TSGL: Acronis Full HDD Backup Question

[Don Penlington]

Lee wrote:
>the Acronis manual indicates that doing a full HDD
> > backup will include ALL files on the HDD, including the OS (Vista
> > Premium Home version is on my new desktop).  When I look at the files
> > stored on the external HDD, how can I tell whether the Vista OS is
> > included??  When I look at the files, I can't tell what is what.  How
> > can I tell if the OS itself is included in the backup??>>


A backup is different from making an image. You will not be able to 
reinstall the OS from a simple backup, as the registry will not be properly 
indexed or "addressed" to connect to the separate files. The NTFS file 
system contains unique physical addresses on the HD for every file, and 
these won't be duplicated on a backup copy.

If you have the original Vista installation disk, a backup is possibly all 
you need, as you could reinstall onto a new HD from the Vista disk. But 
that won't restore all your current settings, and you'd have to reinstall 
all your programs and drivers.

If you wanted to replace your entire HD onto a new HD, with Vista intact 
with all your settings etc, you would need to make an IMAGE of the HD in 
Acronis.  An image is different from a backup, in that it replaces the HD 
in all respects, with everything replaced in its exact same address, so 
that the new HD is an exact replica or clone of the old one, with all your 
settings and installations intact.

Acronis can do that, but you must make an image, not a backup.

The Acronis image file will be a compressed .tib file, which is proprietary 
to Acronis. As far as I know, you can't see the actual contents. (Acronis 
might have the facility to enable you to see the contents, but I haven't 
looked).  When you open the .tib file, Acronis will take over and ask you 
whether and where you want to restore.

If you can see the files, I think you've made a backup instead of an image. 
So, although you have a copy of the OS individual files, they won't be much 
use to you in case of a failure. It's like a jigsaw puzzle before all the 
pieces are assembled.

In brief----- a copy or backup is like an unassembled jigsaw puzzle. It's 
only good for replacing missing pieces. An image, or clone, is like an 
assembled jigsaw puzzle.

Don Penlington


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