Customer Reviews

Acronis True Image Backup 8.0

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I purchased this just a few days ago (September, 2005) to use on my 20-month old HP Pavilion zd7000-series laptop running XP SP2 with a 60 GB internal HD, an external WD 120 GB HD and a recently purchased Liteon SOHW-1673SX external DL DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW drive in addition to the HP's internal CD/DVD drive. The 60 GB internal drive is partioned into C: 17GB for the operating system; D: 11.3 GB for Application Programs; and E: 27.3 GB for Application Data.

The installation of the software went without a hitch. I was able to burn an Acronis boot disk on a CD-RW disc without a problem. I was able to make an image (3.2GB from 7GB of files)of my C: drive (partition) onto my 120GB external HD without a problem. Using the Acronis software I was able to "explore" the C: image on my external HD without a problem and "mount" it as a virtual new logical drive.

I then began to explore making removable backups. I wasn't too interested in CD-R or CD-RW discs as backups as any partition image I might make would just occupy too many discs (compresion seems to run in the 50% neighborhood). When I went to create an image on a blank DVD+RW disc I kept getting the message from Acronis "Disc not available" (or some such). It was then I printed out the Acronis 81 page manual and found on page 20: "You should have DVD UDF recording software installed for burning images on DVD disks, for example: Roxio DirectCD, Ahead InCD and other the same."(sic)

I looked at the external packaging and it states that it "allows you to store disk/partition images on: ... DVD-R/DVD-RW, DVD+R/DVD+RW..." but nowhere does it mention the need for this additional software! I had recently purchase the Nero (aka Ahead software) 6.6 Ultra Edition ("The Ultimate All-In-One Digital Media Solution") but even it did not have the Ahead InCD utility on it.

As luck would have it, my recently purchased extrnal DVD drive came with a basic Nero utility disk and it had InCD on it (!). Reading the manual for it, it stated that it could be used only with rewritable media (CD-RW, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW) but not non-rewritable media. Thus, if I wanted to write an image directly to the less expensive DVD-R or DVD+R discs, I was still out of luck. Perhaps the Roxio software utility (DirectCD) would overcome that (more on that later). However, I suspect most people will want to use the rewritable DVDs for backups anyway as they would want to periodically update their backup. (Note: I suspect I could use Acronis to make an Acronis image on my hard drive and then use some other utility to copy that to a DVD-R or DVD+R disc if I really wanted to go that route and I expect Acronis would be able to read it but that's too klugey).

Once I installed the Nero (Ahead) InCD software I was able to use it to format (Universal Drive Format, UDF) my DVD+RW disc which, as I found out, makes it look like a 4.3 GB, or so, hard drive (cool feature, very useful in it's own right). Then when I ran the Acronis software I could write a partition image directly to the DVD+RW disc. I did this and was able to subsequently use Acronis to read and "mount" (i.e., new drive letter on "My Computer") this partition image to do whatever I wanted with it.

As it turn out this was a good thing for as I was rooting about in some of the shovelware that came with my original HP computer I came across an (unopened) Roxio Easy CD Creator 6.1.1.8 Basic Disc. It didn't have the DirectCD software on it that Acronis recommended but it did have a utility called "Drag-to-Disc" which the literature stated was fully (up/down) compatible with DirectCD (i.e., media created with one could be used by the other) so I thought I'd give that a try. Now, I must say that the Nero InCD software warned that it was incompatible with any other UDF-originating software and while it was installing it (Nero) would warn if it found any it would give the user the opportunity to delete the other software or quit the installation. However, I was going the other way. I already had the Nero InCD installed and I was installing the Roxio on top of it. Apparently Roxio doesn't make a similar check as the software seemed to install OK but when I went to do the usual reboot after installation the system came up with the dreaded white-on-black warning screen that things were amiss and did I want to start in safe mode, etc. Apparently the two software utilitie duke it out over which one is going to control access to the CD/DVD drives and the user (you and I) comes out the loser. I tried to start in normal mode but the system just crashed each time I did.

