Acronis disk clone question

[Martin ©¿©¬ somewhere]

Hi
Just started to use Acronis
When I try to clone my C drive to my external USB (G)drive, which has
data already on it , Acronis wants to delete the partition or it won't
continue.

If I move the data on G to my D drive, clone C to G and put my data
back on G, will I be able to update the clone of C to G without
Acronis wanting to delete the partition, or does drive G have to be
reserved/kept free for Acronis to do it's cloning?

I hope you understand my question
Using WINXP Acronis Version 7

 

[Richard Urban]

If you do as you say you will no longer have a "clone" (exact image) of your
C: drive.

When you clone a drive you make an exact image - for emergency use. You then
remove the cloned drive and keep it in a safe place. It is insurance. It is
not to be used as a repository for added data after cloning. To do so
negates the insurance.

If you want to use the target drive for other uses, just create an image of
your C: drive (not a clone) and store the image on your external drive. You
can then continue to use the external drive for other purposes.

And yes, you clone a drive to another "clean" drive, one without any
information on it. If the target drive is populated you must format the
drive first. You need unallocated space on the target drive equal to, or
greater than, the total size of your source drive.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Malke]

Hi
Just started to use Acronis
When I try to clone my C drive to my external USB (G)drive, which has
data already on it , Acronis wants to delete the partition or it won't
continue.

If I move the data on G to my D drive, clone C to G and put my data
back on G, will I be able to update the clone of C to G without
Acronis wanting to delete the partition, or does drive G have to be
reserved/kept free for Acronis to do it's cloning?

I hope you understand my question
Using WINXP Acronis Version 7

I don't think you want to be using cloning anyway. What you want to do
is create an image of your internal drive's partition(s) and store the
image on the external hard drive. The image can happily co-exist with
other data on the external drive. If what you are trying to do is have
an identical backup drive that you can swap with the one in the
computer, then you would do the clone and yes, you need to just use
that drive only for the clone. If what you are trying to do is be able
to restore the drive in your computer, make the image instead.

Malke

 

[Martin ©¿©¬ somewhere]

Richard & Malke, that has made it clearer
What I wanted to do is be able to restore the drive in my computer,
So I'll make an image instead.

Thank you both for your help

 

[Anna]

I don't think you want to be using cloning anyway. What you want to do
is create an image of your internal drive's partition(s) and store the
image on the external hard drive. The image can happily co-exist with
other data on the external drive. If what you are trying to do is have
an identical backup drive that you can swap with the one in the
computer, then you would do the clone and yes, you need to just use
that drive only for the clone. If what you are trying to do is be able
to restore the drive in your computer, make the image instead.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Martin:
You've gotten some very good information from both Richard Urban & Malke
concerning using the Acronis program to best advantage. Let me add a few
thoughts.

1. First of all, do upgrade to one of the later versions of the Acronis True
Image program. Versions 8, 9, and now 10 have superseded your version 7 and
later versions are a decided improvement over the older version. Based on
the (admittedly) limited experience we had with version 7, we found it
wanting in many respects. Do yourself a favor and upgrade.

2. As Malke points out there is a significant advantage in your case to
consider creating a disk image rather than going the direct disk-to-disk
clone process since with the disk image operation you'll still be able to
retain data on your USB external HDD. And since you'll also be able to
subsequently create incremental disk images onto that USB EHD you'll be able
to easily keep your backups up-to-date.

What I particularly wanted to mention is that you can create what Acronis
calls a "Acronis Secure Zone" on your USB EHD to store the disk image(s). In
effect this is nothing more than a partition (which you size) that is
unavailable to other non-Acronis programs & applications that attempt to
access its contents. (I can't remember if your version 7 has this
capability).

3. Both the backup (creation of the disk image(s)) and the recovery process,
i.e., restoring your system to a bootable state, are relatively simple &
straightforward operations.

