Acronis True Image 8

By Dale Farris, Vice-President Golden Triangle PC Club February 2005 Acronis True Image 8 is the complete disk imaging, system disk backup, and bare-metal restore for workstations and home PCs. Acronis True Image allows you to create an exact disk image for complete system backup and disk cloning, providing the most comprehensive data protection. The disk backup file contains the exact copy of a hard disk, including all the computer data, operating system, and programs. After a system crash you can restore the entire system, or simply replace lost files and folders from your disk backup. Based on the exclusive Acronis Drive Snapshot disk imaging technology, Acronis True Image allows you to create an online system disk backup without reboot to keep the system productive. The product provides the fastest bare-metal restore that dramatically reduces downtime and IT costs. Acronis True Image 8.0 Allows You To: Restore separate files and folders even if there is no need to restore a whole partition or disk Restore a data partition under Windows, as well as unplugging and re-connecting a logical drive when/where necessary Restore a system partition under Windows, rebooting the PC when necessary, or booting with a bootable diskette or CD-R(W) before the operating system loads These features in Acronis True Image 8 guarantee that your valuable data will not be lost — under any circumstance — while allowing you to restore your system even under the most serious system failure or disk malfunction. New Features in V. 8 Reduce your disk backup time and storage by excluding paging and hibernate files from the disk backup image Manage your PC performance by changing the disk imaging process priority Verify disk backup image before a restore Check the file system after a restore Key Features: Complete image or incremental backup capabilities Fastest bare-metal restore for workstations and stand-alone PCs Scheduling of system imaging Support for all Windows workstation operating systems Support for all Windows files systems: FAT 16, FAT 32, and NTFS Support for non-Windows operating systems including Linux and NetWare Support for high-speed, high-performance storage devices Full support for all RAID configurations both IDE and SCSI Acronis Secure Zone Acronis Startup Recovery Manager Works solely within the Windows environment Drive cloning Migration of data from an old drive to a new drive Redeployment of a hard drive as a data disk or a system disk Stores only the necessary disk sector contents User-defined compression levels Multivolume archives Password protection Support for hard disks of any size Changes partition type, file system, size, and disk location There are several exclusive features of Acronis True Image 8.0 software that distinguish it from similar products. The ability to create a disk/partition image, as well as restore a disk image, in Windows without rebooting — a very unique feature only available in Acronis True Image 8 (Any partition except the system partition can be restored without reboot.) The exceptional simplicity of the software is due to interface user-friendliness and convenience. Working with the disk/partition image creation and restoration wizard requires only one answer to each question, per page. Possible answers are provided on the pages with simple and accurate comments. A user has to perform minimal steps to execute the partition image creation or restoration procedure. An extensive tool set to restore any partition under the most extreme situations. Recommendation When considering Acronis True Image 8 as an image backup software application, some readers may already be aware of Symantec's Norton Ghost application. Since both applications are comparable, I found at the PC Magazine web site the following information on these two applications that I thought would help readers better understand this important, super program. The following information has been retrieved from PC Magazine, from the hard copy magazine, as well as the pcmag.com web site: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1746187,00.asp The reviewer for PC Magazine is Edward Mendelson, and he can be reached at his email address:  emendelson_pcmag@hotmail.com "The easiest way to back up a high-capacity hard drive is to image it by creating a compressed copy from which you can either restore the entire drive or extract individual files. The leading imaging programs right now are Acronis True Image 8 and Symantec's Norton Ghost 9. Both can make full or incremental backups, either on schedule or on demand, while you continue working in Windows. Both can create and restore backups saved to your main drive, to USB or FireWire drives, writable CDs or DVDs, or any other local or network drives. Both let you extract one or more backed-up files while working in Windows, and let you restore a drive after booting from an emergency disc. We like Norton Ghost a lot, but we like the new True Image even more, thanks to its greater convenience, simpler interface, and faster performance." "For performing basic backups, the programs are well matched: True Image took 8 minutes to turn 6GB of data into a 4GB image, and Ghost needed 9 minutes to create a 4.3GB image. True Image stands out for its Linux-based emergency CD (which you burn on your own system during installation)—it booted quickly and instantly detected other machines in our network. Ghost, by contrast, uses Microsoft's Preboot Environment, a reduced Windows system that boots slowly and, on our two-network-card system, took ages to find remote machines, and sometimes didn't find them at all." "Unfortunately, True Image's boot disc couldn't detect the FireWire-attached drives we used for our tests, although the main Windows-based True Image application can back up to such drives, and Acronis says that some FireWire drives work without problems. So, if you plan to back up to a FireWire drive, first make sure to test your emergency boot disc to see if it can read from that drive. If it cannot, use Ghost instead." "True Image lets you assign a drive letter to a backup image so you can browse the image's files in Explorer or open documents from the File | Open menu choice in your applications. (The image is read-only, so you'll need to save modified files elsewhere on your drive.) Since Ghost uses a separate Image Browser application for viewing the contents of images, you'll have to go through the extra step of extracting a file