Acronis True Image WISH-LIST thread

The ability to validate a full image plus any given differential as well as adding a new differential regardless of having all the previous differentials. This is crucial to proper use of differentials and disk space management.

 

Re: Acronis True Image WISH-LIST thread --> Task Creation

another good feature would be better task creation.

(1) I would like to duplicate an existing task in order for small changes

(2) what about creating a scheduled task, running every day or week and using different file names depending on date/day of week ?

(3) possibility to save / restore backup tasks


Thanks, Olaf.

 

Improve the Uninstall procedure. Just for jollies, I had JV Powertools count the (WinXP) registry entries for “Acronis” and “True Image”. Prior to an uninstall, the total was 1,112. After the uninstall ran and the system rebooted, there were still 408 listed. Also, a number of Folders and Files remained in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Acronis. Some of this is most probably by design, but a “Clean Uninstall” that really is clean would help solve some of the problems that occasionally occur with a new installation, and do require a registry scrub to fix.

 

The option to install only the features one wants. In my case I have no use for the backup features “My E-mail”, “My Application Settings”, and even “My Data”, as I use TI as strictly an imaging program.

 

Native and complete 64bit support!!! That's the only thing I need from ATI10. It should be able to backup faster when a higher compression setting is selected, right?

 

I would love to see more information when it is taking an image. A bit like the more information you can have when transfering files in Vista. MB/sec and perhaps what stage it is at. The little bar that seems not to do much is annoying.

 

Although it was initially recognized by Acronis in 2004 as a good idea that might be delivered in a future release I'm not sure that True Image Home email notifications will work with SMTP servers that require a SSL connection.

 

A full searchable catalog of multiple *.tib files would be useful, to answer questions such as: What backups of file xyz.abc do I have from what point in time?
Fried

 

- add a feature in Acronis to create a bootable "restore/fix MBR" floppy disk or CDROM. Indeed recently TrueImage screwed up my MBR (when I activated the startup recovery manager) and nothing would boot, neither Windows or the Acronis boot CD. I had to boot on my Windows XP CD and choose "repair windows", and then at the command line, "fixmbr".

 

Add a option to

"Create Acronis One-Click Restore media" with existing Backup Image file(s)


Example:

1. click on "Create Acronis One-Click Restore media"
2. Browse and select backup image file(s)
3. Choose a media type
4. click on "Proceed"

add a option to "Repair Boot Sectors" (MBR) on the "Acronis One-Click Restore media"

Time Computers Reload CD has this option (see pic below)

See my previous Wish-List post.​

 

a option to make a backup on LAST day of month.

 

Is this in fact true that True Image doesn't actually fully encrypt the contents of the image data but instead uses a "gatekeeper" password for image file access?

 

Change name of scripts generated when adding tasks to a meaningful title chosen by the user at time of creation.

- Instead of:
"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users.WINDOWS\Application Data\Acronis\TrueImage\Scripts\A31D05DA-1119-4849-B658-377A08D8D73F.tib.tis"
- Something like:
"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users.WINDOWS\Application Data\Acronis\TrueImage\Scripts\Monday.tis"

- This would:
1. Make it easier to select the script one wants to use in a Batch.
2. Shorten the Batch statement.
3. Not require a Batch edit when the script is changed.

 

Re: Wish-list thread

I would like to add to the chorus of those who desperately need the ability to merge incremental or differential images into an existing full image thereby creating a new base image. Size of differential and incremental images can grow quite quickly, especially on servers hosting databases and email. Storage requirements can quickly get overwhelming. Currently I'm deleting all but the two most recent differential image files but even then this could more than double my disk requirements over the course of a month. And the only way around it now is to either delete or backup to tape the existing full image and taking a "new" full image or having more than 3 times the original needed capacity to capture a second full image before deleting the first full image. It can quickly become a management nightmare when talking about dozens of servers.

 

If it is not in TI11 then it would be a good update feature. More systems are running software such as Pointsec.

 

scharf
Infrequent Poster Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 19

Re: True Image 11 -- first impressions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Michael posted elsewhere:

I forgot to mention:

There is still no search in help! This is the only "professional" program I have ever sseen, that does not allow you to search help!
No context Menus on tasks. (If I right-click on a task, it gets deselected. When I then click on an action on the sidebar, it has no effect)
If I hide the side-bar, then the task-list is useless. Why would you allow to hide the *only* way to act on the entries in the task list -- another indication of the very immature UI.

I think the UI feels like programmed by some hobby programmers -- Acronis should hire some professionals UI developers (just professional graphics is not enough)....

Michael

 

I am putting in a plug again for Home version of TI for Linux.
How hard can this be when the server version already exists!
Linux is increasing in home user popularity but needs the support of user friendly basic utilities like TI for windows.
How about it?