BTW, I recently prepared step-by-step instructions re the disk imaging
process as they relate to versions 9 & 10 of the Acronis program (they're
virtually identical). If you, or anyone, would like to take a look at them,
indicate such and I'll post them.
Anna

 

[sdlomi2]

Martin:
You've gotten some very good information from both Richard Urban & Malke
concerning using the Acronis program to best advantage. Let me add a few
thoughts.

1. First of all, do upgrade to one of the later versions of the Acronis
True Image program. Versions 8, 9, and now 10 have superseded your version
7 and later versions are a decided improvement over the older version.
Based on the (admittedly) limited experience we had with version 7, we
found it wanting in many respects. Do yourself a favor and upgrade.

2. As Malke points out there is a significant advantage in your case to
consider creating a disk image rather than going the direct disk-to-disk
clone process since with the disk image operation you'll still be able to
retain data on your USB external HDD. And since you'll also be able to
subsequently create incremental disk images onto that USB EHD you'll be
able to easily keep your backups up-to-date.

What I particularly wanted to mention is that you can create what Acronis
calls a "Acronis Secure Zone" on your USB EHD to store the disk image(s).
In effect this is nothing more than a partition (which you size) that is
unavailable to other non-Acronis programs & applications that attempt to
access its contents. (I can't remember if your version 7 has this
capability).

3. Both the backup (creation of the disk image(s)) and the recovery
process, i.e., restoring your system to a bootable state, are relatively
simple & straightforward operations.

BTW, I recently prepared step-by-step instructions re the disk imaging
process as they relate to versions 9 & 10 of the Acronis program (they're
virtually identical). If you, or anyone, would like to take a look at
them, indicate such and I'll post them.
Anna

Anna, please do post those steps, as I know they can help me and I
suspect they could help numerous others. Thanks, s

 

[herbzee]

Martin:
You've gotten some very good information from both Richard Urban & Malke
concerning using the Acronis program to best advantage. Let me add a few
thoughts.

1. First of all, do upgrade to one of the later versions of the Acronis True
Image program. Versions 8, 9, and now 10 have superseded your version 7 and
later versions are a decided improvement over the older version. Based on
the (admittedly) limited experience we had with version 7, we found it
wanting in many respects. Do yourself a favor and upgrade.

2. As Malke points out there is a significant advantage in your case to
consider creating a disk image rather than going the direct disk-to-disk
clone process since with the disk image operation you'll still be able to
retain data on your USB external HDD. And since you'll also be able to
subsequently create incremental disk images onto that USB EHD you'll be able
to easily keep your backups up-to-date.

What I particularly wanted to mention is that you can create what Acronis
calls a "Acronis Secure Zone" on your USB EHD to store the disk image(s). In
effect this is nothing more than a partition (which you size) that is
unavailable to other non-Acronis programs & applications that attempt to
access its contents. (I can't remember if your version 7 has this
capability).

3. Both the backup (creation of the disk image(s)) and the recovery process,
i.e., restoring your system to a bootable state, are relatively simple &
straightforward operations.

BTW, I recently prepared step-by-step instructions re the disk imaging
process as they relate to versions 9 & 10 of the Acronis program (they're
virtually identical). If you, or anyone, would like to take a look at them,
indicate such and I'll post them.
Anna

Yes Anna pls post them, BTW, I'm just picking up the thread.
Can I use Acronis solely to back up my Data, files of my choosing?
and do incremental back ups of said Data?
Cheers-Herb.

 

[Gene K]

You need to check the Help file within Acronis True Image. What the program
recommends is to create an image (not a clone) to a protected partition on
your main drive which is called "Acronis Secure Zone".

--
GeneK
Hi
Just started to use Acronis
When I try to clone my C drive to my external USB (G)drive, which has
data already on it , Acronis wants to delete the partition or it won't
continue.

If I move the data on G to my D drive, clone C to G and put my data
back on G, will I be able to update the clone of C to G without
Acronis wanting to delete the partition, or does drive G have to be
reserved/kept free for Acronis to do it's cloning?

