Acronis True Image 2020

[Grem]

But this version is the full version, correct? IOW, if I never had it, this will install full version, right? That's how I understood when I got it.

[DaGeek]

22 minutes ago, cclarry said:

Yes...Acronis True Image is like a Subscription...you get all updates and upgrades for 1 year.
So, if you had 2020, and it expired in Oct., after Oct you would no longer get updates
or upgrades...

My account shows 2021: PERPETUAL LICENSE after the free upgrade... so to be clear it should never stop working but you are correct - no more updates or upgrades.

I will probably sit on this version for a few years at least.

[Larry Shelby]

4 hours ago, Grem said:

But this version is the full version, correct? IOW, if I never had it, this will install full version, right? That's how I understood when I got it.

Correct Grem....it is the FULL version - not an "upgrade"

Edited August 31, 2020 by cclarry

[abacab]

13 hours ago, cclarry said:

Yes...Acronis True Image is like a Subscription...you get all updates and upgrades for 1 year.
So, if you had 2020, and it expired in Oct., after Oct you would no longer get updates
or upgrades...

OK that makes more sense! Really a perpetual license, but with a subscription for support and updates.

I tried Acronis many moons ago when I installed it on my Dad's PC. I set up a hidden restore partition (Acronis Secure Zone) with a custom baseline system image, so that if he ever needed to he could restore the system back to "like new" with one button push. That was back in the Win XP days, and from what I can see you have to use bootable rescue media to restore disk images now. Back then there was a key that you could hit during booting that launched the Acronis rescue environment where you could restore an image from the Secure Zone.

I liked that feature best because he was not that tech savvy, and I was providing remote support from over 500 miles away...

Edited September 1, 2020 by abacab
Added info about Acronis Secure Zone

[Grem]

@Larry ShelbyHow did you get the free upgrade to 2021? 

I just installed and got it activated. Wondering how to get the free upgrade.

[Larry Shelby]

3 hours ago, Grem said:

@Larry ShelbyHow did you get the free upgrade to 2021? 

I just installed and got it activated. Wondering how to get the free upgrade.

Go here and enter your serial # Grem
https://www.acronis.com/en-us/homecomputing/trueimage/free-upgrade/check_2021.html

[Mesh]

Bought this a week or so ago, but forgot to install....better get on it this weekend.

[simon]

my backup solution is a bit makeshift - is True Image any good ?  I don't want anything sitting in the background taking up CPU resources when I'm recording.....

[Grem]

6 hours ago, Larry Shelby said:

Go here and enter your serial # Grem

 

 

 

That did it. Thank you very much Larry!!

13 minutes ago, simon said:

my backup solution is a bit makeshift - is True Image any good ?  I don't want anything sitting in the background taking up CPU resources when I'm recording.....

 

 

 

I have used the full version of Acronis on my music computers since version 12. Depending on how you set it up, I have never had it interfere with my recording. I have more trouble out of Win10 messing with my settings after an update.

I have used Acronis longer than from version 12. It would come bundled on floppies with HDs that I would buy I believe. All I know is I got it for free. never paid for it until version 12.

Use Disk Director too.

[Fret Flintstone]

12 hours ago, simon said:

my backup solution is a bit makeshift - is True Image any good ?  I don't want anything sitting in the background taking up CPU resources when I'm recording.....

Just don't install it. Download the bootable ISO file, burn it to CD, then when you want to backup you just boot to that CD follow the instructions, same if you need to reinstate. Easy as, never had an issue.

I prefer to do it manually than have stuff running in the background doing God knows what when I don't want. Much prefer to take control myself, also I prefer doing this sort of stuff 'offline',  not within a running OS.

[Hillmy]

You do know anything Windows 7 and higher you can make a system image for free included in Windows! I have been using it since I got my new PC this year. Making a system image and restoring one is quick and easy. I see it similar to anti-virus software the way how it is now included with Windows 10. Sure if you need tons of features or not tech savvy at all something you buy may "help" you. But It's not necessary. 

[simon]

33 minutes ago, Hillmy said:

You do know anything Windows 7 and higher you can make a system image for free included in Windows! I have been using it since I got my new PC this year. Making a system image and restoring one is quick and easy. I see it similar to anti-virus software the way how it is now included with Windows 10. Sure if you need tons of features or not tech savvy at all something you buy may "help" you. But It's not necessary. 

Yes - that's what I normally use and it works ok...it's just not hugely user friendly (and I'm a tech guy !) - restoring individual files is fairly painful for example.  The 'progress bar' is basically a fantasy so you have no idea how long it has left to run....  It hasn't been updated since win7 days and it's basically abandoned by MS.   I using rsync to do the various data drives but as I say it's slow, clumsy and painful.   This means I don't back up as often as I should.  

I could probably script the whole thing but I'm not sure I have the time/inclinatinon.

I'll probably keep using this system as a 2nd backup but I'd like a "press one button" type solution too as it seems True Image likes to store stuff in it's own data format.

I like the idea of putting in a CD - pressing a few buttons/clicks and walking away for a few hours.  A full, bear metal, disaster recovery plan....just don't want anything else running on my PC...especially something that embeds itself into the operating system like True Image seems like it does.  Just bought a boxed version on amazon for £24 in the UK - seems cheap enough to try out..

MS need to copy TimeMachine (for mac) or something but they really don't want to include a proper backup solution any more.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-in/windows/deployment/planning/windows-10-deprecated-features

from 1709

"System Image Backup (SIB) SolutionWe recommend that users use full-disk backup solutions from other vendors."

 

[antler]

2 hours ago, simon said:

but they really don't want to include a proper backup solution any more.