Peter

 

How would you differentiate between a Linux Desktop and a Linux Server? Generally there is little difference in the distriubtions.

The can make it so that Home cannot be installed on Server 2000 or 2003, but how could they do that with Linux?

 

Granted. This is a problem. But it hardly seems a good enough reason to deny home users the technology that already exists!

There are ways of turning windows XP into a server and using the home version of Acronis without using server 2003 and hence bypassing the built-in protection about which you speak.

So it seems to me that protection against piracy is never a good enough reason to deny the technology to the ordinary person who is willing to pay a reasonable fee for home use.

What we need is some creative ideas that may provide some protection, but without asking genuine home users to pay very expensive commercial rates to use it.

 

I would like to see TI be able to create Vista WIM's - to basically create a file based image copy of a vista installation (like you can do with the command line imageX program) but make it simple to use and graphical with the Acronis True Image program. The ability to burn a custom installable Vista DVD with all of your programs preinstalled and have the backup be hardware independent (a feature of the WIMs) would be great. You could restore your entire system as is, even to a new computer.

That would make moving to a new computer a breeze.

 

I wish the GUI was "fixed" instead of chopping and changing the menus every time an "upgrade" was released. Only need a little thought.

I wish the corrupt backup problem was finally addressed.

I wish the above problems were fixed instead of bundling pointless features such as "file shredder", "drive cleanser" etc. which have no place and are included in another product anyway!

Then we have so many versions that basically do the same thing.
Then there's Snap Deploy (or whatever it's called now - Migrate Easy?) that would be a good feature to add to TI (instead of the aforementioned junky extras). And it's useless anyway unless one pays for the Universal add-on.

Come on Acronis - get your act in gear!

London

 

My only wish is: Bring it to work for all people (TI11) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Stop adding bells and whistles, start to make the program WORK!

I strongly second this request - that unfortunately will certainly get ignored, as it is constantly at Acronis or at any other big software company (whence most of users not wasting their time writing about it). Below is just my report of a case to back this support.

--ooOOoo--​

1) My recent case: I backup each of my PCs by plugging its main HD in 2nd position in a W2K server equipped with several IDE controllers (1 mobo-integrated, 1 Maxtor PCI ATA133 card with Promise chip) and 3.5" racks; in 3rd position I plug the HD where the image is to be saved (or incremented); I limit the image files to DVD size (4.7GB). In facts TIH limits files to a lower limit, apparently under 4GB, probably because my target partitions are FAT32.

In TIH_9, after struggling for a couple weeks, updating TIH_9, and above all setting the "Backup priority" to "Normal", all this finally worked correctly; which actually let me restore entire HDs in a couple cases (e.g. to upgrade the main HD in a laptop).

This worked OK until last month: on 28 Aug 2007 I bought and installed the upgrade to TIH_10. The next backup I tried brought a couple data errors and data losses. I struggled again, with plenty mail exchanges with Acronis support, who requested a huge amount of reports (a hacker willing to get into my system wouldn't need or ask more!), which I did all. Acronis didn't reply unless with polite thanks and wishes. Meanwhile (after a few weeks away from those despairing problems) TIH_11 came, and Acronis kindly gave me the free upgrade, which I installed.

Then 1st I realized the data losses didn't touch my recent (TIH_10) images; 2nd I remembered the above and checked: in "TIH_11 > Tools > Options> Default backup options", my "Compression level" and "Backup priority" had been set back to "low". I think this "low", that caused me so much problems in TIH_9, may well have been the culprit as well in TIH_10. So I set them again to "Normal" and will try next images.

2) There are also a large number of other situations where TIH dialogs (and replies from "support" when you report to them!) show that its programmers (and support) are deeply and worryingly underestimating the importance of *data* and of their *reliability* - and accordingly vastly overestimating the interest of fancy features (Try&Decide and other bells and whistles, cosmetic changes in the interface, etc) - something annoying for a company selling backup programs. So I do support, strongly, your request that Acronis devotes less resources to cosmetics and more to the program itself.

Versailles, Wed 26 Sep 2007 19:36:25 +0200

 

This last message is a great one, could not say it better myself.

I have been using version 8 successfully for years and am disappointed version 11 simply did not function for me. Acronis should skip everything except making the backup and data verification work correctly in all cases.

We do not need other features if this core functionality does not work.

-Jim

 

Imaging with TIH_10 only caused data losses to TIH_9 images!

Thx JimB17. I forgot to mention that surprisingly, among the 21 partitions present at the moment of the incident (3 on the 2.5" HD being imaged, 6 on each of the main HD and the 2 backup HDs that were connected), only the 5 containing images made using TIH_9 suffered the data losses; the only partition with a TIH_10 image was not affected. Weird (and worrying) since that the running of TIH_10 that caused the incident involved nothing but making that TIH_10 image.

Versailles, Thu 27 Sep 2007 09:43:40 +0200