Universal Boot/Restore: Plain and Simple Questions (sort of)
Build number ref: #6525
Disclosure: I AM NOT DEALING WITH A MACHINE FAILURE OR OTHER CRUCIAL ISSUE; I AM GETTING A NEW COMPUTER AND AM WANTING TO SEE IF UNIVERSAL RESTORE MIGHT HELP TO EASE THE TRANSITION.
Caveat: My old (current) machine new machine runs Windows 7 64-bit; the new machine will be running 8 64-bit.
(The above items probably don't pertain directly to my questions, but will serve as a guide to anyone who is attempting to offer advice.)
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(And now for my actual post...)
There are several links and pieces of information (blurbs, articles) published on Universal Restore...
First, in the True Image desktop module, we find this helpful information:
Upon reading and understanding (heh) this information, we then click the link for Acronis Knowledge Base article.
From here, the next logical step seems to be this link to the article on creating bootable media.
Assuming we've created our bootable media successfully, we now want to revisit the Acronis Knowledge Base article (the first link we selected).
Scrolling down, we are presented with three links that delve into various specifics of "Universal Boot" (which I will assume is the same thing as "Universal Restore" -- or perhaps a prerequisite[?])
(These links are embedded dropdowns, not discrete URLs.)
Let's label these items for reference:
1) Downloading Acronis Universal Boot
2) Creating Bootable Media with Acronis Universal Boot
3) Using Acronis Universal Boot
So, let's assume that you were able to complete step 1), meaning that you should now have an application called Run Universal Boot Media Builder.
For step 2), I selected the ISO option and saved the file to a special partition on one of my *other* hard drives (i.e. one that I don't use for Acronis stuff, as Acronis does not like to share its hardware).
So, this is the point at which I feel lost.
Step 3) then goes into a symposium on driver installation, which I understand is important, but the section ends with a suspended "Click OK", and provides no further information on how the Universal Restoration actually works.
Here are my actual questions (finally):
Q1a) So, assuming my drivers do decide to cooperate and I am able to complete step 3), what do I do when trying to set up my new machine with the old machine's system, and where do backups and/or cloned disks come into play? (I am assuming a regular backup is sufficient and a clone disk is not necessary.)
Q1b) Are there any concerns with restoring a Windows 7 backup to a Windows 8 machine?
Q2) And what about that rescue media item I created at the beginning? When does that come into play?
Q3) Do I run a True Image old-computer-restore (Win7) on the new machine (Win8) after-and-only-after I have booted the new machine using Universal Boot/Restore?
Q4) My Universal Restore boot media and my old-computer-backup media are on separate hard drives. Once booted, will I be prompted to plug in the drive so that I can run a True Image restore -- or is running a Universal Restore an entirely different animal that requires a different backup type?
(I see no information about any of this stuff!)
Q5) Is there a video somewhere that goes through all of this?
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Closing thought:
I am beginning to wonder if perhaps I should forget about Universal Restore (which seems more like something one would use to rectify a catastrophe) and instead use a native Windows file transfer option.
I think I've answered my own question.
But this is what keeps happening... I keep trying to use Acronis to do this-or-that, and I keep coming up with better, simpler options that would have been available to me (at no extra charge) all along.
I am starting to regret sinking all this time and money into what has thus far proven to be a needless complication :/