I hope you understand my question
Using WINXP Acronis Version 7

 

[Guest]

I may be a bit confused here - but it seems as if you're trying to clone your
drive to G rather than imaging your drive to G.

Cloning the drive will replace the contents of drive G with the contents of
drive C
Imaging the drive will place a copy of drive C onto drive G in a file/files
that you can access with Acronis later on to restore your system.

- John

 

[Ayush]

If Anna doesn't return, this was the message Anna posted to a previous
thread. It was really helpful :

------------------------------------------------
Here are the step-by-step instructions for using the Acronis True Image
9
(Home Ed.) to clone the contents of one HDD to another HDD...

1. With both hard drives (source & destination disks) connected, boot
up. If
your destination disk (the recipient of the clone) is going to be
another
internal HDD then before you boot up, ensure that no other storage
devices,
e.g., flash drives, USB external hard drives, etc. are connected. It's
also
probably a good idea to shut down any programs you may have running in
the
background including any anti-virus anti-spyware programs before
undertaking
this disk-to-disk cloning operation.

2. If, upon your initial bootup before accessing the Acronis program a
Windows message appears stating that a new HDD has been detected and
suggests a reboot, do so.

3. Access the Acronis True Image 9 program and under "Pick a Task",
click on
"Clone Disk".

4. On the next "Welcome..." window, click Next.

5. On the next "Clone Mode" window select the Automatic option (it
should be
the default option selected) and click Next.

6. On the next "Source Hard Disk" window, ensure that the correct source
HDD
(the disk you're cloning from) has been selected (click to highlight).
Click
Next.

7. On the next "Destination Hard Disk" window, ensure that the correct
destination HDD (the disk you're cloning to) has been selected (again,
click
to highlight). Click Next.

8. On the next window select the option "Delete partitions on the
destination hard disk". Understand that all data presently on the disk
that
will be the recipient of the clone will be deleted during the disk
cloning
operation. Click Next.

9. The next window will reflect the source and destination disks. Again,
review to confirm that the correct drives have been selected. Click
Next.

10. On the next window click the Proceed button. A message box will
display
indicating a reboot will be required to undertake the disk cloning
operation. Click Reboot.

11. The disk cloning operation will proceed during the reboot. With
modern
components and a medium to high-powered processor, data transfer rate
will
be in the range of 1 to 2 GB/min should you be cloning internal hard
drives.
If you're cloning to a USB external HDD the data transfer rate will be
considerably slower.

12. When the cloning operation is completed, a message will appear
indicating such. Press the Enter key to shut down the computer.

13. a. If you've cloned the contents of your internal HDD to another
internal HDD then disconnect the source HDD and boot ONLY with the
destination HDD (the recipient of the clone) connected. DO NOT BOOT WITH
BOTH DRIVES CONNECTED IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE DISK CLONING OPERATION.

Assuming the boot goes without incident,

b. If, on the other hand, you've used a USB or Firewire external HDD as
the
recipient of the clone, merely disconnect the external device from the
system. Keep in mind, as I previously mentioned, that the USB/Firewire
external HDD (unlike a cloned internal HDD) is not bootable, so should
restoration of your system be later necessary you would clone the
contents
of the external device back to a HDD to again have a functioning system.

I trust the above instructions will be helpful to you. I've no
experience
with the Acronis Privacy Expert Suite 9 you mentioned so I'm afraid I
can't
be of any help to you there. Perhaps you can post your questions re that
program and someone who has experience using that program can help you.
Anna
------------------------------------------------


And this was the message Anna explained about "Shut down the computer
and disconnect the newly-cloned HDD.Reconnect your source HDD"

-----------------------------------------------
The potential problem is this...

