Acronis Server Cloud Backup User Guide

RTM

User's Guide

Table of contents

1 Getting started ......................................................................................................................6

1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 6

1.1.1 What is Acronis Small Office: Server Cloud Backup? .................................................................................... 6

1.1.2 Acronis Small Office Backup basic concepts ................................................................................................. 7

1.1.3 FAQ about backup and recovery .................................................................................................................... 9

1.1.4 System requirements and supported media .............................................................................................. 10

1.1.5 Small Office Backup installation ................................................................................................................... 12

1.1.6 Small Office Backup activation ..................................................................................................................... 12

1.1.7 Trial subscription information ...................................................................................................................... 13

1.1.8 How to get a subscription ............................................................................................................................. 13

1.1.9 Installing Acronis Hotfixes............................................................................................................................. 14

1.1.10 Technical Support .......................................................................................................................................... 15

1.2 Program workspace .................................................................................................................15

1.2.1 Main window ................................................................................................................................................. 16

1.2.2 Wizards and notification area icons ............................................................................................................. 20

1.2.3 Acronis Backup Explorer ............................................................................................................................... 20

1.2.4 Sign-in menu .................................................................................................................................................. 26

1.2.5 Settings menu ................................................................................................................................................ 26

1.2.6 Help menu ..................................................................................................................................................... 27

2 Backing up data ................................................................................................................... 28

2.1 What is a disk/partition image? ...............................................................................................28

2.2 Full, incremental and differential backups ..............................................................................28

2.3 Backing up partitions and disks ...............................................................................................29

2.4 Making reserve copies of your backups ..................................................................................31

2.5 How to make bootable removable media with a backup........................................................31

2.6 Adding an existing backup to the list .......................................................................................33

2.7 Deleting backups and backup versions ....................................................................................33

2.8 Backup options ........................................................................................................................33

2.8.1 Backup schemes ............................................................................................................................................ 35

2.8.2 Single version scheme ................................................................................................................................... 35

2.8.3 Version chain scheme ................................................................................................................................... 36

2.8.4 Custom schemes ........................................................................................................................................... 36

2.8.5 Image creation mode .................................................................................................................................... 39

2.8.6 Backup protection ......................................................................................................................................... 40

2.8.7 Pre/Post commands for backup ................................................................................................................... 40

2.8.8 Backup splitting ............................................................................................................................................. 41

2.8.9 Backup validation option .............................................................................................................................. 42

2.8.10 Backup reserve copy ..................................................................................................................................... 42

2.8.11 Removable media settings ........................................................................................................................... 43

2.8.12 Backup comment .......................................................................................................................................... 43

2.8.13 Error handling ................................................................................................................................................ 44

2.8.14 Computer shutdown ..................................................................................................................................... 44

2.8.15 Windows account .......................................................................................................................................... 45

2.8.16 Performance of backup operation ............................................................................................................... 45

2.8.17 Notifications for backup operation .............................................................................................................. 46

2.8.18 Excluding items from backup ....................................................................................................................... 47

2.9 Validating backups ...................................................................................................................49

2.10 Consolidating backup versions ................................................................................................49

2.10.1 Archive to consolidate protection ................................................................................................................ 50

2.10.2 Backup selection ............................................................................................................................................ 50

2.10.3 Result location ............................................................................................................................................... 50

2.10.4 Consolidation summary ................................................................................................................................ 50

2.11 Cloning backup settings ...........................................................................................................51

3 Recovering data ................................................................................................................... 52

3.1 Recovering your system after a crash......................................................................................52

3.1.1 Trying to determine the crash cause ........................................................................................................... 52

3.1.2 Preparing for recovery .................................................................................................................................. 53

3.1.3 Recovering your system ................................................................................................................................ 53

3.2 Recovering partitions and disks ...............................................................................................56

3.3 How to recover more than one partition at once ...................................................................58

3.4 Recovering a disk backup to a different disk under rescue media ..........................................61

3.4.1 Recovering a disk with a hidden partition ................................................................................................... 62

3.5 Recovering specific files and folders ........................................................................................67

3.5.1 Recovering file versions ................................................................................................................................ 67

