Disk Cloning

Since I was going to be intentionally destructive to my Windows install, I decided to test True Image’s disk cloning feature first. Once the option is selected, Acronis True Image launched its disk cloning wizard. The wizard was very simple, asking only one question per step with the use of radio buttons as the only input. Upon selecting an answer for each question, a detailed description of what each option does is clearly explained in a text area below, insuring the user fully understands what will happen. This is, of course, assuming you choose to manually configure the cloning process. If you are not comfortable configuring the process yourself True Image offers an automatic setting which makes the disk cloning procedure a virtual “no questions asked” one.

For the purposes of this review, I chose to manually select the settings and even so, the process of creating a disk clone was extremely simple. The wizard went like so:

1. Welcome screen


2. Use default setting or manually set options – I chose to manually set, so you will not get the following path if you choose automatic


3. Select source disk


4. Select destination disk – True Image will warn you if you select a non-empty disk


5. Destination partition layout – manually define, keep or destroy… I chose to destroy in order to make a true image (pun intended)


6. Destroy data parameters – to zero write the drive (your path may be different if you chose a different option above)


7. Data move method – as is, proportional or manual; process of determining how to size your destination partitions in case the drive sizes are not the same


8. Confirmation screen 1 – shows a graphical representation of how your source and destination partition scheme will look


9. Confirmation screen 2 – shows exactly what will happen next

True Image’s wizard told me everything it was going to do, and upon a reboot, the process was completed in a screen very similar to when Windows is first installed. Just to be sure, I rebooted using my newly cloned disk and, as expected, it worked perfectly. I was quite impressed with the ease of use and explanations provided by the wizard and, not to mention, very pleased with the end result.

Disk Cloning

Backing Up Data

Fresh off the creation of a disk clone, I moved to primary focus of True Image, backing up data. Upon selecting the appropriate task a wizard is presented. The first question asks for the type of backup, a disk partition or file copy. Since I had just done a successful disk clone, I chose the file copy. The wizard proceeded to ask me several questions and configured my backup:

1. Welcome screen


2. Select files and folders to backup


3. Configure exclusion filters (for those of you who want to get very specific)


4. Backup file save location


5. Backup type
   
   
   
   • Full – All files and folders are backed up
   
   
   • Incremental – All files which have changed since the last Full or Incremental backup
   
   
   • Differential – All files which have changed since the last Full backup
     Note: this differs from an incremental as it only requires the last full backup to completely restore where an incremental requires the full and all subsequent incremental backups to completely restore


6. Detailed backup options configuration (this can be skipped by selecting default options)
   
   
   
   • Password protection
   
   
   • Pre and Post commands to run during the backup process
   
   
   • Compression level
   
   
   • Backup process priority
   
   
   • Archive splitting (to make your backup fit on CD’s, etc.)
   
   
   • Email notification
   
   
   • Windows Event Log message generation

One feature worth noting is that True Image will backup open files such as Word or Excel documents. However, I would personally recommend you save and close all of your work so that the backup process will not have to do this and risk file loss/corruption or a lockup.

If you do decide to configure the detailed options, you will find they are actually quite powerful. The pre and post commands allow you to do tasks such as stop services which may have locked some files and release them gracefully prior to your backup and then restart the services when the backup is complete. Using the pre and post commands, I was able to run a Microsoft SQL command (using the osql.exe command line tool included with MSDE/SQL 2000) to backup my SQL databases to a .bak file prior to the file copy backup and then delete it once the backup process finished. Additionally, the options to control the compression level and process priority are a nice touch to give you some control over the amount of system resources the backup process will use.

Once again, the wizard is quite thorough in explaining what each option does, so you do not have to be adept with computer terminology to create a solid backup procedure. Of course your backup can be performed manually or on a predetermined schedule with their scheduling tool.

Backing Up Data

Recovering Data

Now that I have a backup file, I wanted see exactly how easy it is to restore the files. With a simple click of the recovery task (as expected), I was greeted with another wizard. The recovery wizard options went like so:

1. Welcome screen


2. Select backup file to restore (Acronis True Image uses a .tib file extension)


3. Restore destination – original or alternate location


4. Files to be recovered – this shows you the file structure of the files as they were backed up on your system so you can easy locate the files and folders to restore


5. Detailed restore options configuration (this can be skipped by selecting default options)
   
   
   
   • Pre and Post commands to run during the restore process
   
   
   • Restore process priority
   
   
   • Email notification
   
   
   • Windows Event Log message generation


6. Optional restore file filter – for example, only restore .doc or .xls files


7. Restore mode – absolute overwrite, overwrite if restore file is newer, do not overwrite

The steps are pretty basic and each option is explained to the user as they step through the wizard. Overall, the recovery process went well (again, as expected), however, I did experience a problem that I will elaborate on below. I would again like to stress that the detailed options True Image offers are extremely powerful for performing a thorough restore. My test was to restore a Microsoft SQL database backup file (which was backed up as explained above) through the command prompt after restoring the file, and then remove the backup file. As I hoped, my test worked flawlessly.

Restoring Data From a Backup

Problem: I did experience trouble during my restore process. The issue came when I tried to restore a file to the desktop using the restore option of absolutely overwriting (the file I was restoring was older than the current file… I wanted to overwrite the newer file with the older one). I got the error in the screenshot below. My hypothesis is True Image tried to overwrite a protected system directory (Desktop) with the copy in its backup, which Windows would not allow it to do. While it was an annoyance, the workaround was to simply restore it to an alternate location. Considering how well Acronis handled all other functions, I was a bit surprised that an option was not presented to me on how to handle the problem. I imagine if a user did not think through the problem and know to go back and restore to an alternate location they might become frustrated by not being able to restore their data.

Error Recoving Data