Well, I figured this was now a good time to put the Acronis software to a test so I loaded the Acronis boot disc I had made earlier on a CD-RW and it worked just fine, asking me if I wanted to review/install any image files. I then inserted my recently made DVD+RW disc with the image of the C: drive (where I suspected Roxio had just tried to put the "Drag-to-Disc" software), I used the Acronis software to reinstall the Drive C: image back to the originating partition on my internal HD, I rebooted and it worked perfectly, right back to where I was before. Acronis had redeemed itself!

One final note, I played around a little more with uninstalling the Nero InCD software so I could try the Roxio "Drag-to-Disc" utility some more but I didn't have much luck (maybe my heart wasn't in it at this point). The "Drag-to-Disc" software works on both non-rewritable and rewritable CD's and DVD's but it doesn't usually pre-format the disc(s), it just seems to format them as it goes along. Thus, I couldn't make a UDF-formated disc for Acronis to write to. Also, the way "Drag-to-Disc" works with non-rewritable discs is when a file is "erased" a new file system file will be written which will no longer reference the "erased" file although the file is still on the disc. Thus, if you "update" large files on a CD-R, DVD-R, or DVD+R they will be written to whatever remaining blank disc space is left and you will quickly run out of space and have to pitch the disc anyway. Roxio DirectCD, the Roxio software that was actually recommended by Acrnois appears to come bundeled with packages such as "Roxio Easy CD & DVD Burning" (don't take my word for it, check before buying) which costs another $25. I don't have this so I don't know how well this works by itself or with Acronis.

Bottom line, the Acronis is less expensive than it's other major competitor (Norton's Ghost), out-of-the-box it's not as complete as I would have expected (Norton might have the same or other limitation), but as I already had a key missing utility (Ahead/Nero's InCD)I am able to make it meet my needs (write/recover images to my hard drive and DVD+RW's) and it seems to be functioning properly. Based on these pros/cons I gave it overall a 3-star rating.

I bought Acronis True Image 8.0 because I have a new laptop from Dell who no longer ship the disks necessary for a complete rebuild of the operating system (instead, there is a Ghost image of the factory build on another partition ON THE SAME DISK). I needed a way of securing my operating system state against a variety of risks - worms, finger trouble, head crashes, regretted purchases of software, etc.

I suspect a lot of you are now in the same boat, especially if your investigations have led you here!

Acronis True Image is slap bang in the middle of the market niche resulting from Dell's new approach. For that reason it gets 5 stars. I used it to create a standalone bootable version of itself on CD (making 2 copies), after which I uninstalled it from my laptop (which I like to keep clean of unused software).

The standalone disk successfully backed up my hard drive to 7 CDs using the self same CD drive that I had booted Acronis standalone from. Subsequently I used it in the same way to rehearse my restore, with 100% success. I did all the partitions on the hard drive in the same operation. This is important if Dell PC Restore (Ctrl-F11) is to survive.

Q: WHY DOES IT GET SUCH A BAD PRESS ???

A: Because the design and implementation are absolutely appalling. This is not sloppiness, it is ignorance and naivety. I can go as far as to say that this product COULD HAVE COST ME UNTOLD CONSEQUENTIAL LOSS AND DAMAGE if I hadn't spent hours on the Internet searching for clues from other users' experiences. All because you don't know whether to believe this bloody message or not!!!

"Error opening file, a possible reason may be poor media quality."

I got to the bottom of this - it is benign. It just means Acronis can't distinguish between hitting a bad patch on the CD and reaching the end. The error message author just wanted to err on the side of pessimism!

Note that on restore, I was asked to feed the disks in in a very strange order, suggesting the product runs through all the disks in the set, after which it returns for one last go at any that were dodgy. In fact, that was NOT what it was doing. The disks were all perfect. In my case, there were 3 partitions in the disk set. In order to restore a partition, Acronis seems to need to vist the first and then the last CD containing any part of the partition in question, before it will deign to restore the body of it.

