Acronis True Image Home (Wish list)
Take out Try and Decide and other CRAP features that mess everything up. Restore directly to VHD. Grab one file from the image. And make a FULL image. I do not even care about incrementals.Online and time line backups do not belong in this product, and YOU KNOW IT!
There is one and only ONE thing that matters with Backup software. Can I restore my data when I need to?
Folks, that is IT. There is nothing else. Put features in a Word Processing software. Backup software simply has to work.
Imaging software used to BE imaging software, NOT backup software per se.
I have been lucky so far, but I should not have to be "lucky" with my imaging software.
Thanks, Dave
Plus, I really want to know... Is anyone out there really stupid enough to use Try and Decide? I doubt anyone has EVER used that feature, so what the heck is it doing in software like this? I mean REALLY!
Agreed - but why not make them optional at install time?
Rog
Optional would be better, yes. I actually found a software that does only what i mentioned above about 5 minutes after my rant :)
Sorry for the rant, but feature bloat is really frustrating, especially with backup software. The time line backup should be a separate product, and maybe Try and Decide and remote backup should also be separate products, maybe a free addition :)
My new thing is I use Esata and soon USB 3.0. That way I can do a full backup in less time than an incremental. I did a restore of a full with 5 or so incrementals a few months ago and it took so long I simply could not believe it. So, I only do fulls now.
By separating these out, problems with one do not give a bad feeling about how the other features may or may not be working.
Again, I feel the need to state that for me, who does not use the restore feature all that much, Acronis has always come through in a pinch.
Funny, the last feature I really liked and needed was the ability to browse the image and restore individual files/folders.
Dave
And, in addendum to my rant, to give credit where credit is due, TI 2010 got me out of a jam by flawlessly letting me restore an image created on a Dell Studio XPS i7 back to my core2 optiplex. this was my first experience with a 64 bit OS and it worked smoothly. A real smoothie, thanks Acronis.
When there's a problem with a backup job, it goes into a dialog that says something like "Please locate volume 3". What the heck is volume 3? I can't even tell what job is running because the dialog is modal and I can't view the running task! Eventually I give up and cancel whereupon I can go to the log and figure out which job had a problem and rerun it. But really, all errors and dialogs should display the names of the job that the user entered, the path at which it had been looking for the file, etc. Not these cryptic internal names.
True Image Home 2010 (6.053)
1. The program is a memory hog on my Dell 9300 Inspiron laptop with a maxed-out 2GB. Windows Task Manager shows CPU usage from 80 to 100% (more often very close to 100%). I need to shut down other programs to avoid total lockup. Any solution for this?
2. The File Shredder utility would be much easier to use for individual files with a context menu in Windows Explorer.
I am new to the Acronis True Image Home program. I want to start off right and understand the capabilities of the program then set off on a regular backup sequence. I think that a full backup followed by a series of incrementals sounds fine, but there is no documentation or step-by-step procedure available for ATIh 2010 (or I can't find it).
And help along these lines?
Thanks,
Frank
Frank,
Please click on my signature index below. It has a world of help listed if you have the time. Too many incremental's is not wise. Why in item 7.
User manual listed at item 42B
How others use TrueImge for backups--all of item 12
Use of the Rescue CD--all of item 6
General "How To's" --all of item 7
Hi all,
I miss in Acronis 2010 the possibility to run scheduled tasks at system shutdown.
In earlier versions (Acronis TrueImage Home 11) i was able to plan tasks an run them at system shutdown. Please enable this function.
PS: sorry for my bad english
Acronis True Image Home 2010
(Build 6,053)
Problem: Download filename lacks build number
It would help if you included the build number in the download filename so I know which build the EXE or ISO is. Thanks.
Acronis True Image Home 2010
(Build 6,053)
Problem: Rescue Disc Lacks Disc Free Space Display
For the rescue disc in backup mode, when you are in the "Browse for Location" target window, if you select the drive, there is no Free Disc value. For the old Version 11, it displayed the disc free space. As a result, I am unable to know how many files to delete in order to have room for my backup. Also, the size of the individual files does not display.
John Petrula,
Regarding post #110
Before clicking in the download icon in your registration page, if you hover you mouse over the download icon, the actual file name will appear as listed below and the build number is included.