Should you boot with both drives connected following the disk-cloning
operation, the system *will* boot to your source HDD, presumably the C:
drive. But subsequently when you attempt to boot with *only* the
destination
HDD connected - let's say for restoration purposes - there's a strong
chance
the system will not boot with *only* that HDD connected. What frequently
happens is that when both HDDs were connected *immediately* following
the
disk-cloning operation and you boot the system, a drive letter other
than C:
is assigned to the destination HDD and this drive letter remains
permanently
assigned to the destination HDD. So that if later you attempt to boot to
that HDD that is solely connected to the system, it will not boot since
the
XP OS will not see it as the boot drive.

Interestingly, if you disconnect the source HDD immediately following
the
disk-cloning operation (as I have suggested), and boot *only* to the
destination HDD, there will be no subsequent problems booting to that
HDD
even if you later boot the system to your source HDD while the
destination
HDD is connected.

Now, just to make this a bit more of a muddle...

The scenario I described doesn't always happen. In many cases it simply
doesn't matter whether both your source & destination HDDs are connected
immediately following the disk-cloning operation. In those cases the
destination HDD will later boot without any problem. But it's something
of a
crapshoot and that's why I generally recommend booting only to the
destination HDD immediately following the disk-cloning operation.

I should add that the situation I've described applies to disk imaging
programs in general, such as Acronis, or at least the programs I've
worked
with.
---------------------------------------------





--
Ayush [ Be ''?'' Happy ]

For any query, search - www.Google.com
Want to know about a term - http://en.wikipedia.org

Replied To :
-------------------------------------------------------------

|
| >> Martin ©¿©¬ (e-mail address removed) wrote:
| >>
| >>> Hi
| >>> Just started to use Acronis
| >>> When I try to clone my C drive to my external USB (G)drive, which
has
| >>> data already on it , Acronis wants to delete the partition or it
won't
| >>> continue.
| >>>
| >>> If I move the data on G to my D drive, clone C to G and put my
data
| >>> back on G, will I be able to update the clone of C to G without
| >>> Acronis wanting to delete the partition, or does drive G have to
be
| >>> reserved/kept free for Acronis to do it's cloning?
| >>>
| >>> I hope you understand my question
| >>> Using WINXP Acronis Version 7
| >
| >
| >| >> I don't think you want to be using cloning anyway. What you want to
do
| >> is create an image of your internal drive's partition(s) and store
the
| >> image on the external hard drive. The image can happily co-exist
with
| >> other data on the external drive. If what you are trying to do is
have
| >> an identical backup drive that you can swap with the one in the
| >> computer, then you would do the clone and yes, you need to just use
| >> that drive only for the clone. If what you are trying to do is be
able
| >> to restore the drive in your computer, make the image instead.
| >>
| >> Malke
| >> --
| >> Elephant Boy Computers
| >> www.elephantboycomputers.com
| >> "Don't Panic!"
| >> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
| >
| >
| >Martin:
| >You've gotten some very good information from both Richard Urban &
Malke
| >concerning using the Acronis program to best advantage. Let me add a
few
| >thoughts.
| >
| >1. First of all, do upgrade to one of the later versions of the
Acronis True
| >Image program. Versions 8, 9, and now 10 have superseded your version
7 and
| >later versions are a decided improvement over the older version.
Based on
| >the (admittedly) limited experience we had with version 7, we found
it
| >wanting in many respects. Do yourself a favor and upgrade.
| >
| >2. As Malke points out there is a significant advantage in your case
to
| >consider creating a disk image rather than going the direct
disk-to-disk
| >clone process since with the disk image operation you'll still be
able to
| >retain data on your USB external HDD. And since you'll also be able
to
| >subsequently create incremental disk images onto that USB EHD you'll
be able
| >to easily keep your backups up-to-date.
| >
| >What I particularly wanted to mention is that you can create what
Acronis
| >calls a "Acronis Secure Zone" on your USB EHD to store the disk
image(s). In
| >effect this is nothing more than a partition (which you size) that is
| >unavailable to other non-Acronis programs & applications that attempt
to
| >access its contents. (I can't remember if your version 7 has this
| >capability).
| >
| >3. Both the backup (creation of the disk image(s)) and the recovery
process,
| >i.e., restoring your system to a bootable state, are relatively
simple &
| >straightforward operations.
| >
| >BTW, I recently prepared step-by-step instructions re the disk
imaging
| >process as they relate to versions 9 & 10 of the Acronis program
(they're
| >virtually identical). If you, or anyone, would like to take a look at
them,
| >indicate such and I'll post them.
|
| Yes Anna please post them
| --
| Martin
| ©¿©¬
| >
|

