Sector-by-sector images with Acronis TrueImage?

[Peter Frank]

Hi,

Is the current version of Acronis (version 8 build something) able to
create real sector-by-sector images of HD partitions? In my case, this
would be important for creating images of encrypted partitions where
the HD imaging program cannot recognize the file system.

Regards,
Peter

 

[Peter]

Hi,

Is the current version of Acronis (version 8 build something) able to
create real sector-by-sector images of HD partitions? In my case, this
would be important for creating images of encrypted partitions where
the HD imaging program cannot recognize the file system.

No, you cannot perform sector-by-sector image with TI,
unless it falls into the following category:
"Special sector-by-sector support for other partitions and
corrupted file systems."
But, in general, you do not have control.

That is one of the reasons why Ghost (not 9.0) is better.

 

[Al Dykes]

No, you cannot perform sector-by-sector image with TI,
unless it falls into the following category:
"Special sector-by-sector support for other partitions and
corrupted file systems."
But, in general, you do not have control.

That is one of the reasons why Ghost (not 9.0) is better.

Encryption ? If you are using NTFS encryption ?

 

[Will Dormann]

Hi,

Is the current version of Acronis (version 8 build something) able to
create real sector-by-sector images of HD partitions? In my case, this
would be important for creating images of encrypted partitions where
the HD imaging program cannot recognize the file system.

Absolutely. If ATI doesn't recognize the filesystem, it will do a
sector-by-sector copy of the partition.

 

[Peter Frank]

No, I am not talking about NTFS or EFS encryption. I talking about
encryption with software like DCCP, SafeGuard Easy or SecureDoc.

Peter

 

[Peter Frank]

No, you cannot perform sector-by-sector image with TI,
unless it falls into the following category:
"Special sector-by-sector support for other partitions and
corrupted file systems."
But, in general, you do not have control.

That is one of the reasons why Ghost (not 9.0) is better.

Umm, I am a bit confused now. Will wrote "If ATI doesn't recognize the
filesystem, it will do a sector-by-sector copy of the partition.",
which is probably what you meant by "Special sector-by-sector support
for other partitions and corrupted file systems.".

So, did I get this right (?):
Acronis TI is able to create sector-by-sector images but you cannot
decide on your own whether you want a sector-by-sector copy, ATI makes
this decision for you. Only if ATI does not recognize the filesystem,
it then will create a sector-by-sector image.
I could definitely live with that because for unencrypted partitions
with a known filesystem I would prefer to create compressed images
anyway. (Or can you tell me any advantages of creating sector-by-sector
images even if compressed images are possible?)

Regards,
Peter

 

[Peter]

Umm, I am a bit confused now. Will wrote "If ATI doesn't recognize the
filesystem, it will do a sector-by-sector copy of the partition.",
which is probably what you meant by "Special sector-by-sector support
for other partitions and corrupted file systems.".

So, did I get this right (?):
Acronis TI is able to create sector-by-sector images but you cannot
decide on your own whether you want a sector-by-sector copy, ATI makes
this decision for you. Only if ATI does not recognize the filesystem,
it then will create a sector-by-sector image.
I could definitely live with that because for unencrypted partitions
with a known filesystem I would prefer to create compressed images
anyway. (Or can you tell me any advantages of creating sector-by-sector
images even if compressed images are possible?)

Yes, you are correct. ATI will make that decision for you.
Even with sector-by-sector image can be compressed.
The difference is that if file system is recognized, unused portions
of a hard disk are skipped, sector-by-sector takes whole disk.

Yes, that decision thing is important if you need to image for
intrinsic or recovery purposes.