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Survival kit and media builder, both needed?

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Should I create both a survival kit and the media builder?  I do understand that the Survival Kit will be stored on the external drive where I have the Acronis backup, and that the Media Builder can be stored on a USB thumb drive.

I already have the Media Builder created for my first backup.

I am confused about whether I need to also create a Survival Kit.

Could someone please clarify this for me?

Thanks.

 

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This really depends on your own preferences and how often you may want to use either of these tools?

Personally, I have around 3 external USB drives each setup with the Acronis boot media to allow me to boot from them to make backups, plus I have a selection of USB sticks with various versions of rescue media (32-bit WinPE, 64-bit WinPE and Linux media) to deal with different computers I have around.

Thanks for your reply, but I guess I wasn't very clear with my question.

What is the difference between the two?  Do they both do the same thing? 

I don't have a preference right now as I have only made one mirror image backup.

How does frequency play a part in the decision of which tool to use?

 

 

Both rescue media tools are essentially the same, just using different actual boot media, i.e. your external USB drive or a USB memory stick or DVD.

Using the survival kit approach only requires a single USB connection that is used both by the rescue media boot partition on the drive, and storage for saving backup files, or restoring them from.

Using a memory stick requires a separate device for storing backup files or recovering them from.

Frequency of use only really applies if you are helping manage a number of computers for yourself or friends / family etc.  I keep a couple of separate backup drives for using when I am helping friends or family and make a backup before making any changes etc.  This keeps my own backups separate from those of others.  I also have a USB stick with rescue media that I carry in my laptop case which has various other tools on it for if / when needed.

Sorry, but I have a couple more questions.

I have an external drive for the mirror backup.  I plan to do the backup as needed.  I do not plan to use the backup for incremental backups.   I have the USB memory stick for recovery.

Will this plan work?

 

Lynnea Kleinschmidt wrote:

Sorry, but I have a couple more questions.

I have an external drive for the mirror backup.  I plan to do the backup as needed.  I do not plan to use the backup for incremental backups.   I have the USB memory stick for recovery.

Will this plan work?

 

Your plan is good, Lynnea, as Steve already confirmed.

Just make sure to run a test whether you are actually able to boot from this USB - stick and get to the Acronis recovery environment. When you are able to get there, you are safe ...