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on July 20, 2008
This software worked perfectly for me. My aging, but serviceable, VIAO desktop with XP came with a small c: partition and a much larger d: partition. The c: partition was so full that I could not download large files or install new programs. In fact, I had to delete some stuff just to get the Acronis software installed. The Acronis wizard to resize partitions was very simple -- a couple of mouse clicks, adjust a slider to specify how much space to transfer from the d: partition to the c: partition, another mouse click, and sit back and watch it get done. It solved my problem and added a couple of more years to my desktop.
I haven't used the many other functions available, but I can say that the resize function is robust enough to compensate for my initial mistake. On my first try at using the resize wizard I hit cancel midway through, which was taking a big chance. I had forgotten to turn off my screen saver, which may or may not have made a difference, and I had not adjusted the space allocation slider, which would have transferred way too much space to the c: partition. The program continued with step 1 of the resize function by taking away 40 gigs of space from the d: partition before recognizing the cancel request. When I checked the partitions, I found that the c: partition had not been increased in size (step 2 of the algorithm), but the d: partition was now missing 40 gigs. I ran the resize wizard again, this time specifying that the d: partition be increased by 40 gigs, but when it asked which partition to take the 40 gigs from, I left the boxes unchecked and hoped for the best. It worked perfectly. The Acronis software took the 40 gigs from unallocated disk space and reassigned it to the d: partition, thus returning my system to its original configution. Finally, I ran the resize wizard again with the screen saver off and the space allocation slider properly adjusted, and it worked exactly as I described in the first paragraph. So in spite of my best efforts to screws things up, this software did exactly what I needed done.
I haven't used the many other functions available, but I can say that the resize function is robust enough to compensate for my initial mistake. On my first try at using the resize wizard I hit cancel midway through, which was taking a big chance. I had forgotten to turn off my screen saver, which may or may not have made a difference, and I had not adjusted the space allocation slider, which would have transferred way too much space to the c: partition. The program continued with step 1 of the resize function by taking away 40 gigs of space from the d: partition before recognizing the cancel request. When I checked the partitions, I found that the c: partition had not been increased in size (step 2 of the algorithm), but the d: partition was now missing 40 gigs. I ran the resize wizard again, this time specifying that the d: partition be increased by 40 gigs, but when it asked which partition to take the 40 gigs from, I left the boxes unchecked and hoped for the best. It worked perfectly. The Acronis software took the 40 gigs from unallocated disk space and reassigned it to the d: partition, thus returning my system to its original configution. Finally, I ran the resize wizard again with the screen saver off and the space allocation slider properly adjusted, and it worked exactly as I described in the first paragraph. So in spite of my best efforts to screws things up, this software did exactly what I needed done.
on May 3, 2008
I purchased this product to change the size of disk partitions. The product came in a box with a page of instructions that essentially told me to put the CD in my computer. I did, and as instructed installed the product on my XP home PC.
I then read the section of the manual regarding my problem and tried to change the size of the partition. The program took my instructions, told me to "commit" to make the changes (operation-commit) which I did. I was instructed to restart the computer and during the restart before Windows started, things appeared to happen. Windows then opened and I anxiously checked the disk sizes--nothing had changed. I repeated the above several times with similar non-results.
I consulted the manual, there was no instructions about this problem. The manual was jargon filled and almost unintelligible to an average computer user (me). FYI I had run disk check and defragmented the disk, as directed, before starting. I checked the Acronis web site and found it similarly uninformative. Mainly directed at getting you purchase other problems. The knowledge base was virtually empty of information. There was no troubleshooting section.
As is often the case the forum (at the Acronis site) was helpful, though scary. Many people were having similar problems. There were horror stories of disks being "ruined", being permanently trashed, but also a few nuggets of information.
One of the forum exchanges suggested booting in the safe mode from the Acronis CD disk (which has startup software). Those downloading the program presumably can create a similar disk from the download. For me starting from the CD did the trick. The program opened automatically and I made the change in partitions without difficulty.
I went back to the manual and found reference to using the CD as above and it states "you may need to use the bootable media: (1) after a serious Windows failure or (2) to work on a Linux based PC." It didn't recommend this for routine problems.
In short the program worked but only after finding a fix at the Acronis forum that was not suggested either at the website or in the manual. I'd be cautious with this program, as it can do irreparable harm to your computer--check out the Acronis forum site before buying.
I then read the section of the manual regarding my problem and tried to change the size of the partition. The program took my instructions, told me to "commit" to make the changes (operation-commit) which I did. I was instructed to restart the computer and during the restart before Windows started, things appeared to happen. Windows then opened and I anxiously checked the disk sizes--nothing had changed. I repeated the above several times with similar non-results.
I consulted the manual, there was no instructions about this problem. The manual was jargon filled and almost unintelligible to an average computer user (me). FYI I had run disk check and defragmented the disk, as directed, before starting. I checked the Acronis web site and found it similarly uninformative. Mainly directed at getting you purchase other problems. The knowledge base was virtually empty of information. There was no troubleshooting section.