Before saving the download, you also have a chance to modify the saved file name.
Build number is lacking in the iso but I'm not sure it is version/build specific.
TrueImage2009.9809_s_en.exe
TrueImage9709_multiparam_Standard_english_il.iso
TrueImage2010.6053_s_en.exe
TrueImage10.0.4942_s_en.exe
John Petrula,
Referencing post #111,
Problem: Rescue Disc Lacks Disc Free Space Display
Recheck your display. Yes the total size and free space is listed but it is hidden way off to the right. You will have to use your horizontal scroll key in order to see the right margin of the window.
The UI is really ineffective for some purposes and users. Some simple things seem too difficult to find, and dangerous things are exposed.
I'd really appreciate Acronis doing some usability studies with someone new to the application, and for them to review there errors, mis-understandings, and fustration points.
(I'm Tech Support myself, and find location some simple things not so easy. Fixing MBR, (Hashed up on a multi-boot system), difficulty in using the installed version backup file in the CD booted side for restoration, etc.)
I'd also say that I think they need to develop a good set of senario's of both users and situations, and decide clearly what they support with a simplified UI and what goes into a manual tool set.
Beyond Compare from Scootersoftware.com is your friend.
Beautiful visual comparison that lets you spot differences in directory structures and contents down to the bit level however deep they may be.
I would like an uninstal program that actually uninstals the product at least to the point where a fresh instal can be made. Currently when the uninstal it runs it it says it is uninstalled successfully and asks for a reboot but attempting to reinstal only leads to the fix/modify/unistal options. There is still legacy crap left in the registry. Given this has been the subject of posts on forums as far back as 2003 and was supposed to be fixed in build 791 back in 2004 for this to still be a problem is totally unacceptable.
I would also like to see the ability to change the users. My need to do a reinstal stems from the fact that I incorrectly ticked the "this user" button instead of "all users". I want to reinstal as all users but I am caught in a loop.
I would also like to see a proper support function and not have to go to FAQs and forums unless I pay a fee. The failure to uninstal is a design fault - as recognised sx years ago - and users should not have to pay for support in order to address this matter directly with a real person.
I agree. The difference between the "this user" and "all users" options is not explained at all. Also there is no explanation as to what credentials are. As I incorrectly chose "this user" it wants credentials. All the manual says is enter a password. What password? It doesn't say. I have tried my system password and that doesn't work. Am I supposed to create a password somewhere? Where? As a result I cannot schedule any backups at all as I have no credentials. Nor can I reinstal and change to "all users" as it does not do a full uninstal to allow this to happen. The support functioin is CRAP and as a result I am left with leaving posts in the vain hope a reader may have an answer.
First I'd like to add my vote to the proposition that ATI tasks should able to wake the computer. They should also be able to keep it awake until complete (at present the computer can fall asleep while backing up). This should have been fixed ages ago - can't understand why Acronis haven't done it already!
I'd also like to add the following. Apologies if ATI 2010 already includes them, I am running 2009.
1) Give a meaningful name to script files, ideally just name them after the schedule name. At present the name is a meanless jumble of characters.
2) Assign different file types to Full, Incremental and Differential backup files. E.g. .TIB, .INC, .DIF. This will provide more information to the pre & post backup scripts to allow easier handling of backup files.
3) Make more information available to pre & post processing scripts (through environment variables?), such as name of backup file being created, etc, as proposed earlier in this thread.
Dave.
1. I second the wish for highly customizable file names for scheduled backups, i.e. as in ImgBurn for Graph Data files
2. It would be really nice to be able to mount data backups as drives as well.
3. Is it possible to provide command line utility?
2. It would be really nice to be able to mount data backups as drives as well.
You already can!
Since I do not use the scheduler for backup, it was disabled in msconfig for start on boot to reduce resource use.
For any non-scheduled function like cloning, why depend on a forced-running-in-the-background-scheduler to perform the clone function. OR as an alternative start the scheduler for the required reboot. The current failure to start the scheduler reports an error with privileges rather than the real cause of no scheduler running.
