Should I Upgrade or even use Acronis TI 2014?
I have Acronis True Image 10. Frankly, it did not work for me when I tested it after puchase so I just did not use it. With the death of XP and movement from 7 to 8 then 8.1 I find I need to make major decisions regarding my computing needs in the future; even considering switching to a Mac!
I will explain what I am trying to accomplish. As everyone knows all versions of Windows slow down over time. Indeed 8 has a utility to return to its native state so apprently Microsoft acknowledges this problem. (Yes, it happens with Macs but far more slowly. If I was younger I would not hessitate to bid farewell to Microsoft.)
So, these are my backup needs.
I want to build three PCs to my own specs with an SSD for my OS and programs and a mechanical drive for my data. This is simple; essentially two partitions.
At this point all I would use Acronis Premium for is creating a backup of my SSD so that I could restore it to a "bare bones" system if my MB died. If it were not for the fact that AOMEI does not restore to bare bones I would use it because it is free, simple, (it does require using win PE) and I could not find any bugs; it works and support is free. (They have free partition/cloning software which I just used to migrate from a smaller to larger drive as well.)
When I first got Acronis frankly I felt it was too complicated. From reading the posts it seems nothing has changed; it still seems that way to me.
For data I have used Cobian Backup, Duplicati, and Free File Sync (as program and service.) From reading the posts it seems people have occasional problems with the compressed tib file. I am getting into something that may increase my data considerably which might require a program which would use compression which is the other reason I am considering upgrading. (By chance read a post about problem cloning from smaller to larger SSD. Turns out their was a hidden partition?. From the post I could not figure out how one would find a hidden partition with Acronis. Had to use diskpart to assign a drive letter. Too complicated! I don't think AOEMI has this problem...but not sure.)
1) Would 2014 serve my needs for a reliable system backup or just stay with AOEMI and forget the bare bones issue...hope for the best...ie. is Acronis reliable enough to trust it would work to bare bones?
2) Is the bootable program too buggy? I see posts about buttons not working. I have used the trial version a few times but never to bare bones which would require drivers on a memory stick or DVD.
3) My plan would be to use bootable media only for the Acronis program and use an external HD for storing the OS/Programs and possibly data. Is this better than trying to load both the program and the OS/Programs on a large memory stick"
4) What is better, using a flash drive or DVD/DVDs?
5) If I am correct, I read that you must use the same build version that you use to create a backup to restore it. If this is true, what is the point of updating the program? It could be confusing because my main goal is to be able to restore my OS/Programs from the state when I first created my system. Incremental/Differential backups of the OS/Programs would only be including the slower version of what I started with when I first loaded them!
6) My plan to attempt to keep my system "fresh" seems like a good plan except for the fact that many programs I use have updates. So, after a restoration the programs would require updating. My thinking is that this is better than using incr or diff backups because there is just something about the windows system itself...the registry...dlls...ever expanding MFT...that slows the OS over time. What do you think?
I will read and appreciate all replies to this post. Thank you in advance for your patience in reading this.
