Free imaging software

Topic

New Reply

Hi all,

This thread was prompted by Peter S. and his “Is all of this REALLY necessary?” in this forum and by Ted Myers when I asked what he used for an imaging back-up software. He uses Acronis at a very good price of $29.

However, I want to investigate some of the free imaging software that might be available for download before I buy.

Here are some of the key features that would be important to me. It must back-up the OS (Win 7 64 bit). It must have the option to back up to re-writable CD or re-writable DVD. Use a small footprint when installing and not use very much system resources if it runs in the background. If it sounds like I’m asking for too much, that’s what I want to know.

Other features that would be nice but not mandatory:
Sector Backup
Differential Backup
Mount Images
Selective Restore
Schedule Task
Hot Backup or on the fly

By the way, I ‘m using Paragon’s Backup & Recovery Free Edition as a guide line. It’s the only one that I took the time to look at so far.
My main objective is to get other people’s opinions on perhaps Paragon’s free program or any others that might be out there.

Any replies will be appreciated.

Reply | Quote

Replies

Macrium Reflect free has all of the above accept differential backup. It also does not have any image management features. Look up the Twin thread to Ted’s here:

http://lounge.windowssecrets.com/index.php?showtopic=776749

Reply | Quote

One thing that Acronis includes also that I am not sure is available with Macrium is Try and Decide, which is a virtual environment to try apps you are not sure about. Fred has written about this feature in Acronis True Image Home 2010. It sounds very much like the virtual environments from VMWare and XP Mode, etc. Check it out.

The next image is from the help file for Acronis.

This may be what some of you are looking for. An Image app that has a virtual environment as one of it’s features.

Reply | Quote

Here are some of the key features that would be important to me.

Other features that would be nice but not mandatory:
Sector Backup
Differential Backup
Mount Images
Selective Restore
Schedule Task
Hot Backup or on the fly
Any replies will be appreciated.

Norm,
Hello… Here is my 2cents. I have tried Paragon Free Imaging and Clonezilla , also free. I have used and paid for Acronis True Image Home Since.. V -10 (10 Was freebie) Yes “TI” has some bugs …depending on your “OS” Both that i have tried work to some form or fashion… but neither does or even comes close to TI. I don’t want to sound like a Acronis “PR” man so I’ll give you just the important points
1. TI 2010 v-7046 can Image my 25GB “OS” (Approx) in just 7 minutes AND THAT’S WITH VERIFICATION ! (new engine) Now tell me about your “freebies”
2. Acronis has a function called “Try& Decide” you can run your “OS” in a virtual mode to test programs and updates ,patches , etc . Also can survive a Re-boot. (continues in “T&D” mode).
3. Plus all that you have mentioned, and much more.
Even if you can’t “catch a deal” it’s worth every “FRN” (Federal Reserve Note … not real money)
Imaging is the most important software that a “serious” PC owner ( not sure who really owns who ) can have !… So my opinion…. don’t “cheap out”! Regards Fred

Reply | Quote

Norm,

Yeah, what Fred said!

I’ve been an Acronis fan since TI version 8. I just upgraded to TI Home 2010 last night and can’t believe how fast it images. They’ve also greatly improved the user interface. This is a bargain even at full retail. I’m all for Free but when it comes to my backups reliability and performance is what really matters and TI delivers on both counts.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

Reply | Quote

In case you haven’t realized, I am also in the Acronis corner. I did try Macrium Reflect previously and was not as impressed with the user interface. The Acronis True Image Home 2010 is made for serious use by serious PCers. At $29 it’s a steal, and you may be able to find it with a nice mail in rebate. The rebate Newegg was offering expired on the 21st, but I have to believ there will be more.

Reply | Quote

Hi Norm – I also started using Acronis TI 2010 a few months ago. The price was almost free at $9.99 (after rebate) from Newegg. I get the feeling that Acronis is going to be releasing version 2011 soon.

Ted’s and mercyh’s (see post #2 above) threads in the other Forum are so very useful and informative on the “imaging” topic.
You can link to Ted’s thread here http://lounge.windowssecrets.com/index.php?showtopic=776527.

Free is nice, but paying for something that really does the job is nicer.

Another nice feature is the ease to create a bootable Rescue CD.

That’s my two cents worth !!!

