Problems with true image 2012
I have used True Image for several years from versions 2009 through 2010. I have always been very happy with it and it has literally saved my butt on several occasions. Both of them had some quirks that I just worked around. The 2012 interface is quite different than the previous versions, but in general I had no problem setting up backups
A couple of days ago I decided to upgrade to True Image 2012 family pack. I am now not so sure that I did a good thing. At this point I have only installed 2012 on one of the computers on my three computer network for testing purposes. All of my computers are Windows 7 professional, the one that I'm using for testing is a 32-bit version of Windows 7. The other two are 64-bit. I am using build 6131.
I have three questions that I need to get answers to before I decide I've made a very bad decision in upgrading to 2012 and need to back out of it.
1. In 2009 and 2010 when True Image was idling (not conducting a backup job). I was able to connect and disconnect external USB drives without incident in between backup jobs. For example, start True Image, conduct a backup to a USB drive and at the end of the backup to the USB drive disconnect the drive from the USB port and then reconnect another and start another USB drive backup. I never had a problem with this in 2009/2010. With 2012 if I disconnect a USB drive 2012 immediately crashes and I get a "not responding" error from Windows and I have to use the program manager to terminate 2012. I looked through the forums and I don't see anybody else with this specific problem, am I the only one? I have absolutely no problems connecting and disconnecting external USB drives in Windows, the problem only occurs within True Image 2012.
2. When I click on the 2012 icon, True Image takes 2 min. and 30 seconds before it appears on the screen which is completely unacceptable. 2009/2010 were on the screen within 10 seconds of clicking on the icon. does anyone else have the same problem?
3. In the near future I will be upgrading this 32-bit machine to 64-bit Windows professional. What is the proper procedure for me to uninstall the current version of 2012 and then reinstall it using the same serial number after updating the computer to 64-bit? Of course a reinstallation of 2012 may not happen and I continue using 2009/2010 if I cannot solve the above problems.
I sent two e-mails to Acronis support about these problems and neither of them have been answered. Even in my previous experience with 2009/2010, I found that Acronis support was notoriously bad in the customer service area and I see here on the forums that certainly has not improved.
I am concerned that I have made a very bad move in upgrading to 2012. I see that Aconis is again a big problem to get a refund from. Hopefully someone can help me with these problems, or I will have to consider it a major $70.00 loss and revert back to 2010.
I will certainly appreciate any guidance.
John
Moving your serial number to a different machine is covered on p. 17 of the user guide
www.acronis.com/download/docs/atih2012/userguide
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To move the license from another computer:
1. In the window with the error message, click Move license from another computer.
2. On the opened Web page follow the instructions on the screen.
To perform this step, you need to have Acronis account. If you do not have an account yet, then create it first. You also have to register your serial number, if you have not done it. Then you need to choose from the list a computer from which you want to move the license. Note that on the chosen computer the product will be deactivated.
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In ati2012 Acronis changed the way ati tries to keep it's database up to date -- this was a problem in prior versions that used a database with backups becoming orphaned from tasks or backups made with the same task being listed as being separate tasks. Ati "latches" onto your drives when it loads and scans them all for backups. I suspect that somewhere in this programming there is not the correct "error handling" for a situation where one disconnects a drive.
I've never been fond of the database method of tracking backups, which was added to ati with the 20xx series; it's always had some probs. While it has great promise, the elegance of prior versions (e.g., ati10) was a thing of beauty, not to mention, reliability.
Anton:
Thanks for your reply. Prior to you responding to me, I had decided to uninstall/reinstall 2012. I reinstalled 2012 and still had the same problems. I downloaded and applied the patch that you sent me, but it made no difference at all. I did find, however that I was not looking at the problem correctly or patiently enough. When disconnecting or connecting a USB drive while 2012 was idle the Windows cursor would turn to the rotating circle indicating of course "Wait I'm busy". After a minute or a minute and a half, I got to wondering about what was going on since the cursor was still a circle, so I started the Windows task manager which showed me that 2012 was not responding. In further testing I found that when connecting or disconnecting a USB drive, if I waited 3 1/2 minutes or more the cursor returned to normal and 2012 was now responding normally. When connecting or Disconnecting the USB Drive(s), Windows made the normal connection/disconnection sounds of a USB device within a very few seconds normally so Windows is obviously recognizing the connection and disconnection of the drive almost instantly, whereas 2012 is not.
I certainly did not have these problems in 2009 or 2010. This excessive amount of time in connecting and disconnecting USB drives is totally unacceptable, especially when compared to 2009 and 2010. It is concerning, especially when coming from those versions and you don't see similar speed of operation that I am used to when recognizing USB drives in 2009/2010. if a solution to this cannot be provided, then I certainly will return to version 2010, which I found to be very reliable with some small quirks that were easy to deal with. I would then ask for a refund from Acronis of my purchase two days ago of 2012.
As to the number of drives. There are 3 Drives, all 1 TB, drive C, drive D and drive E which are all internal SATA drives. Drives D and E are dedicated backup drives. On occasion I connect one of two USB hard disks and backup to them also, but they are not normally connected to the computer at all times. The USB drives, of course is where the problem is that I am having.
In version 2009 and 2010, when starting TI, a message was displayed that it was processing and normally took 30 to 40 seconds before TI was display and ready to operate. I noticed in 2012 there is no such message when clicking on the 2012 icon. Is it possible that 2012 no longer displays the processing message as was done in 2010 and then is what I am interpreting as a very slow start up?
In regards to the serial number, apparently I answered my own question in that when I installed 2012 it excepted the previous serial number with no problem and registered it.
Scott:
Thanks for your reply, and as I mentioned above, I solved my own problem about the serial number. I totally agree about the connecting with drives as you can see by my comments above. As you have stated I am not fond at all of how Acronis is handling the database method and is a step backwards from previous versions. And again I totally agree about the elegance of prior versions. I really liked them. 2012 has a nice interface but I don't think is easy as the previous versions were. Hopefully, Acronis will address these problems in the near future but I am not filled with confidence. I will wait for Anton's reply before deciding what to do about doing away with 2012 and going back to 2010. 2010 literally saved my butt on many occasions and I always had the highest confidence in it, but that confidence is lacking in 2012.
This has gone far enough. I have encountered even more problems with 2012 and spent hours and hours dealing with them. None of these problems occurred in 2009/2010. I have reinstalled 2010 and it is working just fine with no problems.
I have officially requested a refund from Acronis of my $ 70.00 USD that I spent for the family pack. Acronis needs to fix the many issues with 2012 then I will consider repurchasing it