 

[Martin ©¿©¬ somewhere]

Martin:
You've gotten some very good information from both Richard Urban & Malke
concerning using the Acronis program to best advantage. Let me add a few
thoughts.

1. First of all, do upgrade to one of the later versions of the Acronis True
Image program. Versions 8, 9, and now 10 have superseded your version 7 and
later versions are a decided improvement over the older version. Based on
the (admittedly) limited experience we had with version 7, we found it
wanting in many respects. Do yourself a favor and upgrade.

2. As Malke points out there is a significant advantage in your case to
consider creating a disk image rather than going the direct disk-to-disk
clone process since with the disk image operation you'll still be able to
retain data on your USB external HDD. And since you'll also be able to
subsequently create incremental disk images onto that USB EHD you'll be able
to easily keep your backups up-to-date.

What I particularly wanted to mention is that you can create what Acronis
calls a "Acronis Secure Zone" on your USB EHD to store the disk image(s). In
effect this is nothing more than a partition (which you size) that is
unavailable to other non-Acronis programs & applications that attempt to
access its contents. (I can't remember if your version 7 has this
capability).

3. Both the backup (creation of the disk image(s)) and the recovery process,
i.e., restoring your system to a bootable state, are relatively simple &
straightforward operations.

BTW, I recently prepared step-by-step instructions re the disk imaging
process as they relate to versions 9 & 10 of the Acronis program (they're
virtually identical). If you, or anyone, would like to take a look at them,
indicate such and I'll post them.

Yes Anna please post them[/QUOTE]

 

[Anna]

Using the Acronis True Image program there are two different approaches one
can take to back up the entire contents of one's day-to-day working HDD,
i.e., the operating system, all programs & applications, and user-created
data, in short *everything* that's on one's HDD...

1. Direct disk-to-disk cloning, or

2. Creating disk images



By using either of these strategies the user can restore his or her system
should their HDD become inoperable because of mechanical/electronic failure
of the disk or corruption of the system resulting in a dysfunctional
operating system.



In undertaking either of these two backup & recovery processes you're
dealing with two hard drives - the so-called source & destination disks -
the source disk being the HDD you're backing up and the destination disk
being the HDD that will be the recipient of the cloned contents of the
source disk or the recipient of the disk image you will be creating.



When using either process it's usually best for most users to use an
external HDD as the destination drive, i.e., the recipient of the cloned
contents of the source disk or the recipient of the created disk image. This
can be either a USB or Firewire or SATA external HDD. While another internal
HDD can also serve as the destination disk there's an additional element of
safety by using an external HDD since that drive will be ordinarily
disconnected from the system except during the disk cloning or recovery
process.



The following are step-by-step instructions for using the Acronis True Image
9 program to clone the contents of one HDD to another HDD. (The steps are
essentially the same using the newer ATI 10 version):

1. With both hard drives (source & destination disks) connected, boot up.
If your destination disk (the recipient of the clone) is going to be another
internal HDD, then before you boot up, ensure that no other storage devices,
e.g., flash drives, USB external hard drives, etc., are connected. It's also
probably a good idea to shut down any programs you may have working in the
background - including any anti-virus anti-spyware programs - before
undertaking this disk-to-disk cloning operation.

2. If, upon your initial bootup before accessing the Acronis program a
Windows message appears stating that a new HDD has been detected and
suggests a reboot, do so.

