DVD Images
I have been using True Image since version 8. I’ve been splitting the data backups into 4.7 gig files for storage from time to time to DVD disks, so I have files from several different versions of TI. With 2016, if I attempt to access any of the old files on DVD, I’m unable to access them, even if I copy them to an external drive first. Seems to be a problem regardless if there is one file or several in one backup. Anyone have any ideas?
Acronis is about the least customer service company I've ever worked with. Tech support is only 30 days, probably the worst of any software company. They make new programs which are not compatible with older versions, so backups are useless if you upgrade. Time to find another imaging software.
Ron, DVD's are the leas reliable media for backups. They wear down overtime, are susceptible to light and scratches. I made DVD backups of a all my video library years ago before I moved back to the States (just in case). They've been sitting in a felt CD case for a decade. Decided to pop one in the other day and it wouldn't work. Tried another and another and more than 1/2 of them were no longer useable. I suspect your DVD's are bad - did you ever attempt to recover from them when they were first created - as a test?
Acronis is listening and making changes. I see that 2017 was released today and the purchase page shows 1 year chat and email support for local installs nows. Having a bad image due to bad media or a bad burn which I can only assume, but is my guess since copying it locally gives you no additional help) really isn't a fair assessment of the product.
Regardless of whatever product you settle on - with the price of hard drives being so low now and DVD's/CD's not only being a very slow media, but also the least reliable, I would personally recommend you invest the money you're spending on DVD's into 1 or 2 different hard drives and use those instead. I'm sure you'll be much happier not only with the backup times, but also the recovery times and reliability of your backups.
This is another one you can't blame on user or hardware. Could not open the images in 2016 (old or newly created), however, I have another computer which has 2014 on it, and guess what, the images on all the DVD's work there. Acronis doesn't appear to worry about compatibility when they develop new products. I've had past posts about file naming and other issues their tech support couldn't answer and I finally found workarounds. Response to questions is lame at best. Takes forever for anyone to get back to you, if they do, and most of the time their answers don't even address the problem (almost like when you call for tech support on a product and you get a tech who has never worked in the field and he is reading from a database on his computer and he has gone off on a tangent that isn't related to your specific problem). I've sold dozens of my clients on purchasing their software, only to find many disappointed with Acronis customer service. Your answer to my question is similar to the answers I have received from Acronis in the past. Everything except what the real problem is. I've been working on computers for well over 28 years and never had a CD or DVD degrade as to your referal. Hard drives fail too, so if you have important data on a hard drive you better have it synced with another drive. I've always used DVD's to store images I want to archive and never had a problem until TI 2016. As far as changing their warrantee period, as I stated earlier, I've never seen commercial software with such a short warrantee as the versions previous to TI 1027, and I told them that. Most users don't even have a chance to use the software enough to know if they have issues until the first few months. Most people only use the imaging once a week or month, and usually don't attempt restoring, or even checking the images for that matter, within 30 days. In the past they had the best product on the market. Now, there is competition.
Ron,
With limiited information to go on, one can only "guess" to your particular issue in the forums as to what happened with your DVD. I'm not an Acronis employee and don't get paid to post here - I do it because I like the product and like to help others. You can take "free" forum support as you will, but you're only going to get out of it what you put into it. I love helping people willing to troubleshoot and make an effort. We help a lot of people get to the bottom of issues here.
You can use DVD's all you want. Wwith flash drives and hard drives being so cheap, much more reliable and capable of storing so much data, that choice is completely up to you though. DVD's came out 2 decades ago (1996) - yes they're still around and yes they have a purpose and yes you can use them for backups if that's what you want to do. Personally though, I think that part of your bad experience is because you choose to continue to use one of the most outdated data types possible.
Acronis 2014 backus are supported in 2015/2016 (probably 2017 now too). https://kb.acronis.com/tib
Support is not hidden. As a buyer, if that is a stopping point, then you should not purchase a product you don't agree with the support service, or should do some due diligence before purchasing to check what it is. There's a 30 day trial and 30 day support after purchase and you can ask for a refund anytime during that period. That said, Acronis has listened and techncial support is now 1 year standard in 2017.
http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/faq.html#q8 (the previous 2016 support faq)
Q: What support options are available?
A: Acronis customers can choose one of the following options
Free 30-day support for recent purchases (for Home products only): customers who purchase a Home product are entitled to standard support for 30 days after the purchase (for not registered serials, support applies for 30 days after activation). Support includes chat and email support channels. Please go to http://www.acronis.com/support/contact-us.html, select the type of your request and product name(where applicable). After that the contact info and support options will be displayed.
Pay Per Incident (PPI, for Home products only): customers who purchased a Home product can choose to purchase support for a single incident after the warranty period has expired. Customers can purchase PPI on http://www.acronis.com/support/contact-us.html after selecting the type of request, choosing a registered product and clicking "Buy Pay Per Incident". Customers who purchased PPI are eligible for phone support and priority chat/email support. PPI support is valid for one support case, and is priced at $20.00 per incident.
Acronis Advantage™ program: All Acronis Business products come with the first year of support included as part of the Acronis Advantage program. During their first year, customers are eligible for support with the options described on the Acronis Advantage web page. If the support program has expired, one can renew it to continue receiving support and upgrade protection.
Knowledge base: customers who do not wish to purchase support for a single incident, or enroll in the Acronis Advantage program can use the Knowledge Base to search for help on a particular issue. Additionally, customers can receive assistance from other Acronis Users and learn more about your product by use of best practices posted by other users on our User Based Community Forum at http://forum.acronis.com.