I'd like to see:
* ability to change an existing archive so it now is (or perhaps is no longer) password-protected and encrypted (this probably should involve copying the archive and encrypting the appropriate bits along the way, and updating some records somewhere that indicate it is now password-protected and encrypted, optionally verifying the new copy, then deleting the original, perhaps optionally overwriting it first)
* ability to edit the description of an existing archive
* option to set default operating parameters (such as compression level) when creating a bootable medium, so that the bootable medium will use those parameters by default
* some way to limit resource usage when running under the OS (I have 8GB RAM on a quad-core and have seen it use more than 7GB and peg all four cores to do an online backup of a volume that had no open files, effectively bringing everything else to a halt). This should be an option, since sometimes I just want Acronis to do its job, and sometimes I want to use the PC with the backup in the background
* non-modal status dialogues, so the main window (and even the status dialogue) can be minimised
* ability to launch the scheduler if it is not already running when an interactive task is started (or better, just run the task outright instead of passing it to some daemon)
2. It would be really nice to be able to mount data backups as drives as well.You already can!
Actually, it's not quite so.
I've created "Data Backup" of some databases (disk catalogs) and would like to use this backup in read-only mode on another computer.
I _can_ use "Explore" command from backup file context menu and take a look at archive contents.
But I _cannot_ get access to files inside that backup unless I restore them beforehand. Neither can I use "Mount Image" command for that backup - as it says, it allows you to mount only disk image backups and responds with "This archive format is not supported by this operation" at the attempt to mount data backup.
Therefore my request is to allow to mount _data_ backups as drives.
In the backup setup, the email notification area can only be described as odd: "Specify the default e-mail account that will be used for notification of backup operation completion." Used? What exactly does that mean? One would think that means the account that will handle the transport. But what you'd expect there is the *destination* email address. So that's what I first put there - my work email address. They failed because our systems block messages that spoof our domain - the message appeared to be *coming from* that address *to* that address. WTF?? So the "account that will be used" is both the transport (from) and the destination (to). There should be a separate *destination* address field. If that's the same as the from address for most users, auto populate the destination field with the from address and just let us overwrite it if we want to.
In TI the Calendar for Tasks management should be enhanced to include information about "the" task selected. Example
Currently it is showing me the results of ALL scheduled task and all in the same view. I like it better if I could select the first task and the calendar would change to reflect the schedule information for "that one task" and then I could select another task and see the schedule information for the task I just selected.
TI does not change the address to Windows UNC and from what I understand it is happier with UNC. When I created a backup and used my NAS unit as the target the address appeared as
Y:\BU\Acronis\S2\S2__WeeklyBU_@date@.tib
TI should have automatically changed it to UNC addressing as in the following:
\\MAXTOR-LAN-DISK\jgt\BU\Acronis\S2\S2__WeeklyBU_@date@.tib
Please add the "Custom" option to the "System Clean-up" "Hard Disk Free Space" "Data Destruction Method" so that I can write FFs to the free space on my SSD RAID0 array.
Thanks!
Wish List Item: I wish Acronis True Image Home wasn't so buggy. The "backup stuck in 'Queued' status" problem is driving me nuts in both the 2009 and 2010 versions. It's clear from the forum that many people are experiencing this problem, but Acronis Support doesn't really have an answer. In fact, the information they provide about the problem isn't even accurate, much less helpful. For example, the path location for where scripts are located in XP isn't correct -- the path depends on whether you have the program installed for the current user only or for all users. I suspect that the support person writing the answers doesn't have enough experience to know the difference. I really want to like this software; conceptually it's very good, but the execution just plain bites. And without decent support, it's a lost cause trying to get it to work properly. So sad.
Geoff Walker
It would be really nice if "Snapshot Technology" like in (RollBack Rx, Wondershare Time Shuttle, Comodo Time Machine etc.) become implemented in Acronis True Image Home.
With my TI 2009 I had these issues: When finding some issues on that version, I wanted to send them to Acronis support; they said I'll hsve to buy a support contract! I felt like an idiot having paid for their software (You can report most bugs for freeware for FREE).
Another suprprise is the selection of drivers for the bootable emergency medium: I tried to extend a filesystem on a HP/Compaq ProLiant DL380G5 server that features a "Smart Array P400" RAID controller. However the system is unable to find any harddisks. (I downloaded the free GNU parted bootable ISO image, and it did detect the disks. It could also extend the filesystem. You know that Acronis uses also Linux for the bootable medium?)
