Disappointed with Acronis ver. 8.

[algae1]

Acronis Backup has done a "stellar" (sarcastic) job of backing up my files. The user interface is easy to figure out and my wife who has a photography business and does a lot of work in Photoshop and hence backs up every day.
However, backing up is one thing...restoring is another. Last week she had a hd go out and after replacing it I figure no big deal, I'll just reimage the drive with the Acronis backup .tib files on her external hd.
Errors were encountered while reimaging the drive so I eventually gave up and decided to just reinstall Windows and Apps and then drag and drop data folders and files from the Acronis image. Even this was sporadic. Although I could "see" most of the folders that were supposed to be within the image, a lot of them were empty and the ones that were not encountered I/O errors when trying to copy them to the new hd. All in all it has been a nightmare and I would be hard pressed to recommend this software. I'm sure somehow this is user error but a user shouldn't have to have a crystal ball to see if backup software will work as it should.
Comments and/or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks for reading.
Gary

 

[linney]

Did the original hard drive have a problem or was it a connection or other type of problem that is now being repeated on the new hard drive?

The drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic software that will thoroughly check out your hard drive.

Can you copy smaller files from the Acronis image to a floppy or USB device to eliminate the above suggestion? Do you have the same problem if you try to copy these files to another machine?

There is a forum specific to Acronis where you may get better, more specific, help about your problem.

http://www.wilderssecurity.com

 

[algae1]

Yes I think the original drive went out...but very suddenly. However Acronis' image verified fine.
Basically at this point I just want to go to another software.


G.

 

[kurtismonger]

algae1,

I know this isn't any help now, but never trust those backup verification things in the backup software. I always insist on acutally attempting a real world recovery when setting up a new backup system or upgrading existing backup software.

As for software, I'm not affliated with them, but JAM Software's SmartBackup is great. There's a free version, but I recommend you buy so you can get updates,etc.

 

[linney]

How to Set up and Use Automated System Recovery in Windows XP

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/itpro/managing/asr.asp

You may need a second partition for ASR to work properly.


Image for Windows

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/imagew.html

 

[drew1701d]

If acronis had more verbose logging of the backup I'd be much more satisfied, though I'm complacent with the way version 9 has helped me out of Jam's in the past, just know, any backup software solution you goto is likely going to give you the same results when backing up a hard drive that is silently dying, which is what i think you encountered, in your final backup was merely a backup of bad sectors, hence the corrupted data.

"I'm certifiable, not certified. It just means my answers are from experience...not a book

 

[algae1]

Yes you are probably right. Thanks for the replies.

Gary

 

[Pleonasm]

Algae1, I personally use and recommend the Symantec Ghost 10 product (see

http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/backup_recovery/ghost10/index.html).