Creating a Hard Drive Image using Acronis
True Image
Acronis True Image Home 2011 has just been released; we will have a review of True Image 2011 shortly. Acronis has added New Windows 7 Integration to enable seamless integration into the Windows control panel. Friendlier user interfaces makes it easier than ever to backup and restore your data.
For the sake of this review of Acronis True Image, lets say that I have just spent hours loading Windows XP on a new computer. I used Windows Update to install all 93 security updates, loaded and tweaked all of my applications to get them just the way I need them to be able to have my computer function exactly the way I like it. I do not want to do that job again any time soon. Another scenario would be that you are about to try something that you are not sure will work, like trying the latest and greatest video driver, and it has the possibility of crashing your computer. If you need to upgrade your hard drive without reinstalling Windows, this is the easiest way to get the job done.
The first thing that needs to be done is to take an exact image of the hard drive just in case it crashes or you accidentally step in some scumware and do not feel like taking the two hours it probably would take to remove it. The tool for the job is Acronis True Image. Here is the step-by-step tutorial or walkthrough of Acronis True Image in action.
Although there are many different ways to image a hard drive, the easiest way to image a computer hard drive is to use the Acronis True Image hard drive cloning utility.
The installation is a snap. The defaults work just fine. When you open the program, you will see the user interface below with a lot of options to manage and protect all of those megabytes and gigabytes.
We want to take an exact image of the hard drive. For that task, click on the Backup option on the program interface.
Then choose the "My Computer" option on the folowing screen.
Acronis True Image will analyze the configuration and have you choose which partition to make a backup image of. Choose your main partition to image.
Then you will be asked where you want to store the image. In this case, there are two hard drives installed in the computer so I will choose the Data drive to store the image.
Then we will have it create a full backup archive.
You can just use the defaults on the next few screens and then you will come to the following screen. True Image is basically telling you what it is going to do. Double check this screen to make sure that all the backup options are correct and then click proceed.
You then will see a progress indicator for a short time. The following screenshot is the operation in progress. You notice that you can still be working at your computer while the image is being taken.
When the image has been successfully created, you will see the following prompt.
Go to the location where the image was created to see the image file.
That file should be stored in a safe place away from the computer. There are many home computer backup scenarios to consider but just remember to backup your files regularly. I recommend using an online backup solution. Whatever you choose to do with it, choose a safe location for it so if the computer crashes, the image file will not be lost. What is a Hard Drive Crash? Now if the computer does crash or maybe you step in some scumware or something, you can restore it to the original state in a matter of minutes. Even if you just want to upgrade your hard drive without reinstalling your Operating System, this image will work on a bigger hard drive too!
On a scale of Bytes to Brontobytes, the Acronis True Image disk imaging process gets a Brontobyte. It just works.
The next review shows just how easy Acronis makes it to restore the image.
Another review shows you how to make a bootable CD in case your system is unbootable and you need to restore the image.
Acronis
True Image 2011 - Complete disk imaging and system
disk backup for home PCs
Acronis True Image 2011
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Acronis True Image 2011 has just been released with some exciting new features to keep your data safer than ever. The hard drive backup and imaging program still has all of the useful features as before with some great improvements including virtual hard drive support and the Universal Restore feature which allows you to restore an image to dissimilar hardware or a virtual machine. See our Full Review of Acronis True Image Home. True Image now supports Windows 7 and includes an online backup solution to keep your files safe, secure and available. See the Review of all of the new features of Acronis True Image Home here. Download a free trial of the Newest Version.
 $49.99
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Acronis True Image 2011 Plus Pack
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The Acronis Plus Pack incorporates features that were until now only available in the Acronis Corporate editions. The add on feature adds the power to restore images to dissimilar hardware, Dynamic Disk Support to restore dynamic volumes easily and the added Microsoft Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) Support to speed up your recovery process. The Plus Pack makes the move to a new computer a breeze.
$29.99
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The image you make with Acronis True Image should be stored in a safe spot away from the physical computer. We recommend a large flash drive, an external hard drive or an online backup solution. Check some of our recommended storage solutions.
See some External Hard Drives>>
See some Flash Drives>>
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