Acronis True Image 10. How does it Work?

[SIW2]

I have used DiskWizard.

It never had control of my MBR, neither did it prevent the use of any partition managers.

One added benefit I hadn't used before in Acronis was it's ability to delete and create a partition on the very same drive that Seagate said only Diskwizard would be able to fix.

DiskWizard is Acronis True Image 11 and so is Maxblast 5, which probably explains that bit.

 

[Barefoot]

It's possible my memory is wrong, but when you use it to install a disk doesn't Disk Wizard use disk overlay, dynamic disk or something similar which demands from that point forward that you are tied to using that disk manager to add or remove disks and partitions from your system?

 

[SIW2]

I don't know - I never used it for that. It would be very strange if it did.

I think you may be referring to the option to create a bootable backup capsule to store the images , and possibly a copy of itself?

That would involve the MBR and the creation of a non- standard partition for protection.

The Paragon I use offers something similar.

Both can be used to create/restore images without taking that option.

 

[Dave76]

How versatile is an image backup?

When you attempted to boot to the restored Win7 parttion was there any error message? If so that would be clue....

Depending on any error message I may have tried the Vista (and Win7) Recovery Environment" "bootrec /fixmbr" command. But, again, I have not needed to use it much in Win7 (yet).

Fixing "BOOTMGR is missing" Error While Trying to Boot Windows Vista :: the How-To Geek

Just ensure you keep a good image backup protected until you feel confident the repair was successful....

No error message. Only boot choice was Win7 on my external HD, which was not connected, and Vista. After re-installation of Win7 on C drive I now have 2 Win7s and Vista (3) boot options.
Two backup copies in different places, just 'in case'.

Win7 is going on my laptop next.
Will I be able to use the desktop backup image to work on the laptop?
I wouldn't think so, but it would save me from loading drivers and updates, new apps, etc.
Would restoring the desktop image to the laptop, then using the disk/USB for a 'repair' work? Or is that just wishful thinking?
Has anyone tried this on two different computers?

 

[Dave76]

Seagate "Diskwizard" is very large and it's a disk manager, which means it will always have control of the MBR, which means you can't use any other software to create or re-size partitions. If you can live with that then it's fine. I had an improperly dismounted partition on a Seagate drive and generic partition software would not work until that partition table error was fixed.

One added benefit I hadn't used before in Acronis was it's ability to delete and create a partition on the very same drive that Seagate said only Diskwizard would be able to fix.

I have DiscWizard installed and have made backups with it. Used Easeus partition Mgr to expand an exsisting partition using space taken from my OS C: drive. No problems with the partition adjustments or Vista after the change. This is the second partition adjustment done on my desktop with Easeus. No problems.

 

[SIW2]

Hi Dave76,

Would restoring the desktop image to the laptop, then using the disk/USB for a 'repair' work? Or is that just wishful thinking?
Has anyone tried this on two different computers?

You can do that with the Paragon "Adaptive Restore" function.

I imagine Acronis has something similar, but I don't believe it would be in the Free versions, e.g. DiskWizard.



Paragon Adaptive Restore:

Create backup image of your system using either Drive Backup or Hard Disk Manager.

Create Recovery CD via Recovery Media Builder. Then boot from this CD your new hardware based machine and run into Normal Mode.

Select Simple Restore Wizard and browse for backup image. Select hard drive to restore image to.

Then check the "Restore to diffrent hardware configuration" box. This will make necessary changes during restore. Hit apply and wait till restore completes. Restart to Windows and install necessary drivers as requested by Windows.

 

[Dave76]

Hi Dave76,



You can do that with the Paragon "Adaptive Restore" function.

I imagine Acronis has something similar, but I don't believe it would be in the Free versions, e.g. DiskWizard.



Paragon Adaptive Restore:

Create backup image of your system using either Drive Backup or Hard Disk Manager.

