Copying image from secure zone to backup HD

I have installed True Image 8.0, created a secure zone on my main HD and created an image in the secure zone.

Everything is OK so far.

What I would like to do next, is backup the image that is in the secure zone.
I have a second HD mounted in the same machine that I would like to use.

Can this be done?

If so, how exactly do I go about doing it? How do I select the image in the secure zone to copy to another drive?

Assuming my main drive has a catastrophic failure, how would I restore from this image on my second drive?

 

Suggestion:

You may want to consider 2 options. (1) - Create your secure zone on your 2nd HDD and use it for your backups. -or- (2) - Create images directly to your 2nd HDD without using secure zone at all.

Personally - I'm not sure of the value of the secure zone apart from preventing tampering or accidental deletion. The secure zone does seem to make restoring a little easier and automatic but again, it only seems to save you the effort of locating the images from which to restore.

Hope this helps.

 

That's a good suggestion, however here's my delima:

I installed TI immediately after purchasing my computer, created a secure zone and made an image of the clean system. The idea was that if I ever got a virus or spamware or my system just had a bunch of extra cr*p on it, I could:

1) backup my data
2) restore to factory setup from the image
3) re-install my apps
4) restore my data

A lot of work but it beats the never ending battle with a spyware induced slow system.

But since then I have purchased a second 200 gig HD and put a lot of junk on my main drive. I don't really want to backup the image I currently have and I'd prefer not to go back through steps 1-4 above if possible. Instead, I'd like to copy the factory setup onto my second drive if that's at all possible. This gives me the ability to recover from a complete failure of EITHER drive.

So what would be IDEAL is to be able to copy the data in the current secure zone onto the second hard drive but I'm not sure how to do this. I of course can't see the secure zone through explorer. My backup software doesn't recognize it. I don't want to do a disc clone because it would wipe out what I have on my second HD.

Any ideas?

 

Hello mavraam,

Thank you for choosing Acronis True Image (http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/).

We regret to inform you that current version of Acronis True Image doesn't allow you to manage files stored in Acronis Secure Zone. You may create an image of your second hard drive and store it on your first one. After that please restore the image from Acronis Secure Zone and create the image of your second drive again, storing it at your first drive. Then please restore the image of your second drive to your second drive and you will obtain the situation as you have now but with the image of your clean Windows install.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

Hello mavraam,

Ilya's proposal is almost (but not quite!) right. There is no sense in imaging your second HD to the first HD as that will be overwritten when you restore from the SZ. Anway, it's a bit long winded but I've just tested the following procedure and it works:

1. Create an image of your first HD (including the SZ containing your original image) to your second HD. Let's refer to this as the "1st Current" image.

2. Restore your first HD to it's original state using the image contained in the SZ (including its original associated SZ).

3. Remove the SZ and reclaim the used capacity via the "Manage Acronis Secure Zone" wizard.

4. Create an image of your first HD on your second HD. This will now represent your original setup as it was prior to creating the SZ/original image. Let's call this the "Clean" image. For additional security you may wish to create a SZ on your second HD and create the "Clean" image in this and/or archive the image to DVD using either of the two procedures detailed in this <thread>.

5. Restore your first HD from the "1st Current" image (including its associated SZ) stored on your second HD.

6. Remove the SZ from your first HD as per step 3 above.

7. Create an image of your first HD onto your second HD. This will represent your current setup without a SZ.

8. Delete the "1st Current" image from your second HD.

Follow the above steps and you will end up with your first HD at its current state but without the SZ. Your second HD will contain your existing data plus the "Clean" image of your original setup (without the SZ) and a current image of your first HD.

Regards

 

Believe it or not, I followed that and it makes perfect sense!

Thanks, that will get me exactly what I'm looking for.

 

Hello Menorcaman,

You don't restore any image to your first drive. After first proposed step you will obtain the image of the second drive and you may now restore the image of the clean install to this second drive because all the information from there is safe now. After you restore it and make the image again you in fact just copy the image from Acronis Secure Zone to a partition on your first disk. Then you just need to restore the image of the current drive to the second disk to get all the information contained there back.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman
Thank you.

 

Hello Ilya,

Many thanks for the clarification/amplification. Now that you have explained that the "clean install" image in the SZ should be restored to the second drive (I had assumed you meant the first drive), it all makes sense. Ah well, it just goes to show that there are more ways than one to skin a cat!!

Kind regards
Tom

 

Hello Tom,

I saw that you didn't get me right and decided to explain the method once again. Hope this new explanation reflected my idea clearer.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

The following method is not supported by Acronis :
Use a partition manager such as Paragon Partition Manager Pro
Mount the hidden Acronis SZ (Secure Zone)
Copy the tib file(s) to anywhere you want
Unmount your Secure Zone

or

Boot on a Knoppix-like CD and browse the hidden FAT partition named Acronis SZ
Copy the file anywhere else you want (needs captureNTFS to write on NTFS drive under linux)