3.6 Acronis Universal Restore ........................................................................................................68

3.6.1 Purpose of Acronis Universal Restore ......................................................................................................... 68

3.6.2 Recovering to different hardware ................................................................................................................ 69

3.6.3 Limitations in using Acronis Universal Restore ........................................................................................... 73

3.7 About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes ...............................................................73

3.8 Backup protection dialog box ..................................................................................................74

3.9 Arranging boot order in BIOS...................................................................................................74

3.10 Recovery options .....................................................................................................................75

3.10.1 Disk recovery mode ...................................................................................................................................... 76

3.10.2 Pre/Post commands for recovery ................................................................................................................ 76

3.10.3 Validation option ........................................................................................................................................... 76

3.10.4 Computer restart ........................................................................................................................................... 77

3.10.5 File recovery options ..................................................................................................................................... 77

3.10.6 Overwrite file options ................................................................................................................................... 77

3.10.7 Performance of recovery operation ............................................................................................................ 78

3.10.8 Notifications for recovery operation ........................................................................................................... 78

4 Using online backup ............................................................................................................. 80

4.1 What is Acronis Cloud? ............................................................................................................80

4.2 How it works ............................................................................................................................80

4.3 Backing up to Acronis Cloud ....................................................................................................81

4.4 Scheduling ................................................................................................................................82

4.4.1 Daily execution parameters.......................................................................................................................... 83

4.4.2 Monthly execution parameters ................................................................................................................... 83

4.4.3 Weekly execution parameters ..................................................................................................................... 84

4.4.4 Upon event execution parameters .............................................................................................................. 84

4.5 Online backup options .............................................................................................................84

4.5.1 Acronis Cloud connection attempts ............................................................................................................ 84

4.5.2 Acronis Cloud cleanup .................................................................................................................................. 85

4.5.3 Encryption key ............................................................................................................................................... 86

4.5.4 Windows account for Online backup .......................................................................................................... 86

4.5.5 Operation priority ......................................................................................................................................... 87

4.5.6 Network connection speed limit .................................................................................................................. 87

4.5.7 Notifications ................................................................................................................................................... 88

4.5.8 Exclusions ....................................................................................................................................................... 90

4.6 Recovery from Acronis Cloud ..................................................................................................90

4.6.1 Recovering data from online backups ......................................................................................................... 90

4.6.2 Selecting a version to recover ...................................................................................................................... 91

4.7 Removing data from Acronis Cloud .........................................................................................91

5 Tools ................................................................................................................................... 93

5.1 Creating bootable rescue media ..............................................................................................93

5.1.1 Acronis Media Builder ................................................................................................................................... 93

5.1.2 Creating WinPE-based rescue media ........................................................................................................... 98

5.1.3 How to prepare a USB flash drive for Acronis Media Builder .................................................................. 103

5.2 Adding a new hard disk..........................................................................................................104

5.2.1 Selecting a hard disk .................................................................................................................................... 104

5.2.2 Selecting initialization method ................................................................................................................... 106

5.2.3 Creating new partitions .............................................................................................................................. 106

5.2.4 Add new disk summary............................................................................................................................... 109

5.3 How to use Acronis Startup Recovery Manager ....................................................................109

5.4 Mounting an image ................................................................................................................110

5.5 Unmounting an image ...........................................................................................................113

6 Useful information ............................................................................................................. 115

6.1 Protecting your system ..........................................................................................................115

6.2 Deciding where to store your backups ..................................................................................116

6.2.1 FTP connection ............................................................................................................................................ 117

6.2.2 Authentication settings ............................................................................................................................... 118

6.3 Making sure that your rescue media can be used when needed ..........................................118

6.3.1 Selecting video mode when booting from the rescue media .................................................................. 121

6.4 Testing that your backups can be used for recovery .............................................................123

6.5 Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD .....................................................................123

6.5.1 Preparing for migration .............................................................................................................................. 123

6.5.2 Migrating to an SSD using the backup and recovery method ................................................................. 127

6.6 Scheduling ..............................................................................................................................128

6.6.1 Daily execution parameters........................................................................................................................ 129