Hi,
Using TI 2013 and have no need to upgrade. You can still purchase it (CD and/or license) on Ebay for maybe $15. Win 7 Pro 64 bit OS. Intel i5 3.2GHZ third edition processor. There's a lot of verbiage in the posts but this is what I do. I have a Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD (actually 111 GB usable) with about 30GB on the SSD for the programs and OS at SATA 3 speeds and a second SATA 3 HDD mechanical drive operating at SATA 2 speeds (Lenovo motherboard and misleading ads-only one SATA 3 port on the motherboard) where I keep all of my data, including the most recent SSD back-ups. And per some SSD optimizing articles, I restrict the virtual memory/page file on the SSD to a fixed min and max amount of 800MB (from one article I read that seems to work), and place the bulk of page file on the HDD. Using fixed min and max 18.4GB on the HDD with 12 GB computer memory (from an article I read that seems to work: Use 1024MB X # GB memory X 1.5, for HDD D drive Min and Max. So for 12 GB RAM, D drive = 18432 MB page file). Also have clean install back-ups of the SSD on two different external hard-drives, that are kept powered off, unless in use. On occasion, I manually copy (no TI) all data files onto the external HDDs. My external Fantom USB 3.0 HDD is fast when using a USB 3.0 computer port!!!! Anyway, I've learned, as suggested by a number of knowledgeable users, that the least problems come when doing two things. Only make full system back-ups. If I don't validate, it takes about 2 minutes, and maybe 4 minutes with validation, to create a full system back-up of the SSD on the internal D drive HDD. No change in time if you operate with only 2 of the 4 cores working, an option in the Win 7 OS. So if you have an i3 with the same GHZ, then nothing different in time. If you have to restore from anywhere, boot from the recovery CD and do it that way. It is more complicated than using the console in the program, but is the method that would lead to the least amount of error on restoration.
@Pat
Thanks:
1) That is why I think I should stick with free file sync. When I used Cobian I never used compression. I like file for file. KISS. With free file sync as a service, all I do is plug in my external USB HD and the sync takes place automatically.
6) I think I need to explain my question better. When I used win 98 I knew that every six months I had to reinstall the OS...like clock work. No matter how careful I was the OS slowed down. This happens with 7 but not as quickly.
I am trying to save time and not have to do either a clean install or reinstall programs since I have quite a few. My thought was to create a system image after the clean install with no programs and then one after all the programs that I use.
I don't think it makes any sense to make incemental or differential backups over the year.
Any thoughts?
The problem is that over time if I keep doing full backups the OS that I am backing up will be slower and slower than that of my fresh install. At the same time, some of my programs will have been updated.
January 1st. I do my clean install, bakup, install programs, backup. (15 to 20 programs) I keep these two because they have the OS in its "virgin" state. Over the next year the OS will have been updated as will some of my programs.
By December 31st the OS has slowed down. So, I go to the January backup to get the fresh OS but then I have to update the OS and programs again.
It kind of defeats the purpose of what I am attempting to do.
@Jacob and Pat
Thanks.
You have a simple strategy that I think I should follow. A few questions.
How to you set the page file for the respective drives?
I did not think it was possible to restore the system from within windows. I thought you have to use a CD/DVD or Flash Drive. I plan on using a flash drive.
Do either of you use Premium so you can restore to bare bones if MB fails? I planed on getting that program to cover that possible situation.
@PatThanks:
1) That is why I think I should stick with free file sync. When I used Cobian I never used compression. I like file for file. KISS. With free file sync as a service, all I do is plug in my external USB HD and the sync takes place automatically.
Note that simple sync software doesn't keep versions. I use SyncbackSE for this reason.
6) I think I need to explain my question better. When I used win 98 I knew that every six months I had to reinstall the OS...like clock work. No matter how careful I was the OS slowed down. This happens with 7 but not as quickly.
I am trying to save time and not have to do either a clean install or reinstall programs since I have quite a few. My thought was to create a system image after the clean install with no programs and then one after all the programs that I use.
That would work. I tried to have a pristine backup strategy as well. For example backup 1 is Windows only, backup 2 is Windows + Core MS apps, ... At the end, I never used them. After a while your apps and OS has changed with updates and stuff, and I end up reinstalling... Also with Windows 8 and the refresh feature, it is less necessary: you can refresh the OS and leave your apps and setting untouched.
I don't think it makes any sense to make incemental or differential backups over the year.
Why?
Any thoughts?The problem is that over time if I keep doing full backups the OS that I am backing up will be slower and slower than that of my fresh install. At the same time, some of my programs will have been updated.
January 1st. I do my clean install, bakup, install programs, backup. (15 to 20 programs) I keep these two because they have the OS in its "virgin" state. Over the next year the OS will have been updated as will some of my programs.
