True Image 8 useage

I am a little confused. I have downloaded a trial version of True Image 8 successfully and am trying it out but I am very puzzled by several things.

If I do a full backup of my C disk to my external hard disc G, does disc G contain all the necessary system information/system software/all programs and all data that I will require to completely restore my C drive if I have a complete failure of this drive?

What process do I initiate to start up a full disaster recovery?

When I installed the program I was asked to put a blank CD in my drive which now has references and a program alluding to recovery. What is this all about?

Do I have to use my original Home XP disc during the recovery process?

The drop down windows arent too intuitive to me Im afraid although there arent too many options to take.

At the same time It seems that I can restore partial pieces of data but I am having trouble selecting a folder to "restore". The help file is not too explicit.

If I look at the information which has been backed up on G, using the virtual disk approach, why can I not see for instance the MY DOCUMENTS folder and my desk top items?


I apologise for being a bit slow perhaps but I do need to understand what is happening before I comit to buying the software.
If you can point me to a suitable set of user guidelines which might help me I would be greatfull

Pickers

 

That CD will allow you to boot, in case your C drive fails, and let you restore the image from your external drive to a "new" C drive. It will put back everything that was on the old C on to the new C drive, including the OS. Be aware though that the boot CD will not work beyond the trial period.

I believe that you can only restore individual files from Windows, not from the boot CD. Someone will correct this if I am wrong.

 

My suggestion is to dl the Manual from Acronis' site and read it thoroughly. All your questions will then be answered satisfactorily.

 

You might want to start by reading here https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=29880 as it seems you have some fundamental product questions.

 

Yes, as long as you include all partitions on the hard drive in the image. Everything is in the image: Windows, programs, data, configuration settings, etc.

Boot from the recovery CD that you made during the installation and select Restore. You can restore the image to a brand new hard drive without any prior partitioning or formatting.

That's the Recovery CD that you can boot from if your hard drive won't boot.

No!

They get very easy after you use the program a few times.

When you Explore an image (the whole image has to be on the same disk), you can use Windows Explorer to simpy drag and drop files or folders from the image to your real hard drive. The My Documents folder and the Desktop are included in the image of the C drive under Documents and Settings\your logon name\... If you can find the folders in Windows Explorer starting at C:\, you can find them in the same place in the image.

The manual which is available online will help as pointed out by others.

 

I would like to thank you all for the information you have supplied. It is comforting to know that there are so many people willing to help me out there should I need further help. I will do as suggested and down load the PDF file and read it before I buy which I believe I might just do, but you have answered all of my fundamental questions which is great.
Thankyou all again