As is often the case the forum (at the Acronis site) was helpful, though scary. Many people were having similar problems. There were horror stories of disks being "ruined", being permanently trashed, but also a few nuggets of information.
One of the forum exchanges suggested booting in the safe mode from the Acronis CD disk (which has startup software). Those downloading the program presumably can create a similar disk from the download. For me starting from the CD did the trick. The program opened automatically and I made the change in partitions without difficulty.
I went back to the manual and found reference to using the CD as above and it states "you may need to use the bootable media: (1) after a serious Windows failure or (2) to work on a Linux based PC." It didn't recommend this for routine problems.
In short the program worked but only after finding a fix at the Acronis forum that was not suggested either at the website or in the manual. I'd be cautious with this program, as it can do irreparable harm to your computer--check out the Acronis forum site before buying.
on February 4, 2010
I accidentally wiped out the partition table on my Vista 64 machine (RAID 1 disks). So I grabbed DDS 10.0 and dropped it into the DVD drive. I was very happy when it booted and started the GUI. Then disappointed when I discovered that it didn't work correctly with my wireless mouse. But I (slowly) found that it did have enough key bindings so I could get it to sort of work. Next, I found that there are LOTS of paths through the program that simply die with segfault errors. This is just bad programming! After many boots from the CD I finally got it to find some of the partitions on my hard drive. (This took over 12 hours!!!!) After some more false starts, I got the Vista 64 partition restored but it wouldn't boot. Next step was to recover from a backup by Acronis True Image which unfortunately was on another partition on the same disk. (I won't make that same mistake again!) Once I got that partition restored, it checked out OK. From that backup I was finally able to restore the Vista 64 partition successfully. Whew!
Bottom line is that with poor quality software, bad support, and lots of trial and error, I was actually able to get it to all work. I'm not the happiest with this software but it did get me out of a pinch. So for that I give them an average 3 rating.
However, for the price the software should be much more stable and have a much cleaner interface.
Did I mention that you simply cannot create a bootable CD with your drivers from the product when installed on Vista 64? Well, no matter what I tried it always failed with errors. Also, lots of "paths" through the GUI fail with errors. Fortunately there are multiple ways to invoke most functions.
Bottom line is that with poor quality software, bad support, and lots of trial and error, I was actually able to get it to all work. I'm not the happiest with this software but it did get me out of a pinch. So for that I give them an average 3 rating.
However, for the price the software should be much more stable and have a much cleaner interface.
Did I mention that you simply cannot create a bootable CD with your drivers from the product when installed on Vista 64? Well, no matter what I tried it always failed with errors. Also, lots of "paths" through the GUI fail with errors. Fortunately there are multiple ways to invoke most functions.
on July 6, 2008
I have a newer ACER laptop. ACER creates four partitions on this notebook (and others, with two partitions "hidden"), most notably a C: drive for applications and a D: drive for data. I, personally, have never liked multiple partitions and always have more apps than data. So, after a few months, the app partition was filling and the data partition was not. If I could have my way, I would have only ONE partition, a C: drive. For backup of this ACER, I use an external drive and Acronis True Image s/w. This s/w saves a complete image of EVERYTHING on the drive, including ALL partitions. I have used Acronis for several years on other computers. Running Vista, things have changed so the old "Norton Partition Magic" doesn't work anymore. Acronis Disk Director s/w claims to work with Vista so I purchased at a good price from an Amazon seller. Desire was to increase the size of the C: drive while decreasing the size of the D:. Left the other two ACER defined partitions alone because I was afraid to mess with them. Before running Disk Director, created an image of the whole drive with Acronis True Image just in case. Change in partititioning was successful although there were a few scarey moments when Acronis said it had to "repair" something. Bottom line, Aconis Disk Director worked and this seller provided a better value for this s/w than some others.
on June 27, 2009
Worked as advertised in both Vista and XP desktop systems, no problems installing or using. The XP system had a serious problem I was able to fix, namely the "C" drive partition was set in 2001 by Sony at a very small level, and filled up quickly with programs. This left the data partition large but proportionately less filled because I have an additional internal hard drive -- external, as well -- on which most data is stored. Acronis fixed the problem and it's working fine for several weeks. Certainly I now have more space to install programs, and I can use disk management tools like defrag. Previously the usage was such that there was not the minimum percentage available to defrag this drive.
The Vista desktop had a different issue, namely the additional, large internal hard drive has frequently disconnected and disappeared. I hope that by partitioning part of it I can eliminate the corruption issues and not have to re-format it again - 4-5 times already in a year!
The one knock against Acronis Disk Director is the lack of data recovery capability. While it shows it can "recover" data, I was not clear on the fact that it only recovers lost partitions. Not a bad thing, but not completely what I expected. Maybe just a "rookie mistake." Overall, I am very satisfied with this product.
