Acronis True Image alternative

Hi,

I've been using Acronis True Image 2010 for a long time and wondered if there are any good free alternatives that don't use any processes while not running.

One thing which annoys me about Acronis is that I only use it on-demand without real-time non-stop back-up enabled, and yet 3 processes: schedhlp.exe; schedul2.exe; TrueImageMonitor.exe are always running.

Does anyone recommend a popular and spyware free back up without any processes that are on all the time while not in use?

 

Macrium reflect - the free version is perfect solution if you just want to do an image back without dealing with all the other bloatware. It has only 1 process running which I keep disabled until I am ready to do an image. If you can't live without bloatware then you can buy the standard or pro version. Better yet Macrium Reflect is one of the few that is native 64 bit. No more annoying 32 processes running in the background.

 

Cheers, I will have a look!

 

I think that "Paragon Free" doesn't have any background processes..

 

As long as you already own ATI and only use it on-demand I would suggest just using its Boot-Recovery CD to backup (as well as to restore). Of course, uninstall the app and all of its components (which may not be as straight-forward as it should be)!

Using ATI's Boot CD for creating backups and restores is one of the fastest (if not the very fastest) image-backup method out there with no system overhead!

TS

 

That's what im using now, the Acronis boot cd(WD edition), a while ago i started using EasyBCD and its sub-app iReboot , so i don't need any physical CD.
I have tested-compared the speed's of Acronis, Macrium, ToDo, Active@Disk, Farstone.. and Acronis is the fastest, the CD boot's faster than the others, the backup/restore process is the fastest of them all...
AND.. no background processes

 

Well, I have prevented TrueImageMonitor.exe from starting at startup, and then disabled the Acronis Nonstop Backup Service & Acronis Sync Agent Service so that they do not run either. The only one that I have found that you need to have running is to undertake on demand back ups is the Acronis Scheduler2 Service.

Been doing that for a while and have never had any issues.

But then again what The Shadow says is true about using the Boot-Recovery CD...I just cannot be bothered to be messing about with that.

Regards



Balders

 

Thanks for the replies, guys!

 

IMHO Acronis is the best imaging prog - I used it years ago. Can it create bootable CD to make cold imaging?

If yes then if I create bootable CD from trial - will it work after expiration?

Thanx

 

If you're looking for non-bloatware and free app then Keriver 1-Click Restore is what you need my friend.

 

I need a Bootable CD for cold imaging like Clonezilla. I know Keriver is great but I rarely use imaging so cold imaging is quite good for me. It would be nice if I can do it with Acronis.

 

Keriver Restore has boot menu and you take cold images from it no prob. No need for a bootable cd. Boot menu will save you in case of disaster.

 

I tried Acronis 2013 and found that trial Acronis does not make cold imaging.

Thanks for your answer, Amit. I have never used Keriver but I guess it's a really great prog. My objections to Keriver free:

- I use Comodo Time Machine, soon will change it to EazFix Time Machine - they are not compatible with Keriver as both take over the MBR.

- I don't wont to have any imaging program working in the RAM as I use imaging very rarely. That's why I need only cold imaging.

- Boot menu is great but AFAIK it is installed to the HD so if it's corrupted (IMHO that's really difficult but nothing is impossible) then you cannot load it.

- Keriver free doesn't verify images - I prefer to rely on verified images as it can happen that an image is a last resort.

 

Ah well Solarlynx Keriver just works for me. I think as we are talking about Acronis which is a paid solution then why not bring on Terabyte's Image for Windows? After all it's the best.

 

I will second that...and third it and fourth it.

 

I forgot where I found it at but just search for
"clonezilla-live-1.2.6-11-amd64.iso"

this is a good one from clonezilla, very fast
I have tried several other clonezilla"s but this one
seems to be the best so far

I'm sure there may be a newer one
if someone has a link to the newest 64bit
please post if allowed
thanks

 

One advantage of macrium over others is that you don't need to have a CD to create a bootable media. I found a lot of imaging software insisting on creating a restore CD which is just a plain pain in the a$$ because 1) most laptops don't come with CD or DVD players anymore 2) CD takes so much more space than a USB.
What I've done with my laptop was attaching a micro USB 32GB in size where I keep both the bootable media and images. So wherever I am, either on the road or on a bus or on a plane, if something happens to my windows I can restore it in 20mins. With other imaging software you would have to carry around external CD player, cables and actual CD which is prone to scratches, etc...
Kavier 1 click restore is also pretty good. What's unique about it is that you can save your image onto the actual hard drive which you will be restoring. Don't know whether it permits building USB recovery media. But Macrium is native 64 bit and my system is 64 bit so Im keeping it instead.

 

Depends what you do. I can't stand bloatware and I just want to do a simple image and be able to restore it. For me macrium free works the best.

 

MR Free is very good - as long as you can live with only creating full images (no incrementals/differentials)!

 

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Image for Windows as an Acronis alternative. Has IFW fallen into disfavor recently

 

I used it on Win-7. When I restored Win-7 from an Image (it was "hot" restore - from Windows, not from bootable CD) I was astonished to see that it was not clear restore - it looked like that Windows just added some folders from the image to the current state of the system partition. I got a mess of the current state and the imaged state.

 

Duh!...

 

Active@ Disk Image

simply the best from my point of view

 

Hey Amit,

I owe it to myself to read entire threads before posting something dumb...

 

I recently restored 50 GB system partition (21GB data after restore) by Clonezilla. It took only 5 min. Core i3 560, 2GB RAM.

It takes 10 minutes to take image from this comp by Clonezilla.