Acronis True Image 10.0 Home

You might experience some strange problems with certain hardware configurations if you use the full version but are not using any of the disks supported by its drivers. A friend whom I had recommended True Image to, was going nuts trying to get the Rescue CD he created to work, which was crashing out to its Linux kernel screen with some bizarre SATA port errors (he has a pair of WD 150GB Raptors in a RAID 0 stripe and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition). Turns out, he was booting into the full version and his nForce 590 motherboard didn’t like the disk drivers it was loading. I had him boot into the safe version on the CD, and it worked just fine.

Acronis Bootable Rescue Media can be created in the following formats:

●	Floppy Disk
●	CD-R/RW
●	USB Flash Devices
●	.ISO File

If you have a 3.5” 1.44MB floppy drive installed, this is obviously the least desirable alternative, as it would require over thirty 1.44MB disks to create, and for you to sit there and swap each one in and out to load True Image. Unless you’ve got a lot of patience, time on your hands, and 1.44MB floppies lying around, I’d avoid this method entirely.


*Selecting Create Bootable Rescue Media* from either the Menu or Tool Bar launches the Acronis Media Builder wizard.**	You can install either or both versions of True Image on your media, the rationale being that if for some reason the Full version doesn't work—say for example, its USB, PC Card and SCSI drivers might be causing hardware problems—the Safe version should get you squared away. Click either of the Acronis True Image Home entries in the left window pane...	...and you can check the Start automatically after box and set the number of seconds the True Image Bootable Media will sit at the Main Menu before launching True Image.	You can create bootable rescue media on just about any removable storage device, as well as create .ISO image files to burn to CD. Here, I have my DVD-Burner selected to create a bootable True Image CD. The E: drive is a 2GB Corsair Flash Voyager, which isn't as fast as a CD, but a much better choice that the 3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive.	*Once you've selected the media of your choice and click Next, it doesn't take long to create a Rescue Disc.*


Done!	If you have packet writing software like Roxio's Drag to Disc or Nero's InCD for re-writable media installed, you may get an error when trying to create the True Image Rescue Media. If so, you can use True Image to create an .ISO image file to create the CD. Here, I'm setting up a folder for it.	*I'll call it Acronis Rescue Media ISO Files.*	And I'll create a folder under that based on this latest True Image build. Whenever you upgrade your installation of True Image to the latest version, ALWAYS update or create new bootable rescue media immediately after.	Here's the folders. Click this little icon to automatically name the file.


Okay, I'm ready to burn my .ISO file. It'll take less than 30 seconds.	Here's the file. Double-click it...	*...and your CD/DVD burning software should automatically launch with all the correct settings to burn the bootable Acronis True Image* CD.**	Here's my disc.	...and here it is in action. Whether you use a CD or USB Flash Drive, you'll need to make sure your BIOS supports booting from the device and its priority is set as the first boot device.

Most PCs have a CMOS/BIOS option that allows you to change the order of boot devices and boot from an installed CD/DVD-ROM drive or burner, or a USB Flash Drive. Either would be the preferred method of creating bootable rescue media. Third-party software for burning CDs and DVDs usually have a packet writing utility or plug-in which allows you to format and use a CD-RW or DVD±RW disc like a large re-writable “floppy.” Some of those programs may interfere with the creation of a bootable recovery CD (Roxio’s Drag-to-Disc and Nero’s InCD are two that come to mind, but there may be others). If you get an error message that your CD or DVD burner is “busy,” when trying to create the CD, temporarily close and/or disable any packet writing software running, and give it another shot.


While there's nothing wrong rolling with True Image's default options, you can definitely save yourself some time by configuring them to your liking. Don't like True Image's default fonts? Change 'em here.	*Scroll through the Application* list to change True Image's interface fonts...**	*...and here to change the font for the Menu commands.*	*Not sure if the font you picked will make things look worse than better? Click the Browse Fonts* button....**	...and you can preview the font!


True Image can be set up to send notifications from backup and restore jobs to an E-Mail address...	*...or through the Windows Messenger* WinPopup service (not to be confused with MSN Messenger).**	True Image allows you to password protect backup archives for additional security. Just don't forget the password—or you won't be able to use the archive to restore your system!	In addition to the most common types of tiles that don't need to be backed up, you can also specify other files to be excluded from True Image backups by clicking the Add button...	And entering the file here. Paths and wildcards are also accepted. As you've seen from the previous screenshot, you can easily add, edit and delete exclusions from the list as needed.

