A Bunch of Quesitons
Hi and apologies for length,
My HD is split into C, D, and E. Windows on C, and my data on D (I don't use E).
I have created a partition backup to backup C. True Image warns me that I don't have a full disk backup. I don't want to create a sector-based backup of D and E, but I understand a full disk backup will include the MBR (and also system partition, which I don't have..)
1. Would it be reasonable to therefore abandon my C partition backup, and instead create a full disk backup of the HD and exclude D and E in the exclusions tab? If so, would there be a performance impact?
I've setup nonstop backup on my D drive as I like the ability to recover files from a few minutes ago. However having read this forum I've decided to also create a regular file backup of the D drive once a day.
2. I chose 'file mode' for this backup. If I were to instead choose 'partition mode', would there be any performance impact?
2a. Would it be safer to choose 'partition mode' as I would then have both a sector- and file-based backup of the same files, thus increasing the chances of a successful restoration?
2b. Why does True Image allow me to restore this backup as a partition, when the backup mode was set as 'file'?
3. Related to the above two questions, am I correct in thinking that a True Image 'file mode' backup consists of storing files in their native format inside a proprietary container?
I created a recovery media ISO and burnt it to a USB stick (I selected 'bootable' when burning). The PC won't boot from it. This is on Win 7. I've tried the UEFI and non-UEFI selection for the drive, and neither work. I've gone through the same process creating recovery media for some other backup software and it boots fine, so suspect the burning process, USB stick, and BIOS settings are okay.
4. I noticed the recovery media files are burnt onto the USB stick within a 'Recovery Manager' folder. Is this correct or should they be in the root?
Note to Acronis: I had to burn the ISO manually, as True Image wouldn't recognise my USB stick. I believe this is because it's a new Win 8-type USB stick, which shows up in Windows as a 'Hard Disk Drive' as opposed to 'Devices with Removable Storage'. Maybe you could add support for these new USB sticks.
Thanks!
Thanks for your reply Tuttle. Of course you're right that just backing up everything is the safest option (surely it should be sector by sector too..) but I'm looking to make use of the various options that True Image provides - otherwise I could just use Window's built-in backup. Hence the specific questions. Thanks for the links but I'm not sure they have the answers.
Please read the materials I mentioned. You have many questions, and will have more, that are mostly due to a lack of understanding about how this unfamiliar-to-you application works. Learn about it first, then ask informed questions for clarification or specific strategies.
Also browse and/or search past forum threads, as virtually everything you want to know has already been covered.
(surely it should be sector by sector too..)
No. If you don't believe my answers, there isn't much point in asking.
Questions are inherently due to lack of understanding. They're also inherently uninformed. It's not a case of me 'believing' your answers or not, as they didn't address my questions. I'll try support.
You'll understand it far better after reading the excellent tutorials and guides. That's what they're for, to assist new users.
Hi and apologies for length,My HD is split into C, D, and E. Windows on C, and my data on D (I don't use E).
I have created a partition backup to backup C. True Image warns me that I don't have a full disk backup. I don't want to create a sector-based backup of D and E, but I understand a full disk backup will include the MBR (and also system partition, which I don't have..)
1. Would it be reasonable to therefore abandon my C partition backup, and instead create a full disk backup of the HD and exclude D and E in the exclusions tab? If so, would there be a performance impact?
What is important is to backup the C:\ partition and the hidden partitions (maybe you don't have any, but if you have, ATI will show them to you when you set up the backup. I prefer the option to select the entire disk, and then include the unwanted partitions. But you would be fine with a single partition backup (provided you included any hidden partition).
I've setup nonstop backup on my D drive as I like the ability to recover files from a few minutes ago. However having read this forum I've decided to also create a regular file backup of the D drive once a day.
Yep. I am not a big fan of NSB personally. If many of your files are in already compressed formats and don't change a lot (like games files, videos, movies, music, PDF, ZIP files), don't bother with a file backup. Do a sync with the built in sync or a third party, or simply the Windows file history backup. Why would you create a point of failure with a proprietary archive file with all your (cherished) content inside?
2. I chose 'file mode' for this backup. If I were to instead choose 'partition mode', would there be any performance impact?
The partition backup behaves like a partition backup. Since partition backups are sector-based, they tend to include more changes than what the user needs to keep track of, but they provide the advantage of never getting stuck with locked files, hidden files, etc.
2a. Would it be safer to choose 'partition mode' as I would then have both a sector- and file-based backup of the same files, thus increasing the chances of a successful restoration?
