Creating Disk Images With Acronis True Image Home 11

   There is only one truly reliable way to backup Vista and that is with a disk image. A disk image is a bit-by-bit exact copy of a hard drive or partition. All information is retained including the files placement/layout on the disk. A disk image created by Acronis True Image is saved as an archive and as such may be accessed (mounted and explored) as if it were another drive. This means the data within the backup is always accessible. I have seen every other type of backup method fail permanently (as in no way to recover). While I have had individual attempts at recovering an image fail I have never had it fail permanently. Meaning, I have had an attempt fail but a simple "do-over" has completed the task successfully. This is accomplished by following the steps below. I have found True Image to be far faster at backup and restore than Vista's Complete PC Backup while using less disk space for storage.
   While True Image can image any drive I usually only use imaging for the partition/drive that Vista (and other Operating Systems) is on. That is the main focus of this article. I use other methods for data drives. That is just personal preference, True Image does an excellent job with data drives too.

(FYI - Acronis True Image can backup Linux partitions. See the programs documentation for more info.)

These are my failsafe guidelines to successful disk image backups:
1 - These programs come with the option of making boot/rescue disks. It is imperative that you make these disks AND use them to make sure they work.

2 - These programs have the ability to save backups to another drive/partition, another computer, or burn to CD/DVD. You should always have a backup available on at least 2 different sources.

3 - I know I'll get some argument on this... Once saved to a location DO NOT MOVE the backup. Trust me on this. I've seen the only images people have fail due to data corruption after an image was moved to another location. If you have to move it use the 'verify' option.

4 - Keep multiple backups. For instance I make full backups every so often. Then immediately after I make a full backup I make a 2nd full backup. I then perform incremental backups (see definitions below) to that second backup. i.e. I make a full backup named 2ndfull, then I make a backup called 2ndinc to make incremental backups to. That way if for any reason something goes wrong with the incremental backups or if I just want to go all the way back, I'm covered.

5 - True Image has the ability to verify an image. This means it checks the image to make sure it's OK. Make use of this feature!!!

 
The First Step After Installing Acronis True Image - Create Bootable Rescue Media

   What do you do if all of a sudden you cannot boot Vista, or once you boot up things freeze? That's where an Acronis Rescue Disk comes into play. The Rescue Disk allows you to boot from a CD/DVD and restore your computer from backup. It is absolutely essential that you create this disk! For those with multiple OS's (or using Linux) I recommend booting from this CD to create your images too.

*Side note for Geeks - The Acronis Rescue CD uses Linux. If you wish to boot from a Windows environment you can use a BartPE boot disk. As far as I can tell Acronis doesn't actively support this anymore. Creating the Acronis plug-in with BartPE isn't an easy task but fortunately someone has done the work for you. You can find more info here: Beginner's Guide to Creating a BartPE CD with a TI Plugin (And yes, I use this too, though I use it with UBCD4Win).

OK - Let's get started. Insert a blank CD or DVD into your CD/DVD burner. Launch True Image > Go to Tools, Create Bootable Rescue Media.

The wizard starts up, click Next.

Ensure all options are checked. If you have Acronis Disk Director you'll get the option of including it. Click Next.

You shouldn't need to choose anything in this screen. Click Next.

You have several options in this screen. For this exercise we are only creating a CD or DVD. Choose it and click Next.

Grrr... Click Proceed.

That's it!

Creating An Image

Open Acronis True Image and click Backup and Restore.

Click Backup.

Click Next.

Choose My Computer, click Next.

Choose Disks and partitions, click Next.

Choose the disk Vista is installed on, click Next.

You shouldn't have to choose anything here, click Next.

Choose the location you want to save the image to and pick a name for it. Click Next.

Types Of Backups

Choose the type of backup (the first image you make must be "full"). This will be a full backup. Click Next.

Here are the descriptions of the types of backups, taken from here. There may be slight variations in terminology by different vendors but the basics are the same:

Normal
A normal backup copies all selected files and marks each as having been backed up. Normal backups are the easiest to use for restoring files because you need only the most recent backup file or tape to restore all the backed-up files. Normal backups take the most time because every file that is selected is backed up, regardless of whether it has changed since the last backup.

Incremental
An incremental backup reduces the time required to complete the backup process by saving only files that have been created or changed since the last normal or incremental backup. It marks files so that you will know whether a specific file has been backed up. You need to create a complete normal backup of your system before you can run incremental backups. If you use a combination of normal and incremental backups to restore your data, you must have the last normal backup set of media as well as every incremental backup in chronological order since the last normal backup.

Differential
A differential backup can reduce the time required to complete the backup process by copying files that have been created or changed since the last normal or incremental backup. It does not mark files as backed up. You need to create a complete normal backup of your system before you run differential backups. If you use a combination of normal and differential backups, you must have the last normal backup media set and the last differential backup set to restore your data.

Most users will just use the default options. If you choose this you can click Next.

If you chose Set the options manually, these are the settings I recommend you consider:

Archive Protection - If you don't password protect the image anyone can access it.

Compression
The term compression or compression level is often used when making backups and images. This refers to how small the backup/image is made.
Higher compression means the image uses less disk space but it makes for slower backup and recovery.

Here I've shown you what the various compression levels look like on my computer.

Validate Archive - This setting is under Additional settings. Validating your image isn't an option, it's a must. I don't know any other way to say it. This verifies the image is problem free. Don't wait until you run into a problem to find out the image is bad. You can set the operation to do it automatically after creating an archive here. You can also do it manually afterwards. Do do this right-click on the image and choose Validate Backup Archive. I do this periodically anyway.

Verify The Settings - Check this screen to make sure everything is as you intended, then click Proceed.

That's it!

Restoring An Image

If you can boot into Vista you can restore from there by launching True Image and following along as below. If you boot from the Rescue CD the procedure is almost identical.

Open True Image (or boot from Rescue Disk) and choose Backup and Restore.

Click Restore.

Click Next.

Browse to the location of your image and select it, click Next.

Choose Restore disks or partitions, click Next

Usually I just choose the particular partition that Vista is on, click Next.

Choose the partition Vista is on, click Next.

You shouldn't need to select anything here, True Image (usually) picks the right type of partition here, click Next.

Unless you have resized the disk after you made the last image you shouldn't need to do anything here, click Next.

If you're using the Rescue CD you won't see this screen, if not then the correct letter should already be here. Click Next.

Unless you have a very complicated system (multiple OS's) I recommend only restoring one partition at a time. Click Next.

You shouldn't need to do anything here, click Next.

Verify your settings and click Next. If you aren't using the Rescue CD then your system will reboot. Click Proceed.

That's it!