FD-ISR vs. Acronis TI

I already have and am using Acronis True Image Home version 9 for imaging and restoration and have no problems with it.

After reading about First Defense-ISR, it appears it does the exact same thing in terms of creating online images, except that you can reboot directly from an image, without restoring the image first. (And, it can anchor data to an image.)

Am I missing something or is that the only difference?

 

I have trialed both, FD-ISR has my vote.

actually, I use some GHOST based Chinese softwares for backup, works better than above 2.

 

Acronis True Image is an Image Backup software to backup and restore your harddisks and works for ALL partitions.

FirstDefense-ISR is an Immediate System Recovery software and works only for the system partition [C:] and ignores all other partitions.
FDISR doesn't create images, it creates copies of your system partition, so you can have different versions of your system partition and these copies are called SNAPSHOTS.
Each snapshot can be used in a different way at free will and each of them require space on your harddisk.
The minimum is 2 snapshots and the maximum is 10 snapshots and all snapshots are INDEPENDENT and can be created, removed, renamed, updated at any time.

The main job of FDISR is Immediate system Recovery inside/outside Windows and that's why FDISR requires minimum TWO snapshots :
- WORK snapshot for daily use
- ROLLBACK snapshot for recovery.
If your WORK snapshot is in trouble, you use your ROLLBACK snapshot to recover your WORK snapshot.
Each bootable snapshot can be saved as an archived snapshot on another partition, external harddisk, DVD, CD. The number of archived snapshots is unlimited.
So FDISR can be used as a second backup, but it doesn't replace Acronis True Image.
If your harddisk crashes, you need at least ATI to restore your harddisk(s).

You can also use FDISR as a multi-bootable system :
- one snapshot for win2000pro
- one snapshot for winXPhome
- one snapshot for winXPpro
- one snapshot for winVISTA (only in the beta version of FDISR)
That's 4 operating systems on the same system partition [C:], without partitioning.

You can also use FDISR with the same operating system (winXPproSP2), but with a different configuration to make it more suitable for a specific activity.
For instance : I have an OFF-LINE snapshot and an ON-LINE snapshot.
Most users have a WORK snapshot and a ROLLBACK snapshot.
Some users have a library of 20 different snapshots.

The bottom line is :
1. you need ATI (= necessity) to restore your harddisk(s) after a disk crash and in case FDISR is corrupted by a legitimate software attack or a malware attack.
2. you need FDISR (= luxury) to restore your system partition [C:] fast from any disaster, except the ones in 1.

You can use FDISR without ATI, but then you have to re-install Windows + FDISR manually after a harddisk crash
and then you can restore your archived snapshots to get your system back.
This is of course not a real recovery, if you have to do it manually.

ATI + FDISR is a total recovery solution that works in any possible disaster scenario.

 

Thanks Erik for the extremely clear explanation.

By the way, just noticed you are from Antwerp. My mother was born there and I've been there!

 

No sweat, I'm using ATI + FDISR for more than a year. Glad to help.

In that case, you have the best mother in the world.

 

How do you install fresh new O/S's and still save the snapshots from the previous O/S?

Do you have to re-install FD-ISR and use an archive snapshot or are the snapshots stored in a special hidden partition area?

 

To install another OS, you need the function "Create Empty Snapshot" under Tools of FDISR.
This is explained in the user manual of FDISR or maybe the help of FDISR.

 

could you please elaborate?

thanks

 

I would like to have more details too. Chinese again, I hope everything is readable in English.