Free Acronis True Image for WD Drives

Just found this. Seems they are going the same route as Seagate.

http://support.wdc.com/product/downloaddetail.asp

 

so can anyone download and use it since the download link is right there or how is it limited to WD Drives?

 

Review the manual.

Acronis True Image WD Edition is available for installing and launching only when a Western Digital HDD is connected.

 

does that include the WD My Book External Hard Drives?

 

Wow, thats very nice finding, thanks Aigle

 

They have that same free deal for Maxtor in addition to SeaGate.
My understanding is that if you don't have a harddrive that qualifies the program will not install.

 

From the Manual:

 

Because Maxtor is bought by Seagate.

 

does Seagate have any offer like this by chance?

 

DiscWizard for Seagate http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...toid=d9fd4a3cdde5c010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

MaxBlast for Maxtor http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...toid=7add8b9c4a8ff010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD

 

is discwizard a differently branded product from another vendor or is it their own developed backup software?

 

im testing it out and i actually really like discwizard cuz its just so plain simple, and yes its powered by acronis i figured out.

i have 1 question though, does it give u an optioin when backing up to exclude the page file? and what the hell is the difference between making an image of a drive and making a clone of the drive??

 

AFAIK all of them (DiscWizard for Seagate, MaxBlast for Maxtor and Acronis True Image for WD Drives) are Acronis True Image program.
Maybe they just older versions.
Just they lack some functionality, like some features are disabled.
Maybe you'll have full backup in discwizard, but other backup options aren't available.
But at the end you will get full commercial program for free (if you like ATI, if you don't mind that is little crippled, and if works on your machine).

 

YEP, often no x64 support or no Raid support

 

TBH, after installing I created the boot disc and have been using it since. I really didn't like the size of the Acronis package but that is a personal preference. The boot disk does everything I need as I don't need all the bell and whistles. So far, it's worked flawlessly .

Image and cloning explanation. http://kb.acronis.com/content/1540

 

I have WD drives and might try this imaging utility. Thanks for the information.

Do you know if the boot disc acts as does the Shadow Protect recovery disc? With the SP disc you can image and update and do most of the the essential functions, apart from some functions such as incremental and continuous imaging, without having the program installed. This is the same with an ATI boot disc?

Do you have to install the program to create a ATI boot disc?

And if you do have to install the program to get the boot disc, does the install require reboot? Do you know if the the boot cd can be created without install and reboot?

I ask this coz I really dislike installing new programs.