Oh well, it seems that most companies have at least five years of support/maintenance for their products, but for Acronis you'll have to buy a new version, just to get the drivers needed for current hardware on the bootable medium. However Acronis does not make these drivers.
The product may be good, but support is a big disappointment.
Hello Ulrich,
Thanks for sharing your concerns with us.
Let me shed some light on the situation.
It is indeed our policy for home products that we only provide support for 30 days after the purchase of the product. At the same time we do have permanent support for any restore problems with home products and Knowledge base for self service. I can suggest you to take a look at ate following page describing all support options we have for our customers.
Your second concern regarding extending file system on a server also looks strange. As I can see you have 2 products in your account - both home ones. None of them was ever claimed to support server hardware (Like SAS controllers) or server OSs, nor tested with them.
I'd suggest you to look at our Business solutions for this type of scenarios like Acronis Backup and Recovery product line for instance. Our business products were specifically developed and tested to be used in demanding corporate environments and have specific feature set for that.
And finally I have to mention that development of Acronis True Image 2009 Home you currently own has been discontinued with the release of the next version of the product - Acronis True Image 2010 Home.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Thanks,
Andrey.
I run Linux (openSUSE 11.2) on my home system, with virtual machines loaded with several flavors of Windows for when I need to help out friends.While I would love an affordable version of Acronis True Image that runs on Linux (the only version for Linux is an expensive version for servers), I have been able to make do using the recovery CD (created under a Windows VM) to back up my system.
I would very much appreciate it if Acronis would add support for the ext4 file system, since I have been forced to do sector-by-sector backups since I upgraded from ext3.
Needless to say what I really want is a stripped down home version of their Linux product priced for the home market. Or a way to purchase the current Linux version at a discount under a restricted license. But for now, ext4 support will do.
Hell yeah! You saved me time typing :) Years go by and no ext4 support. And it's like default for several linux distros.
EXT4 SUPP, PLZ!
Shrink a number of incremental backups (e.g. for daily incrementals) to a "one week" incremental and so on.
Deduplication also for True Image Home
Maybe somebody's already asked for this, but I haven't time to work my way through all the apparent chatter (trying to be polite) although the comments are obviously important to those who made them!
1. I would like the option to right-click on the Non-stop Backup icon in the Task Bar Notification Area and have a "Suspend" or "Pause" option. When I click "Stop", the icon disappears and I have to restart Non-stop Backup via True Image Home 2010. So I wonder why the "Start" option is there!
The reason for my wish, is that I copy photographs from my digital camera to my hard disk (with non-stop backup) and then rename them suitably. Until I've got them on my hard disk, renamed them and have ensured they've been backed up, I do not delete them from my camera so have no need for immediate backup. In this case a ten or twenty minute pause would be ideal and I'm happy to do it manually.
2. This really goes with Wish #1. Would it be possible to make the Non-stop Backup backup time period configurable?
Thanks.
Another request here for ext4 support.
True Image is totally useless for me without it, so I've registered my last version of True Image unless the ext4 support comes fairly soon. In the interim, I'm using fsarchiver, or in some cases clonezilla, both being free Linux applications.
Thanks to anyone that is listing who can make a difference.
I would like to have a feature to open .tib's created by the bootable media and haven't installed the Windows part of TI with Windows Explorer and extract them.
mbathen,
Are you aware of the bootable media that you can download from your registration account. This is an iso file which can be burnt to become a TI Rescue/recovery CD. So, if you choose, an installation of TI is not necessary if you wish to perform all your backups and restores by using this CD.
My backup model is a once a week full backup followed by six incrementals and I’d like to see the ability to specify the day of the week the full backup is to take place in the next version of TI Home. I realize the Chain2gen add-on application can probably do that today but I’d like to see that capability built into the base product.
Duplicate post. Sorry.
For my wish list entry, I would like the following:
I have a backup scheduled for every day at the same time with Acronis Backup Home 2010. I also have it set to Verify the back up. My wish would be for the program to automatically fix anything the Verification finds wrong, and re-verify to make sure the back up is sound.