3. Access the Acronis True Image 9 program and under "Pick a Task", click
on "Clone Disk". (In the ATI 10 version click on “Manage Hard Disks” in the
“Pick a Tool” area and on the next screen click on “Clone Disk”)

4. On the next "Welcome to the Disk Clone Wizard!" window, click Next.

5. On the next "Clone Mode" window select the Automatic option (it should
be the default option selected) and click Next.

6. On the next "Source Hard Disk" window, ensure that the correct source
HDD (the disk you're cloning from) has been selected (click to highlight).
Click Next.

7. On the next "Destination Hard Disk" window, ensure that the correct
destination HD (the disk you're cloning to) has been selected (again, click
to highlight). Click Next.

8. On the next window, select the option "Delete partitions on the
destination hard disk". Understand that all data presently on the disk that
will be the recipient of the clone will be deleted prior to the disk cloning
operation. Click Next.

9. The next window will reflect the source and destination disks. Again,
confirm that the correct drives have been selected. Click Next.

10. On the next window click on the Proceed button. A message box will
display indicating that a reboot will be required to undertake the disk
cloning operation. Click Reboot.

11. The cloning operation will proceed during the reboot. With modern
components and a medium to high-powered processor, data transfer rate will
be in the range of about 1 to 2 GB/min. should you be cloning internal hard
drives. If you're cloning to a USB external HDD the data transfer rate will
be considerably slower.

12. When the cloning operation has been completed, a message will appear
indicating the disk cloning process has been successful and instructs you to
shut down the computer by pressing any key. Do so.

13. a. If you've cloned the contents of your internal HDD to another
internal HDD, then disconnect the source HDD and boot ONLY with the
destination HDD (the recipient of the clone) connected. DO NOT BOOT WITH
BOTH DRIVES CONNECTED.

Assuming the boot goes without incident, shut down the computer and
disconnect the newly-cloned HDD. Reconnect your source HDD.

b. If, on the other hand, you've cloned the contents of your internal HDD to
a USB or Firewire external HDD the above step will be unnecessary.

(Let me explain why there’s a need for the precautionary note in step 13 a.,
i.e., why there is a need to disconnect the source internal HDD from the
system immediately following the disk cloning operation and performing the
*initial* boot with only the destination internal HDD (the drive containing
the recipient of the clone) connected.

The potential problem is this...

Should you boot with both drives connected immediately following the
disk-cloning operation, the system *will* boot to your source HDD,
presumably the C: drive. But subsequently when you attempt to later boot
with *only* the destination HDD connected - let's say for restoration
purposes - there's a strong chance the system will not boot with *only* that
HDD connected. What frequently happens is that when both HDDs are connected
*immediately* following the disk-cloning operation and you boot the system,
a drive letter other than C: is assigned to the destination HDD and this
drive letter remains permanently
assigned to the destination HDD. So that if later you attempt to boot to
that HDD that is solely connected to the system, it will not boot since the
XP OS will not see it as the boot drive.

Interestingly, if you disconnect the source HDD immediately following the
disk-cloning operation (as I have suggested), and boot *only* to the
destination HDD, there will be no subsequent problems booting to that HDD
even if you later boot the system to your source HDD while the destination
HDD is connected.

The reason I’ve stated that this is a “potential problem” is that the
scenario I’ve described doesn't always happen. In many cases it simply
doesn't matter whether both your source & destination HDDs are connected
immediately following the disk-cloning operation. In those cases the
destination HDD will later boot without any problem. But it's something of a
crapshoot and that's why I generally recommend booting only to the
destination HDD immediately following the disk-cloning operation.

I should add that the situation I've described applies to disk imaging
programs in general, such as Acronis, or at least the disk imaging programs
I've worked with.