By December 31st the OS has slowed down. So, I go to the January backup to get the fresh OS but then I have to update the OS and programs again.
It kind of defeats the purpose of what I am attempting to do.
I agree. As I said above, I went down the same path and ended up keeping a simple backup strategy: do system images every week, new full backup after 4 differentials. Keep the content separate from OS...
No, I don't use premium and am using TI 2013. I used to have XP for many years and slowdown took about 1-2 years for me. Using Norton Ghost 9 (not good for newer OSs), I restored the C drive with a clean install of the OS and all programs, from an image stored on external HDD, and then updated the OS and software. I didn't have the patience to reinstall all of the programs after a clean install of just the OS. I've had Windows 7 since last Sept and so far it doesn't seem to slow down.
With TI2013, you can use the software console to restore an image stored on either another partition of the C drive (but not recommended to store images there-if the C drive dies then you lost your image) or from another storage place, like a flash drive (they are slow) or external hard drive. But expert users have recommended against using the console (Grover and others) since it can be more prone to errors than when booting from either the CD or burned ISO restore software, that can be downloaded from Acronis (maybe you need a license for the download-I forgot).
As to optimizing the SSD, there's a lot of rhetoric about needed and not needed things to do. For example, there is 100% agreement that the system should be in the AHCI mode, a BIOS setting (DON'T TOUCH the BIOS setting if yours isn't. It's a bit complicated to make the changes needed). That the OS should have TRIM (Win 7 and Win 8 have it, and maybe Vista). But page file changes is one of the many things where I've read arguments both for and against. I called Microsoft and got an evasive answer, so they don't even know. Some say no page file at all, or just on the D drive, or leave it alone as in the OS. As the size of memory is smaller and smaller, the system uses the page file to a greater extent. The normal settings cause writing to the C-drive SSD, which optimization tries to minimize. Anyway, I've compromised for a number of reasons and used the settings that I listed in my first post. Since I have 12 GB of 1600MHZ DDR3 memory, a Kingston tech told me that my system would minimize page filing anyway. I also read that fixing the min and max for the page file instead of using system managed, reduces the use of the OS for that feature. Anyway, there was a nice article with screen captures on-line about how to do it, but I can't find it. If you spend time searching you may find it. Go to this link, 2nd post down from the top, and scroll down to the instructions. You have to do a restart for the changes to become effective.
http://superuser.com/questions/237813/how-can-i-move-the-page-file-to-a…
Good luck. As my son often says, computers are not TVs. It's not that you just sit down, turn it on, and watch the game. My own view of them, even if brand new, is that if it's working on Sunday, you never know about Monday.
With Windows 7 and Windows 8, you are better off letting Windows manage the page file size and location.
With these OS's, the TRIM feature takes care of optimizing the way the sectors are used. That is the most important.
Next is the option to leave about 10 to 15% of your SSD unallocated (not even a partition). This really for data intense applications with huge writes.
Then, writing/reading to the SSD becomes not a question of performance, or performance erosion, but a question of wear of the SSD memory. You would need to write to every single sector of your SSD several times a day for more than a decade to start having wear issues, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Note that, like you, I did try to relocate system files (search index, page file, etc.) to some secondary disk. When I upgraded Windows, I ended up with lots of issues (Search not working or throwing plenty of errors). I also relocated some user folders that are supposed to be easy to relocate (documents, videos, etc.). The problem is that when you reinstall Windows to have to relink these folders, solve some obscure icon issues and some of them are a bit trickier (desktop and downloads in particular), and third party apps are really bad at keeping track. I still have a few ghost download folders that come back every time I delete them because some app still believes it should be there, despite the location where Windows says it is... Funny enough, even a fresh install doesn't solve this... Must be some could app tracking settings off the PC...
I will not go into how many hours I also tried to optimize these services, startup programs, etc... Too much trouble for no worthy gain...
Net Net, I firmly believe you are better off not tweaking your Windows installation...
