Acronis TrueImage vs Norton Ghost

[Lou]

This note it intended to assist those who wish to use either of the subject
programs in the same fashion I do. I have extensive experience with Acronis
version 10, initial release and build 9042 and version 11 build 8035. Also
experienced with Norton Ghost version 10 and version 12. Both products are
good.

I choose not to use the Acronis products because executing scheduled backup
tasks with validation for 4 systems would take about 9 hours and 20 minutes
using Acronis TrueImage whereas the same tasks using Norton Ghost would take
about 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I back up four systems to an external drive on a regular basis. Each backup
is a full image of a system. Each backup is validated. Each system backs
up to a different directory on an external drive. I keep 6 backups for each
system. All backups are scheduled overnight on the same night. The drive
is attached locally to a Vista system and 3 XP systems back up to it's
directory via a LAN. The back up time for the 4 systems are about 10
minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes. Validating the backups take
roughly the same time as does the backup. These times are about the same
for all the products.

The time difference (9 hrs 20 min vs 2 hrs 40 min) is due to what I consider
a flaw in the scheduled validation process of the Acronis products. When
executing a scheduled backup with validation, the Acronis products validate
every backup on the backup location. The first backup of 10 minutes and 6
validations of 10 minutes each takes about 1 hr 10 min. The second backup
of 20 minutes and 6 validations takes about 2 hrs and 20 min. The same time
needed for the third backup. The 4th backup of 30 min and 6 validations
takes about 3 hrs 30 min. A total of about 9 hrs 20 mins.

The Norton Ghost products validate only the most recently created backup.
The time for each backup with validation is 20 min, 40 min, 40 min, 60 min
for a total of 2 hrs 40 min.

I will not get into any debate about my mental state, propensity to lie or
the veracity of what I have said. What I have stated are facts that can be
verified by any TrueImage user or sending an inquiry to the Acronis support
team. They have been very responsive and very competent in dealing my
inquiries in the past.

Again, the sole purpose of this email it to give information to those who
may be planning to use a similar backup strateby as mine.

Lou

 

[John Barnett MVP]

Lou, while you have outlined your backup scenario extremely well most users
would 'not' have 4 systems to backup in one go. I personally much prefer
Acronis over Norton Ghost and while, like all software, there may be issues
it certainly hasn't made me change my mind on what backup application I
should use. I've tried Norton, Casper, Acronis, Paragon and one or two
others, but always come back to Acronis.

I agree with your sentiments on 'timing'. Obviously someone who has 4
machines to image doesn't have this amount of time to 'waste'. However, I
don't think a 'single' PC user should be put off using what, to all intent
and purpose, is an excellent backup application.

--
--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

 

[Unknown]

Anyone mentioning Norton over ANY OTHER program has to be considered
suspicious.

 

[the wharf rat]

I agree with your sentiments on 'timing'. Obviously someone who has 4
machines to image doesn't have this amount of time to 'waste'. However, I
don't think a 'single' PC user should be put off using what, to all intent
and purpose, is an excellent backup application.

I agree with John. Acronis makes a product specifically designed
for the original poster's situation, and it's less than a hundred bucks.
If you try to use home workstation software in workgroup contexts it's not
likely to be efficient.

 

[David Webb]

You stated that. "Each system backs up to a different directory on an external
drive. I keep 6 backups for each system."

It sounds like you are commingling each system's backup into one directory. This
may be why you see the results that you do. If so, try using a separate
directory for each backup.

 

[C.B.]

Not necessarily. Norton's security software applications are bloated,
problem causing resource hogs. However, these programs have nothing to do
with imaging software. I've never used Norton Ghost but I'll try it when my
Acronis True Image subscription expires. I've had problems with Acronis not
doing what it is configured to do and Acronis support can't seem to fix the
problem. I haven't seen any threads complaining to any extent about Norton
Ghost and I haven't read any bad reviews.
Norton/Symantec's Norton security products seem to have many problems
whereas Norton/Symantec's Symantec corporate security products seem to be
trouble free for the most part. At least that's my understanding based upon
what I have read.

C.B.

It is the responsibility and duty of everyone to help the underprivileged
and unfortunate among us.

 

[Big_Al]

Not necessarily. Norton's security software applications are
bloated, problem causing resource hogs. However, these programs have
nothing to do with imaging software. I've never used Norton Ghost but
I'll try it when my Acronis True Image subscription expires. I've had
problems with Acronis not doing what it is configured to do and Acronis
support can't seem to fix the problem. I haven't seen any threads
complaining to any extent about Norton Ghost and I haven't read any bad
reviews.
Norton/Symantec's Norton security products seem to have many
problems whereas Norton/Symantec's Symantec corporate security products
seem to be trouble free for the most part. At least that's my
understanding based upon what I have read.

C.B.

It is the responsibility and duty of everyone to help the
underprivileged and unfortunate among us.

