Help! I'm confused with True Image

Hello everyone, I just bought True Image 10 (home) because I want to backup my computer. But this is how I want to do: clean and optimize my whole computer then create an image of the entire computer using True Image, store the image in an external hard drive so in case my computer crashes or becomes sluggish, all I have to do is restore the whole original image to bring everything back to its best condition. I just installed True Image and am looking around but I feel lost. I'm not sure if it has the feature that does exactly what I just described. Please help me figure out this. Thank you very much.

 

It does have exactly that feature - probably the most common reason for having backup software. One thing though, you must make the bootable Rescue CD from the menu in the installed TI software and test it to make sure it will boot and see your external hard drive. The cd will have the Restore/Backup/Clone features same as the installed software.

 

Thanks Ralphie for your quick response. Would you please be so kind show me where to go to start that process? I'll keep in mind the bootable CD tip. Thanks a bunch.

 

I think the menu item is called Create Bootable Rescue Media or similar. Look around the menu items when you launch the True Image software. I don't know exactly where it is as I don't have the software installed. I do ALL my TI procedures from the CD.

 

See Tools/Create Bootable Rescue Media. U can select burning direct to a drive, or create an ISO file for burning on another machine. Nice new feature in v10. As mentioned, this step is critical for using ATI. If your machine becomes so unstable u can't boot, this CD will save ur butt. cheers.

ps. u should test this feature before thinking you are protected. backup something (some files & folders, ie. create a .tib) then boot from the CD and see if you can restore from the archive.

 

BE SURE and dowload and read/study/absorb User manual. Download via my signature link below.
Sample image shows steps to create recovery CD.
Suggestion: Do NOT use or implement the Activate Startup Recovery Manager nor the Activate Acronis Secure Zone until you have had a chance to do more research about their usage. Many or most choose not to use these two options listed on the Tools menu.

 

Thank you all for showing me the bootable CD. I made one and I was able to boot to it. However I was more interested in creating the image for my entire computer. I'd appreciate any further help.

 

I did it!

Hi again. I just did a test and it did what I wanted. I backed up my whole C drive and put it in the other partition. Since my computer wasn't crashing or acting bad, I used the restore disk to bring the computer to the original condition like when I first bought it. Then I used the bootable rescue disk to boot into True Image and restore everything back to the way the computer was before I did the test. Thanks for all your help.

 

Congratulations on your success. It seems you know more than you original question implies.

If you are interested in gaining more knowledge download the user manual and spend some time digesting its contents. It answers many basic questions.

You can also download a fully illustrated tutorial.
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/company/inpress/2006/06-15-1ati.html

Questions of almost every type have already been previously asked and answered. If you do a forum search on some specific topics or questions, you can find a plethora of information.

After you do some research, you can better pinpoint any specific questions you may have.

Creating an image on an internal drive (and restoring it) is a great first start. Next, you should copy (or create a new backup) your tib files onto your external drive. Additionally, you should occasionally copy a set of backup files onto DVD. These additonal steps provides you greater security should you have a major crisis. The external drive should be disconnected most of the time and connected only when immediate use is planned. Since it contains your backups, you want to protect it against hazards.

Additionally, if your computer has multiple partitions (perhaps diagnostic and/or hidden) on your system drive, some of your backups should be using the full disk backup option where all partitions are checkmarked and imaged. You can use your XP DiskManagment tools to determine whether you have hidden partitions.
Start/run= DISKMGMT.MSC

One nice thing about True Image is that you can do a trial run (simulate) doing a backup or a restore thru all the various screens until you reach the point where the next option reads "Proceed". Do not press the "Proceed" option unless you really intend for the activity to begin.

Practice
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=185364
---------------------------------------------------
When creating an image to be used in restoring all partitions on a drive,
this link shows the backup option needed.
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=182030
--------------------------------------