The software I use is called freefilesync and can be run as a program or service....or just plug in your external HD and it will sync. It does offer versioning a feature which at this time I do not need. Long ago I decided that if I edited a document or a photo I would save it with a number or date added to name. What I like is that it is open source and they improve it. Would certainly like your thoughts if you have the time to look at it but I suppose if what you are using works, nothing to fix: http://sourceforge.net/projects/freefilesync/
You mention that you are using win 8 which offers the refresh option which I have heard of. However, my understanding is that it is not like the repair of XP, that it restores OS to native without saving your settings and apps that come with the software but NOT those which you install that do not come from windows store: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/restore-refresh-reset-pc
I am starting a business and wondering if I should even stay with windows and get a Mac. As I am 61, like a number of guys my age, making this decision I would not do lightly. However, I know several guys my age who have done this and are very happy they did. I have several PCs, one I build around 2005, Asus MB, ddr1 and some of the USB sockets are broken...so time to upgrade. My family have three Dell Dimensions from around the same time using ddr2; for their use they can stick with them. I have to upgrade my hardware.
Believe it or not I have stayed with XP all this time and just decided I had to do something. I went to Microcenter and started playing with win 8 but without a touch screen, safe for its speed and increased security, I am not sure if it has an advantage over 7.
This is a little off topic but I wanted to experiment on my Asus MB because I have some old peripherals to wit three LaserJet 4s which I will never give up because they are built like tanks and the carts last forever plus a re-charge which I get from Rechargex (their stuff is absolutely fantastic: http://www.tonerrefillkits.com/rechargx.php) So, my plan was to triple boot xp, 7 and 8.1 (I have a disk) I was able to double boot xp and 7 but can't get 8.1 to load on the Asus PC or any of the Dells despite the fact that they are all compatible with 8.1 except for not having secure boot which is optional...that is the units "pass" the windows upgrade check. Units boot up but stick at Microsoft logo...probably the disk is bad is my guess.
By the way, FYI, I have to tell you that I am not sure Acronis has any advantage over AOMEI. I have not tested it fully but if one is not restoring to bare bones one is OK. Supposedly it even has a Windows to Go wizard function. I have just inquired how it might work since if you restore to new hardware Microsoft will note it. Anyway: http://www.backup-utility.com/aomei-backupper-for-windows7.html
FYI, I have used their partitioning software and it works like a charm. It will even restore the MBR. However, I think only gparted will allow you to delete a primary partition if you need to.
Speaking of MBR, are you using GUID partitions?
Finally, for future reference, I do not know how to use the quote function:)
If I understand you, the only thing I should do if I stick with windows and move from XP to pull out videos, webs, music from My Documents and copy them into my separate data partition under the library names that Win 7 or 8.1 use. My assumption is that trying to move any other program stuff there is not a good idea.
I am still pulling my hair out as to what to do with Outlook/Gmail. I have used outlook for years but since moving from Comcast lost my that domain for my email. Decided to use gmail but have not imported into Outlook yet. Can you put the Outlook psd (think that is what it is called,) on a separate drive.
Reason is that believe it or not, did not like my windows smart phone and went with a dataless phone and use Palm Pilot for calendar. Phones are really just too small for me to use as a browser and don't want to carry around a Samsumg Note:) Also, don't need all the Android stuff.
Bottom line is that for the business, I have to break down and join Palm Pilot with Phone! IPhone is easy to use; but too small. Android looks too complicated. I need to get my gmail into outlook (I know how to do that,) and get outlook into a phone. (I do not want to use a windows os phone; been there, done that, got that tee shirt.)
So, what smart phone do you use if I might ask.
No, I don't use premium and am using TI 2013. I used to have XP for many years and slowdown took about 1-2 years for me. Using Norton Ghost 9 (not good for newer OSs), I restored the C drive with a clean install of the OS and all programs, from an image stored on external HDD, and then updated the OS and software. I didn't have the patience to reinstall all of the programs after a clean install of just the OS. I've had Windows 7 since last Sept and so far it doesn't seem to slow down.