The Acronis True Image 10.0 Media Builder can also create .ISO Files—image files that can be burned to a CD or DVD. Using the wizard, you can create a True Image .ISO file to a folder on your hard drive. When you click on that file to open it, it will launch your burning software with all the necessary parameters to burn your bootable True Image disc. If you don’t feel like trying to shut down your packet writing software every time you go to burn a True Image disc, this is a quick and easy way around the issue. Whenever you upgrade to a newer True Image build, you should always create updated recovery media with the new version to avoid any unexpected issues.


True Image also allows you to run batch or script files, or programs before or after the backup process. Click the Edit button to add the commands and their execution parameters...	...here. Keep in mind that any Pre/Post commands you set up must be completely non-interactive. Running a process that requires user input could cause problems.	You can adjust the level of compression True Image performs when creating backup archives here, to strike a balance between the length of backup time and amount of space required for the backup.	Another option that effects backup performance is Backup priority. Setting priority to Low will have minimal impact on other processes running on your system, while High is more suited for off-hours scheduled backups when the computer isn't being used.	You can adjust the size of True Image's backup archive files here, and let True Image Automatically split the archive file up into manageable pieces based on the target backup media...


*...or you can use a Fixed size* for industry-standard removable media—or type in a size yourself.**	Under File level security settings, you can choose to retain or remove the security settings of files and folders during a backup, and backup encrypted files with the encryption removed. Most users will have little need to change the defaults shown here.	Media components allows you to place a copy of True Image on removable media along with backups. You can place a full version of True Image, which includes drivers for USB, PC Card (also known as PCMCIA) and SCSI hard disks, or Acronis One-Click Restore, on the media...	*...or you can choose between the aforementioned full version of True Image—or the Safe version without the USB, PC Card* and SCSI drivers.**	The biggest time and grief-saver in True Image is under Additional settings. If you check the Validate backup archive upon its creation completion, True Image will perform a consistency check on your archive file right after the backup finishes. Better to find out right away if there's a problem, than later when you need to restore your system and you can't because you forgot to run the separate Validate Backup Archive job after you did the backup.


*You can choose how True Image* overwrites existing files (or not) during restore operations.**	Just as with backups, you can run programs, batch or script files before or after a restore job (with the same limitation that any Pre/Post commands must be completely non-interactive).	Setting Restoration Priority effects how quickly a restore operation takes place and how much of an impact it has on anything else running on your system at the time.	You can restore files with or without their original security settings. Again, most people shouldn't need to change the default shown here.	Unless there's some specific need for you to do otherwise, you can leave Set current date and time for restored files box checked. The second option shouldn't be necessary if you've checked Validate backup archive upon its creation completion. The third option (Check file system after restoration) shouldn't be necessary under normal circumstances either, but a little extra insurance never hurt anyone..

Backups

When you launch the Create Backup wizard in True Image 10.0 Home, the first thing you'll notice from previous versions, is not only that the selection categories under Select Backup Type have been simplified, but there are two new categories as well:

●	My Computer - Creates an image of the entire disk and its partitions. Also backs up Track 0 and the MBR (Master Boot Record) on the boot drive, which you can restore separately if they become damaged.
●	My Data - Here's where you can select specific data to back up. You can either manually select files and folders to backup—or you can use True Image’s all-new File Categories feature to back up certain types of files (documents, pictures, music, etc.) using Acronis' predefined categories—or by creating your own.
●	My Application Settings - A new feature of True Image that allows you to back up user-customized settings of popular applications and utilities.
●	My E-Mail - Another new feature of True Image 10.0 Home, you can now backup your Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express messages, settings, E-Mail accounts and address books and restore them.

True Image supports backups to a wide range of removable and non-removable media:

●	Hard disks
●	Networked storage devices (DHCP or Static IP Addressing supported)
●	CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R (including double-layer DVD+R), DVD+RW, DVD-RAM
●	USB 1.0 / 2.0, Firewire (IEEE-1394), and PC card (PCMCIA) storage devices
●	Floppy disks, ZIP, Jaz and other removable media

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