Note that there is no similar problem with using a USB or Firewire external
hard drive since those devices are not bootable. Using an external HDD as
the destination drive avoids the need for the disconnect/connect scenario
described above. And there is an additional safety factor in using an
external HDD as the recipient of the clone since that drive will ordinarily
be disconnected from the system except during disk-cloning operations. And
restoration of the system can be achieved by cloning the contents of the
system residing on the external HDD to a internal HDD through the normal
disk-cloning process.)



Disk imaging:

The following are step-by-step instructions for using the Acronis True Image
9 Program to create disk images for backup purposes and using those disk
images for recovery of the system. (The steps are essentially the same using
the newer ATI 10 version):



NOTE: The recipient of the disk image, presumably a USB external HD or an
internal HD, must be a formatted drive (unlike the case in a disk-to-disk
cloning operation where an unformatted or “virgin” HD can be used as the
destination disk).



Before undertaking this disk imaging process it’s probably best to close all
programs running in the background including your anti-virus and other
anti-malware programs.



1. With both your source and destination hard drives connected, access the
Acronis program and click “Backup” on main menu.



2. The “Create Backup Wizard” screen opens. Click Next.



3. “Select Backup Type” screen opens with two options:

a. The entire disk contents or individual partitions.

b. Files and folders.

Select a. and click Next.

(In the ATI 10 version four options will be listed: My Computer, My Data, My
Application Settings, and My E-mail. Select the My Computer option and click
Next.)



4. The “Partitions Selection” screen opens.

Disk 1 and Disk 2 are listed with their drive letter
designations. Check the disk to be backed up - presumably Disk 1 - and click
Next.



5. An informational message appears recommending an incremental or
differential backup if original full backup had previously been created.
Since this will be the first backup we will be selecting, just click OK to
close the message box.



6. Next screen is the “Backup Archive Location”. In the “File name:” text
box, (in ATI 10 version it’s the “Folder:” text box) enter your backup drive
letter and enter a file name for the backup file, e.g., “F:\Backup 10-28”.
Acronis will append the “.tib” file extension to the filename. Click Next.



7. “Select Backup Mode” screen opens. Select “Create a new full backup
archive” option and click Next.



8. “Choose Backup Options” screen opens with two options:

a. Use default options

b. Set the options manually

If you select the b. option, you can select various options listed on the
next screen. Two of them are of interest to us:

Compression level - Four options - None, Normal (the default), High,
Maximum.

There’s a “Description” area that shows the estimated size of the backup
archive depending upon the option chosen, and the estimated “creation time”
for each option.

(In this example, the actual size of the data to be backed up is 20 GB).

None - 20 GB and estimated creation time of 1 hr 40 min

Normal - 11.96 GB “ “ “ “ 50 min (Default)

High - 10.46 GB “ “ “ “ 1 hr

Maximum - 10.2 GB “ “ “ “ 1 hr

Backup priority - Low, Normal, or High

Low - “backup processed more slowly, but it will not influence other
processes running on computer.” (Default)

Normal - “normal speed but backup process will influence other processes
running on computer.”

High - “normal speed but backup process will strongly influence other
processes running on computer.”

(As an example, I selected Normal (default) compression level and High
backup priority. The backup archive totaled 15.8 GB compressed from 20 GB;
took 16 min 15 sec to create. Creating a disk-to-disk clone would probably
have taken no longer and possibly a bit faster.)

NOTE: You can set the defaults from the Acronis Tools > Options > Default
backup options menu items.



9. “Archive comments” screen opens allowing you to add comments to the
backup archive which you can review during the Recovery process. Click Next.



10. The next screen summarizes the backup operation to be performed. Review
the information for correctness and click the Proceed button.



11. The next screen will display status bars reflecting the progress of the
backup operation. After the backup operation finishes, an informational
message will appear indicting the operation was successfully completed.



Incremental Backups

1. After the initial backup archive has been created you can create
incremental backups reflecting any data changes since the previous backup
operation. This incremental backup process proceeds considerably faster than
the initial backup operation. This, of course, is a major advantage of
creating disk images rather than undertaking the disk-to-disk cloning
process.

