Acronis Truie Image froze my machine

[Three Lefts]

I guess all of the dire warnings on Amazon and elsewhere are valid.

This afternoon, I downloaded Acronis True Image 11 Home. The rest of
the day was spend trying to recover.

The install seemed to go OK. I then tried to do a full disk image
backup. My hard disk is 111GB of which about 31GB is used (80GB free).
It said it was going to do 2 processes. I only saw one, but that one
took about 40 minutes, so I might have missed something.

When it was done, I had a .tib file about 18GB in size.

I then tried to Mount the volume so I could look at its contents. All
hell broke loose. The system froze up so solidly that I could barely
start teh Task Manager, and when I could, it was 2-3 minutes between
responses. It showed about 7-8 Acronis tasks (not processes).

I finally had to reset the system. When it came back up, I immediately
uninstalled the program and deleted all traces (probably not).

I found the human factors mediocre, at best, but would have kept it if
it worked. Sadly, it did not.

I am ruinning Windows XP with all the latest updates. I also have
Office 2007 Pro.

I am running Carbonite online backup. That is a pleasure to use --
especially with the new versioning feature. It just does not guarantee
a perfect 100% restore. I was hoping to use Acronis every month or so
or whenever I madre any system changes and then Carbonite for any
files that changed in between.

 

[Bill in Co.]

I haven't had any such problems with TI 11 Home. And BTW, once the backup
is made, you don't have to mount anything to check its contents, you just
exit the program and use Windows Explorer to see it. After exiting, I
give the system a second or two to stabilize and then go to Explorer and
look for the backup, and then click on explore (but don't rush it - it make
take a second or two to decompress)

And if you want to make sure your backup is ok, just after you have made the
backup, run the verify routine.

I think your experience is more the exception than the rule, and from what
I've read, True Image 11 Home has a pretty good reputation. I sure
haven't had any problems with it - and yes, I've restored the main HD
partition, no problemo.

Incidentally, the tib file will be a bit smaller than expected, due to the
compression. So if you had 30 GB of actual data, it could very well be 18
GB.

 

[PD43]

I haven't had any such problems with TI 11 Home. And BTW, once the backup
is made, you don't have to mount anything to check its contents, you just
exit the program and use Windows Explorer to see it.

I'd rather use Acronis itself to do that exploring.

I've been using AI since version 7 and have never had ANY problems
with it.

 

[PD43]

Incidentally, the tib file will be a bit smaller than expected, due to the
compression. So if you had 30 GB of actual data, it could very well be 18
GB.

Only if he used maximum compression. There is a performance hit when
doing NO compression while using Windows, so I'd guess any compression
would increase the hit. Maybe that was part of his problem.

I prefer to run it when I'm not doing anything else. I usually start
the session when I crash for the night.

 

[DL]

The only problem I have ever had with TI was corrupt image due to memory
issues.
Whereas Carbonite did cause issues with other software.
You have a problem with your specific configuration that caused this

 

[Three Lefts]

Only if he used maximum compression. There is a performance hit when
doing NO compression while using Windows, so I'd guess any compression
would increase the hit. Maybe that was part of his problem.

I prefer to run it when I'm not doing anything else. I usually start
the session when I crash for the night.

The computer was idle except for Acronis and whatever background tasks
there are.

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

I guess all of the dire warnings on Amazon and elsewhere are valid.

This afternoon, I downloaded Acronis True Image 11 Home. The rest of
the day was spend trying to recover.

The install seemed to go OK. I then tried to do a full disk image
backup. My hard disk is 111GB of which about 31GB is used (80GB
free).
It said it was going to do 2 processes. I only saw one, but that one
took about 40 minutes, so I might have missed something.

When it was done, I had a .tib file about 18GB in size.

I then tried to Mount the volume so I could look at its contents.
All
hell broke loose. The system froze up so solidly that I could barely
start teh Task Manager, and when I could, it was 2-3 minutes between
responses. It showed about 7-8 Acronis tasks (not processes).

I finally had to reset the system. When it came back up, I
immediately
uninstalled the program and deleted all traces (probably not).

I found the human factors mediocre, at best, but would have kept it
if
it worked. Sadly, it did not.

I am ruinning Windows XP with all the latest updates. I also have
Office 2007 Pro.