Our office has had norton anti-virus corporate for years. And has
caused zero problems. I too find it odd that the corporate version is
so good but the home version causes so much chatter and complaint.

 

[Lou]

I would not call Acronis TrueImage an excellent backup application. It is a
good application as it allows one to backup and recover systems or files
reasonably quick and reliably. That is the ultimate test of a backup
system. But validating a backup file multiple times is more than
aesthetically unpleasing, it is a flaw in the design and/or implementation.
As in my case, it also happens to be a show stopper. For others it may very
well not be a show stopper. However, any backup system that performs the
backup and recovery function as reliably and quickly as TrueImage and priced
similarly without the validation flaw is a better system. Norton Ghost is
such an application.

 

[Lou]

I do use a separate directory for each system. There is no mingling of
backup files from 2 different systems into one directory. I thought I had
made that clear, perhaps not.

Lou

 

[David Webb]

I wasn't referring to the commingling of system backups, I was referring to
storing multiple backups in the same directory, which your original statement
implies.

As a simplistic example, having one directory named system1 and it contains
monday.tib, tuesday.tib, wednesday.tib, etc.

 

[gls858]

This note it intended to assist those who wish to use either of the
subject programs in the same fashion I do. I have extensive experience
with Acronis version 10, initial release and build 9042 and version 11
build 8035. Also experienced with Norton Ghost version 10 and version
12. Both products are good.

I choose not to use the Acronis products because executing scheduled
backup tasks with validation for 4 systems would take about 9 hours and
20 minutes using Acronis TrueImage whereas the same tasks using Norton
Ghost would take about 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I back up four systems to an external drive on a regular basis. Each
backup is a full image of a system. Each backup is validated. Each
system backs up to a different directory on an external drive. I keep 6
backups for each system. All backups are scheduled overnight on the
same night. The drive is attached locally to a Vista system and 3 XP
systems back up to it's directory via a LAN. The back up time for the 4
systems are about 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes.
Validating the backups take roughly the same time as does the backup.
These times are about the same for all the products.

The time difference (9 hrs 20 min vs 2 hrs 40 min) is due to what I
consider a flaw in the scheduled validation process of the Acronis
products. When executing a scheduled backup with validation, the
Acronis products validate every backup on the backup location. The
first backup of 10 minutes and 6 validations of 10 minutes each takes
about 1 hr 10 min. The second backup of 20 minutes and 6 validations
takes about 2 hrs and 20 min. The same time needed for the third
backup. The 4th backup of 30 min and 6 validations takes about 3 hrs 30
min. A total of about 9 hrs 20 mins.

The Norton Ghost products validate only the most recently created
backup. The time for each backup with validation is 20 min, 40 min, 40
min, 60 min for a total of 2 hrs 40 min.

I will not get into any debate about my mental state, propensity to lie
or the veracity of what I have said. What I have stated are facts that
can be verified by any TrueImage user or sending an inquiry to the
Acronis support team. They have been very responsive and very competent
in dealing my inquiries in the past.

Again, the sole purpose of this email it to give information to those
who may be planning to use a similar backup strateby as mine.

Lou

It's sounds to me like you might want to check some other backup
solutions. Are these computers in a business environment? I use a
product called Backup for Workgroups . You might want to check it out.
It is fast(after the taking the initial baseline backup) and keeps
multiple copies of each file. We use 3 500 gig USB drives. One holds the
baseline backup the second is a mirror of the backup and it gets swapped
out daily with the third drive so I always have a copy offsite. We
backup 4 servers with this configuration.

http://www.backup-for-workgroups.com/backup-index.html

Usual disclaimer: I don't work for or receive compensation from
this company. I'm just a satisfied customer.

gls858

 

[Lou]

Storing multiple backups from single system in the same directory is the
easiest way to manage space usage as well as the number of backups to
maintain without manual user intervention. Norton Ghost performs that task
flawlessly. Acronis TrueImage can perform that task as well but includes
multiple validation of the backups consuming too much time.

Lou

 

[David Webb]

Thanks for the clarification. Now your issue is understandable and you can see
why others, like myself who use separate directories, never experienced the
problem with ATI's validation.

 

[Gerry]

When it you're money that has been spent you can be more demanding.


--
~~~~


Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Twayne]

Storing multiple backups from single system in the same directory is

the easiest way to manage space usage as well as the number of
backups to maintain without manual user intervention. Norton Ghost
performs that task flawlessly. Acronis TrueImage can perform that
task as well but includes multiple validation of the backups
consuming too much time.

I don't use ATI, but ... as long as the validation et al are occurring
overnight, who really cares as long as it's reliable?

Besides, isn't that something that would be programmable to be turned
off/on by the user?
Just curious.

I can see where it'd be a problem for those who want to sit and watch
a backup proceed, but ... . Personally, with Ghost, I validated until I
was sure there weren't any problems and then stopped using validation.
I do Fulls monthly and incrementals daily; and to DVD quarterly; never
had a problem.

Twayne