Tim

Reply | Quote

One thing that Acronis includes also that I am not sure is available with Macrium is Try and Decide

Nope, not available in Macrium. This is sounds like a nice feature in that it allows you to use the new program with your exact setup and takes the “geekiness” out of using a virtual machine.

Reply | Quote

Nope, not available in Macrium. This is sounds like a nice feature in that it allows you to use the new program with your exact setup and takes the “geekiness” out of using a virtual machine.

I have yet to try this, but the more I read about it, the more it sounds like something I will be trying shortly. I have been using Sandboxie to run websites I have never visited as a virtual environment, but Sandboxie for 64 Bit just requests an app run in a virtual mode, it does not require it so I have only used it for surfing. It sounds as though the Try and Decide may force these apps into a virtual mode, which does sound safer. It is definitely worth exploring.

Reply | Quote

I have yet to try this, but the more I read about it, the more it sounds like something I will be trying shortly. I have been using Sandboxie to run websites I have never visited as a virtual environment, but Sandboxie for 64 Bit just requests an app run in a virtual mode, it does not require it so I have only used it for surfing. It sounds as though the Try and Decide may force these apps into a virtual mode, which does sound safer. It is definitely worth exploring.

Just reading the “help” information in your prior post I’d be very reluctant to use “Try & Decide” as a virtual environment. It does not create a virtual environment as this is typically known. It creates a workspace using your current OS. Therefore, what you do is not really isolated as evidenced by the performance hit mentioned. A real VM environment (real VM ? ) has a very small performance hit. If I’m going to use a VM for testing I want true VM software not something in between.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Just reading the “help” information in your prior post I’d be very reluctant to use “Try & Decide” as a virtual environment. It does not create a virtual environment as this is typically known. It creates a workspace using your current OS.

Joe ,
Hello, OK so its not really an actual “virtual environment” .. but lets not get caught up in splitting hairs .. and look at what the program can do… “Try & Decide ” Is a One Click Wonder , no special set up involved. It will operate inside the “Secure Zone” if you happen to have that installed.If not you can specify what drive that you wish it to use. I have run in the T&D mode for hours and can even do and survive a re-boot, as some programs need to finish installing. Still in the T&D mode you then can test out the program or MS “Update” or MS “Patch”… you could run for days if you wanted to. Then with one click you can discard the “whole ball of wax” as if it never existed in the first place. nothing (sounds virtual enough to me) .. to me that’s pretty impressive. The program does have a few bugs associated with it but i use a simple “work around” I would not hesitate to recommend this to any one with a PC , who wants to preview software or patches or updates, without risking your “OS”. All in all T&D is a great tool to have in your bag of tricks. Regards Fred

PS: If you into surfing crazy web sites this tool is for you !

Reply | Quote

OK so its not really an actual “virtual environment” .. but lets not get caught up in splitting hairs .. and look at what the program can do… “Try & Decide ” Is a One Click Wonder , no special set up involved. It will operate inside the “Secure Zone” if you happen to have that installed.If not you can specify what drive that you wish it to use.

If freely admit I only know what I’ve read here about T&D. But it appears to me that T&D takes over your PC and you can’t run programs in “normal” mode when T&D is running. Also, it appears that T&D makes a copy of the OS which may be a license violation.

I don’t consider it splitting hairs when it is NOT a virtual environment that is isolated from the host OS. As far as your host OS and other PCs are concerned the VM & guest OS is a different PC. This does not appear to be the case with T&D and to me is an important distinction.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Wow! It looks like Acronis is by far the most popular and I will most likely go with that since it’s so highly recommended by the likes of Fred, Ted and others. As Tim Sullivan mentioned, maybe I should wait for the 2011 version. I wonder if updates are free or available at reduced price for current users? Also I never thought about looking for rebates or coupons. Thanks for the tip, Tim.

I may try the freebies just out of curiosity but I think it’s a done deal for me to get Acronis! I tend to agree with Joe about the Try & Decide feature. However, it certainly is better than just loading a new program and hoping it does not hose your system.

Thanks to all who gave their opinions.

Reply | Quote

Try Shadow Protect – and then wonder why anyone recommends Acronis! (not that I’m biased, or anything…)

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

Reply | Quote

Try Shadow Protect – and then wonder why anyone recommends Acronis! (not that I’m biased, or anything…)

We’re also talking nearly $90.00! ????

