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recovery disk with both rescue media and universal restore

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I have acronis true image wd edition. I would like to create rescue media on a USB flash drive for both the rescue media function and the universal restore function. Is it possible to put both functions on the same USB flash drive or will I need to use two USB flash drives?

-- Arthur

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Arthur, welcome to these public User Forums.

What actual version number / build is shown for your OEM WD ATI application?

The MVP Custom ATIPE Builder script (link in my signature below) is probably the best method of creating a more versatile / flexible USB rescue media stick - the script will add most installed Acronis applications by default, i.e. ATI, AUR and ADD.

The only point I am not sure about is whether the script will work with OEM versions of ATI as I have never tested this - I have only ever had the full versions of the products, where it does work with ATI 2016 and later versions just fine.

See forum topic: MVP Tool - CUSTOM ATI WINPE BUILDER (from the 2017 Forum) for more information.

As long as it's a current version of 2016 or newer it should work. Acronis changed the winpe files late in 2016 and the tool is coded for that change which has stayed consistent since then. 

Alternatively, if you launch the UR media builder it usually can install UR and ATI, but the ATI media builder will only do ATI.

The version number of my true image wd edition is 19.0.33.

I have downloaded MVP_ATIPEBuilder. I have not yet tested it but I would like to make sure I understand what it will do before I test it. It is my understanding that if I run MVP_ATIPEBuilder.exe it will create a bootable USB flash drive that will contain the True Image Rescue Media Builder tool and the Universal  Restore tool. If I have to restore my computer's hard drive to a new computer from a True Image backup stored on an external USB hard drive, I would first execute the Rescue Media Builder tool from the flash drive and then execute the Universal Restore tool from the same flash drive.

Have I got this right?

-- Arthur

Arthur, version 19 is equivalent to ATI 2016.

Acronis Universal Restore is only needed when migrating a backup image of older Windows OS versions to new or different hardware, i.e. migrating a backup of Windows 7 to a new computer.

99% of users, including myself, have never needed to use AUR for any normal recovery action to the same computer, and with Windows 10, it is not normally needed at all unless there are really significant hardware changes that require AUR to inject specific device drivers.

All normal recovery actions just require the standard Acronis Rescue Media.

The MVP ATIPEBuilder will install whatever Acronis Applications (products) that are on the PC when building the recovery media. (Assuming they are located under C:\Windows\Program Files (x86)\Acronis.) I have no reason to believe that OEM versions would install to a different directory, but just flagging the possibility.

Just checked and the latest OEM version provided by WD is

File Size: 405 MB
Version: 2016 WD Edition, Build 33
Release Date: 12/16/2016 | Release Notes

It can be downloaded from here.
 

And to use the recovery media... You boot to it instead of the main OS. You do not run it from your OS... It's not possible . You need to use your bios one time boot option or change the boot priority to boot from the rescue media. It works essentially like a Windows installation disc in regards to how you boot it up.

Thanks everyone for the good advice. My laptop is Windows 7 and if I get a new laptop it will be Windows 10. From what Steve Smith said in his reply above I would be able to recreate my Windows 7 programs and data on a Windows 10 laptop from an Acronis True Image backup just by using Acronis Rescue Media, no need for the Universal Restore tool.

I am inclined to create a rescue USB flash drive using MVP_ATIPEBuilder since it seems to include everything I might possibly need for recovery purposes on one flash drive, including, I presume, the Acronis Rescue Media tool.

-- Arthur

From what Steve Smith said in his reply above I would be able to recreate my Windows 7 programs and data on a Windows 10 laptop from an Acronis True Image backup just by using Acronis Rescue Media, no need for the Universal Restore tool.

Arthur, that is not what I have said here...!

You cannot use ATI to migrate only programs between different computers or versions of Windows.

To take your Windows 7 programs & data to a different computer would require either using AUR to cope with the hardware that Windows 7 would discover, or else you would need to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 before restoring a Disk backup of your old computer to the new one.

Migrating between 2 Windows 10 computers is a whole lot easier providing the edition of Windows 10 remains the same (edition = Home for example).

