Personalized Image-Backup Strategy Advice please?

This may not even possible, but I wanted to know if it was...
I'd like to be able to keep my current setup, and create an image backup that excludes most of my data folders. It's 350 extra GB that I wouldn't trust in a single massive image. What's making it tricky is that the User Profile is essential to log on to Windows, and rightly so, Windows won't let me exclude D:\ from an image backup.

I'm interested if Acronis or Macrium would let me choose which folders to include in an image.

You cannot run an image based application and image the system without getting all drives that contain operating system files. This is the reason I suggested moving the profile back to C:\ and putting your data standalone on your D drive.

I don't think it's wise to have OS components running on more than 1 hard drive. Because you are now dependent on 2 hard drives not failing.

Keep your system and all of your system on one drive (partition). Keep your data on one or more separate drives (partitions). This principle has been true since the pre-DOS days.

I have my OS and my applications on 50 GB and am only using half of that. Imaging my "system" is quick and easy. I have more space for my data. I use a different backup strategy for my data, although I could also image that.

Nowadays, imaging and backup software is no longer on a sector by sector 100% copy thereof. Consequently, your image and/or your backup takes up considerable less space than the system/data itself.

pparks1 said:

I don't think it's wise to have OS components running on more than 1 hard drive. Because you are now dependent on 2 hard drives not failing.

You make an excellent point here...
Since I got 7 a couple months ago, I have been fine with reformatting C, & D being fine. However, when D got wiped by accident, I had no way to log onto C, true.

I have an idea, but rather than confuse everyone further, let me pose the simple question: If I have a User Profile on C, and a User Profile on D, will I still be required to include D?

I am installing Acronis Backup & Restore 11 free trial right now to take a look at how it works.

I believe if any user profiles are on the D drive, you would have to include D: in the image.

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 created this ".TIB" file:


I was able to exclude any folder I wanted, or use wildcards to exclude just certain kinds of documents even. I've never actually completely done an image. I was expecting an .iso. Is this still an "image?" Or is it something else...
If it is, I'm golden. =)

mirinova,
Listen to those who with decades of experience.

You put your system on one partition.
Everything else on other partitions.


ISO is a format. What is on that iso depends upon the program that put it there. SOMETIMES an iso file with contain an image file, for example, the Win 7 DVD contains a wim which in tern contains several versions of Win 7 in it.


If you correctly put your system on one and only partition, then any of the backup and restore softwares will have no problem "imaging" your system and restoring your system without interferring with any of the other partitions. You can use the backup features of any of several backup programs to backup your data partitions.

Go to the WIKI encyclopedia site for more info on the ISO format.

I understand ISOs, but I've never seen a TIB before. So, you're saying that this .tib is not an image backup?

I'm not trying to discredit your experience by any means, hence I'm here asking. I just want something that is going to work for me, and still be reliable.

So, I suppose... Is there any other way I could have a User Profile (on C) direct to my folders (on D)? The only catch there is, can it be done without using only the precustomized User Folders? I have no use for most of them.

Baby steps.

First, put all of your system and all of your applications on the C.

Let us know when that is complete.

Then we can advise as to the next step.