Thanks, but no thanks.

Reply | Quote

shadow protect can boot any image of a bootable partion directly in SUN virtual box without any messing around…..

(If you like the virtual environment)

Reply | Quote

Hello – Just a note of caution about conflicts between Acronis and StorageCraft’s Shadow Protect.

I asked StorageCraft about running ShadowProtect while I have Acronis installed.

Here are excerpts of StorageCraft’s responses to me on July 2, 2010 ….

“Tim

Unfortunately, Snapman.sys (Acronis) and Vsnapvss (Storagecraft) operate in the
same space attemping to perform the same function. This is a known conflict
that neither company can resolve without a major rewrite of the driver. There
is still a conflict between the 2 products.

Thank you,
Matt Hyer
StorageCraft Technical Support

*** Case Description ***

Hello – I am thinking of trying out your ShadowProtect. I currently use Acronis
True Image Home.

Will I be able to test your product without conflicts with Acronis?

Thank you,
Tim”

“TIm:

You would not only have to uninstall Acronis, but you would have to follow the
following steps to remove some components that their uninstall leaves behind.

http://www.storagecraft.com/kb/questions.php?questionid=89

Matt ”

End of quotes from their responses.

Reply | Quote

Try Shadow Protect – and then wonder why anyone recommends Acronis!

We’re also talking nearly $90.00! ????

I take it you aren’t wondering……

Reply | Quote

It is important to remember that comparing price is not the only thing in evaluating software. Acronis is currently running a “back to school” offer and StorageCraft is not. But to have roughly the same capabilities you have to add the “Plus Pack” for another $29.99 USD to your Acronis purchase. Whether or not you need the Plus Pack is your decision.

For a period of time a number of Loungers who are no longer active had an extended discussion about backup products. Several switched to ShadowProtect from Acronis TI. If you search the Lounge in the Security & Backup forum you’ll find several threads.

Note: I do not use either or these products. I’m just saying you need to compare more than just price to get an accurate picture.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

It is important to remember that comparing price is not the only thing in evaluating software. Acronis is currently running a “back to school” offer and StorageCraft is not. But to have roughly the same capabilities you have to add the “Plus Pack” for another $29.99 USD to your Acronis purchase. Whether or not you need the Plus Pack is your decision.

For a period of time a number of Loungers who are no longer active had an extended discussion about backup products. Several switched to ShadowProtect from Acronis TI. If you search the Lounge in the Security & Backup forum you’ll find several threads.

Note: I do not use either or these products. I’m just saying you need to compare more than just price to get an accurate picture.

Joe

When I acquired the Plus Pack I found it for FREE!!! Low price for ATI Home 2010 and free Plus Pack. Granted you have to search a little, and perhaps wait until the next offer comes out, but you can get the whole Acronis Kit and Kabodle for small deneros if you are patient. (I did have to take the time to write to Acronis requesting a Plus Pack discount I had found previously, but they went along since I was already an Acronis customer.)

Reply | Quote

When I acquired the Plus Pack I found it for FREE!!! Low price for ATI Home 2010 and free Plus Pack. Granted you have to search a little, and perhaps wait until the next offer comes out, but you can get the whole Acronis Kit and Kabodle for small deneros if you are patient. (I did have to take the time to write to Acronis requesting a Plus Pack discount I had found previously, but they went along since I was already an Acronis customer.)

Good for you. I’m all for saving money. I was trying to point out that it is not a simple price comparison when you are not comparing apples to apples in funtionality. Before anyone goes and buys Acronis TI I encourage them to search the “Security & Backup” forum. Read various threads. The issues discussed may be all fixed with TI 2010. Then again they may not.

If you and everyone else in this thread has had not problems with TI that is terrific. I applaud your enthusiasm for the product. I just want people to realize there are pros & cons to all programs and make an informed decision.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Oh boy…this discussion is beginning to split hairs and lose sight of the real purpose of imaging software. Basically, we want a program that will clone our system drive so, in the event of drive failure, the system can be recovered with minimum muss, fuss, and aggravation. Now we know that Norton Ghost does that. We also know that Acronis True Image does it. And it seems there are a few other programs that are also in the running, but have some additional features. For me, I could skip all the additional features and live with knowing that my computer can be recovered to exactly the way I want it in a less than an hour or so without my having to scrounge around for applications and drivers.

