Acronis True Image Wish List.

My main wish is for a product that does what it says on the tin without any bugs and due regard taken on user feedback regarding useful functionality e.g. sync without logging in to Acronis servers and ability to control direction and method, and decent logging so we and Acronis can understand exactly what is going on. Plus may more I suspect.

I wish the ATIH disk drivers would bypass removable media and or have the option to be disabled.
I wish the Windows PE environment would be downloadable rather than having to install ATIH first.

Hi all,

Thank you for your comments and opening the thread regarding Wishlist.

We have a thread dedicated to the wishlist in the older Acronis True Image Section, but never opened one in this section. I'm forwarding your comments to the Management team, and sticking this thread to the top.

Thank you.

Would like the build to ‘return to basics’. Maybe a separate ‘lite’ package that performs clones and scheduled disk, file, and partition backups. The package should shed XP support and all associated legacy code and focus on W7/8 forward. The package should shed all of the new 'features' introduced in the past several iterations of THI. No one will purchase 'features' if the core product is not reliable.

I would gladly trade all my THI licenses for a lean-and-mean product. The product should dump all custom drivers, interfaces, etc and focus on simple native windows devices (95% of the market). So you loose some of your current customer base --- the world has moved on – get over it. Win8 is already in Beta and the certification requirements will be even tighter.

Currently when some actions fail a small window pops-up in the bottom right corner of my screen, example "Operation has failed W700-- Task execution failed. Description: Stage DescriptionSee operation log for details."

The "DescriptionSee" words run together is in the pop-up window.

The main issue I had with the pop-up was that I had zero idea what application had created the message, obviously something like "Acronis True Image" should have been included in the text.

Also it would be super friendly if I could just click on the pop-up and be presented with with a view of the operation log with the details about this failure.

I want an "expert mode," and I want to be able to set it as the default mode. This "expert mode" should allow one to select specific files or directories for backup and specific locations for that backup without everything having a the name start with "My." I am so sick of my this and my that. I have a single portable hard drive on which I keep backups for three different people. Every time I start a back up (yes EVERY flipping time) I have to change the file name and location. If I could I would buy three copied of Acronis 10 and be done with it.
If you get the idea that I detest the new interface, you would be correct.

Once you create a task, the name should stay the same each time you run it, notwithstanding the appendage of a numerical suffix. Each new task, defaults to the "My. . ." this or that.

I'm using ATIH since the last 4 versions. The look and layout gets nicer but the bugs are getting more. And the support is terrible. My last ticket (Jan 17) was never answered by the german support. I opened a live chat last week. But the support guy was not able to help me. I had the impression he didn't understand the problem.
Therefore my request: less bugs, much better support (timely and competent).
Thank you

Well, I knew someone had to apprecaite the ati2011-ati2012 interface. ;)

haddat wrote:

I'm using ATIH since the last 4 versions. The look and layout gets nicer . . .
Thank you

Thanks Colin. It's a pity that there is no message produced when it detects an error like that and not 'lock-up' the application so you have to kill ATIH.

On the Backup and Recovery screen you can assign backups to the favorite category, IMHO the action required is reversed, e.g. by default a BU should be automatically assigned as a favorite and then let the user click on the icon to remove it from the favorite category. Example, my desktop has 12TB of storage thus I use it as the repository for all of my systems. On this system (I call this system S4) when I view the BUs most often I only want to see the BUs for S4 not all of the other systems thus I have assigned all S4 BUs to the favorite list but when I add a new BU to the S4 system I have to remember to deselect the favorites and then go find the new BU I added.

Taking this one step further I'd like to see the function expanded where I could setup different favorite categories, e.g. one for each of my system and then with just a click I could quickly view the BUs for each system.

I will note that although some might want it that way you suggest; surely others want it just the opposite.

Personally, I'm not sure what it would mean to call a backup a favorite. "This backup is the cutest but this one is funnier, so it's kinda my my favorite but I love them all equally."

If it just means most frequntly run task then you could choose to list tasks in order of frequency of use, date of last backup, date task was created . . . any of the fields in the database. Actually, in the case of ati2012, I think "favorite" actually means "arbitary personal filter", so a user can use it as filter for whatever strikes her or his fancy.

However, I'd rather Acronis didn't muck with any of the ancillary features at all until they get the core functions nailed down tight. Considering an automobile metaphonr, I'm less concerned about how many speeds the heater blower has and more concerned about whether the engine under the hood is reliable and whether the transmission drops gears.

==> However, I'd rather Acronis didn't muck with any of the ancillary features at all until they get the core functions nailed down tight. Considering an automobile metaphonr, I'm less concerned about how many speeds the heater blower has and more concerned about whether the engine under the hood is reliable and whether the transmission drops gears.

+1

Please refer to my previous post... less is more...

