :D
     
  22. crowley

    crowley Registered Member

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    Hello guys
    Just checking on this , with me now having the full version of acronis 2009
    And backing up to an external hard drive, and created a bootable rescue CD

    I take it you don't have to use these features
    "Acronis secure zone" and "startup recovery manager" :)
     
  23. bodgy

    bodgy Registered Member

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    Nope, can be safely ignored.
     
  24. MudCrab

    MudCrab Imaging Specialist

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    You don't have to use the SZ or the ASRM if you don't need or want them. You would need the SZ if you want to use T&D, otherwise it's not required.
     
  25. shieber

    shieber Registered Member

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    Never trust anything that says "One Click" or "One size fits all" or "Free with Purchase"

    Also, don't trust the Alerts in ATI; bet to just ignore them; do your backups and do test restores -- that's the best and only certain way to know if you have backups that can be restored.


     
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