6.6.2 Monthly execution parameters ................................................................................................................. 129

6.6.3 Weekly execution parameters ................................................................................................................... 129

6.6.4 Upon event execution parameters ............................................................................................................ 130

6.7 Choosing columns for viewing in wizards ..............................................................................130

6.8 Backup information ...............................................................................................................130

6.9 Timeout settings ....................................................................................................................131

7 Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................ 132

7.1 Acronis System Report ...........................................................................................................132

7.2 Acronis Smart Error Reporting ...............................................................................................133

7.3 How to collect crash dumps ..................................................................................................134

7.4 General recommendations ....................................................................................................135

7.5 Creating a custom rescue CD .................................................................................................136

7.6 Viewing log.............................................................................................................................136

7.7 Acronis Customer Experience Program .................................................................................138

8 Glossary of Terms .............................................................................................................. 140

1 Getting started

In this section

What is Acronis Small Office: Server Cloud Backup? ................................. 6

Acronis Small Office Backup basic concepts .............................................. 7

FAQ about backup and recovery ................................................................ 9

System requirements and supported media ........................................... 10

Small Office Backup installation ............................................................... 12

Small Office Backup activation ................................................................. 12

Trial subscription information .................................................................. 13

How to get a subscription ........................................................................ 13

Installing Acronis Hotfixes ........................................................................ 14

Technical Support .................................................................................... 15

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 What is Acronis Small Office: Server Cloud Backup?

Acronis Small Office Server Cloud Backup (the short name is Small Office Backup) is a subscription-based integrated software suite that ensures the security of all of the information on your PC. It can back up the operating system, applications, settings and all of your data by using two main utilities:

 Disk and partition backup

With the unique technology developed by Acronis and implemented in Small Office Backup you can perform exact, sector-by-sector disk backups. Such backups include all operating systems, applications and configuration files, personal settings, and data.

This means that in case of disaster you will be able to recover your computer system and data should a disaster occur, such as losing data, accidentally deleting critical files or folders, or suffering a complete hard disk crash.

You can store backups on almost any PC storage device.

 Acronis Online Backup

This utility allows you to store your most important files on Acronis Cloud, a special secure remote storage. Your data will be protected even if your computer is lost, stolen or destroyed.

Windows-style interface and wizards will make your work easier. Just perform a few simple steps and let Small Office Backup take care of everything else! When a system problem occurs, the software will get you up and running in no time.

Online and offline modes

Acronis Small Office Backup works correctly only on computers with an Internet connection.

 First of all, the connection is required for the product activation. Without activation, the fully

functional product works for a limited time. See details in Small Office Backup activation (p. 12).

 To get access to the program console, you must sign in by providing the credentials of your

Acronis account. Therefore, the console cannot work without Internet. This means that you will not be able to create new backups.

 Without Internet you cannot purchase, update and change subscriptions.

In any event, some functions are available to you without Internet (offline mode).

 All the program functions that can be run from the Windows Start menu are available in the

offline mode. For example, you can create a bootable rescue media and mount images.

 If you have scheduled backups, the new versions of the backups will be created according to the

schedule even in the offline mode.

Compatibility with Acronis Backup & Recovery

 Acronis Small Office Backup can be upgraded to Acronis Backup & Recovery.  Users of Acronis Backup & Recovery can recover data from disk and partition backups created

with Acronis Small Office Backup.

 If you upgrade your Small Office Backup to Acronis Backup & Recovery, you will not have to

recreate your backups from scratch. All you need to continue your existing backups is to reconfigure the corresponding backup settings.

1.1.2 Acronis Small Office Backup basic concepts

This section provides general information about basic concepts which could be useful for understanding how the program works.

Backup and recovery

Backup refers to the making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to recover

the original after a data loss event.

Backups are useful primarily for two purposes. The first is to restore a state following a disaster (called disaster recovery). The second is to recover small numbers of files after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted.

Acronis Small Office Backup does both by creating disk (or partition) images.

Backup versions

Backup versions are the file or files created during each backup operation. If you do not use consolidation feature, the amount of versions created is always equal to the amount of times the backup is executed or to the amount of stored points in time.