The Vista desktop had a different issue, namely the additional, large internal hard drive has frequently disconnected and disappeared. I hope that by partitioning part of it I can eliminate the corruption issues and not have to re-format it again - 4-5 times already in a year!
The one knock against Acronis Disk Director is the lack of data recovery capability. While it shows it can "recover" data, I was not clear on the fact that it only recovers lost partitions. Not a bad thing, but not completely what I expected. Maybe just a "rookie mistake." Overall, I am very satisfied with this product.
on September 25, 2008
I wish i give you a more thorough review but I just bought the product for one purpose; to enlarge my C: drive partition.
After an HD failure I had used a disk image to create a C: partition on a new larger HD. I then, without thinking to enlarge the C: partition, created other drives partitions (D: E: etc...) that I soon filled with data. I could not enlarge the C: partition then without removing the other partitions, which I could not afford to do.
There is a way using DOS to move drives around and create space, but I needed a simpler and safer approach. Alas the demo Disk Director version would not do the task, and downloading a licensed version from Acronis cost too much. So I ordered from Amazon, received it 3 days later, ran it, and chose to enlarge the C: partition taking empty space away from another partition. The process took 1hr 20min and worked flawlessly.
What else can I say? It cost a lot of money for a product I will probably just this once, but I needed the task done desperately and Disk Director did it, so 5 stars.
After an HD failure I had used a disk image to create a C: partition on a new larger HD. I then, without thinking to enlarge the C: partition, created other drives partitions (D: E: etc...) that I soon filled with data. I could not enlarge the C: partition then without removing the other partitions, which I could not afford to do.
There is a way using DOS to move drives around and create space, but I needed a simpler and safer approach. Alas the demo Disk Director version would not do the task, and downloading a licensed version from Acronis cost too much. So I ordered from Amazon, received it 3 days later, ran it, and chose to enlarge the C: partition taking empty space away from another partition. The process took 1hr 20min and worked flawlessly.
What else can I say? It cost a lot of money for a product I will probably just this once, but I needed the task done desperately and Disk Director did it, so 5 stars.
on January 3, 2008
I have been selling computer and network systems since 1977 (Apple II's) to start. Rarely have I seen such a POS released to market before it was completely designed and tested. I have been back and forth with Acronis no less than 12 times on different bugs. While I am a thorough tester, this software works acceptably only if all you need is to resize and move partitions - DO NOT INSTALL - run only from the CD. Again, don't install it or use it on a new, out of the box Dell either! It has major incompatibilities with certain Dell Factory installed hardware, card reader, Bluetooth, etc. when running Vista - Installed it and BSOD immediately upon reboot! Acronis finally admitted a problem with their SnapAPI drivers and supplied a patch that can't be found anywhere on their website or in their FAQs. Nice, but that, in turn, killed the OS Bootloader used for multiple OS selection - nothing can be recognized after the patch. Bottom line: Acronis is trying to milk the customer with this product by releasing it before it is beyond anything other than a Beta 1.0 version. Additionally, the CD in the box was outdated (Build 2077) and the current build is 2160 - 2 months lag! That should tell you a bit about the continued design of this "Beta" within Acronis. Do they tell you any of this in their FAQ... not a word, you have to submit a support ticket and if you are lucky, 4 or 5 days later they tell you your version is not registered - WHEN OURS WAS FROM THE MINUTE WE PURCHASED IT. Save your self grief, OS crashes, Data Loss, Frustration etc. and purchase something else or wait until Aconis acts like a reputable real manufacture and releases products AFTER they are thoroughly tested and ready for market, rater than trying to "milk" profits from the unsuspecting purchasers - most of whom won't have the detailed technical knowledge to target the problem as Acronis' and then allow Acronis to tell them "it's their hardware" - IT ISN'T - It's Acronis Disk Director Suite 10 Ver Beta.POS ! - Questions? email me at pos-at-ladishes-dot-com. I'd be happy to provide you with the thread and reams of correspondence I've had with Acronis. What a joke and a waste of time. I wonder how many of their other products are designed under this same philosophy of release for sale at Beta 1?
on November 14, 2009
I tried to use ACRONIS Director and True Image software to retrieve photos on an inop compaq computer. These are both powerful and intricate programs which can do many wonderful things for a guru, and some un-wonderful things for a novice. We eventually determined that the photos were not even on the HD, just the link files. The actual photos must be on a host server somewhere. The lady did not understand just where she was saving the photos over a year ago. The program menus appear deceptively simple leaving one looking for commands that don't exist, and the commands that do exist can take you down a oneway path. My advice is to READ THE MANUAL first and test drive them on a surplus drive. We now have a blank compaq HD, and an XP computer(that worked fine before) but does not work now after trying to store an image file on it. These are not fly by the mouse programs. Both programs can be used sequentially, and are needed unless restoring the original HD image is of no interest to you. In that case, you can make a mess of it with just one program.
