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Questions on Universal Restore with Acronis 2015

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With the new version of Acronis with universal restore, is there a specific way you need create the image in order for it to be compatible with universal restore? If I have images created with True Image 2014 standard, can they be used with universal restore as well? Thank you.

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I am also greatly confused about universal restore. I see references to a Media Add-on, WinPE, and driver repositories, but I haven't been able to understand how they fit together.

  • Let's assume that I have built a recovery CD for my existing machine, using the installed ATI 2015 software.
  • My existing machine dies.
  • I buy a new machine (bare metal, no OS installed).

How do I get the new machine to be a copy of the old one? What, exactly, do I need? I don't want to go through the pain of re-installing my 473 applications.

  • Now, suppose I buy a machine with an OS installed, but I don't mind wiping it (for example, it's the same OS I had on the old machine).
  • I want a clone of my old system.

What, exactly, do I need in that case?

[I understand that if I don't want to wipe the new machine, I can restore my data just by installing ATI 2015 on it; but I'll have to re-install my 473 applications over again.]

I have read the manual on Universal Restore and am confused. I downloaded the UR media builder but do not know what to put on it. I am, as the previous poster, moving to a new machine which will have Win 8.1 pre-installed.

Should I make the UR media on the new machine or the old?

Really don't have to buy PC Mover and transfer by cable.

The image creation process is completely independent of the type of restore. In other words, you don't need to create any special image to be able to do a universal restore compared with, let's say, a bare metal restore on the same computer. In any case, include the entire disk in the image, including all hidden partitions that you might see in Windows disk management.

@Jerry,
You need the chipset and disk controller drivers in their uncompressed format (inf and sys) available to ATI are restore time. You wouldn't clone. You would create a complete disk image of your old computer and restore on the new computer. Remember that the OS of the older machine will replace the OS of the new machine.

@Gary,
You can create the UR media on any machine, but you have to test it on the target machine. Boot the computer on it and make sure you can restore a couple of files from the backup to the machine.

Pat L wrote:
The image creation process is completely independent of the type of restore. In other words, you don't need to create any special image to be able to do a universal restore compared with, let's say, a bare metal restore on the same computer. In any case, include the entire disk in the image, including all hidden partitions that you might see in Windows disk management.

@Jerry,
You need the chipset and disk controller drivers in their uncompressed format (inf and sys) available to ATI are restore time. You wouldn't clone. You would create a complete disk image of your old computer and restore on the new computer. Remember that the OS of the older machine will replace the OS of the new machine.

@Gary,
You can create the UR media on any machine, but you have to test it on the target machine. Boot the computer on it and make sure you can restore a couple of files from the backup to the machine.

Let me see if I have this straight.

  • Using ATI to make bootable restore media makes a restore disk that will only have the drivers used by my existing machine. It can only be used with my existing machine.
  • The UR media will search for, or prompt for, the chipset and disk controller drivers that I would presumably have gotten from the manufacturer of the new machine.
  • The "normal" bootable restore media and the UR media are different in that respect.
  • I should download the UR image maker now and use it to create the UR media.
  • If my existing system dies unexpectedly, I'd better have either the necessary drivers or a running computer handy.

Is that about right? It's mostly the sudden death that I want to protect against.

Jerry Schwartz wrote:
  • Using ATI to make bootable restore media makes a restore disk that will only have the drivers used by my existing machine. It can only be used with my existing machine.
  • The bootable disk is not dependent on the machine that created it. The drivers we are talking about are the drivers needed by Windows to run on the new computer, not the drivers the recovery CD needs to run on any machine.

  • The UR media will search for, or prompt for, the chipset and disk controller drivers that I would presumably have gotten from the manufacturer of the new machine.
  • When the UR process works, it will ask you to point at a folder containing the Windows OS drivers for the new machine. You will have put those on another flash drive, for example. When one receives a new computer, with the same OS as the older one, a good way to get these drivers is to copy the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers folder. This works only if the OS is the same on the old computer as on the new computer. Otherwise, yes, you will get the Windows drivers on the motherboard/chipset manufacturer web site. Typically, they will be in an .exe format. Youwill have to uncompress this file to get the sys and inf files.

  • The "normal" bootable restore media and the UR media are different in that respect.
  • I should download the UR image maker now and use it to create the UR media.
  • Correct

  • If my existing system dies unexpectedly, I'd better have either the necessary drivers or a running computer handy.
  • I am not sure I understand. You just need a full system backup of your computer, so that you can restore that backup on a new disk, or on a new computer/motherboard with UR.

    You understood completely. I understand mostly.

    Thanks.

    I have the UR Builder installed, but the screen in ATI says that it should be accessible from "Tools." The only thing in Tools opens the window for downloading the software again.

    If you go to your Acronis.com account, you can download the UR image directly and either burn it to a CD or make a bootable flash drive with the ISO using a tool like Yumi or Grub4dos.

    No, all I can download from there is the .msi. I can download the "Product native bootable media" for ATI, but not the UR image. The "Download" button on the UR product just downloads the .msi.

    This is what I see:

    Attachment Size
    240342-117496.png 37.53 KB

    Acronis support just walked me through it. The UR media builder is a totally independent program. Despite what the ATI UI says, it isn't available from the Tools tab. You have to search for it. I hadn't read far enough into the KB article https://kb.acronis.com/content/47606. You have to expand the section "Creating Bootable Media with Acronis Universal Boot" down near the bottom of the screen.

    There isn't an ISO available for download.

    This whole functionality puzzles me as well. Since many years Windows has become so compatible and problem-free, you can easily move your hard drive to a new computer, let Windows search for the needed drivers (it contains most anyway), add a few more that you might need - and a few reboots later you're working again. So what is the advantage of these mysterious universal restore solutions that are offered by so many companies - other than causing more trouble and support problems?