So, a version represents a point in time to which the system or data can be restored. To put it another way, backup versions represent full, incremental and differential backups - see Full, incremental and differential backups (p. 28).

The backup versions are similar to file versions. This feature allows you to restore a file as it existed on a particular date and time. A backup version allows you to recover your data in a similar way.

This could be useful when trying to find damaged or deleted files. Simply browse through the backup versions in the Acronis Backup Explorer until you find the backup version containing the required files. Additionally, you can recover different saved versions of the found files.

There is one more type of incremental backup version. If you mount a partition in the read-write mode, the program assumes that the mounted image will be modified and creates an incremental version to capture the changes. This type of incremental version has somewhat different properties. For example, it cannot be consolidated.

Backup file format

Acronis Small Office Backup usually saves backup data in the proprietary tib format using compression. This reduces the amount of needed storage space.

When creating a tib file, the program calculates checksum values for data blocks and adds these values to the data being backed up. These checksum values allow for the verification of data integrity.

The data from tib file backups can be recovered only through the Acronis Small Office Backup program. This may be done in Windows or in the recovery environment.

Backup validation

The backup validation feature allows you to confirm that your data can be recovered. As mentioned above, the program adds checksum values to the data blocks being backed up. During backup validation, Acronis Small Office Backup opens the backup file, recalculates the checksum values and compares those values with the stored ones. If all compared values match, the backup file is not corrupted and there is a high probability that the backup can be successfully used for data recovery.

Consolidation

Consolidation allows you to delete backups which you no longer need from a backup chain.

A chain to be consolidated can consist of a full backup and one or more incremental backups.

If necessary, you can delete the base full backup from the chain. The program will create a new full backup in place of the oldest remaining backup. Consolidation keeps whichever backups you choose and deletes any backups that are not selected.

Because consolidation may require significant time and system resources (including disk space), we recommend using it sparingly. In many cases, starting a new backup chain and then deleting the old one will be a better choice.

Disaster recovery

Recovering from a disaster usually requires a rescue media and a backup of the system partition.

Acronis Small Office Backup provides for recovery from a disaster caused by system data corruption, viruses, malware, or other causes.

If the operating system fails to boot, Acronis Small Office Backup will recover the system partition. The boxed product comes with a rescue CD. Other legal owners of the program can create a rescue media by using the Media Builder tool.

Scheduling

For your backups to be really helpful, they must be as "up-to-date" as possible. This means that you should run backups on a regular basis, say once a day. Although creating an Acronis Small Office Backup backup is quite easy, on occasion, you may forget to do a backup.

With the scheduler, you do not have to remember. You can schedule automatic backups ahead of time. Your data will be backed up as long as there is sufficient storage space.

Understanding these terms and concepts will be helpful when using the program's features.

1.1.3 FAQ about backup and recovery

 I have a 150GB system partition, but the occupied space on that partition is only 80GB. What

will Small Office Backup include in a backup? - By default, Small Office Backup copies only the hard disk sectors that contain data, so it will include only 80GB in a backup. You can also choose the sector-by-sector mode. Note than such a backup mode is required only in special cases. For more information see Image creation mode (p. 39). While creating a sector-by-sector backup, the program copies both used and unused hard disk sectors and the backup file will usually be significantly larger.

 Will my system disk backup include drivers, documents, pictures, etc.? - Yes, such a backup will

contain the drivers, as well as the contents of the My documents folder and its subfolders, if you kept the default location of the My documents folder. If you have just a single hard disk in your PC, such a backup will contain all of the operating system, applications and data.

 I have an old hard disk drive which is almost full in my notebook. I purchased a new bigger

HDD. How can I transfer Windows, programs and data to the new disk? - You can back up the old hard disk and then recover the backup to a new one.

 I have replaced my failed motherboard with a different one and now Windows does not start. I

have backups of my system disk. Is it possible to use them for restoring my computer back to life? - Yes, this is possible, but only with use of Acronis Universal Restore. You will need to select

the Use Acronis Universal Restore check box when configuring recovery. For more information, see Recovering to different hardware (p. 69). You may need to download the chipset and the hard disk controller drivers from the Web site of your motherboard manufacturer to add them during recovery.