If your Windows 7 laptop is 32-bit and you are getting a new 64-bit Windows 10 computer, then I would strongly recommend making a totally fresh start with Windows 10 and reinstalling any programs you want to use on the new computer.

That brings up a further point about rescue media - the MVP script creates 64-bit media by default unless you are creating on a 32-bit system. 

Don't migrate windows 7 to a new Windows 10 machine. Bite the bullet and start from scratch 

1) you need to fire up the new windows 10 machine and activate the license with Microsoft. Then take a backup of image of it as your initial recovery point. That way, you can basically restore to factory with that backup. Plus, by activating the license, if something really bad ever happened , you could still install Windows 10 from scratch and it would automatically license and activate with Microsoft again.

2) windows 7 is end of life in January. No more patches or updates and will be provided by MS and Win7 will be a Haven for vulnerabilities. 

3) windows 7 driver support is garbage. Your new system may not even fully support windows 7 correctly (PCIe NVMe drives, etc) because it will be built with newer components designed for Windows 10 and may not have actual drivers available for Win7.

4) if your Win7 license is OEM (came with the old computer), you can't migrate and license it on a new computer. It won't activate and features will randomly turn off or be unavailable after 30 days if not activated.

In this case, start fresh with windows 10. Install your apps, set things up the way you want and copy data over (files, music, videos, etc). From there on out, keep taking good backups for updated recovery points. 

Arthur, this thread morphed from a discussion about recovery media to upgrade from Win 7 to Win 10.  Note that nothing said about the Windows upgrade changes what was said about the recovery media.  The MVP_ATIPEBuilder  is the way to go (unless there is something about the WD OEM version of ATI that prevents the build from working.

But no version of a recovery tool is going to simplify your move from the old Win 7 platform to a new Win 10 platform.  Nothing will change the fact that you configuring a new device.  (The move from Win 7 to Win 10 is incidental.)  You need to find all applications that need to be installed on the new computer ... not forgetting any licensing issues for purchased software.  You need to locate all data files and folders that need to be copied.  Don't leap into this without taking time for some planning.

Thanks all! You are right that upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 on a new computer should be done by re-installing all the software from scratch to avoid any possible problems rather than trying to do it by using the universal restore tool. As for recovering files to my current Windows 7 laptop, I will use MVP_ATIPEBuilder.

-- Arthur

Hello,

Can I jump in?

I just received a new 2-in-1 with Win 10.

I installed build 33 of ATI WD Edition 2016.

I created the Linux rescue media on a DVD.

The Linux rescue media won't boot. It freezes and can't find

my WD USB drive. If I attempt to start the Win PE media creation

process, as an alternative, I receive "This feature is not supported 

in this version".Should this option work in the WD Edition?

Do I need to purchase a full Acronis version?

 

Second, I'm still looking for an alternative migration for my Win 7

desktop. It has A LOT of programs installed. It will take a significant

amount of effort to recreate all of them in Win 10. The desire to

restore Win 7 to the new Win 10 machine and do an immediate in-place

upgrade to Win 10 is strong. I understand the drivers issue. The new

machine has a SSD which might not have a Win 7 driver. I can still

remember my "simple" migration from Win XP to Win 7. I used

a third party solution called PC Mover. It worked relatively well and easy.

 

By the way, I turned off Secure Boot on the new Win10 machine

and was forced to learn about BitLocker! Comments?

Thanks

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bob olbrich wrote:

If I attempt to start the Win PE media creation process, as an alternative, I receive "This feature is not supported in this version".Should this option work in the WD Edition? Do I need to purchase a full Acronis version?

> Hi! The OEM versions are usually limited in the functionality, I'd recommend you testing a free trial of Acronis True Image 2020

Second, I'm still looking for an alternative migration for my Win 7 desktop. It has A LOT of programs installed. It will take a significant amount of effort to recreate all of them in Win 10. 

> I've found a couple of threads that might offer you some useful information   
https://forum.acronis.com/comment/523509#comment-523509
https://forum.acronis.com/forum/acronis-true-image-2016-forum/transfer-win-7-image-new-win-10-laptop