That’s worth gold, folks…and we don’t need to knock ourselves out trying to figure which is the best program. As long as any of them do that, it’s great. Anything more is gravy, but beyond what we really need.

Reply | Quote

Basically, we want a program that will clone our system drive so, in the event of drive failure, the system can be recovered with minimum muss, fuss, and aggravation.

For me, I could skip all the additional features and live with knowing that my computer can be recovered to exactly the way I want it in a less than an hour or so without my having to scrounge around for applications and drivers.

That’s worth gold, folks…and we don’t need to knock ourselves out trying to figure which is the best program. As long as any of them do that, it’s great. Anything more is gravy, but beyond what we really need.

Cloning and/or imaging does not guarantee you’ll be able to recover without quite a bit of effort. There are some programs that will not restore unless the hardware is substantially the same or will appear to restore but the system won’t boot. Or you may have to repair the OS. I think it is well worthwhile to discuss any number of programs which appear to do the job. Then everyone may make their own decision. But if you do not know about the pros & cons of programs how can you make an informed decision?

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

But if you do not know about the pros & cons of programs how can you make an informed decision?
Joe

Joe,
Exactly…. WELL SAID !!
Regards Fred

Reply | Quote

we don’t need to knock ourselves out trying to figure which is the best program.

But what would us old retired folks do all day?

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

Reply | Quote

I have read opinions and reviews on 4 or 5 different products recently in these forums. Some are free, some are expensive, and some in between. If after reviewing the feature set of the different products, reviewing the user reviews of the different products, reading these forums, then I believe this is an informed decision. If in this case a free or less expensive product will suit your needs, then price is a very important consideration. Some can not afford to spend $$$ on all their various apps they use.

The discussions we have had recently on Acronis and Macrium Reflect have been very extensive. Since I personally have no experience with Ghost or Shadow Protect or Paragon, I can not personally comment on those products so I have to rely on product descriptions and product reviews of other users. Some of these products have very vague reviews which does not lend a warm and cozy feeling to their use. In Norm’s case, he is doing exactly what he should be doing in investigating the various Imaging products. He has obviously read about the various products, he is reading all the various user reviews and making an informed decision. In this case the bottom line is, if all else is equal, then price matters.

It also appears that those of us who choose to use Acronis True Image Home 2010 are generally very happy with the product and express that opinion freely here. mercyh and I have gone a step further and attempted to show how easy imaging truly is so those that are holding off because they think Imaging is intimidating will jump in and try it. Images will help to cut down some of the requests for help in restoring a fudged OSes in these and other forums. I am of the firm belief that this method is a god send to those of us who like to play with our OSes.

I guess this is becomming a rant so I’ll stop now.

Reply | Quote

Can Acronis back up and install images and data between PCs over a network as Ghost does?

My Rig: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core CPU; ASUS Cross Hair VIII Formula Mobo; Win 11 Pro (64 bit)-(UEFI-booted); 32GB RAM; 2TB Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro 2TB PCIe Gen 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD. 1TB SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 NVME SSD; MSI GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X 24G OC; Microsoft 365 Home; Condusiv SSDKeeper Professional; Acronis Cyberprotect, VMWare Workstation Pro V17.5. HP 1TB USB SSD External Backup Drive). Dell G-Sync G3223Q 144Hz Monitor.

Reply | Quote

Joe P. is absolutely correct when he says that it’s important to know the pros and cons of various programs. I certainly believe that “knowledge is power” and is always useful. However, I believe that most of us are interested in recovering the computer we have when we talk of imaging. Moving to a computer with different hardware is always a challenge that, I believe, is best approached with the knowledge that it will run best when configured from scratch. Sometimes,for best results, there is no substitute for a clean install…

Reply | Quote

I have to agree with Bertie91. As long as the program does the most important job of providing a back-up then the rest is just gravy. I for one hope I never need to use the restore feature.

The arguments are very strong for Acronis. And the price is very good. However, I’m not sure about how or why I need or want the plus pack.

On another note.