Backup at Shutdown please.
I decided that for my environment, the best time to perform the Backup is at System Shutdown.
The reasons being...
At Startup, all you want to do is get on and do whatever it is you have logged on to do (not sit waiting while a Backup runs).
There is no real timeframe post logon to sensibly schedule a Backup.
So at Shutdown (specially if you also specify to Power off at completion) a Backup will ensure all changed data gets backed up, with the minimal disruption to your logon session.

The trouble is, and this relates to the first line of this request, a Backup scheduled for Shutdown, also runs when a Reboot is requested. NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. A Shutdown is a Shutdown, a Restart is a Restart.

I wish that saved logs would be readable - not coded, and times readable; if I save the log of a completed (or failed) task, it is just not readable to me at all.

Simple wish
Just make it work and when it doesn't - just fix it - instead of taking more money of the customer (Pay per problem) when they are YOUR problems and then having taken that money - you still can't fix it.

At the end of the day it is your loss as we were about to acquire 20 licenses but won't be till we are satisfied with the level of support - which at the moment has hit rock bottom.

For 2013 and future versions can you guys concentrate on making the program stable and ironing out bugs instead of adding a bunch of useless features that people will probably use 1% of the time? I'm still using TIH 2009 and 2010 because 2011 and 2012 is complete and utter garbage.

The only reason I gave 2011 a try because it supported GPT partitions natively instead of having to use the Plus pack, but 2011 gave me more problems than I bargained for. I cannot recommend your product to my clients anymore because you guys have turned your back on the consumer. Consistently adding junk year after year and now 2011 and 2012 is completely useless.

I hope more and more people will reflect their frustrations with product using their wallets.

A program that earns a longstanding reputation for rock solid operation and reliability, imo, outshines even the fanciest competitors.

I wish I could say the same. Your forum says otherwise.

OpTicaL wrote:

I wish I could say the same. Your forum says otherwise.

I was just making a general observation of something that I think is too often overlooked by those that impress business models on makers of products.

Also, when you say, "Your forum," are you under the mistaken believe that i am in any way employed by Acronis or that I control the forum in any way. Ocassionally, someone from Acronis will post, but other than that, we are all just users here. Some come with problems and some come to help those with probs. I've done some of both in my time.

First and foremost - create an application that actually works, does not mess up the host PC, is easy to uninstall, is backward and forward compatible.

and... PLEASE get rid of that childish cartoon based user interface.

Or - in the alternative provide a switchable user interface with cartoons for novices and the appopriate interface for users with technical knowledge/experience.

I wish that the Acronis 2012 Home Plus Pack supported 64-bit WinPE. It works great for 32-bit WinPE but there are several known issues with 64-bit support. The problem is that more and more vendors (HP in particular) are only shipping 64-bit OSes now and I can no longer get 32-bit drivers in some cases. The next backup product I purchase is going to have to support 64-bit WinPE.

Marc

My wish is Acronis would bring back the "system state" backup. I found it very useful in previous versions of TI. For instance, I could backup the system state to another drive, have as many as I wanted, and then turn off windows "system restore". The system state backups saved me many times with out having to restort to a complete system restore.

I am using 2011 version, wihc doesn't have the system state backup, and was hoping v12 would bring it back, but apparently not, so I'm sticking with 2011.

Thanks to everyone for your feedback, and suggestions, I really appreciate it.

I have just forwarded all of them to the Development, and Management team.

I also had to remove additional comments, that were not related to the wishlist theme. Please note that for technical issues, and questions you need to open a separate thread, this one is dedicated to the feature and enhancement requests.

Thank you.

I agree with a number of others on this thread; I wish for a release that has the core features that actually work correctly! Fix the annoying UI issues (like having to pick a backup location 3 times before it sticks) and fix all the broken stuff (or just remove it, if it's really too hard). I'd happily pay decent $ for a stable working core release, but as it is with my TIH 2012 trial, it seems like another step backwards from what I use now (TIH v11; not 2011).

I'm not so fussed about the UI appearance per se (you can't keep everyone happy), but the important thing is that the features under the hood actually work. Remember also that you are now competing against FREE offerings from other vendors. For people to keep paying $ they want to be buying something that is quality. I bet most people wouldn't care if a new release only came out every 4 years if the releases were quality.

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for the feedback.

I entirely agree with you, and also forwarded your comments.

I cannot say anything concrete right now, but the request for the release with the core features have been heard, and our Marketing team is working this question. Hopefully we'll have some good news from you in a couple of months.

Thank you.

I wish it would handle backup and recovery to any amount of DVDs with only 1 drive available. Swapping doesn't work in the present release and a restriction of 3 DVDs is ridiculous.

==> I wish it would handle backup and recovery to any amount of DVDs with only 1 drive available. Swapping doesn't work in the present release and a restriction of 3 DVDs is ridiculous.