Thanks,
Dave
Non-Stop Backup:
It would be great if there was an option to limit the storage space for the backups,
instead of deleting old backups manually when the disk is full.
Thanks!
Here's one related to another thread that I just replied to:
It would be nice of Acronis True Image Home 2010 setup installed the ordinal 241 into the dynamic link library msi.dll.
This is because if a computer is not connected to the Internet and has never been updated beyong the original Windows XP program, it does not contain the ordinal 241, which, it turns out, is necessary for Acronis True Image Home 2010 to function.
Babel
Here's one related to another thread that I just replied to:
It would be nice of Acronis True Image Home 2010 setup installed the ordinal 241 into the dynamic link library msi.dll.
This is because if a computer is not connected to the Internet and has never been updated beyong the original Windows XP program, it does not contain the ordinal 241, which, it turns out, is necessary for Acronis True Image Home 2010 to function.
Babel
Here's one related to another thread that I just replied to:
It would be nice of Acronis True Image Home 2010 setup installed the ordinal 241 into the dynamic link library msi.dll.
This is because if a computer is not connected to the Internet and has never been updated beyong the original Windows XP program, it does not contain the ordinal 241, which, it turns out, is necessary for Acronis True Image Home 2010 to function.
Babel
Sorry about the three copies ! It was supposed to be one.
It would be nice to have True Image Home, as well as its siblings Plus Pack and Addons, installed _without_ reboot. Last versions of Disk Director Home and Backup&Recovery can do such a thing, but True Image Home cannot...
1. Restore the ability to backup and restore from Acronis Secure Zone WITHOUT having to have TI installed on the operating system. An update to the 2009 version killed this and I refuse to update to any later version until this ability has been restored. I previously used the CD to make a backup to a temp location, installed TI and Secure Zone, restored my previous image then created the backup to secure zone to get this process started. Now F11 goes away if it doesn't see TI on the hard drive.
2. Show actually backup names. I'm not sure if 2010 has resolved this, but no matter what I name my backups in ASZ, Acronis doesn't see the names when it comes to restore. They're all identical with a (1), (2), etc. after them.
3. Make graphics requirements lower for older computers.
4. Speed it up. On most computers it takes FOREVER to navigate to various locations. It's probably trying to auto-detect but there's got to be a way to speed the restore process up. Very, very laggy.
I don't use any of the Windows features. I just want my F11 to work, backup from outside the operating system and not take half an hour to do a backup or restore from a hidden partition. That's it.
P.S. If any future version has restored the ability to use F11 without the program installed feel free to let me know! I'll upgrade in a heartbeat.
I have only one wish. Use the Windows scheduler.
We need more information, when using DriverCleanser i cant even see what drive (no serial or model number) it wipes at all, same goes for fileshredder the dialog is way to small to see what files its shredding :O
http://img.techpowerup.org/100809/Capture009.jpg
and why do True Image GUI allways have to open when i just want to open the tray little dialog? like the one in the picture above
Support for drives with 4K sectors.
And use Windows Scheduler.
We need more information, when using DriverCleanser i cant even see what drive (no serial or model number) it wipes at all, same goes for fileshredder the dialog is way to small to see what files its shredding :O
http://img.techpowerup.org/100809/Capture009.jpg
Tommyla -Providing more information in the screen you provide is of very little value (IMHO). At this point TI is wiping the drive if you picked the wrong drive you are screwed and there is no recovery unless you have a backup of the drive before you started the wipe. In the previous TI window where you actually selected the drive. If mouse over the drive icon a pop-up will be presented that tells you
1) the Disk number (which btw is one number higher than what you will see in the windows disk manager - this is a real bummer)
2) the total size of the drive as windows sees it
3) the drive MFG and model number. The model number is not super helpful if you have multiple drives in your system of the same model
Numerous hard drive utilities fail to get it right and in this case TI has partly failed as well.
However to the right of the drive icon you see how the drive is allocated and it displays the label you assigned to the partition. This is the one sure thing that you can control. Because so many hard drive utilities fail to make it easy for the user I go to great pains to assign a label that will identify each drive in my system. In that I currently have 12 drives in one of my desktops drive identification is super critical for me. It is hell when you select the wrong drive for a wipe action.