Basic Help Needed

Hi Acronis Users:

I bought myself a WD 160gig external HD to match the 160gig internal HD on my 'puter. The only purpose is to backup my internal HD in case of a disaster. I read that Acronis TI is a good pkg so I bought it too.

I followed the TI wizard to do a complete backup of my HD. I was very happy with the results as all seemed ok. This is where my happiness ends and frustration begins. I am not very computer savvy and I fully admit that this may be the cause of my frustration, hence my plea for help. Maybe I just need a copy of "TI for Dummies".

My next step was to set up some sort of incremental or sequential system where I could make a few manual keystrokes and TI would, in effect, update my external drive to match all of the updates to my internal drive. By updates, I mean additions to my database, word processor and excel files, changes to my e-mail book and internet favorites, as well as windows and virus program frequent updates. Nothing fancy; just update a copy of my internal drive, as well as maintaining my backup OS etc. just in case, at my command.

I figure the only way I can do this is to keep backing up the entire HD, which seems overkill. Please tell me if this is correct, or is there an easy way (which I have missed) to replace only those files which have changed.

TIA, intradio

 

“I figure the only way I can do this is to keep backing up the entire HD, which seems overkill. Please tell me if this is correct, or is there an easy way (which I have missed) to replace only those files which have changed.”

It sounds like you want to create either Incremental or Differential backup images. You need to read the user guide and decide which is right for you. Having enough space on my backup drive for several FULL images, I just schedule a unique FULL backup to run every night.

 

Thanx for your reply TheWeaz. So far your process of backing up the entire drive seems to be the only solution.

I have tried to do an incremental and differential process but i get "red flag" type warnings and questions/options that I don't understand how to answer or respond to.

I think TI was created for those who already have a good working knowledge of computers. I will probably dump this program and try to find one that has only 2 options: backup and restore. This stuff about partitions, choices, options, red flags and warnings that I don't understand is not what I need.

Regards,
Intradio

 

The process is really not that difficult to grasp. If you provide a more detailed explanation of what you did and what the “red flags” actually say, I’m sure someone will be able to help you out.

 

Hello intradio,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please accept our apologies for the delay with the response.

I believe you have received the error message a have attached to this post below.

Please note that the incremental backup file contains data changed since the last full or incremental backup creation. If you are going to create the incremental backup you should select the latest full or incremental backup you have. For example, if the full backup you have created first time was "MyFirstBackup.tib" then in order to create the incremental backup to it you should select "MyFirstBackup.tib" file from the tree in the Backup Archive Location windows of the Wizard.

You can find the detailed instructions on how to create the backups in Chapter 5. "Creating backup archives" in the Acronis True Image 9.0 Home User's Guide.

We also recommend that you take a look at Acronis True Image 9.0 Home FAQ page and this article providing the illustrated instructions on Acronis True Image 9.0 Home installation and usage.

Thank you.
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Aleksandr Isakov