I’m pretty much sold on Acronis. At the risk of opening another can of worms, I’d like to present this for discussion. Where do I buy it? Of course I can buy direct from the Acronis web site. Very safe and guaranteed at a reasonable price (most likely how I will buy it). However, out of curiosity I checked other sources. And e-Bay is always an option. Several sellers are offering Acronis at very low pricing (from $3.00 to $10) for a download version with serial number for activation. It s a risk of getting only a trial version or pirate version with a useless serial number. My question is…How bad can the risk be? If these are bogus offers wouldn’t Acronis contact E-bay to have the offers removed? Again strictly out of curiosity I also checked pirate web sites and discovered that Acronis appears to be very vigilant to catch and blacklist any serial number that might be out there. By the way I feel much more confident with Acronis knowing they are very vigilant about trying to curb bogus copies of their software. At this point its only an academic discussion since I’ll most likely buy direct. However, I will look for coupon codes or deals.

Thanks to all who have offered their opinions and comments.

Reply | Quote

I have to agree with Bertie91. As long as the program does the most important job of providing a back-up then the rest is just gravy. I for one hope I never need to use the restore feature.

The arguments are very strong for Acronis. And the price is very good. However, I’m not sure about how or why I need or want the plus pack.

Norm ,
At the risk of becoming tedious… this is my last word… Plus Pack would be useful if you “toast” your “motherboard”. Also when you have developed enough confidence in whatever “imaging” program you choose, you will be doing things that you would never have thought of doing without a backup program …. then you will be using it! ..etc…. Figure this picture is worth more than whatever i could say about “TI” Regards Fred

Reply | Quote

I have to agree with Bertie91. As long as the program does the most important job of providing a back-up then the rest is just gravy. I for one hope I never need to use the restore feature.

The arguments are very strong for Acronis. And the price is very good. However, I’m not sure about how or why I need or want the plus pack.

On another note.

I’m pretty much sold on Acronis. At the risk of opening another can of worms, I’d like to present this for discussion. Where do I buy it? Of course I can buy direct from the Acronis web site. Very safe and guaranteed at a reasonable price (most likely how I will buy it). However, out of curiosity I checked other sources. And e-Bay is always an option. Several sellers are offering Acronis at very low pricing (from $3.00 to $10) for a download version with serial number for activation. It s a risk of getting only a trial version or pirate version with a useless serial number. My question is…How bad can the risk be? If these are bogus offers wouldn’t Acronis contact E-bay to have the offers removed? Again strictly out of curiosity I also checked pirate web sites and discovered that Acronis appears to be very vigilant to catch and blacklist any serial number that might be out there. By the way I feel much more confident with Acronis knowing they are very vigilant about trying to curb bogus copies of their software. At this point its only an academic discussion since I’ll most likely buy direct. However, I will look for coupon codes or deals.

Thanks to all who have offered their opinions and comments.

Norm,

The plus pack allows your image to be placed onto an entirely different PC. To place your Image onto a new HD in the same PC, I have read that you do not need the Plus Pack, although I have never had to try this. The thread in Security and Backupsgoes into a lot more detail.

Obviously in order to place your Image onto an entirely different PC you would necessarily have to delete it from the original PC to prevent going against the EULA.

Reply | Quote

Buy ANY software from a reliable reseller (or direct) or risk throwing your money away.

I would use any of the following with confidence. (they are just too large to risk the bad publicity of shady dealings and have good policies in place to deal with customer complaints)

Newegg.com
Amazon.com
Tigerdirect.com
Buy.com
CDW.com
PCnation.com

This is by no means a complete list, however, If I check that list and find a price that is a lot lower from a “no name” reseller, I do not do business with the “no name” without extensive research.

Be aware the Amazon and Buy have many small sellers that come under their franchise name. You may need to beware if you find your search takes you to one of these, although I have never had a problem with software purchased from these sites.

Reply | Quote

I tried Acronis a couple of years ago without much luck. It created the image just fine, but after a lightning strike which hosed my computer I was unable to rebuild the machine from the image. Acronis support tried to help to no avail. After rebuilding the machine and reloading all the programs and as much of the data as I could from other backups I gave up on Acronis. Much later my son and I finally figured out the problem. My printer had a usb drive slot built in and Acronis was bound and determined that the usb drive was where it should rebuild the image, which would always fail of course.

