OK to use Computer during Image?

I'm using TI v10 home. It takes hours to make an image of a drive. I want to know if it's okay for me to continue to use the computer while TI is making the image.

PS: Is there a way to turn off the animations on this webpage? a setting perhaps?

Thank you.

Lady D

 

Hmmm, Lady Dungeness? Is that a reference to the delicious crab we have in San Francisco?

Yes, you can use the computer during the image process, but it may be rather slow since it's doing a disk intensive activity.

What animations do you see on this web page? Other than a few animated gifs from some contributors, it's very staid on my system.

 

Is somebody talking about my crab?

 

Thanks for the answers and the crabby references. I will go ahead and use the computer -- better than waiting 8 hours for the image to finish. I should be shopping for more memory, right?

San Francisco Dungeness are wussies compared to us colder-water versions up north. Can't wait for winter for another feast!

Lady D

PS: Yeah, the ani's are just the smilies and stuff -- but it bothers my eyes. I set my profile preferences to no animation, but it isn't working.

 

If it really is taking eight hours to to image your computer perhaps some of the expertise available in this group could help to speed things up for you.
But first a few questions:
You are running disk/partition images and not file and folders backups?
Your CPU speed is?
Your installed RAM is?
The used volume of your main hard drive is?
The connection to your external drive is USB2, USB1 or Firewire?
Your level of imaging compression is?
That should be enough for starters. 1 GB per minute should be easily obtainable if the PC is only a few years young.

Xpilot

 

Thanks for the help. I started the image a couple of hours ago. It was going along well, over 50% done -- then it said "3 days" left to go, and now it's at 7%. How can it be changing around like that?

I've had some USB problems on the computer lately. I made an image three weeks ago when I installed the OS. That image went fine.

You are running disk/partition images and not file and folders backups?
Yes. It's a whole Disk Image. Disk has no partition. It's a 15 Gig disk. I've installed the OS, basic programs, and basic setups. All is well and I want to image. Then I plan to install a 500 Gig HD.

Your CPU speed is?
I don't know. It's a Pentium IV. The computer was built in 2002.

Your installed RAM is?
500 Megs.

The used volume of your main hard drive is?
Less than half

The connection to your external drive is USB2, USB1 or Firewire?
It's supposed to be USB2.

Your level of imaging compression is?
No compression at this time.

That should be enough for starters. 1 GB per minute should be easily obtainable if the PC is only a few years young.
Wow! That means I should be able to image in 15 minutes.

Looking forward to your responses ...

 

For 8 Gb of used space 15 minutes is a generous amount. Try doing the image from the bootable True Image CD instead of from within Windows. That cd has all the basic True Image functions. You can make this cd from the installed software.

 

Right click on My Computer icon and select properties. On the general tab near the bottom it will show the CPU speed that is working and the effective working RAM.

While you are in computer properties select the hardware tab and then Device Manager. If USB 2 is installed and operative you should see under the USB category an USB enhanced controller. If you do not have an enhanced controller on board, and I suspect that you do not, one can be installed on a PCI card and its software. Anither possibility is that your version of Windows does not support USB 2 and I did not ask you which version you are using and what patches have been installed.

Xpilot

 

It estimates and resitmates the time required based on the amount left to to and how long it has taken to copy stuff since the last time estiamte. If you use the PC to do other tasks, those tasks can take up cpu time and/or disk access, thereby slowing down ATI, which in turn cuase the restimates of time left to be increased.

 

With just the OS how long did it take?

Since your system is 2002, it probably only has USB 1.1 and not 2.0 on the motherboard. That was the year when USB 2.0 first appeared on motherboards, but not until later in the year generally.

That is correct. Even with USB 1.1, the time shouldn't be more than 10-20 times as long, 2.5 to 5 hours.

An upgrade to a USB 2.0 PCI card if you are using a Desktop computer or a USB 2.0 PC card if you have a notebook sounds like it is in order. Under Windows XP Home or Pro with Service Pack 2, there are no drivers that need to be installed. Just plug in the card and Windows will install it when you boot up.

 

I've double-checked; I've got USB 2.0 and the drivers. I suppose the long time to make an image is related to the connection troubles I have intermittently with the USB hard drive. I don't know whether that's a hardware problem or a software problem.

 

This morning I made an image of my Programs Partition -- 2-3 gigs on the partition, and TI took 6 minutes to make it. Same setup -- using USB 2.0 to save image to external HD.

Now I'm making an image of my Boot partition/OS -- 3-4 gigs; it's taking an hour. Had to start over 3 times because USB connectivity failed.

I don't think Acronis is at fault here; I think it's USB something or other -- is that right?

 

Maybe this has already been suggested--I looked, but....
Have you tried a new usb cable and if you have any choices of where to connect, connect to rear of desktop or if notebook, try a different connector. Cable length should be as short as possible.

Is your external drive one that you purchased as "external"; or are you using a connector and using an original internal drive?

 

Here's a sequence that I go through before most full backups:

Prepare for a full system backup (not required, but it makes backups smaller and faster.)

A. Start Windows Explorer: Start / All Programs / Accessories / Windows Explorer
1. Click the + next to My Computer.
2. Right click on the C drive and select Properties.
3. On the Tools tab, click Check Now.
4. Leave the two boxes unchecked and click Start.

If the check cannot complete, follow the instructions to run error checking on the next reboot. Restart and let error checking run. After the errors are corrected, proceed to step B.

In your case, you might choose to check both boxes and reboot to run the full check.

B. Run Disk Cleanup: Start / All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup
1. On the More Options tab, under System Restore you can click Clean up to delete old Restore Points. These can take up over 1GB of hard disk space and are not needed if the system has been running well.
2. Click OK to cleanup the unnecessary files.

C. Run Disk Defragmenter: Start/ All Programs/ Accessories/ System Tools/ Disk Defragmenter
1. Select the C partition.
2. Click Defragment. This can take 5-10 minutes or longer if the drive hasn’t been defragmented recently.

The key here is the ErrorChecking to be sure the drive you are backing up is clean as far as logical and physical errors is concerned.

If you continue to have USB problems, you might want to delete everything under USB in Device Manager and then reboot with nothing attached to any USB ports. Windows XP will reinstall the USB drivers.

 

Thank you, John.

 

Thanks also for the suggestion about the USB cable.

Right now it's working okay, and I'm burning an image.

 

Let us know how long it takes.

I guess everyone loves the Dungeness because you have attracted all the best advisors on this forum.