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Newbie Q - Do I want continuous Backup or a clone?

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Hi,
I wanted to set up a raid 1 mirror drive on my laptop, but I can't because the motherboard is too old.

It appeared from the info about Acronis 2012 that I could set up a software mirror drive - where my data is saved continuously plus a complete copy of my hard drive is accessible in case of hard drive failure.

But now I have purchased the program, it appears that continuous backup is every five minutes, and I can't tell if that is just data. I selected my c drive but the backup only took 7 mins. I set it to back up to my usb samsung drive, and in Acronis it shows as working and backing up every 5 mins. But when I check my usb drive in windows, there is nothing on it but my older files I had copied there. How can Acronis show it is backing up if nothing is showing on the usb drive? I want to be sure it is actually working.

I also wanted to be able to boot from the USB drive incase of failure, but that box will not allow me to tick it as bootable.

Then there is the clone option - is this the same as a mirror drive? It appears to do a copy, but then does not keep backing up any changes? Why would I want a clone if I have a backup?

Sorry if I am missing something here, I suspect Acronis terminology is confusing me, or maybe my brain is just fried this morning!

Hoping someone can shed some light for me!
Annie D :)

BTW I am running windows 7

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Annied,

Non Stop Backup is backing up data in a hidden directory in the target disk called "Time Explorer Storage". More importantly, the UI of ATI should display the status of the NSB.
From experience, I recommend you always have an image backup of your system disk (the one that contains your OS and apps).

A clone will create a copy of the disk, as is. This is intended to enable swapping disks, not for backup purposes.

A disk and partition backup is the one necessary to be able to recover your computer if your disks fails. You don't need to make the backup bootable. YOu need, however, to use the Acronis recovery bootable media (a CD or a USB stick) to boot the computer on, and then recover your backup outside of windows.

See this thread for basic advice:
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/25648

Thanks Pat, that link looks like it answers my questions. I have tried to read the manual and all the links on Grovers section but I still was confused - I am not a techie, just learn what I have to.

Just one thing, can I use the same external usb drive to do both the image backup AND the non stop backup?

Thanks heaps,
Annie D

Yes, you can use the same disk.

One good practice for backups is diversification of:
- backup disk. If you have an image backup on one disk, and if you can, store your nonstop backup on another one,
- backup disk location: if you have 2 backups disks, take one offsite and alternate from time to time,
- backup software/technology: you are already doing this by using different backup types (the image "behind" the NSB).

For irreplaceable content, you cannot be too paranoid...

Pat, this is a question related to an answer given 3 years ago. I am using Acrnois 2014 on Windows7.

Is there a way to automatically create up dated clones of the C drive?, ie create a clone of the c drive every week?

Hello Steven,

Cloning cannot be scheduled as backups because this process was designed for data migration purposes and shouldn't be considered as a regular procedure for data protection.

Please take a look at this KB article.

Thank you.