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Restore to new computer

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I had already ordered a new computer when the old one totally failed. It had numerous issues, which is why I had ordered a new one. So, when the new one arrives, I have a few issues to contend with and was wondering:

1) Can I transfer my True Image 2018 license to the new system? Since the old system won't even boot any more, all software installed on it is not useable.

2) I have a lot to learn about backup & restore, as you will surmise from the following. I did not make system backups, nor image backups, but ONLY file backups  (drawings, emails, docs, etc.). If I had made an image of the old system drive (an SSD, if that maters), could I have restored that image to a new (different size) M.2 SSD drive?

3) Since the True Image catalog files are on the old (DEAD) system, is there a way to restore the backup files "en mass"? (i.e. entire folders and subfolders).

I have downloaded a 30 day trial version of True Image 2018 and tried to restore files (that were backed up using True Image 2018 and stored on a USB drive), but no RESTORE option appears in the True Image 2018 dashboard (I assume because no backups were done using that installation). BTW, this "trial restore" is being done on by notebook since the new system won't arrive for over a month.

Lastly, can anyone direct me to an online document that might give me some direction as far as developing a back up strategy for my new system?

Thanx to all!

Mike

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Mike, welcome to these User Forums.

Sorry to hear of the demise of your old computer - you will be able to transfer your existing ATI 2018 license to your new one when it arrives.

See KB 59878: Acronis True Image 2018: "You've exceeded the maximum number of activations for this serial number" which will show you the options for doing the transfer.

See also the ATI 2018 User Guide which has lots of good information regarding all the key functions for the application.  You can also download this as a PDF document

In order to Recover any of your Files & Folders backups created on the old computer by using the ATI 2018 GUI from the trial copy, you would need to use the option to 'Add existing backup' which you can find hidden next to the option to 'Add backup' for new tasks.  See screen shot below:

2018-08-17 17_25_16 Add existing.png

I did not make system backups, nor image backups, but ONLY file backups  (drawings, emails, docs, etc.). If I had made an image of the old system drive (an SSD, if that maters), could I have restored that image to a new (different size) M.2 SSD drive?

If you had made a Disks & Partitions backup image of the old system drive, then it is possible that you could have restored this to the new drive but this is not guaranteed that all would continue to work correctly or that Windows would boot without significant further work.  You are probably going to be back in full operation much quicker by starting with the new computer and a clean copy of Windows already installed, then just recover your file backups.

Since the True Image catalog files are on the old (DEAD) system, is there a way to restore the backup files "en mass"? (i.e. entire folders and subfolders).

Normally, if you have your backup drive with all your .tib files stored on it connected when your install the ATI 2018 application, then these backup files will be discovered and tasks added to the main GUI for these, based on the backup file name.

As mentioned above, you can use the 'Add existing backup' option to do this manually in the GUI but when doing this, you only need to add in the most recent backup file, not every file that might comprise the full backup version chain (i.e. all the files with the same base name before the first _ in the name for either _full_ or _inc_ or _diff_).  If you want to continue using the same backup tasks on the new computer, then you would also need to 'Reconfigure' all the settings for each added task, i.e. Source, Destination, Schedule, Backup Scheme, Notifications, etc.

One important point to make about recovering files & folders.  Because you will be restoring to a different computer you should not restore files & folders using their original permissions, as even though you may create a user by the same name as the old one, this will never be the same as the original user / owner of the files & folders.

See the ATI 2018 User Guide:  File recovery options for more information on the above point where it says:

You can select the following file recovery options:

  • Recover files with their original security settings - if the file security settings were preserved during backup (see File-level security settings for backup), you can choose whether to recover them or let the files inherit the security settings of the folder where they will be recovered to. This option is effective only when recovering files from file/folder backups.
  • Set current date and time for recovered files - you can choose whether to recover the file date and time from the backup or assign the files the current date and time. By default the file date and time from the backup will be assigned.

I would recommend to "let the files inherit the security settings of the folder where they will be recovered to." so that they will be 'owned' by the new computer user.

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

Thanx Steve. Lottsa good info there. Waiting for the new system is nerve-racking, but in the meantime I gotta make do. Thanx again.