Create Recovery CD via Recovery Media Builder. Then boot from this CD your new hardware based machine and run into Normal Mode.

Select Simple Restore Wizard and browse for backup image. Select hard drive to restore image to.

Then check the "Restore to diffrent hardware configuration" box. This will make necessary changes during restore. Hit apply and wait till restore completes. Restart to Windows and install necessary drivers as requested by Windows.

I also have Paragon Hard Disk Manager (8.5?) 32bit and Drive Backup SE, these are both special offers, free, and therefore older and somewhat limited functionality editions. But will give DiscWizard and Paragon a look to see if I have these options.
This will make the Win7 install much easier and faster.

Thanks for the information,
Dave

 

[SIW2]

I think you will need a more recent Paragon than that.

The problem you may have ( and this would be the same with a clean reinstall from 7 dvd ) is the laptop drivers may be very specific.

I would visit the mfrs site and d/l the latest drivers for your lappy model and copy them to cd.

 

[Muad Dib]

Win7 is going on my laptop next.
Will I be able to use the desktop backup image to work on the laptop?
I wouldn't think so, but it would save me from loading drivers and updates, new apps, etc.
Would restoring the desktop image to the laptop, then using the disk/USB for a 'repair' work? Or is that just wishful thinking?
Has anyone tried this on two different computers?

The problem you may have ( and this would be the same with a clean reinstall from 7 dvd ) is the laptop drivers may be very specific.

I would visit the mfrs site and d/l the latest drivers for your lappy model and copy them to cd.

Ditto on what SIW2 said.

Laptop drivers can be OEM/hardware specific, more so than desktop drivers. You may spend more time sorting out the quirks and problems than if you did a clean install with all the correct drivers in hand. JMO.

 

[Dave76]

I think you will need a more recent Paragon than that.

The problem you may have ( and this would be the same with a clean reinstall from 7 dvd ) is the laptop drivers may be very specific.

I would visit the mfrs site and d/l the latest drivers for your lappy model and copy them to cd.

Tried to get Paragon 9.5 SE, but it's not available anymore.

I have all the laptop 64bit drivers downloaded, in a file and on DVD.

Was Just Wondering out loud! Didn't think it would work!

Will do the laptop Win7RC 64bit install, then: drivers (chipset first, etc), windows updates, backup, install apps, backup, run for a week or so, backup again.
Then wait for the GA.

Thanks for the replies,
Dave

 

[spliff]

So, my acronis don't work on 7600. What imaging program can i use in Win 7 7600 x64?

 

[Muad Dib]

So, my acronis don't work on 7600. What imaging program can i use in Win 7 7600 x64?

Which version of Acronis?

 

[noyb]

So, my acronis don't work on 7600. What imaging program can i use in Win 7 7600 x64?

I'm guessing that some of us may be having problems due to our specific Bios.
I can get an Acronis recovery to work .. but it takes TWO repair installs from the W7 install DVD.

I cannot perform a recovery if I have a third (Data) partition after the system C partition.
My computer will not even respond to the W7 Install DVD or the Acronis Boot CD as long as I have a third Data partition.

For those as unlucky as me ..
I'm guessing we'll just have to wait for Acronis to catch up and hope they can fix it.

I'm also waiting until I can get an official "final" RTM from M$ .. hopefully in about a week.

In the meantime .. an Acronis Clone to a backup HDD works great.

 

[Muad Dib]

I'm guessing that some of us may be having problems due to our specific Bios.
I can get an Acronis recovery to work .. but it takes TWO repair installs from the W7 install DVD.

I cannot perform a recovery if I have a third (Data) partition after the system C partition.
My computer will not even respond to the W7 Install DVD or the Acronis Boot CD as long as I have a third Data partition.

For those as unlucky as me ..
I'm guessing we'll just have to wait for Acronis to catch up and hope they can fix it.

I'm also waiting until I can get an official "final" RTM from M$ .. hopefully in about a week.