With TI2013, you can use the software console to restore an image stored on either another partition of the C drive (but not recommended to store images there-if the C drive dies then you lost your image) or from another storage place, like a flash drive (they are slow) or external hard drive. But expert users have recommended against using the console (Grover and others) since it can be more prone to errors than when booting from either the CD or burned ISO restore software, that can be downloaded from Acronis (maybe you need a license for the download-I forgot).As to optimizing the SSD, there's a lot of rhetoric about needed and not needed things to do. For example, there is 100% agreement that the system should be in the AHCI mode, a BIOS setting (DON'T TOUCH the BIOS setting if yours isn't. It's a bit complicated to make the changes needed). That the OS should have TRIM (Win 7 and Win 8 have it, and maybe Vista). But page file changes is one of the many things where I've read arguments both for and against. I called Microsoft and got an evasive answer, so they don't even know. Some say no page file at all, or just on the D drive, or leave it alone as in the OS. As the size of memory is smaller and smaller, the system uses the page file to a greater extent. The normal settings cause writing to the C-drive SSD, which optimization tries to minimize. Anyway, I've compromised for a number of reasons and used the settings that I listed in my first post. Since I have 12 GB of 1600MHZ DDR3 memory, a Kingston tech told me that my system would minimize page filing anyway. I also read that fixing the min and max for the page file instead of using system managed, reduces the use of the OS for that feature. Anyway, there was a nice article with screen captures on-line about how to do it, but I can't find it. If you spend time searching you may find it. Go to this link, 2nd post down from the top, and scroll down to the instructions. You have to do a restart for the changes to become effective.
http://superuser.com/questions/237813/how-can-i-move-the-page-file-to-a…Good luck. As my son often says, computers are not TVs. It's not that you just sit down, turn it on, and watch the game. My own view of them, even if brand new, is that if it's working on Sunday, you never know about Monday.
Sorry...don't know how to use quote function. I assume you mean "backup." Which makes me wonder if the best solution is to not only have system backups but perhaps after installing a fresh os and applications, clone the disk to an extra internal HD and after cloning just disconnect it. I suppose one could clone to an external HD as well. Yes, I understand that with Acronis you can validate but a clone should be bit for bit without errors and could be tested by disconnecting the original drive and connecting the clone and testing it.
Can you put the Outlook psd (think that is what it is called,) on a separate drive.
Yes, you can. It is easy to point Outlook to the PST if you have to reinstall it. PST files are a pain to backup because their data changes anytime you launch Outlook and they are big files. Some software like Genie Timeline know how to incrementally backup Outlook files. Genie is a pretty good simple backup solution that let you keep the files "flat" in the backup destination, while allowing you to keep versions. The latest version allows you to limit the retention of files.
Reading this thread it seems to me that it needs to be pointed out that there are 2 very distinct aspects of most software in this particular area, they are backup and secondarily restore. These are both very different functions and should be viewed as such. I believe that most of the confusion about backup/recovery software comes from users not using the software properly for their intended purpose.
As for backup, when this term is used it in most cases refers to the backup of user data. User data should be limited to content created by or saved by the user. In order to protect that data from loss requires backup. Incremental and differencial backups should be used to UPDATE these pre-existing user data backups.
Recovery on the other hand is a much different function. Recovery of a system is normally only needed in the event of some type of hardware failure (ie. disk drive, mobo, etc.). Successful system recovery is highly OS dependent in that the structure in which the OS installs inself onto the physical medium (drive/disk) will effect the way in which a successful resore is performed. A successful recovery of a system is also highly dependent on the users understanding of the OS and the manner in which how that OS was initially installed on the device. It is my opinion that with mordern day OS's the only way in which to perform a successful recovery is to start with a complete DISK IMAGE of the primary OS drive. This will insure that all disk information and data necessary to create a bootable drive is obtained.