I am running Carbonite online backup. That is a pleasure to use --
especially with the new versioning feature. It just does not
guarantee
a perfect 100% restore. I was hoping to use Acronis every month or
so
or whenever I madre any system changes and then Carbonite for any
files that changed in between.

Geez, even you know there are multiple versions of Windows XP:
- Home
- Professional
and different hardware versions for the Professional version:
- x86 (32-bit)
- x64 (64-bit)

So WHICH version of Windows XP are you using? If it is Windows XP Pro
x64, dump Acronis. We had to. When creating a backup task, TrueImage
(TI) freezes on the screen that would normally list the available
destinations. Apparently it doesn't like the 64-bit drivers used to
poll the drives or some of them and then it locks up. I had it create
its Secure Zone (a hidden partition which I have on a 2nd hard disk)
and I can reboot and hit F11 to run its recovery manager (before
Windows loads) to do a backup or restore but that is just too much of
a pain in the ass, is entirely manual, and obviates the purpose of
periodically running scheduled backups.

Acronis says that TI v11 supports Windows XP x64. They lie. Other
users of WinXP Pro x64 also have problems with TI. Also, there are
several important features missing in their Home version; i.e., it is
crippled. Doesn't have a start date when scheduling tasks, doesn't
support Volume Shadow Copy service (to make sure inuse files get
backed up), has never and still does not obey the quotas you set
regarding max disk space and backup count (so I have to use the Secure
Zone to make sure TI doesn't consume the entire OS partition and
render the OS unusable), and lots of other problems that you can read
about in their forums.

I consider TrueImage (any version) "Home" to be lureware. If you have
any problems with it or discover it is lacking basic features to
provide a reasonable personal backup program, the excuse that Acronis
gives is to pay twice as much for their Workstation version but, of
course, no guarantees the problems or deficiences actually get
addressed in the pricier version.

 

[Three Lefts]

The only problem I have ever had with TI was corrupt image due to memory
issues.
Whereas Carbonite did cause issues with other software.
You have a problem with your specific configuration that caused this

Properly-written software does not cause a system to hang no matter
the configuration. Of course, a properly-designed OS would not hang no
matter what the application software does. Windows falls just a teeny
bit short of that ideal.

Hoew about this: You continue using Acronis. I'll continue using
Carbonite. We'll both be happy.

 

[Three Lefts]

in message


Geez, even you know there are multiple versions of Windows XP:

Even me? Thanks

- Home
- Professional

XP Pro. Sig updated.

and different hardware versions for the Professional version:
- x86 (32-bit)
- x64 (64-bit)

Dell Inspiron 9400. I think that's a 64-bit processor, but I could be
wrong.

So WHICH version of Windows XP are you using? If it is Windows XP Pro
x64, dump Acronis.

I guess that's the problem. It has been dumped.

 

[VanguardLH]

in message

Even me? Thanks


XP Pro. Sig updated.


Dell Inspiron 9400. I think that's a 64-bit processor, but I could
be
wrong.

The vast majority of pre-builts will NOT install a 64-bit version of
Windows. Lack of driver support. Lack of application compatibility.
They want to reduce their tech service calls but 64-bit (Windows XP
Pro or Vista) won't do that. They don't want to deal with the
headaches of Pro/Vista x64, either.

I guess that's the problem. It has been dumped.

If you right-click on the My Computer desktop icon and look at
Properties under the General tab, it should say x64 if that is what is
installed. If you are using the Fisher-Price fluff desktop, run the
System Properties applet in Control Panel.

I'm still trying to find a decent replacement for TI Home v11. Some
are close but it seems you have to decide what to trade off for
features. Roxio has their BackOnTrack but isn't everything that I
want and there are some users reporting issues with it (but there are
less posts about problem but then maybe its users aren't as vocal).

If you do have x64 of Windows XP Pro or Vista, my advice is to
definitely find something else. If you are using the x86 (32bit)
versions of those OS'es, make damn sure that you set TI Home to run
its tasks at LOW PRIORITY. At high priority, the backup/restore
completes faster but your host will be nearly unusable (it will look
hung). At medium priority, there will be a huge lag in responsiveness
of your host. I'm still using a 6-year old AMD Athlon 3200+ (just 1
processor) with 2GB RAM. Your hardware may be newer and more capable
(faster, more cores, more memory) but I would still suggest running
the tasks at low priority if they have any chance of overlapping when
you want to use the host. If you schedule the jobs to run while you
are sleeping then you could use high priority (but forget using the
host during that time).