I just have to ask -- with 500GB USB/eSata drives available for like $49US, under what scenario would you want DVD backups?

Since the partition/diskmode backups go by sector, any one file can be spread over any or all of the optical disks, which means lots of swapping when you restore. this is inherent in the basic design of the program. You might consider portable drives instead of optical for storing backups. Or, at a minimum, copy all the dvd files for a backup to a hdisk (portable or otherwise) when you want to restore.

Especially given that that, for archival purposes, the reliable life is about the same for magnetic hdisks and dye-opticals (such as DVD-RW or DVD+RW). Unless you are using archival quality optis, which are terribly expensive.

hhansard wrote:

==> I wish it would handle backup and recovery to any amount of DVDs with only 1 drive available. Swapping doesn't work in the present release and a restriction of 3 DVDs is ridiculous.

I just have to ask -- with 500GB USB/eSata drives available for like $49US, under what scenario would you want DVD backups?

Totally agree with Wayne H, and it's nice to read from Yana that Wayne's voice has been heard.
It will be great for Acronis to go back to it's roots, and provide a lite, quality and functional build of True Image.
Over the years it has become IMO Bloated, and I have recommended friends and colleges to use lighter alternatives.

I would like to be able to use ATI on my pc's again and would like to be able to recommend the product to friends and colleges,
but until such time as it becomes lean and mean I don't think I am able to.

I would like to see full winpe (*64 *86) integrated within the main product, no more having to get a plus pack.
I feel the ability to restore an image to another system is an integral part of a image solution.

Well, there's that. Otoh, lots of users would like to see a more meager version for basic back and less moving parts, so to speak. So ordering parts (modules) a la carte might be a good solution.

PJB wrote:

I would like to see full winpe (*64 *86) integrated within the main product, no more having to get a plus pack.
I feel the ability to restore an image to another system is an integral part of a image solution.

==> lots of users would like to see a more meager version for basic back and less moving parts, so to speak.
+1

If activation must remain in the next version, at least give users the ability to remove the licence (deactivate) themselves from the product.
Macrium have that functionality built in, saves time with activation issues when formatting a pc/moving pc's

See where you are coming from Scott,
I do feel thought that the Plus Pack should be included to give full restore functionality to everyone, regardless if same pc or different pc they want to restore to, and Navtive WinPE should be easily configurable for all users from within the product - Macrium again do this really well.

Extras like on-line storage etc should all be optional extras :-)

==> Extras like on-line storage etc should all be optional extras :-)
not only extras, but the code base should be ruthlessly culled of all these 'features'.

Sorry for some, but all legacy XP, Acronis-developed drivers, etc should be culled. The code base should return to its roots and present a bare-bones solution for native Win7/8 devices only -- 99% of market.

Sure, Acronis will loose some license revenue from its XP base, but at this point they are loosing revenue from those that won't upgrade the bloated, flaky, etc 2012 offering... Look at Newegg, Amazon, etc ratings -- would you buy this program as a potential new customer?

1. Full support for EXFat.

2. Go back to the simpler user interface of 2011. I have always found True Image to be intuitive and easy to navigate UNTIL 2012.
In ATIH 2012 I have to work out which option to use and how to use it. ATIH is no longer simple and easy to use.

3. Continue support for WinXP. I still use it in preference to Win7 which I have in dual boot. There probably still more XP machines than Win7.

4. Like others above, get back to the core of what makes ATIH great. Backup, Recovery, and cloning........What, Where, and How. I doubt anyone buys TI for the tacked on functions.

==> Continue support for WinXP. I still use it in preference to Win7 which I have in dual boot. There probably still more XP machines than Win7.

Win7 installed base exceeded XP as of Oct’11. XP base is declining by approx 4%/month. In the US, Win7 exceeded XP as of Mar’11 with XP dropping below 25% and declining rapidly. XP market is projected to decline below 10% with introduction of Win8 in Q4’12. In RoR, XP will remain about 20% through mid-'13. But that market has limited upside -- the reason top-tier software houses dropped legacy XP code development as of '09... Further, most smaller shops culled XP code to separate to end-of-life offerings in '10. At this point, there should be no investment in anything XP -- it's dead, just get over it...

It's the combo of legacy code, custom drivers to support non-Win7/8 native devices and unnecessary 'features' that is killing THI. To get lean-and-mean, you need a single platform code base sans 'features'.

Remember, THI is now competing directly with bundled offerings from the likes of Segate, et al. With many new USB/eSata drives, you get 'free' backup utilities that are simple, reliable and don't support XP. When Bill Gates was asked how Internet Explorer would compete against then industry leader Netscape, he responded, "Free is a tough price point to beat"... If you remember, Netscape declared Chapter 11 less than 18 months later. THI needs to get its act together fast...

Thank you for sharing your opinion here, guys. As usual - just forwarded to the Development team.

