True Image 2020 backup concept suggestion
So new to the forum and the software and thought I would ask the community for some general advice. I'm confused as to whether or not I should do a "Entire PC" backup or "Disks & Partitions". I have my Win OS on a disk, let's say..Disk 0. And I have another Disk, Disk 1, in which I tend to install and run most not all of my programs from. Disk 0 has very little programs on it, mainly the ones that just run better next to the OS. I also have another Disk, Disk 2 in which I have set solely for backups. All of the disks are attached internally via SATA, M.2 PCIe. If I select full system image when I backup as "Entire PC", restore won't allow recovery because the backup image is on the same hard disk that i'm going to recover. The Partition is but I added an exclusion for "F:\" to the exclusion options when creating this backup profile. Should I just stop backing up "Entire PC"'s and start backing up Whole Disks & Partitions. Ultimately, I want a full restore option for my system. I'm trying to follow along with the 3-2-1 method by keeping a backup on a local (internally) attached storage drive, the Acronis Cloud and possibly a external drive if I need to.
Thanks @Steve Smith. I'm beginning to think 'Disk & Partitions' is the best option rather than 'Entire PC' in terms of a more granular approach to the backup process. My main concern with this is whether or not I will be able to successfully and completely recover my OS using this method while maintaining a bootable OS. It seems I would provided that I recover the whole disk that C: (OS partition) along with the EFI partition reside on, which in my case is Disk 0. Correct me if i'm wrong, please. Another concern was that most of all my programs are installed on Disk 1, but I assume that if I am creating a backup of Disk 0 and Disk 1 consecutively, then restoring both disks at the same time should bring me back to a complete recovery. Again, correct me if i'm wrong. Also, don't I need a full backup to create a differential type? Would not using the 'Entire PC' method disallow me from differential type schemes?
When doing any OS recovery, it is very important that the OS partition along with all hidden/system partitions on the OS drive are all recovered. This is especially true for the EFI System Partition which tells the computer how to boot into the Windows OS.
With regards to having your programs installed on Disk 1, then I would suspect that this only will apply to a smaller number of programs, as for many applications users do not get an option to choose a different drive when installing - including Acronis True Image!
Making a separate backup of Disk 1 should still work just fine provided you update that backup after any significant changes to the data held on that drive, such as new programs or updates.
Providing your OS and Disk 1 backups are kept in sync following any changes, then you should be able to recover either of these independently. Regardless of installing your programs on Disk 1, those programs are still directly linked to the OS disk because of the entries that programs make in the Windows Registry and AppData folders (unless you are running purely portable applications which are completely self-contained).
All of the Acronis backup schemes (incremental or differential) require a Full backup image as their base starting point.
Note: with a Disks & Partitions backup task, you can select both the OS disk / partitions, along with the Programs partition from Disk 1 if that would be easier for you to maintain for backup & recovery purposes. This would be the equivalent of using 'Entire PC' but with the ability to leave any other partitions on disk 1 unselected. This would work best if Disk 1 has a separate partition for just Programs, with say your user data in a different partition on the same disk.
Thanks again Steve. Great advice!