before opening it an application." "Ghost includes the virus scanner from Norton AntiVirus and network configuration tools on its emergency disc. True Image lacks these, but its networking worked without further configuration on our tests. If you use Ghost with no trouble, there may be no reason to switch. However, if you are in search of a drive-imaging program, start with True Image." Acronis True Image 8 is intended for all levels of PC users who seek data safety, and for small and mid-size enterprises that require quick and effective information backup copying and restoration capabilities. Users can effectively restore systems and applications without the use of source discs or diskettes, or the need to reset numerous parameters. Acronis True Image 8 is also intended for people who are responsible for information storage in small departments. For example, Acronis True Image 8 allows a user to create a complete back-up copy of an accounting database quickly and, if necessary, restore it in a few minutes! Price $49.99 (true bargain) Note:  User group members can purchase Acronis True Image for only $38 at our a special user group discount price. This is obtainable at www.usergroupstore.com. System Configuration Requirements Pentium 133 MHz or higher processor 128MB RAM or more 20MB free hard disk space Supported Storage Hard disk drives Networked storage devices CD-R(W) DVD-RW, DVD+R(W) (requires 3rd party DVD software be installed) ZIP, Jazz, and other removable media P-ATA (IDE), S-ATA, SCSI, IEEE1394 (Firewire) and USB 1.0 / 2.0 drives, PC card storage devices Supported Operating Systems Windows XP, Me, 2000 Pro, NT 4 Workstation (SP 6), 98 For server operating systems backup see Acronis True Image Server for Windows Supported Filesystems FAT16/32 NTFS Linux Ext2 Ext3 ReiserFS Linux SWAP Special sector-by-sector support for other partitions and corrupted file systems Install and Setup Installing and setting up True Image worked smoothly on my machine. Acronis True Image 8 creates an image for backup and disaster recovery purposes, while the Disk Clone tool simply moves the entire contents of one disk drive to another. Here's how both tools work and when you should use them. When you create a backup (image archive) with Acronis True Image 8, you get an exact copy of your hard disk. Every portion of the hard that has data written to it (sectors) are saved into a compressed file — or multiple files if you'd prefer. You can save this image to another internal or external hard disk, a networked hard disk, CD-R/W, DVD R/W, tape (using Acronis True Image 8 Server for Windows) or other storage device. This image can be used as a backup or for disaster recovery. When you use the Disk Clone tool, you effectively move all of the contents of one disk onto another disk. This function allows you to move from a small disk drive to a large disk drive without having to reinstall and reconfigure all of your software. The migration takes minutes, not hours, but it is not generally used as a backup strategy. You can install the latest update or the full version of Acronis True Image 8 over an existing version. To do this, run the installation program and select "Repair/Upgrade Acronis True Image" option. Version 4.X and version 5.0 of Easy CD Creator auto-installs a faulty DOS-based backup utility called Take Two. This faulty program was removed from Easy CD Creator 5.1 and higher and is no longer supported by Roxio. If this utility is installed, Acronis True Image 8 shows the following message when you start the back-up imaging process: "Cannot create the image of the logical drive because it is currently in use by running applications. Please close all other applications and try again." Acronis recommends that you either upgrade your Easy CD Creator to version 5.1 or higher and/or uninstall Take Two completely. For more info please see: www.roxio.com/en/support/roxio_support/taketwo.html Acronis True Image 8 is capable of writing to a DVD disk in Windows if UDF packet DVD-writing software is installed, and the DVD disk is formatted. Acronis currently supports the following packet DVD-writing software: Roxio Drag To Disc — an optional part of Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator Ahead InCD — is available for free on the Nero site for Ahead Nero users (and usually is shipped with Nero) Veritas DLA and all its OEM versions (e.g. HP DLA) Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD In general, Acronis also supports other UDF packet DVD-writing software, but the three above are most popular and they have been tested and approved by Acronis. To make the DVD disk writeable in Acronis True Image, the user should do the following: 1) Install UDF packet DVD-writing software 2) Format the DVD disks. DVD+RW and DVD-RW disks can be formatted by any of the applications mentioned above, while DVD+R at this moment can be formatted only by Roxio Drag To Disc 3) Next, start Acronis True Image 8.0, insert the formatted DVD disk into the DVD+RW or DVD-RW drive and create an image. 4) The images from the DVD disk can be restored both in Windows and when Acronis True Image 8 is started from bootable disks. There is also a two-step method for writing to DVDs. Acronis True Image 8 can create an image of the hard disk as a single file on the hard disk itself, and then you can copy the file using your own DVD-writing software to the DVD. Acronis recommends you set the image archive splitting size to 2 GBytes on the Image Archive Splitting screen, as generally the maximum size of a file stored on DVD is 2 GBytes. The Acronis rescue disk will also be able to restore this file from the DVD if necessary. About Acronis Acronis offers storage management solutions that are technically advanced for mission-critical applications but easy to use. The company provides disaster recovery, backup and restore, partitioning, boot management, privacy, data migration, and other storage management products for enterprises, corporations and consumers of any qualification. Acronis has offices in the United States, Europe and Asia and sells its products through retail outlets, resellers and on the Web. Contact Acronis 395 Oyster Point Blvd., Suite 213 South San Francisco California 94080 877-669-9749 (Enterprise Sales) 650-875-7593 (Distributors, Resellers & OEMs) FAX 650-745-2132 info@acronis.com (General Enquiry) sales@acronis.com (Sales Inquiry) channel@acronis.com (Distribution, OEM & Reseller Inquiries) www.acronis.com