Newbie with ATI

Hi,

I just purchased ATI and installed it on system this weekend. In fact I also upgraded to build 2337. I've read the whole Acronis True Image 9.0 user guide from beginning to end and I have a few questions for which I just want to be sure that I understand well what's going on.

First a few detail on my configuration:

- Acronis True Image build 2337.
- Backup unit is an external Sony DRX-810UL
- InCD software is version 4.3.14.1

Question 1: I first created a Bootable Rescue Media. Taking into account that I took a CD-RW (capacity of 650 MB) to do it, I don't understand why my cd after creation is stated full when the created files total size is 28.1 MB. I would have expected to see about 630 MB space free. Am I missing something?

Question 2: If I want to test the Bootable Rescue Media, can I be sure that if I boot from it, it won't touch any existing drive, like formatting, writing on it, etc?

Question 3: For any CD-RW or DVD+/-RW, must I format them before use or will ATI will take care of formatting?

Question 4: Taking into account that I will only make full disk backup, is there any recommandation I should be aware of before starting?

Thanks in advance for your time,

Stéphane

 

1. i think thats just normal behavior

2. u can boot from it to see if it works. it wont do anything unless u tell it to.

3. for cdrw, acronis will take of formatting. i dont know if u can use dvd for rescue media. if u want to use DVDs for backing up images tho, then i do think u have to packetwrite format them (nero incd or roxio directcd) u can search teh forum for that.

4. where will u be storing ur images?

 

Hello Stéphane,

Recommend that you update your InCD to the latest version (4.3.20.1). Download and install <Update-Package 3>.

No you're not missing anything. It's because you've created a bootable CD rather than a normal data CD.

Nothing will get committed until you click the "Proceed" button in the final screen of any Wizard.

If imaging "direct" to DVD+/-RW you will need to use your UDF packet writing software (in your case InCD) to preformat the disks first. Open Windows Explorer, right click on your CD/DVD recorder and select "InCD Format" (you can choose either Quick or Full).

1. Make sure the Master Boot Record (MBR) is included in the image by ensuring the tickbox next to the disk number is selected rather than just the individual partition(s).
2. Always verify the image after creation and just before a restore.
3. When verifying or restoring an image that spans multiple CDs/DVDs, you will need to insert the last disk first and then follow TI's prompts for subsequent disk changes.
4. Make sure you use top-grade CDs or DVDs.

Regards

 

Hi again,

A few detail on my upgraded configuration:

- Acronis True Image build 2337.
- Backup unit is an external Sony DRX-810UL
- InCD software is version 4.3.20.1

First I want to thank you all for your help and support. More than appreciated!

1- I understand that whenever I want to backup on DVD-RW or CD/RW, I have to format them using InCD first. True Image is not doing it by itself when inserting DVD/CD while processing backup.

2- "InCD Format (you can choose either Quick or Full)". What is the difference between those two options?

3- "Make sure you use top-grade CDs or DVDs". Taking into account that I will make full disk backup on DVDs and that I bought Sony DVD+RW (4.7GB), did I make a good choice? Your opinion?

Thanks again,

Stéphane

 

Hello again Stéphane,

I see you have updated. Good.

You are correct for DVD+/-RW. However, there is no need to preformat CD-RW as TI does this on the fly without assistance from third-party software.

Phew!! Where do I start?

A blank CD-RW needs to be fully formatted before using it with InCD (you will not be given the option to Quick format). After that you can carry out either Quick or Full formatting. Quick formatting merely resets the file system but leaves the data on the disk. Therefore if a disk contains sensitive/confidential data you should carry out a Full format.

Full or Quick formatting of a blank DVD+RW is always carried out in the background, which means it can be written to after about two minutes if need be. If the Disk is already InCD formatted then a Quick format will merely reset the file system and leave the data intact (as for a CD-RW).

A DVD-RW is slighlty different in that fully formatting a blank disk will always take about 90 minutes, whilst a Quick format will be carried out in the background as per a DVD+RW. Again, Quick formatting a previously InCD formatted disk will only reset the file system.

Quick formatting any of the above types of disk will remove the option to also verify the disk surface.

You usually can't go wrong if you use the same brand of media as the recorder. However, although I myself have a Sony recorder, I prefer to use Verbatim DataLifePlus disks as these are more readily available (and cheaper!!) on this small island. I have also found them to be totally reliable.

Regards

 

Hi again,

Many thanks guys for your knowledge. I really appreciate. I must confest that I don't have much experience with CD/DVD burning. I've used tapes for a long time to backup data and, for OS part, recover CD's were provided by one of my suppliers. Unfortunately last year, he couldn't give this service anymore so I had no choice but to find myself a solution which finally led me to ATI.

When formating DVD+RW, I expect that InCD will format DVD so that I will have full 4.7 GB available space. Am I dreaming? What formatting time should I expect with DVD+RW? If there is any settings to be aware, please let me know.

Is there a way that I can know how many DVDs will be necessary for backup? Will ATI tell me somehow or must I calculate it by myself?

Finally, I should make my first full disk backup using DVDs tomorrow or Wednesday. If some of you were interested to know how it came out with DVDs, please let me know. I will get back to you with results.

Thanks again,

Stéphane

 

Hi again Stéph,

No, after InCD formatting you will be left with 4.37GB of usable space.

Depending on the write speed of your recorder and the rated speed of the blank DVD+RW, a full format usually takes a minute or less.

Right click the InCD icon on the taskbar, select "Options" and tick the box for "Enable the advanced format options". After that open Windows Explorer, right click on the CD/DVD recorder and select "InCD Format". In the Format window, click the "Advanced" button and then, in the case of DVD+RW disks, select "UDF 1.5 (recommended)" from the dropdown list ("UDF 2.0 (recommended)" for DVD-RW). Tick the box marked "Remember that choice" if you wish and then click OK.

