How do I restore just a folder?
I am still evaluating True Image Home 2012. I have a series of backups. I would like to see how well it does this test: Retrieve the contents of a folder as of a certain date (say, one week ago). The only restore option I have seen requires that I restore an entire partition. Not what I want.
You can restore specific folders or files from a disk and partition backup 3 different ways:
- in Windows, mount the archive. It will appear as another disk on your computer. You can then copy and paste using Windows Explorer. If you modify the files, ATI will in fact create an incremental backup to reflect the changes. Note that you always access the last versions as they were on the date of the backup you mounted (no history - for another version, try another date).
- in Windows, just double click on the TIB file and navigate to the contents you want.
- on the recovery CD, boot your computer on it, ATI let's you choose "recover files and folder" or "disks and partitions"
How does ATI handle partitions mounted as folders during a backup? How about symbolic links? It appeared to have ignored everything inside c:\Users AKA C:\Documents and Settings. This is Vista 64-bit SP2. C:\Users\Will Pittenger\My Documents maps to the partition also mounted as E:\. E:\My Downloaded Files\ is also at C:\Users\Will Pittenger\Downloads\ as a symbolic link. C:\Users\Will Pittenger\Music\ is a partition that is also mounted as G:\. I also excluded folders like NetHood and PrintHood along with the usual temporary file folders.
Keep in mind that TI backs up partitions at the sector level. If the JUNCTION points to a location on another partition the contents of that JUNCTION will not be included in the backup. The JUNCTION itself is included in the backup.
If the backup image is mounted and the JUNCTION points to a location that exists on the system, browsing the JUNCTION will actually browse the "live" system and not files in the backup. For example, if you have a JUNCTION on E:\Music that points to F:\Music and you backup E: and mount it as G:, browsing G:\Music will show the contents of F:\Music (the contents were not backed up). You need to back up the partitions that contain the data -- in this case, E: and F:. The same thing happens with partitions mounted to folders.
I mounted a backup made on another computer but Windows gave the message "You don't currently have permission to access this folder". See http://forum.acronis.com/forum/26663 for details. To overcome this:
1. Right click on the backup in Acronis.
2. Select Explore and recover.
3. Select Files and Folders tab.
4. Double click on the drive, e.g. C:
5. Expand the folders where the folders/files that you require are located, (For some unknown reason, this allowed me to access the folder that I could not access from the mounted backup.)
6. Select the folders/files that you require by checking the boxes against them,
7. Click the Recover button.
8. Choose where you want the folder/file to be saved.
That explains things better. Thanks.