Having said all that the orgnal quuestion of this post was whether or not ATI 2014 was worth the upgrade or not or, if it should be used at all?
For the record I am an advanced PC user having built my own custom PC's for over the past 30 years. I also have been a user of SSD's since the 2nd generation drives were first introduced so I have a wealth of knowledge with those devices.
Steve states that he is currently using ATI 2010 version. He also states that his intent is to use a combination of SSD and HDD in the new build of 3 PC's which I would presume would be done with all new current generation drives. I would suggest that given these facts and assuming he would be running either Win 7 or 8 that he should without question opt to upgrade to ATI 2014. In fact, I would suggest that he should in fact just outright buy the latest version and forget the ugrade path! Why? Simple, a new full 2014 version of ATI would guarantee a complete full functioning program that is designed to handle current generation hardware. I can assure you that ATI 2010 was not designed to handle current generation SSD's however 2014 most certainly is!
Using the latest software to manage the latest hardware is always the best policy and always produces the best results.
Bob, you are right wrt to the question of SSD support. ATI 2010 is a bit of pain when restoring an image to an SSD because it is not easy to create the necessary offset. With ATI 2010, the alternative is to prepartition the disk, then restore. With 2014 it is easy to create the offset manually, or you can just trust that the software will align the restored image automatically (and verify afterwards).
The real factor for upgrading is the support of GPT drives (with UEFI boot configurations) that comes natively with 2014, and to a lesser extent the support of Windows 8.
1. An upgrade is the full program according to the knowledge base. So don't pay the full price if you buy.
2. I have been using ATI since version 2010. My experience with upgrading and installing a new version, 2011 Home, was troublesome. That is, it did not work reliably until after several builds. I am considering getting this version, 2014, at the low upgrade price but I don't plan on installing it until later builds arrive. The reason is obvious: early builds have caused some people a lot of problems.
My opinion is, by all means use Acronis as once they get the bugs worked out I have found it to be very reliable. Just realize that the early builds can be quite flaky. If you need a reliable backup program now, you might be better off getting last years version is it is available.
@Everyone
BTW...I had v 10.0 not 2010 so I am upgrading to 2014 because of plan to use SSD. So, have a few questions which forgive me probably should be in a new post.
In summary:
If I understand the consensus, I should just do a single full backup of the OS followed by other full backups say every one or two months, keeping first because it is clean, and deleting others as I go along to keep it simple. This as opposed to doing differentials? (I assume people do not use incrementals.
For not large amounts of data, better not to use Acronis but bit for bit with sync or other software.
Just a few other questions:
1) I have used the win tweak of relocating Users to a separate drive. I know that there can be problems upgrading. If I should move in win 8.1 I would do a clean install but I do not have plans at present to go to win 8.1. So, again, will have OS on SSD c: and Date on HD d:. Might I have problems with system recovery by moving the User file as I did (software makes registry changes to do this?) Obviously, I would be re-installing the OS first and the data containing the Users folder to the second drive after OS instillation. Concern is that the OS might not install correctly. Yes, I know I could use the location tab to do this...just seems more difficult. Also, the way I want to do it Firefox profile goes into the d drive automatically. I have read that one only can have problems if one upgrades as opposed to clean install of new OS.
2) When doing clean install win 7 without pre-partitioning on HD in the past, the install disk creates a 100 mb unallocated partition which I cannot remove within windows. As it is unallocated, I assume it contains no data. I assume only way to get rid of it is using gparted. Question is, how to install win 7 or if I decide, win 8.1 on SSD without having the unallocated space.
3) I assume when backing up (tib image) regular HD with win 7, no need to consider this as unallocated partition does not show up when backup opened in Acronis. Am I correct or does this unallocated partition need to be made active. (This is for an old system I am going to keep around as a spare.)
4) Has anyone gone to the trouble of adding a second HD and CLONING the clean install/apps then either removing or disconnecting the drive. Is Bob alluding to this when he mentions creating a full system IMAGE or does he mean clone or sector by sector backup to an internal or external HD?