Probably because they'll get anti-trust lawsuits slapped on them. Look at what happened with IE (disregard the fact that it's a rubbish browser) - they included it with Windows and were then forced to put in a 'choose your browser' thinggy after it got too popular.

[John Bradley]

Yet somehow two companies are allowed near total control over what you can and cannot do on 99% of the smartphone market.

As MS learned too late, it's important the lobby (aka, buy) the government before engaging in certain monopolistic practices.

 

Also, on topic: Macrium Reflect Free Edition does everything anyone might need. Been using it for many years.

Edited September 12, 2020 by John Bradley

[abacab]

6 hours ago, simon said:

I'll probably keep using this system as a 2nd backup but I'd like a "press one button" type solution too as it seems True Image likes to store stuff in it's own data format.

For imaging, I prefer a "press one button" approach, or even a scheduled approach to taking an image.

Windows 7 image is not that. Like you said, it can be so hands on that it's a pain to use.

But I have noticed that all 3rd party backup images use a proprietary file format for the image file. To mount and read them, you need to use a proprietary program from the backup program manufacturer because Windows can't do that by itself with 3rd party images.

But Windows 10 uses .vhdx format for image files, which  can be mounted and accessed directly  on the Windows file system, without extra software. Drag and drop copies of files and folders from the image file directly to wherever you need them. So even though I use better imaging products on a regular basis, I still take a Windows 7 image about once a month. Just as insurance. Belt and suspenders. ?

[Hillmy]

2 minutes ago, abacab said:

For imaging, I prefer a "press one button" approach, or even a scheduled approach to taking an image.

Windows 7 image is not that. Like you said, it can be so hands on that it's a pain to use.

But I have noticed that all 3rd party backup images use a proprietary file format for the image file. To mount and read them, you need to use a proprietary program from the backup program manufacturer because Windows can't do that by itself with 3rd party images.

But Windows 10 uses .vhdx format for image files, which  can be mounted and accessed directly  on the Windows file system, without extra software. Drag and drop copies of files and folders from the image file directly to wherever you need them. So even though I use better imaging products on a regular basis, I still take a Windows 7 image about once a month. Just as insurance. Belt and suspenders. ?

I use Windows 10. Maybe that's why it's easier for me. Also, I just need the basics. ?

[simon]

18 minutes ago, Hillmy said:

I use Windows 10. Maybe that's why it's easier for me. Also, I just need the basics. ?

I'm on windows 10 too - and the windows 'backup' is actually the windows 7 one - they never bothered to update it...in fact they only kept it in there to keep the upgraders happy.

Obviously what @abacab says is true - you can mount the .vhdx image and browse it to restore individual files.  But it's not as 'one click' as I'd like.   

Just been trying out True Image by booting from a DVD recovery disk - and will probably give that a go.  I assume it will be faster than the windows 7 backup - which takes ages on my system (SSD/5ghz cpu !). 

Really I want a simple incremental backup system that runs automatically as I don't change the system much ...apart from all this stupid software I keep buying.  One click.  (Time Machine for the mac does this beautifully)

@abacab what do you recommend ?....my paranoia is installing software that runs a million invasive background tasks.  My PC runs so beautifully at 32 samples latency I don't want anything on there that will ruin it.  

 

[abacab]

1 hour ago, simon said:

what do you recommend ?....my paranoia is installing software that runs a million invasive background tasks.  My PC runs so beautifully at 32 samples latency I don't want anything on there that will ruin it. 

I understand the desire to avoid any extra background processes if you have achieved such low latency. I don't know what to recommend there except  by doing offline images, or using the Windows 7 image utility.

I don't know any way to avoid background tasks if you want to run an autopilot  backup schedule. I just put up with the extra tasks for the convenience.

And I have never bothered with incremental images. I have only ever used the "full" image option, where each image file is a self contained copy of the drive. And I usually retain two or three copies. It only takes me about 40 minutes to take a full image of a 500GB SSD with 240GB used space. That is fast enough for me when I can continue using the PC while the image is running in the background.

As far as Windows 7 image goes, it seems that it doesn't use  an intelligent sector copying method. That means it probably copies everything (the unused sectors) as well. The image file size is larger and takes longer that way. I don't run it that often, but I do like to keep an extra copy of my system drive on hand in that format.

 

[Grem]

9 hours ago, simon said:

restoring individual files

This is why I still use Acronis.

9 hours ago, simon said:

True Image likes to store stuff in it's own data format.

It always has since I started using it

 

9 hours ago, simon said:

putting in a CD - pressing a few buttons/clicks and walking away for a few hours.  A full, bear metal, disaster recovery plan....just don't want anything else running on my PC...especially something that embeds itself into the operating system like True Image seems like it does.

I wondered about that when I first started using it. But other tech friends I know told me don't worry about it. It won't mess with the system. And in all the years of using it, it never came up as a cause for my trouble, nor have I ever thought about uninstallinng it. In fact, with the last three or four builds, it's the first thing I install right after Windows. I take a full clean image in case I need a new starting point. BTW, I have never used that image on any of my music machines. ?

1 hour ago, simon said:

Really I want a simple incremental backup system that runs automatically as I don't change the system much ...apart from all this stupid software I keep buying.  One click.

That's what Acronis does for me. And I could have kept using the older version, I was still on v17, but I want to stay updated as best I can and this price was a no brainer!!  I started out buying v10 (not 12), then going to v12, then v17, and now v21. So I don't always keep it up to date. 

 

14 minutes ago, abacab said:

I don't know any way to avoid background tasks if you want to run an autopilot  backup schedule. I just put up with the extra tasks for the convenience.

Exactly. In fact there is only one thing that Acronis does that sometimes gets under my skin is when I go to restart or shut down, Acronis will tell me that it has to shut down a task it was doing before machine can shut down or restart. And that can take up to a minute.