Another point is that THI needs to eliminate all the custom drivers, etc to minimize conflict with conforming Win7/8 devices.

The issues over USB ports, RAM disks, etc are just ridiculous given that Win 7 has been out since '09. Just think about it, you install a backup program and existing devices no longer work or, worse yet, your system no longer boots....

Acronis needs to get with the program and develop a compliant Win7/8 app on a going-forward basis -- full stop. This would also ensure that the uninstall process does not leave users high-and-dry as it can now...

In my shop, we abandoned 2012 because it conflicts with existing Win7 devices (while 2011 works fine) -- we are talking systems would not boot due to driver conflicts. Then found that THI could not be uninstalled cleanly... Come on... this is bush-league performance. It's the kind of software deployed a decade ago... The world has moved on...

- First Acronis should develop more stable products ! ATIH 2012 is inacceptable.
- Support should read before giving an answer and asking the same thing many times
- No functions with unreasonable restrictions (online account for local synchronisation an syncing functionality - even local sync -only with online storage abo is inacceptable) - or, for minimum, user information on the package about such restrictions befor the user will buy such a product ...

I understand that you want this but lots of others don't. They want the program simple and basic and less prone to problems. They might be right they might be wrong, but it's what they want. It's hard to maintain a business model that requires cash flow from a new version every 12 months without finding something to make one version diff, better than the last. So we get added features but a lot of folks would settle for less features and less problems.

PJB wrote:

See where you are coming from Scott,
I do feel thought that the Plus Pack should be included to give full restore functionality to everyone, regardless if same pc or different pc they want to restore to, and Navtive WinPE should be easily configurable for all users from within the product - Macrium again do this really well.

Extras like on-line storage etc should all be optional extras :-)

By today's standard I feel these are a basic requirement of any disk imaging solution:

Ability to Restore to Dissimilar Hardware - Whatever the make, model or installed components of your new computer.

Dynamic Disk Support - Back up and restore dynamic volumes with ease, taking full advantage of dynamic-disk capabilities.

Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) Support - Speed up your recovery process with fast and easy integration of the latest Microsoft drivers, customized scripts, applications and plug-ins to your rescue or boot media.

This functionality should be in the product, by today's standards it not really a addon.
If others ie Macrium, Active Disk Image to name but two can support it in the main product without the product becoming bloated and unstable then surely Acronis can work to get this built in without bloating the product and charging extra for it.. :-)

The point isn't whether it is or isn't. The point is whether that's what people want to buy. Some do; some don't.

==> It's hard to maintain a business model that requires cash flow from a new version every 12 months without finding something to make one version diff

Very true. Microsoft is termed, “The Great Commoditizer” for a reason. If Acronis thinks it can keep growing top-line revenue from THI and related products, then it's kidding itself. Once MS decides to incorporate even a slightly more advanced backup solution in Win8, then it’s game over – full stop. Remember, “Free is a tough price point to beat…” Acronis needs to invest what revenue it’s squeezing from 2012 into a new offering… not just bloating the existing code base… Better yet, just package the IP and sell to MS for incorporation into Win8/SP1.

If Acronis did a forum pole on percent willing to upgrade to a 2013, I bet there finance guys would have a fit over future projected revenue from an end-of-life product. I for one won't move my shop from 2011 unless a lean-and-mean version sans bugs is released --- there is no point.

Suggestion: Better integrate task management into GUI so we don't have to use separate command line schedmgr.exe to get rid of ghost tasks. When I delete a task in the GUI or click on "Do not schedule" to stop a task from running, I don't think I should also have to find, run and figure out the schemgr.exe just to keep ATIH from littering my logs with errors or keep seemingly unscheduled tasks from running. Schedmgr.exe should not be necessary at all. Those features should either be built into the program or better yet just have the GUI properly remove tasks from the schedule when it is deleted or unscheduled.

Hello all,

Thank you for your suggestions, and feedback. All forwarded.

You all got the point, hopefully we'll have these improvements implemented in future releases.

Thank you.

My wishes are simple:
- A product that creates reliable backups - period
- A product which focuses on backups only
(NO diversion which bloats the product and jeopardizes reliability)
- No filter driver hacks, no "big disk" support
(this is NOT the task of a backup product. Make a separate product
for this if you have to)
- No activation since it only causes trouble and solves nothing
(pirates circumvent this easily and paying customers are get the problems)
- Skip the simple cartoon interface, users that need this will
never be your customers anyway

In fact, all I which for is the old Acronis True Image Home as it once was but without the bugs and working with the latest file systems including full support for Windows8, all Linux file systems and Apple HFS.

Wish:
1. Remove initial sign-on process from the sync feature as it stops working and your ability to access the feature if you lose your internet connection!
2. Add detect connection state to the sync feature so that when you leave your NAS switched off you don't lose the sync setting!