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Features of Acronis True Image Home

The Acronis computer backup and imaging program is loaded with a multitude of features to keep your data safe and secure.  The One-Click protection scheme is a perfect way to image and backup your computer.  There are many different options available to give you more control over what, when and how Acronis True Image Home can keep your data protected.  We will explore those options here.

We have already compiled a full review of imaging and restoring a computer using the One-Click protection scheme that works very well but let’s see what else this utility has to offer.  This is the main interface of an older version of Acronis True Image Home.

Clicking on the backup tab gives you the backup options to back up your computer in any way that you choose.  If you choose to back up My Computer, you can back up the entire system which enables you to restore the system in minutes in case of a system crash or hardware failure.  The My Data option backs up files, folders, documents, video, etc.  There are different categories representing all associated file types found on the computer.  You can also choose to backup the System State, your Email and Application Settings from this screen.

Clicking on each option gives you a screen similar to the following screenshot.  From here you can set up each individual task any way that make you feel your data is safe.  You can schedule the tasks to run at any interval you need.  You can choose to do a Full, Incremental or Differential backup. 

The tools that give you the most control over your backups are located under the Backup options button.  Here is where you can choose to totally control the way the backup tasks run.  You can choose to password protect your archives and add Pre/Post commands to run along with the backup task.  As the following screen shows, you can choose the compression level of the backup.  The higher the compression ratio, the smaller the backup size, however, the process may take longer.

The Backup options of Acronis True Image Home allows you to choose the backup performance as far as the priority of the task and the Hard Drive Write Speed. You can also choose to be notified by email when the backup task is complete.  It also allows you to split the archives in case you want to store the archive on a DVD or other media instead of an external drive. 

The Backup options allow you to preserve your file level security settings.  You can specify whether to preserve security settings of the files in the archive.  If you do not specify, they will be set to default values on a restore.  You can also configure the error handling capabilities of the ATI backup creation process.  There are additional settings allowing you to validate the backup archive when it is created.  As the following screen shot shows, you can also make a reserve copy of the backup in different file formats.  You can use the .TIB format that Acronis uses to create the backup archive, the ZIP format or just keep it in a Flat File format.  

The tools menu is where you can take advantage of all of the features of Acronis True Image Home.  Here is where you can activate the Acronis Startup Recovery Manger, Create your Bootable Media and manage the Acronis Secure Zone.  There are also helpful tools to help you clone a hard dive or add a new hard drive.  Clicking on the options will give you even more features of the ATI utility.

Under the options screen you can choose which Acronis media components to backup with your archive.  If you are saving backed up data on a removable media, you can place Acronis components on the media.  It gives you the option to choose any or all of the Acronis products you may have installed on your computer along with the Acronis Bootable Agent that will allow you to boot from the media you create.

The ease of how you can create and restore an image, backup files and system settings, makes Acronis True Image Home a very valuable backup utility to protect you data.  See our full review of the imaging and restoration process. Acronis True Image Home 2013 has just been released and there are some great new features available to keep your data fully protected at all times.