So now I have a 1 terabyte mybook and two 360 gig mybooks on which I store backups. I can disconect them when not in use and not worry about being able to restore them. I use good battery backup ups’s which shut the machine down automatically if the power goes out. I disconnect the power cord and my internet cable from the computer during storms and don’t worry about it anymore.

Acronis was just too much hassle and it didn’t work when I needed it.

Reply | Quote

You guys have ominously left out the native Windows 7 backup and restore feature, which is quite capable in it’s own right.

Reply | Quote

You guys have ominously left out the native Windows 7 backup and restore feature, which is quite capable in it’s own right.

No “ominosity” intended.

>It has some advantages.

It is very tightly integrated with the OS and will have no problem with open files at all
It will manage backup storage space
It is free
It offers a nice notification via the flag in the tray
It is very reliable for doing automated backups (I had one customer’s machine that ran automated nightly images for over 4 months without ONE error) (I check it weekly)

>It also has some disadvantages

no compression of images as far as I can tell
Cannot mount the image to verify it without attaching it to a VM or doing a test restore

Reply | Quote

I’ve been using GHOST since it was first released around 1997. I still use Ghost 2003 today, run from a DOS boot disk.
I use it at least once a week to make full backup images of my C drive.
Just last week I tried a new program that literally Trashed my OS. Ten minutes later after booting up with my Ghost boot disk and doing a Ghost restore, I was completely back in business.

The first thing I do after setting up a new PC for myself, is to make a Ghost backup of the C: drive to D, my second partition or to another HD.

Acronis True Image works too, but for me it’s not nearly as easy and doesn’t give me the flexibility to do some things in DOS, before I make a backup.
I like to delete all the junk files off of my HD before backing it up. That keeps my backup image files neat and clean and as small as possible.

Likewise Ghost 15 run from a boot CD. It gives me no DOS options, although it does a good job of making a backup image file and putting it wherever I want it. So for this old tech, I guess I’m just stuck with either Ghost 2003 for 98, Me and XP or Ghost 11.5 for Vista and Win-7, all run from a DOS boot disk. I just can’t bring myself to back up junk!!!

Cheers Mates!
The Doctor

PS: Oh, by the way, by using Ghost Explorer in Windows, I can open up any old Ghost Image file and extract or restore any file or folder, just like pulling it out of a ZIP file. In the past 13 years, I’ve never lost one single file that was important to me. Ghost Rocks!

Reply | Quote

Norm , At the risk of becoming tedious… this is my last word… Plus Pack would be useful if you “toast” your “motherboard”. Also when you have developed enough confidence in whatever “imaging” program you choose, you will be doing things that you would never have thought of doing without a backup program …. then you will be using it! ..etc…. Figure this picture is worth more than whatever i could say about “TI” Regards Fred

Norm,The plus pack allows your image to be placed onto an entirely different PC. To place your Image onto a new HD in the same PC, I have read that you do not need the Plus Pack, although I have never had to try this. The thread in Security and Backupsgoes into a lot more detail.Obviously in order to place your Image onto an entirely different PC you would necessarily have to delete it from the original PC to prevent going against the EULA.

Fred, Ted,

Please, you are not being tedious. These are the kind of comments I’m looking for.

The comment about using the image on an entirely different machine (or motherboard) is confusing me. Putting the EULA aside for the moment, I thought that the latest versions of Windows will not work if introduced to another motherboard or major hardware change. I assume you would still need the original disc to register a change in hardware. Doesn’t the OS record and report the chip and motherboard and doesn’t the EULA state that only one unique copy of the OS can be used with any given chip and motherboard? I always worry about a motherboard burnout (I’ve been down that rodd before). But then I was able to use my existing XP disc on the new system.

Reply | Quote

I thought that the latest versions of Windows will not work if introduced to another motherboard or major hardware change.

And that is exactly what the plus pack is supposed to add, the capability to restore to dissimilar hardware. The whole issue with windows in doing this is the HAL the plus pack is supposed to overcome this issue and allow you to restore to ANY computer that is capable of running the Operating System.

Reply | Quote

The other problem you may run into is that your old image on a new PC would not have all the proper drivers so you would necessarily have to acquire drivers for the new system, unless of course the new system was identical in the types of hardware it contained. This should generally be a relatively easy operation.