5) Has anyone had any experience with attempting a restore to dissimilar hardware? For instance as an experiment backing up a Dell or any home build with MB and its drivers to any other box?
6) Where is the best reference for setting up a system with an SSD?
7) Pat L mentioned using GPT drives (with UEFI boot configurations.) I have heard of this but am not familiar. What is advantage and is there a reference for setting them up.
@Everyone
BTW...I had v 10.0 not 2010 so I am upgrading to 2014 because of plan to use SSD. So, have a few questions which forgive me probably should be in a new post.
In summary:
If I understand the consensus, I should just do a single full backup of the OS followed by other full backups say every one or two months, keeping first because it is clean, and deleting others as I go along to keep it simple. This as opposed to doing differentials? (I assume people do not use incrementals.
For not large amounts of data, better not to use Acronis but bit for bit with sync or other software.
Just a few other questions:
1) I have used the win tweak of relocating Users to a separate drive. I know that there can be problems upgrading. If I should move in win 8.1 I would do a clean install but I do not have plans at present to go to win 8.1. So, again, will have OS on SSD c: and Date on HD d:. Might I have problems with system recovery by moving the User file as I did (software makes registry changes to do this?) Obviously, I would be re-installing the OS first and the data containing the Users folder to the second drive after OS instillation. Concern is that the OS might not install correctly. Yes, I know I could use the location tab to do this...just seems more difficult. Also, the way I want to do it Firefox profile goes into the d drive automatically. I have read that one only can have problems if one upgrades as opposed to clean install of new OS.
2) When doing clean install win 7 without pre-partitioning on HD in the past, the install disk creates a 100 mb unallocated partition which I cannot remove within windows. As it is unallocated, I assume it contains no data. I assume only way to get rid of it is using gparted. Question is, how to install win 7 or if I decide, win 8.1 on SSD without having the unallocated space.
3) I assume when backing up (tib image) regular HD with win 7, no need to consider this as unallocated partition does not show up when backup opened in Acronis. Am I correct or does this unallocated partition need to be made active. (This is for an old system I am going to keep around as a spare.)
4) Has anyone gone to the trouble of adding a second HD and CLONING the clean install/apps then either removing or disconnecting the drive. Is Bob alluding to this when he mentions creating a full system IMAGE or does he mean clone or sector by sector backup to an internal or external HD?
5) Has anyone had any experience with attempting a restore to dissimilar hardware? For instance as an experiment backing up a Dell or any home build with MB and its drivers to any other box?
6) Where is the best reference for setting up a system with an SSD?
7) Pat L mentioned using GPT drives (with UEFI boot configurations.) I have heard of this but am not familiar. What is advantage and is there a reference for setting them up.
If I understand the consensus, I should just do a single full backup of the OS followed by other full backups say every one or two months, keeping first because it is clean, and deleting others as I go along to keep it simple. This as opposed to doing differentials? (I assume people do not use incrementals.
Some users prefer doing only full backups because they fear lack of reliability of partial backups (incremental or differential). I find these concerns exaggerated. The likelihood of a corruption of a partial backup (outside of user error -- eg renaming, moving, deleted partial backups files ) is the same as a full backup. The protection against corruption is (a) monitoring health of backup files through validation and/or redundant backups on alternate storage, possibly with other technology. For example, I do a Win 8.1 Pro system image from time to time manually.
So IMO take advantage of the flexibility of incremental or differential backups. Just remember that your last full backup should never be so old that you would never consider going back to it (think updates, upgrades, new software, content, etc.).
For not large amounts of data, better not to use Acronis but bit for bit with sync or other software.
I think so. Again, Acronis file backup are great if you want to keep versions of files, you want to encrypt your backup data, etc., but at the same time stuffing compressed files that don't change in a proprietary container is just not necessary or useful. A simple file copy of sync is better.