It is a good idea to have redundant backups, with different technologies, with different backup location. In particular, this is true for content you cannot buy back (personal photos, work of art, etc.)
2b. Why does True Image allow me to restore this backup as a partition, when the backup mode was set as 'file'?
Weird. You cannot restore a partition as a partition when you have a file backup. Either there is user confusion, or a UI bug.
3. Related to the above two questions, am I correct in thinking that a True Image 'file mode' backup consists of storing files in their native format inside a proprietary container?
*compressed* in a proprietary container.
I created a recovery media ISO and burnt it to a USB stick (I selected 'bootable' when burning). The PC won't boot from it. This is on Win 7. I've tried the UEFI and non-UEFI selection for the drive, and neither work. I've gone through the same process creating recovery media for some other backup software and it boots fine, so suspect the burning process, USB stick, and BIOS settings are okay.
4. I noticed the recovery media files are burnt onto the USB stick within a 'Recovery Manager' folder. Is this correct or should they be in the root?
Note to Acronis: I had to burn the ISO manually, as True Image wouldn't recognise my USB stick. I believe this is because it's a new Win 8-type USB stick, which shows up in Windows as a 'Hard Disk Drive' as opposed to 'Devices with Removable Storage'. Maybe you could add support for these new USB sticks.
How did you "burn manually the ISO on the USB stick?". You should use something like Grub4DOS to create a bootable USB that boots into the ISO directly. Simple to do outside of the recovery media wizard.
Thanks for the reply Pat.
I'll the C drive partition backup as it is then (I've since figured out the MBR gets backed up anyway).
Re sync: I like having the ability to right-click a file in Windows Explorer to see quickly see previous versions - I've yet to find a sync utility that allows for this - one of the reasons I'm interested in True Image. The built in sync feature seems to be to the cloud, which I suppose I could use, but not sure it would work well for quickly seeing previous versions, even if it allows for it.
True Image definately offered to restore a 'file mode' nonstop backup as a partition - I've noticed when browsing its files that they look a bit different to the regular file backup - perhaps that's got something to do with it. With the file backup I can drag files to my desktop with Windows Explorer and they automatically decompress, but doing that with a 'file mode' nonstop backup results in a runtime error.
Thanks for the compression answer.
Re the ISO file - I just had True Image create it, then I burnt it to a USB stick using isotousb. Anyway, now I've seen that isotousb won't work with Acronis, so I'll try Grub4DOS and hopefully it will work. Thanks for the tip.
I'll the C drive partition backup as it is then (I've since figured out the MBR gets backed up anyway).
The safest, simplest method is a full disk mode backup. We see many users here who cannot restore a working, bootable system because they backed up only C:. Far safer to do a full disk backup.
The built in sync feature seems to be to the cloud, which I suppose I could use, but not sure it would work well for quickly seeing previous versions, even if it allows for it.
Cloud is optional. You may sync to a local drive. Note that it is a true "sync", so anything deleted from the backup location will be deleted from source. Apparently that is unexpected and unwelcome by some users.
Re sync: I like having the ability to right-click a file in Windows Explorer to see quickly see previous versions - I've yet to find a sync utility that allows for this - one of the reasons I'm interested in True Image. The built in sync feature seems to be to the cloud, which I suppose I could use, but not sure it would work well for quickly seeing previous versions, even if it allows for it.
Windows File History shows you previous versions, although not through a right click.
SyncBack SE has a variety of features to control version history, retention, etc. This is what I use.
Remember that if the proprietary container gets corrupted, your backup is lost. If you still want to use ATI for file backup, including irreplaceable content, you should consider doing a simple content copy to another backup disk from time to time, as a redundant backup.
Re sync: I like having the ability to right-click a file in Windows Explorer to see quickly see previous versions - I've yet to find a sync utility that allows for this - one of the reasons I'm interested in True Image. The built in sync feature seems to be to the cloud, which I suppose I could use, but not sure it would work well for quickly seeing previous versions, even if it allows for it.
Windows File History shows you previous versions, although not through a right click.
SyncBack SE has a variety of features to control version history, retention, etc. This is what I use.
Remember that if the proprietary container gets corrupted, your backup is lost. If you still want to use ATI for file backup, including irreplaceable content, you should consider doing a simple content copy to another backup disk from time to time, as a redundant backup.
I'm on Win 7 so can't use File History unfortunately, though from what I've read it will randomly re-backup files unnecessarily (just like Win 7 file backup does) which I know I don't like.
I'm sure SyncBack SE would do it, though AJC Active Backup's retention features would be even better for my use. I used to just use SyncFolders scheduled every 15 minutes and it worked fine...