Newbie - confused about product version

Hi All,

Newbie to Acronis, just installed today.

I purchase Acronis True Image 9.0 from Amazon Marketplace on the assumption that I was getting TI Home. However, the installation CD was just called Acronis TI 9.0 (the exe file is version 9.0.0.2302). Prior to receiving the CD, I had dowloaded the trial version from the Acronis site, thinking that I would be dwnloading the current version (always a few updates away from a CD in my experience!) and then I could just enter the reg key and unlock the full product. However, the trial wouldn't let me do that, and so I uninstalled the trial and installed the full product from the CD (hope you're still with me )

However, two things confuse me:

1) The downloaded trial was called TI HOME and, even though it wouldn't let me register, I noticed that it was trying to install Bart PE. But when I installed from the CD, there was no insall of Bart PE.
2) When I registered my CD product on the Acronis site (https://www.acronis.com/enterprise/my/products/), the site reported back that my product was indeed the Home Version 9.0

So: which version do I have, really? And if I DO have the Home Version, why didn't the install program try to install Bart PE?

As a further confuser, I already have a previous installation of Bart PE as part of Drive Image XML, a free Disc Image utility. Is there any way I should be using this with TI?

Hope you can help me, because I'm (obviously) a tad confused!

Thanks

 

I'll try to sort you out.

You have TI Home but the version on the CD is way out of date. Since you have registered with Acronis you should have access to the downloads and will be able to get the latest, build 3677. You will have to enter your key to activate this program and it is the full program; I'll say to be safe you should uninstall any TI versions you have on the PC before installing.

Your BartPE experience seems a bit confusing but your TI installation, at least the later versions, have a TI plugin for BartPE. To get the files loaded onto your HD from the distribution file you have to select a complete install or else they are not loaded. During installation, TI does not do anything with setting up BartPE, it just copies the files to your HD for later use by you.

The plugin is there so you can elect to make a new BartPE CD or you can perhaps install it into your existing BartPE configuration.

The reason TI doesn't install/setup BartPE is that it doesn't normally need it. The bootable rescue CD that you create after installing TI (be sure you do it) is Linux based and provides a method for restoring to new HDs. A problem is that sometimes the Linux drivers are not ideal or present for some hardware configurations which means some devices cannot be accessed or will run very slowly. BartPE as you probably know, uses Windows drivers and also can have new drivers added to it before creating the CD. This solves the inadequate Linux environment problem. There is no way of adding or modifying drivers on the TI bootable rescue CD. Acronis will work with you to provide a custom version of the Linux CD if necessary but many of the users experiencing that problem create a BartPE CD.

edit: changed typo from drives to drivers, thanks Christopher NC.

 

Do NOT install the version that comes in the retal kit.
It is known to be very buggy.

Register at the Acronis web site and download the latest build.

The CD in the retail kit is only usful as a bookmark or a frisbee.

 

Thanks

 

Many thanks to Howard and Seekforever for your quick response to a confused newbie (err, that'll be me then.......)

Cheers!