Note that you must create the incremental backup file on the same HDD where
you created the original backup archive and any subsequent incremental
backup files.



2. Access the Acronis program as detailed above and move through the
screens. When you arrive at the “Backup Archive Location” screen, click on
the original backup archive file, or if one or more incremental backup files
were previously created, click on the last incremental backup file and
verify that the correct drive letter and file name are shown in the “File
name:” text box. After clicking Next, the program will automatically create
a file name for the incremental backup archive file, using the original file
name and appending a consecutive number - starting at 2 - at the end of the
file name. For example, say you named the original backup archive file
“Backup 10-28”. The first incremental backup file will be automatically
named “Backup 10-282” and the next incremental file “Backup 10-283”, etc.



3. On the following “Select Backup Mode” screen, select the “Create
incremental backup” option, click Next, and proceed through the screens as
you did in creating the initial backup archive.





Recovery Process

We’ll assume the recovery will be to either a non-defective HDD that has
become unbootable for one reason or another, or to a new HDD.



The recovery process utilizes the Acronis “bootable rescue media” (CD) that
you created when you originally installed the Acronis program. If you didn’t
create that bootable CD at that time, you can create it now from the Acronis
program by clicking on the “Create Bootable Rescue Media” icon on the
opening Acronis screen and simply going through the screens to create the
bootable CD.



Note: If the recovery will be made to a HDD that is still bootable and you’re
able to access the Acronis program on that drive, then you can undertake the
recovery process without the need for using the “bootable rescue” CD.



1. With both the drive containing the backup disk images and the drive you
want to restore connected and with the bootable rescue CD inserted, boot up.



2. At the opening screen, click on “Acronis True Image Home (Full Version)”.



3. The program will open after some moments. On the “Pick a Task” screen
that opens, click on “Recovery”.



4. The “Welcome to the Restore Data Wizard!” screen opens. Click on Next.



5. The “Archive Selection” screen opens. Navigate to the drive containing
the backup archive file(s) and select the last incremental backup file or
the original full backup file if no incremental backup files were
subsequently created. Ensure that the correct drive letter and filename are
entered in the “File name:” text box. Click Next.



6. The “Archive Date Selection” screen opens. Select (highlight) the last
incremental backup file from the listing and click Next.



7. The “Restoration Type Selection” screen opens. Select the option,
“Restore disks or partitions” and click Next.



8. The “Partition or Disk to Restore” will open. Click on “Disk 1” and click
Next.



9. After some moments the “Restored Hard Disk Drive Location” screen opens.
Select (highlight) the HDD to be restored and click Next.



10. On the next screen select the “Yes” option to delete all current
partitions on the destination HDD. Click Next.



11. On the next screen select the “No” option and click Next.



12. On the next screen you have the option to validate the backup archive
before restoration. Click Next.



13. The final screen before the restoration operation begins will open.
Confirm that the information as shown is correct. Click Proceed.



14. Click OK when the “Completed recovery” message appears following the
recovery operation. (The ATI version 10 program’s message will be “The data
was successfully restored”). Click OK.



15. Remove the Acronis bootable rescue CD and close the Acronis program. The
system will reboot. A Windows “Found New Hardware” message followed by the
“System Settings Change” message box may appear on the Desktop. If they do,
click Yes for a reboot.



Note: While the Acronis program is not designed to clone individual
partitions - it can clone only the entire contents of one HDD to another
HDD - you can backup & recover individual partitions through the disk
imaging process.

 

[Martin ©¿©¬ somewhere]

Using the Acronis True Image program there are two different approaches one
can take to back up the entire contents of one's day-to-day working HDD,
i.e., the operating system, all programs & applications, and user-created
data, in short *everything* that's on one's HDD...

1. Direct disk-to-disk cloning, or

2. Creating disk images

<clipped>

That's tremendous Anna,
Thank you very much for your help and the tutorial