TIH 2012 - Can it restore C: completely - overwriting everything ?
I need a bit of help here if possible please.
I have restored to an image of C: which I made in September 2013.
I updated various things and was just about to create a new image of C: when I ventured into the Searches folder (Win7) which is found at:
C:\Users\\Searches
To my dismay I saw a total history of what I had been doing, including the period between last September and now. Thousands of files and folders were identified and if I clicked on one (for example a JPEG photo from last month - it opened the photo. Therefore when I restored to the September 2013 image Acronis did not overwrite the Searches folder.
When I restore to an image made at a previous date I do not want a single file to remain. I would like the whole of C: to go back to exactly how it was - nothing more, nothing less. No subsequent AppData, no content in the Searches folder. Is this possible with Acronis? If so can someone tell me how?
Hi GroverH,
Thanks for your reply.
The backup was a disk backup of an SSD drive with no partitions (other than, I presume, what Win7 creates which I guess is a small one called "System Reserved").
The restore was, I thought, a full disk restore. Viz: >Launch Acronis > Disk backup. Ever since I used to use Ghost I have only ever to my knowledge done a full disk or partition restore.
The Searches folder does not appear to store any data files within it, it just appears to store link files which when double clicked open the original file you were working on. To some this may be useful. To me it is just a waste of resources and is more akin to spyware than anything useful. Anyway, I presume the links are still a type of file even if they are just a name and file coordinates to the file to which they relate. It does appear that my version of Acronis is leaving them in place instead of restoring to a clean folder.
I was always under the impression that a disk restore allowed nothing to remain and that everything was restored to how is was. If this is not the case then Acronis should make that clear when it sells its product.
You are correct in that the data files to which the links refer are stored elsewhere. However, when I carry out a disk restore from an image file I do not want anything to remain at all - especially a history of every single file I have opened.
If one defines a "100% disk restore" as one which removes every single file and history record and 100% recreates C: as it was when the image file was created - then is it possible for Acronis to do a "100% disc restore" ?
I have just downloaded and read the guide: "Restore a TIH2012 Backup to a Windows Drive C partition" written by GroverH. I wish I had done this before - it is excellent. I recommend anyone who restores the full C: as a straight forward full disk restore to read this PDF.
I can confirm that I used the Acronis Recovery Wizzard, that I selected "Recover whole disks and partitions" (Fig. 5 in the guide), and that Acronis TIH appears to FAIL as a deliberate part of its programming by the Acronis team!
It does not overwrite the folder: C:\Users\\Searches.
(BTW you need to tell Win7 to show hidden files and folders to be able to see this)
I have had to physically delete the two sub-folders within 'Searches.'
Inexplicably, after deleting the two sub-folders within the 'Searches' folder, the 'Searches' folder disappeared. Good riddance - I hope!
Am glad you found my restore guide helpful. There are also times when you need to restore more than C for a variety of reasons. Click on signature link 3 and review item #2. If you only have the hidden recovery and drive C, the disk restore rather than C only would be a better replacement when restoring your SSD drive. It all begins with the right kind of a backup as illustrated via this link.
http://forum.acronis.com/system/files/resize/mvp/user285/misc/disk-imag…
