Create a Bootable CD using Acronis True Image Home

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Creating a Bootable CD using Acronis True Image

Acronis True Image comes with a handy feature to create a bootable CD in case of a total hard drive or operating system crash. This media will allow you to boot from a CD or other bootable media to restore your computer from an image if it becomes so unstable that it will not boot. This is also very handy to use if you have a physical hard drive failure and need to restore the image to a new drive. It is also used as an easy way to upgrade your hard drive.

This CD will be created using the Windows Vista Ultimate operating system.

The easiest way to perform this task is to go to the tools menu and click on the Create a Bootable Rescue Media option from the menu.

Click on Create a Bootable Rescue Media from the Tools Menu

The Acronis Media Builder is a wizard that will help you create a bootable media with the Acronis components that you select.

The Acronis Media Builder

I chose to install all of the components that I could to make this CD versatile to use for other Acronis tasks. I have the Acronis Disk Director installed so I have that option to put on the bootable CD. Of course, I chose to put the Acronis True Image Home full version on the CD. I also chose to put the Acronis Bootable Agent on the bootable CD. The bootable agent includes drivers for USB devices, PC Cards, and SCSI hard disks. Adding the Acronis Bootable Agent to the CD is strongly recommended. The Bootable Agent also allows you to access the computer remotely using the Acronis True Image Management Console.

Select the Contents for the Bootable Media

There are other options available like adding remote logon settings and network settings for remote management.

The Media Builder Options

The Bootable Media selection screen is where you choose what type of bootable media you want to create. This screen will give every available option that is available on your computer. You can even create an .ISO image and a USB drive.

Select the Type of Media to Create

This screenshot shows what the Acronis Media Builder is going to do.

Actions to be Performed by the Acronis Media Builder

When the bootable Rescue CD was finished, it told me so. It is always a good idea to try the bootable CD before the time comes that you may really need it to recover your computer. This is the first screen you will see when booting from the Acronis bootable CD. This screen will vary depending on the options you chose to include on the bootable CD. It shows you a menu of all the installed options. All of these programs can be run from the Acronis Rescue Media.
I wanted to make sure the Rescue CD could indeed rescue the computer from a crash so I chose the Acronis True Image Home option to test restore process of the image that was created in the previous review.

Select Acronis True Image Home from the Menu

Select the image created.

Select the Image you Want to Restore

Select what you want to restore from the image.

Select what to Restore from the Image

The next screen shows you a summary of the tasks the utility will perform. The following screen lets you proceed with the restoration of the image. Once the image is restores, the computer boots to the state it was in when the image was created. The Acronis True Image bootable CD is easy to create and use but most importantly, it can be a lifesaver if your computer crashes to the point that it will not boot.

The most important thing to remember is to test the bootable CD before it is needed. Acronis True Image Home is a recommended and trusted backup and imaging program but every system is different so there is the slight chance that it may not work. Create the bootable CD and test the restore process before a disaster arises.

Acronis True Image 2010

Acronis True Image 2010 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 2010. 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 2010 here. Download a free trial of the Newest Version.

Post your Questions or Comments about Acronis True Image Home

Comments	Date
By RAM	2009-11-04 13:37:02
THANK
By redbeard	2009-09-24 11:19:16
that's great thanks
By Bill	2009-09-10 10:08:19
Not sure this is the correct forum but I need to have a way to have a bootable CD with the restore file (disk image) on it. After boot up i would like to automatically restore the hard drive using the disk image on the bootable CD. Is this possible?
By Randy	2009-09-05 09:39:42
Chris - It is possible but not feasible. The image file is too large to fit on a CD or a DVD. You could span the image to burn it on several DVD’s but it is much easier to use an external hard drive.
By Chris	2009-09-04 10:48:27
Is there any way to create the boot disk so that it includes the backup file? If this is possible the CD would truly be a complete rescue CD. Without the backup file on the CD you have to save it, and then access it, from elsewhere.
By ratheesh	2009-08-12 20:11:06
exellent
By Howard	2009-07-15 07:53:51
I find that making a backup using the Bootable CD shows estimates over 1 day, and when runing Acronis from the booted Vista system shows 4 hours. I prefer to use the bootable CD, as one is certain to get a static picture of the system with no files open or changing - the best way. Whether Vista is booted or I am using the Acronis boot CD, I keep all USB devices unplugged except for my external hard drive to make sure USB 2.0 speed will be used. My guess is that my Western Digital external 1 TB hard drive is not using USB 2.0 speeds when using the bootable Acronis CD. Why? I don't know. I disconnect all USB devices except external hard drive, and then boot up the Acronis CD. Any ideas/suggestions?
By Randy	2009-07-05 10:09:44
No the boot CD will not do any damage to your computer. It will just start the Acronis True Image program if it is working properly. Once you know that is working, you can just pop the CD out and reboot with no harm done. ATI is short for Acronis True Image. There are many different ways to access a computer bios and it all depends on your computer model. Just do an Internet search for something like this: boot from CD (your computer model) and that should point you in the right direction. Hope this helps.
By raj	2009-07-05 00:49:13
that good but we wanna free for life time.
By Tong	2009-07-04 20:19:02
Thanks Randy, I want to double check, once I create the boot CD, and place it in my CD drive, then reboot. If something goes wrong, would this affect my computer? if it does funny things, I turn it off, and restart my pc, can it still back to normal? So if there is something wrong with the CD, would it have any chances to mess up my computer? Also what is ATI? Where can I find my bio setting if I want to make some changes? How do I know the boot CD is working ok ? Thanks So Much !!