Overall, this is the right product at the right time. Yes - you could have written it so much better yourself, but it does work, and introduces no clutter. Recall, I uninstalled it after creating my standalone CDs. Indeed it even enables you to dispense with other suppliers' clutter (I have also got rid of those space-hungry nannies Norton virus checker and Windows System Restore now that I have my preferred form of disaster recovery nailed down).

About a month ago, I started getting warnings that my PC was having problems with the hard drive. I do periodic backups using software that came with my PC. But, that wouldn't do. I wanted to clone my current drive in order to preserve everything. I looked at a couple of products here on Amazon.com and did some comparisons of the reviews. While my initial plan was to order a product I was already familiar with (Ghost), after reading reviewer comments I chose True Image 8.0.

I found a few of the negative comments for True Image to be somewhat helpful. Yes, there are some areas for improvement with True Image 8.0 -- i.e., being able to copy to DVD without additional expensive software. However, it was the other comments that really got my attention -- i.e., about it being easy to use and fast. These really caught my attention.

I received True Image 8.0 at just the right time -- my drive was really acting like it was ready to go at any time. It took only a couple of minutes to install. I connected my new hard drive and started True Image 8.0 clone process. WOW!! It completed copying the entire drive in less than 30 minutes. Then, I removed the bad drive and reconnected the new drive as Master and restarted my PC. It was wonderful to see that everything was totally preserved.

The True Image 8.0 software functionality is well documented. However, particularly for the cloning process, an enhancement would be a step-by-step review of ALL the steps to be taken in cloning a new Master drive -- i.e., including general steps in dealing with the hardware (both old and new). When I completed my cloning process, I received a message from True Image 8.0 that it had completed successfully. But, that is where is pretty much ended. My instincts told me I had to remove the old drive and reconnect the new one as Master, but my instincts have gotten me into trouble in the past.

All-in-all, True Image 8.0 saved the day and I am TOTALLY HAPPY with what this product can do.

This product now supersceded by 'True Image 9'- an even better version that now allows "differential" image creation (modifies only what is "different" on your stored image, so you can keep it updated). Drive Imaging is like taking a "picture" of your hard drive- digit for digit- that can be copied over a defective drive or onto a new drive.

I recommend creating an image somewhere on your hard drive(s) and keep it "differentially" backed-up (preferably to a second internal hard drive or external hard drive or network drive). THEN occasionally burn a copy the updated image to a DVD or DVD-RW using your favorite disc-burning software. You'll have less trouble than if you try to create the image directly onto DVD, and you'll have a copy of the image on BOTH your hard drive and removeable media.

BE SURE to burn an "Emergency Boot CD" from inside the 'True Image' (TI) software, which allows you to boot-up and re-install your drive image even if Windows won't start, or if you have to replace the drive entirely due to mechanical failure.

You'll be back up and running (its a miracle the first time you see it happen!) in 20-30 minutes- as opposed to spending an entire weekend re-formatting your drive, reinstalling Windows, hardware drivers, and all of your software.

Also makes a serviceable data back-up program if you organize your PC drives and keep one drive (or partition) for data storage.

There are other similar drive image programs (notably Norton 'Ghost'- but I personally stay away from all Norton software). However, I think TI9 is hands down the best (so does 'PC World').

Get a drive imaging prgram- any is better than none- use it regularly (make time at least every week if you use your PC a lot). You'll have peace of mind and a quick and easy way of restoring your drives when (not if) you eventually have a PC disaster.

Very straightforward. Simple to load and run plus it takes only about 20 minutes for back-up. Compared with Norton Ghost 2003 -- a pleasant experience without any heart-stopping moments and certainly much faster without the clunky drop to DOS.

I've owned and used computers for 20 years so I don't consider myself a novice yet this program is not easy to use. Yes, you MUST have cd/dvd burning software if you wish to burn images to these media and this is not made obvious. Parts of the interface and the manual are also not easy to use and I have spent many hours reading the manual and thinking about the interface in order to get it to work. Also, there are error messages that give you no info about what has gone wrong so you have to go to the manual and study to try to find out. If you are going to use DVDs to burn to I had also to find in the back of the manual under troubleshooting that I had to be sure I was using the right type DVD for the burning software being used. I finally got it to work but I hope version 9.0 is improved.

