Restoring full drive from tib files...

So I just got a new Win 10 computer and it had two partitions.

Before using the computer at all I backed up both partitions (full backup) and ATI created two .tib files in the backup.

The first question I have, is whether your Win 10 computer only has 2 partitions, or if it has other partitions (hidden / system partition) which are required for a successful recovery?

If you have done a Full backup and selected the internal disk drive at the disk level, then this should include all the partitions on the computer drive.  If your computer has two disk drives, then these can be selected separately as Full disk backups, or else the 'Entire PC' option can be used to backup all internal drives.

Assume I have a drive failure on this computer later and needed to replace the drive.

1. Will I be able to use these .tib files to restore to the new replacement drive to make it bootable and exactly the way it was when the .tib files were created?

2. Does it matter if the new drive is a different size?

3. Will restoring the drive from the .tib files also make it bootable or are there other steps required besides restoring it to get it to boot?

4. What would be the process for restoring two .tib files to get both partitions on the new drive?  One is the bootable one I assume and the other not.

5. Can I move those .tib files to other media later if necessary without losing their ability to restore everything?  I assume yes, but don't want to guess.

1. Yes, provided that your .tib files include all required partitions (per my earlier comments).
    
2. No, provided the new drive is large enough to hold the recovered content from the backup image, i.e. it can be smaller than the current drive, or could be larger subject to having a minimum of around 20% free disk space after the recovery is complete.
    
3. Yes, the restore should recover the drive to how it was when the backup was created, including the ability to boot into Windows (subject to the earlier statements about all required partitions being present).
    
4. The restore process would be sequential, i.e. restore the main OS partition first, ensuring that you leave sufficient space free to later restore the second partition.
   Ideally, if you make a disk level full backup with all the partitions found on the drive, then recovery of all the partitions is handled automatically by ATI, including any resizing needed should the new drive be of a different size to the original.  This is recommended over creating individual backups of single partitions.
    
5. Yes, subject to moving / copying all the .tib files required if you have more than 1 file in the backup chain, i.e. if you have an Incremental backup chain, then you would have a full .tib file plus one or more incremental .tib files, all sharing the same backup sequence identifier.  _full_b1_s1_v1.tib plus _inc_b1_s2_v1 etc, where the backup sequence identifier is b1 (for the first backup sequence).

Hi Steve and Thank you for your outstanding response!

The first question I have, is whether your Win 10 computer only has 2 partitions, or if it has other partitions (hidden / system partition) which are required for a successful recovery?

I do not think there is any other hidden partition based on the following.  Please tell me if I am missing something.

Windows Disk Management lists only 2 partitions in the "Volume" column.

1. (C:)

2. System Reserved

I assume if there was another hidden partition I would see a third partition on the list.  So I conclude there are no additional hidden partitions.

If you have done a Full backup and selected the internal disk drive at the disk level, then this should include all the partitions on the computer drive.

Here is what I did:

1.On the "What to back up" tab I checked the only two partitions shown under "Disk 1 (which is the only drive on the computer). (Primary and Primary/Active are the two partitions I checked)

2.I selected "Incremental" backup (since it said that the first time this is run it does a full backup).

I left everything else default.

I left "Backup sector-by sector" UNchecked

The restore process would be sequential, i.e. restore the main OS partition first,

By main OS partition, do you mean the one that Disk Management lists as the "boot" partition?  In my partitions, that is the large partition lableled as C:  I believe the smaller partition, the one labeled as "System Reserved" is the one with the OS system files.

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I understood all of your other comments.  Thank you, very helpful.

Did I get the above right?

Thanks for the great help!

Ryan, the easiest way of checking that all partitions are included is from the ATI GUI Source selection panel, then click on the text 'Full partition list' shown at the bottom of the panel, and this will show you any other partitions that are required / present.

On a new computer, then the main OS C: partition plus the System Reserved partition (normally hidden / system) should be fine.  After any new Windows 10 upgrades, then you will see a Windows Recovery partition get created at the end of the drive.

Ryan,

In addition to all of Steve's great advice, instead of dealing with the unknown if/when a drive fails or needs to be upgraded, better to test/practice ahead of time and in a safe manner.

If you are able to use a spare, test or new drive, you should be able to safely remove the original and set it aside.  Then install the test replacement drive and use your Acronis rescue media to do a full disk recovery.  When the recovery is done, power off, boot into the bios and ensure the recovered disk has the first boot priority and if so, then attempt to boot.

If all went well, it should boot just fine and then you've not only verified you have a good backup, but are also able to successfully recover.  After that, you can power off and remove the test, install the original, boot to the bios and ensure it has the 1st boot priority and then continue using it like nothing ever changed.

As an added benefit, you know have a recent "clone" (not that you used the clone process, but that you did a proper backup and restore that resulted in an identical clone of the original drive) of your existing drive and can either use it as a hot spot spare, or continue to practice this same method down the road to keep testing restores and updating your hot spare OS drive.

Thanks again Steve.  I think I was editing my comment just when you posted yours.  I added this...

The restore process would be sequential, i.e. restore the main OS partition first,

By main OS partition, do you mean the one that Disk Management lists as the "boot" partition?  In my partitions, that is the large partition lableled as C:  I believe the smaller partition, the one labeled as "System Reserved" is the one with the OS system files.

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Thank you Bobbo_3C0X1 ... also some great advice!

Ryan, we would need to see a screen image of Windows Disk Management to understand exactly how your partitions are structured.

The System Reserved partition is what it says, a space reserved by Microsoft for future use.

Most modern computer systems have an EFI System Partition which is where the Windows Boot Configuration Data store is held - this tells the computer how to boot into the Windows OS, but all the actual OS system files are held on the C: OS partition.

See Microsoft webpage: Understanding Disk Partitions - which is now very old but which gives a good basic description of the partitions used on Windows systems, including both the older Legacy BIOS / MBR partitions, and the newer UEFI / GPT partitions on modern systems.

To advise you more, we would need to see a screen shot of Windows Disk Management to see which particular partitions are present on your computer.

Alternatively, run the msinfo32 command in Windows and attach a copy of the output report file (zipped) to this forum topic - this will confirm your configuration etc.