You will need to carry out a rough calculation for yourself and preformat the required number of disks. Obviously the level of compression you opt to use when creating the image and the type of files being compressed will have a bearing on how many DVDs are used. So, best to play safe, assume minimum compression and divide the total used space being imaged by 4.3GB (allows a bit for burning Lead-in and Lead-out information).

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Regards

 

Hi again,

1. "Right click the InCD icon on the taskbar, select "Options" and tick the box for "Enable the advanced format options"."

==> This option was already enabled (clicked).

==> Q: Can you tell me what "MRW Format" means? I suppose it has something to do with RW medias? Am I wrong? I also noticed that on my DVD unit's properties, on InCD panel, it is stated that unit supports MRW reading but not MRW writing...

2. "After that open Windows Explorer, right click on the CD/DVD recorder and select "InCD Format". In the Format window, click the "Advanced" button and then, in the case of DVD+RW disks, select "UDF 1.5 (recommended)" from the dropdown list. Tick the box marked "Remember that choice" if you wish and then click OK."

==> OK I noticed it. This option become available only when DVD is in the drive.
==> Formatting without any verification took only 12 seconds!!!
==> I then changed volume name,enabled verifying option this time and formatted same DVD again. It took around 22 minutes and at the end it reported effectively 4.37 GB of available space.

==> Q: For True Image, is giving a unique volume name for each disk of any importance while formatting? Will TI specify its own volume name while proceeding with backup?

3. Proceeding with Backup!

I inserted my first DVD disk and clicked on Backup menu item.

Panel 1: The entire disk contents or individual partition
Panel 2: Clicked C:
BTW no partition detail were displayed probably because
there is only one partition on C:
Panel 3: Selected DVD drive.
Panel 4: Create new full backup archive
Panel 5: Set the options manually
Panel 6: Changed "backup priority" to "high"
Checked both "Check created backup..." and
"Ask for first media..."
Panel 7: Entered a quick comment.

When proceeding a question box came asking "W00040011: Please insert the media marked " Volume 1". Pressing "Retry" button, it kept me asking this question until I finally pressed the "Cancel" button. I even renamed my DVD disk "Volume 1" but it kept me asking me the same question. When pressing "Cancel" button, it showed the screen of resume of backup operation to be proceeded.

I went through the whole process but at one moment, I presume the backup process was probably completed because I could see that progress bar was at 100%, TI kept asking me for "Volume 1" in order, I presume again, to proceed with verifying like I set in options before backing up. I had no choice but again to press Cancel button which ended the process...

==> Q: Please!!! What is that "Volume 1" meaning

Thanks for your support, more than appreciated.

Stéphane

 

Hi again Stéphane,

MRW = Mount Rainier Writable. From www.mt-rainier.org :

"Mount Rainier makes it easier to use CD-RW or DVD+RW discs; the discs can be used as floppy discs. On Mount Rainier CD-RW and DVD+RW drives:
- you can drag & drop files to the RW disc
- a blank disc will be initialized and is available for drag & drop very quickly
- the real formatting of the disc is done in the background, invisible to the user
- If there are scratches etc on the disc, the drive will recognize this and will replace the bad areas."

No it's not important and TI wont assign a volume name to the DVD whilst backing up. However, it helps to identify the disks if you give each one a "Label" whilst formatting e.g. Backup1, Backup2, etc.

When you insert a DVD, wait for the recorder's activity light to extinguish before proceeding. Other than that, I'm afraid I have no idea why this might be occurring.

Regards

 

Hi again,

Thanks for answering my last post. Yes I waited for DVD light to come up. Even if I push many times the "retry" button, TI keeps showing me that "W00040011" warning. If I just push the "cancel" button then, like I stated in last post, I get somekind of a resume of backup process to be done. Curiously, at that moment, I noted the following on top of "Create backup Wizard" window:

Create Full Backup Archive
From: Disk1
To: CD-RW Drive (G\MyBackup.tib
Compression: Normal

Operation 1 of 2
Saving partition structure
Hard disk: 1

Operation 2 of 2
Hard disk: 1
Drive letter: C:
File system: NTFS
Volume label:
Volume size: 37.26GB

Check Archive
Location: "G:\MyBackup.tib"

Q:==> Do you have any clue why it is stating that the backup is made to "CD-RW Drive (G\MyBackup.tib" when I would have expected to see "DVD+RW Drive (G\MyBackup.tib" taking into account that in the drive I've put a DVD+RW already formatted.

BTW, I tried almost everything with DVD disk. Formatted them with no volume name, with "Volume X" name, with " Volume X" name. Nothing seemed to solve my problem. I'm still stuck with that "W00040011" warning. Any clue

Thanks in advance.

Stéphane

 

Don't want to step in here between you and Menorcaman, but his head is probably pounding the pillow pretty good right about now.

I don't belive the "CD-RW Drive" message is anything to be concerned about. TI identifies all RW drives as CD. Under normal circumstances you can just ignore that little nusance (nuisance... darn, how do you spell that? Where's my spell checker? ) and press on.

As to the error message, I'm sorry, no idea.

Terry

 

Hello Stéphane,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

The current version of Acronis True Image does not write to DVD disсs directly, instead it utilizes third-party UDF-packet DVD-writing software.

Please also read the information about writing to DVDs in our FAQ:

We will certainly implement direct DVD recording in Acronis True Image in the future.

Regarding the warning message, please make a screen shots of your step-by-step actions which you took that led you to this warning message.
Please also make a screen shot of the message, if possible.

Please submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files to your request along with the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with the solution.

Thank you.
--
Kirill Omelchenko