 

[Juergen Meyer]

It had been a good idea, but in practice it's a horror story.
Imagine, you make a separate backup every month.
If you now browse your computer from the explorer for certain files,
Acronis also searches within the tib.files.
This makes the computer incredible slow, especially on the network.
The computer freezes and additionally, after a certain time, the
computer mostly crashes.

As long as you only search in directories not containing tib.files,
all runs fine.

The other problem: If you have more than one tib.file, you can't see
in the explorer which tib.file contains the file you were looking for
(Is it the newer backup or not).

So in my opinion Acronis should implement an own search routine, not
using the explorer. This would avoid a lot of problems.

rgds
Juergen

 

[rbwilson]

Take a look at ShadowProtect Desktop 3.1 at http://www.storagecraft.com . It
offers continous incremental backups, bare metal restore, output to
networked attached storage as well as local devices, and has an excellent
user forum, including quick responses there from the company. It was
reviewed well by PC Mag - see
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2254465,00.asp . It's a little more
costly than TrueImage, but in my opinion worth the money. I'm using it on a
MS Vista Premium PC with no problems. They offer a free trial version.

 

[Three Lefts]

It had been a good idea, but in practice it's a horror story.
Imagine, you make a separate backup every month.
If you now browse your computer from the explorer for certain files,
Acronis also searches within the tib.files.
This makes the computer incredible slow, especially on the network.
The computer freezes and additionally, after a certain time, the
computer mostly crashes.

As long as you only search in directories not containing tib.files,
all runs fine.

The other problem: If you have more than one tib.file, you can't see
in the explorer which tib.file contains the file you were looking for
(Is it the newer backup or not).

So in my opinion Acronis should implement an own search routine, not
using the explorer. This would avoid a lot of problems.

rgds
Juergen

Several more reasons not to touch this product with a 10-foot pole.

 

[Telstar]

Properly-written software does not cause a system to hang no matter
the configuration. Of course, a properly-designed OS would not hang no
matter what the application software does. Windows falls just a teeny
bit short of that ideal.

Idiot.

 

[Telstar]

in message


Geez, even you know there are multiple versions of Windows XP:
- Home
- Professional
and different hardware versions for the Professional version:
- x86 (32-bit)
- x64 (64-bit)

So WHICH version of Windows XP are you using? If it is Windows XP Pro
x64, dump Acronis. We had to. When creating a backup task, TrueImage
(TI) freezes on the screen that would normally list the available
destinations. Apparently it doesn't like the 64-bit drivers used to poll
the drives or some of them and then it locks up. I had it create its
Secure Zone (a hidden partition which I have on a 2nd hard disk) and I can
reboot and hit F11 to run its recovery manager (before Windows loads) to
do a backup or restore but that is just too much of a pain in the ass, is
entirely manual, and obviates the purpose of periodically running
scheduled backups.

Acronis says that TI v11 supports Windows XP x64. They lie. Other users
of WinXP Pro x64 also have problems with TI. Also, there are several
important features missing in their Home version; i.e., it is crippled.
Doesn't have a start date when scheduling tasks, doesn't support Volume
Shadow Copy service (to make sure inuse files get backed up), has never
and still does not obey the quotas you set regarding max disk space and
backup count (so I have to use the Secure Zone to make sure TI doesn't
consume the entire OS partition and render the OS unusable), and lots of
other problems that you can read about in their forums.

I consider TrueImage (any version) "Home" to be lureware. If you have any
problems with it or discover it is lacking basic features to provide a
reasonable personal backup program, the excuse that Acronis gives is to
pay twice as much for their Workstation version but, of course, no
guarantees the problems or deficiences actually get addressed in the
pricier version.

Idiot.

 

[Telstar]

Several more reasons not to touch this product with a 10-foot pole.

Idiot troll.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Limited vocabulary?

Idiot.

 

[Three Lefts]

Idiot.

How so? Or are you 14?

 

[Three Lefts]

Idiot troll.

Wow. You doubled your vocabulary, but the content is still zero.

 

[Three Lefts]

Limited vocabulary?

Not so much. In another razor-like repartee, he used 2 words. No doubt
engaging both brain cells. He's probably resting now...