Save Your Bacon With Acronis True Image Backup - Comments Page 1

Bob, Have you encountered any problems with Acronis True Image Home since the 2010 version came out? (I had huge reliability issues with backups taken from v2011, and after those surfaced, I abandoned Acronis for Paragon Backup.)

EDITOR'S NOTE: No problems here. Are you using the backup validation feature?

After reading several bad reviews on Amazon UK on the Acronis True Image Home 2012, I think I will give the latest 2013 backup system a miss. I read one reviewer stating that the EaseUS Todo Backup (Free Edition)was better.

I have used Acronis but gave up on it 2 or 3 years ago due to 2 problems. Twice it failed during system recovery wiping out the disk images in the process. Also, I upgraded from one year to the next year's program only to find out, in a time of crisis, that the format had also changed so that Acronis would not recognize a previous year's image. Nothing in the marketing material had mentioned incompatibility among Acronis versions. I am now happy with Comodo.

I tried to backup with acronis 2012 and on THE THIRD day it told me backup failed!! Sure would like to know why it took 3 days and why it failed.Why can't they give you a clue? Do other backup systems work by keeping you in the dark?

I've used Acronis for several years, and more than once it has saved me from a hard drive disaster. I've also used it to make an image and then restore it to an SSD drive.

Yo...CNN was reporting today that due to the country's drought, Midwest crops like corn etc. which make up feed for farm animals like pigs, will suffer in increasing supply this year and next which will drive up the cost of Bacon. Obviously, one needs to assess one's purchasing strategies!!!!

EDITOR'S NOTE: Corn is in almost everything now. If you're eating something you didn't grow yourself, it's probably got High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. Bleah.

Bob, I am using the System Image that comes with Windows 7 as my primary back-up system for my computer's hard drive and the System Image is saved to an external hard drive. My photos are stored on a separate external hard drive using Picasa's back-up system; plus, the photos are stored in Picasa online. Finally, my documents are backed-up to a third external hard drive, and the most important documents are on Skydrive.
So,do I need Acronis? I am assuming that the System Image stored on the external drive would restore my system, and I have the photos and documents on other external drives if the System Image doesn't completely do the job. Am I right?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Sounds like you have the bases covered. Unless your external drives are destroyed in fire, flood, etc.

I agree with the others who have commented about reliability issues. Seems that the last stable version of Acronis True Image was 2010. Like you, I perform a disk image several times a week on my production server. I've used a product for years named CASPER (www.fssdev.com). It's been very reliable and is relatively inexpensive. I use this because I can schedule the drive imaging process. Many others do not have a scheduling function.

Win7 System Image caused a disaster for me. I had a major crash that required reinstallation of Win7 from the recovery segment of the hard drive, wiping out the directories and files. When I tried to restore, System Image Recovery rejected all four images I had made (on a separate hard drive). I eventually got my files back using MiniTool Power Data Recovery, but they were named file1.doc through file5534.doc, plus well over 10,000 image files. I've spent the last month renaming and organizing them, a major PITA.

A friend who's an IT professional recommends the paid version of Macrium Reflect. Does anyone have experience or comments on it?

I agree Bob. I use Acronis as well and currently get by doing imaging of my c drive.

I havent had the need to restore yet....but hopefully that is truly when Acronis will help me out.

Have used Acronis True Image since 2009. Great stuff until the 2012 version which turned into a total disaster. (See the Acronis forums for more information). Support is VERY mediocre and limited to 30 days. Went back to the 2011 version and have no intention of wasting more cash and major frustration on a 2013 edition.

Bob, Enjoy your work. Is there any program out there that backs up the entire hard drive including programs as well as files? I've read about trying to restore back-ups to a different machine, clean re-install, etc. If you have to restore a back up to the same machine after a problem and the files are the only things backed up? Sorry if this is something you've answered a hundred times already.
"Thanks"

I used Acronis for a number of years, but they have raised their prices and now you must "activate" the program. Because of this, I now use Easeus Todo Backup. It does most everything Acronis does, and it is FREE. Also it does not have to be "activated". I hate having to jump through hoops after I paid my $.

Hi Bob,
What about us Mac users?

Keep it simple and cheap.

Do not waste your money on Ghost or Acronis. One should use the free versions of either Paragon, Easeus, or Macrium for images. Do not perform incremental image backups: they are unreliable; create only full images. You only need a few image backups for the inevitable failure of Windows or the hard drive. Check the emergency CD and confirm that it can find your external USB hard drive (do not store your data in cyberspace) and the image file you will need when disaster strikes.

Duplicates of recovery discs should be made. You did burn recovery discs didn't you?

I use Back4sure and Freefilesync for file backups. They are both simple and free. They have worked flawlessly for me.

With your baseline image backup, your file backup, and your recovery DVDs, you should be all set except for drivers. Doubledriver is superb for this.

That is all you need to do. If you are paranoid, as I am, you can copy your backups to a second USB drive using Freefilesync. Now you have double coverage in case one of your USB backup disks fails. Remember, hard drives will fail. The question is when, not if.

Got this from thetop10bestonlinebackup.com
Acronis True Image:Summary:

The basics are there, but it will take a lot of improvements to make this product a contender in what is a highly competitive market.
Ease Of Use:

Acronis Online is easy to install and the user interface is smooth, simple and familiar. The Set and Forget process is straight forward meaning that if nothing else your files will be effortlessly backed up.
Customer Support:

I genuinely think that Acronis True Image think that by filling their customer support page with endless tabs, options and FAQ they are doing you a favour. They aren’t. Their system is cluttered, time consuming and ultimately unhelpful. There is no telephone support for technical support or customer care and they estimate a 3 day turn around on email help. When compared other providers in the market, these times and provisions just don’t cut it.

I have used Acronis for quite a while. It saved my bacon a few times! Ran into serious problems with 2011 and got no real support. Tried out a few others, but pursued Acronis at the VP level and they responded by upgrading me to 2012 which has done the job. 2013, I don't know if I'll upgrade or not. What more would it give me over 2012?

I've been using Mac Reflect for system images. Only takes 20 minutes to backup 68 gigs. I also use Genie Timeline free to backup files and folders. It auto backs up every eight hours. Skydrive is a great cloud based backup option, I couldn't do without.

StorageCraft's ShadowProtect stacks up much better in the estimations of many administrators using the SMB versions. The desktop version is supposed to be better and more reliable than Acronis too, from what I've heard.

WOW I guess this surely opened up a can of worms! At least it forumed options for better choices, of which seems to be the case.