Windows 7: Macrium vs Acronis True Home Image 2011

Acronis actually only took a few minutes here when first looked at for finding a location to store an image, choosing a name for it or allowing the automatic naming, and selecting drive(s), partition(s) to be included folowed by clicking the proceed button.

All that was done when simply clicking on the Backup option. For Recovery click Recovery followed by selecting the drive to recovery and from what image location. Done! You sit back watch the show.

When originally swapping drives around, changing drive letters Reflect wasn't able to use the image it made simply due to those changes while Acronis and the 7 recovery option will simply allow you to browse to any image location on any drive and immediate recognise a valid image.

Unfortunately that's where Macrium failed at the time with the then present free version they had available. It was too locked to one specific location and date not flexible enough. For those who never change drive arrangements and drive letters they would never notice how any slight change could be a problem.

Here I had to look at what was flexible including repeated test images and restorations with the backup feature in 7, Acronis having followed Macrium Reflect. Under normal circumstances where nothing was changed Macrium will likely work just like any other option. But that fact of any unplug, replug, letter change of the drive the image is stored on becoming a problem is the drawback for that program.

Regardless of all that however you still have to look at what will best in your own circumstance as far as options, reliability, and personal preferences free or paid for.

I tried Windows 7 native program which works but slowly.
Macrium was very easy but I had one restoration failure.
I have used Acronis TI 2010 for Win 7 x 64 and it has not failed to restore on several tries.
I think luck plays into anything electronic but I would be comfortable with either Macrium or Acronis. I use Acronis b/c I have the license and it has not yet failed to recover.
I do prefer working with Macrium for its ease.

After reading all these post I'm still confused. I still use Windows to do backups because I really don't know that their/there is anything better. I have never had to use a backup so I really don't know if the backup done by Windows even works and don't want to know because I don't want to need to use it.

If you have a a Western Digital external hard drive you can use a limited Aronis program -it does work. I have backed up and restored my system with it.

I have have some Macrium experience under my belt now and have done maybe a dozen+ image restores and it works pretty well. I have quit using windows - Macrium backs up faster in my experience.

I would think you not only should not only want to know your backup works, but must know. Eventually you will need to use it. Otherwise why bother.

Good point GeneO.
1. If the computer goes bell up I can do a clean install.
2. Use the back up to restore computer.
3. If backup doesn't work do a clean install
4. Keep doing backup and testing until I find one that works and save it.
I really don't know how to test backups without screwing up my working system.
Testing backups in a safe way would be nice to know. Then be able to go back to the working system and tuck the backup away.

The "safe" (only way I'd do it for the first time) is to just use a spare drive.
Image your working drive, then connect the spare drive in it's place.
Restore the image using the recovery CD that is made with the imaging software.
Pretty hard to go wrong if your working system drive is unplugged.

This is probably sensible advice from Victor, to get confidence that a restore will work reliably. I used Acronis, quite an old version, on my XP system and that restored with 100% reliability and I am having the same success with Macrium free 4.2 on Windows 7. Couldn't really ask for more from a free program.

The way I tested is having a couple of different backups - Microsoft Image and Macrium. If the one under test failed, then I had the other. Then of course there is a full reinstall as Jack mentioned, but to me that is pretty painful - not the re-installation of all of the applications, but the customizations to Windows itself - recalling all of that knowledge, reg-edits, etc.

Hi Guys, I have been using the native backup and restore in Win 7 U&P for more than 18 months. I make weekly system images to an external (removable caddy) SCSI drive or a SATA (caddy) drive that I can "turn off" so it's only "on" when needed. I try out numerous software programs that often cause major stability problems and so I need to restore the system to a known reliable system image. I cannot afford the time to re-install windows each time a major disaster occurs. I also purchased Acronis Home 2011, but its too cumbersome and not really reliable, I don't need multiple backups, just one that worked before, although I do backup to an internal 2nd HDD as well, but its the external one that is the true insurance. But to each his own.