I bought TI 8.0 and had trouble with it working on my new Dell XPS200 with XP Media Center (1/2006). When I tested it to see if my image was there to restore from, I wasn't able to see the DVD drive. Acronis has a wonderful technical support forum which helped me. They first sent me the latest build for 8.0 which didn't work. They then sent me the 9.0 version which DID work. I had to register on the forum and register my copy of TI8.0 for their verification. It took me about a week and a half to work through the issues but, overall, I thought the resolution process was pretty smooth.

I HAD bought the software with the intention of cloning the disk and keeping the source in reserve for the time that the new disk becomes slow and buggy with internet garbage. The cloning feature couldn't have been easier! I made the new disk the master, the old disk I put into a storage shell with a USB connection and ran the cloning software. The cloning process took about 10 minutes!

For some reason, TI 8.0 wouldn't work for me, so I would recommend TI 9.0. I can't recommend 8.0 but I give Acronis TI four stars for the product's ease of use (when it works right) and their great technical support.

Lastly, the technical requirements for burning images is to have special formatting/burning software. I did research and NERO makes compatible software. I didn't want to buy more software and the burning software that comes with Dell (SonicNow?) is compatible too.

Overall, I'm very satisfied with True Image.

When Dell told me my harddrive was about to die, I evaluated image backup software and ended up getting this one. I am semi-technical (I can read a manual) but know nothing about DOS.

Making an exact image of my current harddrive onto an external drive was a simple wizard process. The drivers for my Western Digital drive were part of the backup process.

I had about 37GB of data in total. It successfully backed up and 3 hours later I had my exact image on my new harddrive, which seemed nothing short of miraculous to me.

The only difference I see so far is that the Windows clock had a wrong time/date. Everything else really does seem like an exact image. Sure you are saying duh that's what this software is for, but I really expected to have major problems just because this is a completely new thing.

One thing Acronis doesn't tell you is you should first copy the CD contents onto another CD to do the backup image. I thought I just could stick their CD into my drive and go from there.

I highly recommend printing out their user manual which is online or having a second computer if possible connected to the Internet in case you have questions.

The people on Acronis' forum were really helpful in making me comfortable that this would be ok. FYI I have Windows XP SP2.

I am thrilled to have picked Acronis True Image 8.0. I hope if you need it it works as well for you!

I bought it so I could back up my Dell Vostro 1000 Hard Drive running XP.
OS and Drivers was all I needed to backup for a restore if needed.
When I went too use it it told me my System Files maynot be backed up correrctly.
It's suppose to be a True Image of the entire HD and you get this message something is up.
It tells me the Name "TRUE IMAGE" is very misleading.
I should've bought Norton's Ghost instead.
My advice stay away erntirely...

I have had numerous, numerous hard disk failures, both sudden and slow, over 20 years of computing. WAY too many.

I think I finally have the product I need to totally protect myself. I use Acronis to autobackup to an external drive every week. I also use it to make a backup to DVD a few times a year. I keep those DVD's in my safe deposit box at the bank in case of a fire or theft at my home.

I just don't see how ANYONE could have a problem using this product. It's simple. To test, I used it to create a boot disk, then restored my entire system from both the DVD's and the external drive. Absolutely no problems.

Yes, you do need DVD-burning software. But it came with your drive, so don't freak out. You simply format the disk and Acronis will work great. It's no different than when we used to have to format floppy discs back in the day.

Don't believe all the complainers. I've tried this and several other similar products and this was far superior in all respects. (No, I have no relationship to the company.) I have not needed them for support however, but their online support info seems fine. (I rarely have to call for support for any product any more, frankly.)

Kind of bummed that there's a 9.0 out now, but that always happens.

My next goal is to buy two external USB drives (the Ximeta Netdisk Mini). Each week, I will clone my PC's hard disk automatically onto one of the drives, then take it to work on Monday morning and exchange it for the other drive. That way, I'll always have a clone of my drive in two locations.

Why will I go to so much trouble? Because another hard disk failure is right around the corner.

Buy it, use it with confidence.