I have never had to load to a new PC. That would mean something got toasted in my hardware to such an extent that a new PC was less costly than fixing the old PC. I do suspect a call to MS would be necessary although I do not know for sure as I have never had to do this.

As a side note, over the last 2 days I did create a data partition on my laptop. Left 75 GB in OS partition, 8 GB in page file partition and approx 214 GB in data partition. Somehow during the repartition, my Acronis files were corrupted. Rather than reinstalling Acronis, and to try it with a different sized HD, I popped in the Acronis Rescue Disk, and put my latest Image (About 3 or 4 days old) onto the new 75 GB partition. It worked perfectly. The original Image had been created when the “C” drive was composed of the entire HD except for the 8 GB page file partition. I then put all the data I could find onto the data partition. This cut about 7 GB out of my total used space on the OS partition. I then created 2 Images. Number 1 was of the “C” drive only to allow just my OS partition to be recreated when I toast it next (notice I said when). Number 2 was the entire disk including all 3 of the above partitions in case I fry some major hardware which would require a new PC. Now I feel very protected.

As Dr Who states (and you can see in the link I provided above) I also clean out ALL the junk, and defrag my partitions before creating an Image. Why put all that junk into the Image. That does not make sense.

Reply | Quote

I am also a Ghost fan of many years. What I like, is being able to backup from one PC to another on my home network and even recover data over the internet to my laptop if necessary (not that this is a routine event, however!!).

Earlier comments regarding partitioning and segregating OS, programes and data to avoid backing up “junk” (particularly in an image) are fully supported.

@ Fred: Why would one want to, or need to, convert an Acronis backup to a Windows backup?

I have used Ghost to install an image from an “old” PC onto a competely new one. After doing so, I had to re-activate windows and update one-or two drivers. One of my programs, Nuance’s Dragon Dictate did not recognise my “machine identity” and, after explaining what I had done, Nuance Product Support kindly provided me with a new Product Code and I re-activated the program; then all was fine. I would be surprised if Acronis could “engineer” the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL: see the link in mercyh’s post above) to completey avoid Windows detecting a change in the the machines “identity”, but maybe this can be achieved, thereby “fooling” Windows. If this is so, then it’s a rather easy route for the less-than-honest to violate the EULA…….

Any comments in this regard?????

My Rig: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core CPU; ASUS Cross Hair VIII Formula Mobo; Win 11 Pro (64 bit)-(UEFI-booted); 32GB RAM; 2TB Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro 2TB PCIe Gen 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD. 1TB SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 NVME SSD; MSI GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X 24G OC; Microsoft 365 Home; Condusiv SSDKeeper Professional; Acronis Cyberprotect, VMWare Workstation Pro V17.5. HP 1TB USB SSD External Backup Drive). Dell G-Sync G3223Q 144Hz Monitor.

Reply | Quote

I would be surprised if Acronis could “engineer” the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL: see the link in mercyh’s post above) to completey avoid Windows detecting a change in the the machines “identity”, but maybe this can be achieved, thereby “fooling” Windows.

I have not used Acronis to restore to dissimilar hardware but I am sure it cannot make windows think it is on the same machine and that is not the intention. I have imaged real machines to virtual and INSTALLED new machines by imaging a “reference” machine that was an exact hardware match.

Converting a real machine to virtual is the same as installing on dissimilar hardware. For me it has always require windows to be reactivate even though the software I use “fixes” the HAL to make the installation bootable…

Reply | Quote

And that is exactly what the plus pack is supposed to add, the capability to restore to dissimilar hardware. The whole issue with windows in doing this is the HAL the plus pack is supposed to overcome this issue and allow you to restore to ANY computer that is capable of running the Operating System.

If this is in fact true then its worth twice the price.

If this is so, then it’s a rather easy route for the less-than-honest to violate the EULA…….Any comments in this regard?????

Yea, what about this? How about if one of you who have this program give it a shot (in the name of science) and tell us what happens?

Reply | Quote

I look forward to the result with bated breath!

My Rig: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core CPU; ASUS Cross Hair VIII Formula Mobo; Win 11 Pro (64 bit)-(UEFI-booted); 32GB RAM; 2TB Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro 2TB PCIe Gen 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD. 1TB SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 NVME SSD; MSI GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X 24G OC; Microsoft 365 Home; Condusiv SSDKeeper Professional; Acronis Cyberprotect, VMWare Workstation Pro V17.5. HP 1TB USB SSD External Backup Drive). Dell G-Sync G3223Q 144Hz Monitor.