Just a few other questions:1) I have used the win tweak of relocating Users to a separate drive. I know that there can be problems upgrading. If I should move in win 8.1 I would do a clean install but I do not have plans at present to go to win 8.1. So, again, will have OS on SSD c: and Date on HD d:. Might I have problems with system recovery by moving the User file as I did (software makes registry changes to do this?) Obviously, I would be re-installing the OS first and the data containing the Users folder to the second drive after OS instillation. Concern is that the OS might not install correctly. Yes, I know I could use the location tab to do this...just seems more difficult. Also, the way I want to do it Firefox profile goes into the d drive automatically. I have read that one only can have problems if one upgrades as opposed to clean install of new OS.
It is hard to say about the potential problems with recovery of the OS, app, registry, programdata separate from the app data folders stored in the users folder on another drive. Would you have inconsistencies for some apps? It depends on how the app has been designed... Worst case you would have maybe to reinstall the app.
One option is to include the user folder but exclude all the content. This will force you to include all disks in the backup. The downside of this approach is that, when you restore your OS, you will erase all included disks, then restore the content of the backup (that doesn't include the user content), then you will have to restore all the missing content. That might be a high cost for a simple system restore. Risk and costs have to be balanced.
2) When doing clean install win 7 without pre-partitioning on HD in the past, the install disk creates a 100 mb unallocated partition which I cannot remove within windows. As it is unallocated, I assume it contains no data. I assume only way to get rid of it is using gparted. Question is, how to install win 7 or if I decide, win 8.1 on SSD without having the unallocated space.
Are you sure the 100MB is unallocated. Unallocated means there is no partition/volume there... I think you mean it doesn't have a drive letter (ie it is not a mounted volume). This partition is typically named system reserved and should not be changed or modified. Also, when you install Windows 7 or 8 on a SSD the installation CD does the proper alignment to get the expected performace from a SSD. Eliminating this partition might compromise the alignment, and you will have to repair the startup of the computer. The system reserved partition is also necessary if you intent to use BitLocker on some partition.
My advise is to let the installer do its work and not play with it.
3) I assume when backing up (tib image) regular HD with win 7, no need to consider this as unallocated partition does not show up when backup opened in Acronis. Am I correct or does this unallocated partition need to be made active. (This is for an old system I am going to keep around as a spare.)
The system reserved partition has to be included in the backup. Or your system will not start upon restore on bare disk.
4) Has anyone gone to the trouble of adding a second HD and CLONING the clean install/apps then either removing or disconnecting the drive. Is Bob alluding to this when he mentions creating a full system IMAGE or does he mean clone or sector by sector backup to an internal or external HD?
A full system image is a disk and partition backup that contains all the partitions on the disk. No need to use the sector by sector *option* of a disk backup (a disk backup uses by default sector by sector technology). That option is only necessary in specific cases (like encrypted disks, disks in trouble, etc.)
5) Has anyone had any experience with attempting a restore to dissimilar hardware? For instance as an experiment backing up a Dell or any home build with MB and its drivers to any other box?
Yes I did. I moved from a single disk to a RAID configuration. The Universal Restore didn't work for me right off the bat, so I went ahead and reinstalled Windows (which I do a couple of times a year anyway), but it works in general.
6) Where is the best reference for setting up a system with an SSD?
In a nutshell, if you have installed Windows through the MS installer, there is no need to do anything. If you have restored an image from a non SSD to an SSD, you can disable prefetch, defrag services, but the most important is to get the alignment right and then to enable the TRIM function of the OS (for Win 7 and later).
7) Pat L mentioned using GPT drives (with UEFI boot configurations.) I have heard of this but am not familiar. What is advantage and is there a reference for setting them up.
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GPT/UEFI supports 2TB+ partitions and/or a large number of partitions on the same disk. If you don't have to use a GPT system disk stick with MBR layout. I guess on your SSD you will only one partition on top of the system reserved partition, so MBR is what you need.