In the meantime .. an Acronis Clone to a backup HDD works great.

And how would the BIOS affect either the MBR or the NTFS files structure on the HDD? Why would a third data partition be different? What happens if you add a fourth?

"My computer will not even respond to the W7 Install DVD or the Acronis Boot CD as long as I have a third Data partition."

If the system will not even respond to a W7 install DVD if it has a third data partition the problem(s) on your system have nothing to do with Acronis.

"For those as unlucky as me ..
I'm guessing we'll just have to wait for Acronis to catch up and hope they can fix it."

See above statement, if your system will not respond to a W7 Install DVD there is nothing for Acronis to "fix". The problem lies within your system.

"I'm also waiting until I can get an official "final" RTM from M$ .. hopefully in about a week."

Again, if your system "will not even respond to a W7 Install DVD" how are you planning on installing the RTM?

Whatever the problem is I suggest it is with your system not Acronis. It is your problem to fix not Acronis'.

I suggest you backup your personal data, wipe your drive, re-partition it and re-install.

In the mean-time would you please stop cutting and pasting this same drivel into every thread which has the word "Acronis" in it? :sarc:

 

[noyb]

In the mean-time would you please stop cutting and pasting this same drivel into every thread which has the word "Acronis" in it? :sarc:

The major point I was trying to make to spliff .. Some of us may have to wait.

 

[zrtom]

I've used Acronis True Image 11 and 2009 fairly extensively. For me, TI11 had a few problems with earlier builds of Windows 7 (Beta and prior). 2009 had problems up until a few builds after RC. Now they both work correctly (for me).
For SSD users, Acronis is one of a few that allows restoring partition alignment, which is very critical for SSDs. It's not an "option" to select from the program but by restoring the image and then as a second step, restoring MBR and Track 0, the correct partition alignment is restored.
And like others, I tend to boot from "Acronis Recovery Media" and use it that way.
Tom

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
I believe you can make it work in build 7600 by changing the name of the program to ti.exe

(only a get around)

Incidentally it will continue to work if you create bootable media and then recover your data by booting the USB drive or CD/DVD. Then just restore your old image to the new disk. You can increase the partition size as well if you need to.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[spliff]

Macrium is a nice program and works fine in x64...thanks for those that posted about it. Faster and the image takes up less space as well.

However, it gives two options for creating a recoverty boot disc..which should I use, I tried the linux one but that wouldn't boot on my system.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi Xguntherc,

Putting an image on a new HD will not work.

OH DEAR NOT TRUE AT ALL.


If you put a new hard disk into your computer you can restore an acronis True Image to it without ANY problems -- I've done this zillions of times on laptops for example where I've replaced the crappy 80 / 100 GB installed hard disk with a nice fast 320 GB version.

The only problem you *might* encounter is that the program might not recogniize a hard disk at all if its never been formatted -- in this case just insert a Windows install disk , create a partition and cancel the install or use GPARTED to create an initial partition.

Acronis will then allow you to restore your old image from your backup -- Create the Stand alone bootable recovery program on to an external USB device / CD / DVD.

When restoring you can change the size of the partition too.

Note if you Multi-boot or have a "hidden" small partition restore that as well and make it ACTIVE. Make the rest PRIMARY.

If you don't have a hidden small system partition then make the one you are restoring ACTIVE if its an OS partition or PRIMARY if its just a data partition.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[SIW2]

Hi Spliff,

Unusual the Macrium Linux recovery cd won't boot. Did you check the cd itself is bootable - on another machine, for example?

Otherwise, you can burn another using Advanced Options >Compatibility.





I seem to recall Miles Ahead downloaded the fully functional Trial version of Macrium - and used the cd from that , which apparently is a slightly newer version.

Jimbo - it didn't work when I tried it. Mind you, it was some time ago, it is an older version of the program , and as you say there could be any number of reasons for that. Cloning was fine though.