Reply | Quote

According to what little I know about licensing, Microsoft regards a new motherboard as a new PC thus requiring a new license for Windows. HOWEVER, when re-activation is needed a phone call to Microsoft explaining the situation has almost always resulted in a new key being given over the phone. One may have to be somewhat judicious in describing the circumstances of the repair although I’ve never heard that to be required.

Note: The new license would be for an OEM version of Windows. If you have a retail version you can move it to another PC unless the retail version is an upgrade to an OEM version. An upgrade version of Windows no matter takes over the license of the original version.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Norm,

Just so you understand how this works:

If an image of a machine is dropped onto a DIFFERENT machine that does not have matching hardware, the new machine will most likely Blue Screen when it is booted.

The reason is that some of the hardware (specifically the motherboard and processor) are detected very early in the install sequence and “drivers” (although not in the sense of the device manager drivers) are laid down right at the operating system kernel level. This is called the HAL as referenced earlier. Now if I take an image from my machine and try to apply it to your machine and your machine has an AMD processor instead of my Intel processor, the kernel from my machine that has been modified to “understand” the Intel language will not be able to talk to your AMD, hence, as soon as the windows kernel tries to load you will have a blue screen.

(AMD and Intel are only an example, actually the kernel views them as the same per the articles referenced below)

Software that is designed to allow restore of an image to dissimilar hardware detects the hardware on the new machine and inserts the correct HAL much like a fresh install would. This in no way “hides” from the OS that it has been installed on new hardware and the activation wizard should kick off just the same as if you had replaced multiple components on the original machine.

Reply | Quote

@mercyh. Thanks for clearing this up so neatly. That’s exactly what must have happenened when I loaded my new PC with the image created on my old PC using Ghost.

My Rig: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core CPU; ASUS Cross Hair VIII Formula Mobo; Win 11 Pro (64 bit)-(UEFI-booted); 32GB RAM; 2TB Corsair Force Series MP600 Pro 2TB PCIe Gen 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD. 1TB SAMSUNG 960 EVO M.2 NVME SSD; MSI GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X 24G OC; Microsoft 365 Home; Condusiv SSDKeeper Professional; Acronis Cyberprotect, VMWare Workstation Pro V17.5. HP 1TB USB SSD External Backup Drive). Dell G-Sync G3223Q 144Hz Monitor.

Reply | Quote

@mercyh. Thanks for clearing this up so neatly. That’s exactly what must have happenened when I loaded my new PC with the image created on my old PC using Ghost.

Actually on windows there are only 6 HALs if I understand correctly. There is a possibility that you actually matched from the old to the new.

At the risk of becoming tedious, here is some more reading….

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/249694

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309283

Reply | Quote

Actually on windows there are only 6 HALs if I understand correctly. There is a possibility that you actually matched from the old to the new.

At the risk of becoming tedious, here is some more reading….

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/249694

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309283

Mercyh,

Yes, you did make the explanation understandable. I did glance at the two links you gave but did not look at them in detail. I’ll keep them for future reference.
So the long and short of this is I can clone an OS to different hardware if my current system goes south, but I will need to call MS and hopefully get them to give me another activation. If Acronis can do this then I’m sold!

Reply | Quote

When you have a total, 100% backup of your C: drive, or a clone of your entire Drive 0, you don’t need any other bells and whistles and you certainly don’t need to fork over hard earned cash to get there.

But to be 100% usable, the backup software must NOT be on your C drive. To work best, it should be on a bootable CD or Flash drive or for us Old Timers, a bootable floppy disk. (my own favorite)

Both Seagate and Maxtor give Acronis True Image away for FREE on their hard drive setup programs, which you can download from their web sites.
You must have at least one HD from that brand, on your PC for those programs to work. The program will build an Acronis boot CD for you.
And by just looking around a bit, you can find other places to download backup software for FREE. NO, I’m not talking about software piracy, but promo’s and special offers, shareware of Freeware. All perfectly legal !

Years ago, my very first copy of Ghost was a 30 day trial. Circa, 1997.

Good Luck,
The Doctor

Reply | Quote