Using acronis to backup all "but" the windows shell...

stevae · 24 Feb 2010

i hope one of you out there who is well versed with win 7 and acronis can help me out here. i will try to be as detailed as possible with what i want to do.

i want to do a fresh install of windows 7, but want to be able to put my system back exactly as it is now. using acronis in the past, i have been able to make an image of my current opsys, and restore it to my new computer perfectly. i mean i didn't have to reload anything. no programs, no alignments, no reconfiguring anything. when acronis finished, it restarted and everything was already exactly as it was before; all programs worked and performed as they did previously.
so the difference now is that i want to get rid of the release candidate version (win 7 ult x64) i was using, and load the retail version of win 7 ult x64. so i don't want to backup or include any of the current windows files that will be loaded in the fresh load anyway, but want all the programs and configurations i have now, to be restored exactly as they are now, without taking two weeks to do it.
so i am not really sure which files i need to include in the backup image, to make sure that i have the correct files to make sure all programs will run correctly, and which ones to leave out so i don't keep any of the rc's files. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

win7clutz · 24 Feb 2010

Sorry, not possible. You'll need to format the drive, clean OS install, reload your apps, and then shoot your image.

brady · 24 Feb 2010

^^ correct

stevae · 24 Feb 2010

why would that be? if acronis can save a complete image of your system and install it on another computer perfectly, then why wouldn't it be able to save a copy of everything but the windows files, especially if they are being put back into the same file environment?

brady · 24 Feb 2010

file versions is the simplest way that I can explain it. file names may be the same but versions and dll libraries will change

Barman58 · 24 Feb 2010

The disk image that Acronis installs is exactly that an image of the current state of the dirve sector by sector.

Not sure which version of acronis you are using but there may be a way to at least reduce the work you have to do.

There should be an applications settings backup option that will save your settings but not the actual programs so the customisation of the programs that you have will be reproducible quickly

This function is also available with Windows Easy transfer

I would also suggest you back up the start menu folders manually and restore after you have re-installed win 7 _ the shortcuts will not work until you re-install the relevent program but they will work as a good reminder of what you have to install.

Also it makes sense to install less used programs as you need them to ease the process, rather than everything at once

Acronis · 25 Feb 2010

Hello stevae,

Thank you for using Acronis software.

Unfortunately, in your case brady and Barman58 were absolutely correct. If you restore your image of Windows 7 RC to the fresh release build of Windows 7 Ultimate, as a result you'll get just the old RC version.
The thing is that Acronis software first will clean-up your existing partition and after that it'll restore your image to that drive space.
We may recommend you to back up just important documents, music, applications settings (if you're using Acronis True Image Home 2009 or 2010) etc., then install Windows 7 Ultimate and restore those files.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Thank you.