 I want to replace my old desktop PC with a notebook. Will Small Office Backup be able to

transfer Windows, programs and data to the notebook? - Yes, this can be done. First back up your old PC and then recover the backup to the notebook with use of Acronis Universal Restore. You will need to select the Use Acronis Universal Restore check box when configuring recovery. During recovery with Universal Restore you may need to provide drivers for the chipset, hard disk controllers, etc. of your new computer. For more information, see Recovering to different hardware (p. 69).

 I want to migrate my old system hard disk to an SSD. Can this be done with Small Office

Backup? - Yes, Small Office Backup provides such a function. For procedure details, see Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD (p. 123)

 What should I back up: a partition or the whole disk? - In most cases, it is better to back up the

whole disk. However, there may be some cases when a partition backup is advisable. For example, your notebook has a single hard disk with two partitions: system (disk letter C) and the data (disk letter D). The system partition stores your working documents in the My documents folder with subfolders. The data partition stores your videos, pictures, and music files. Such files are already compressed and backing them up using Small Office Backup would not give you significant reduction of the backup file size. In this case, it may be better to use a local sync for the data partition files and a separate backup for the system partition. However, we also recommend creating at least one whole disk backup if your backup storage has enough space.

 Can I back up and recover a dual boot machine? Yes, this is possible in most cases. If your

systems are installed in separate partitions of the same physical hard disk drive, recovery usually proceeds without any problems. If the systems are on different physical hard disk drives, there may be some problems with bootability after recovery. Please note that activating Acronis Startup Recovery Manager on dual- and multiboot systems with Linux loaders requires special preparation. For more information, see How to use Acronis Startup Recovery Manager (p. 109).

Furthermore, recovering a backup of a dual boot machine to different hardware requires using Acronis Universal Restore.

 Does Small Office Backup support RAID? - Small Office Backup supports hardware RAID arrays of

all popular types. It also supports all software RAID configurations except RAID 1 (mirrored) and RAID 5. Acronis Bootable Rescue Media supports most of the popular hardware RAID controllers. If the standard Acronis rescue media does not "see" the RAID as a single volume, the media does not have the appropriate drivers. You can try to create WinPE-based rescue media. This media may provide the necessary drivers.

 Can I use Acronis Small Office Backup to migrate from a single disk to RAID? This is possible in

many cases. If you recover a backup of a single disk to RAID, you will usually need to use the Universal Restore feature to add the RAID drivers during recovery. The drivers must have the .inf filename extension.

1.1.4 System requirements and supported media

1.1.4.1 Minimum system requirements

Small Office Backup has minimum hardware requirements corresponding to that of the operating system installed on the computer to be used for running Small Office Backup. In addition Small Office Backup requires the following hardware:

 CD-RW/DVD-RW drive for bootable media creation  Mouse or other pointing device (recommended)

Small Office Backup rescue media has the following hardware requirements:

 512 MB RAM  Processor Pentium 1 GHz or faster  1.5 GB of free space on a hard disk

The recommended screen resolution is 1280 x 1024.

The minimum screen resolution is 1024 x 768.

1.1.4.2 Supported operating systems

Small Office Backup has been tested on the following operating systems (both 32 and 64 bit, if applicable):

 Windows Server 2008 R2  Windows Server 2012  Windows Server 2008  Windows Small Business Server 2011  Windows Server 2003 R2  Windows Server 2003  Windows Small Business Server 2008  Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2  Windows Small Business Server 2003

Supported virtual machines:

 VMware vSphere / ESX / ESXi and Workstation  Microsoft Hyper-V and Virtual PC  Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) and KVM  Citrix XenServer  Parallels Workstation and Server Bare Metal

Small Office Backup also lets you create a bootable CD-R/DVD-R that can back up and recover a disk/partition on a computer running any Intel- or AMD- based PC operating system, including Linux®. (Note that the Intel-based Apple Macintosh is not supported.)

1.1.4.3 Supported file systems

 FAT16/32  NTFS  Ext2/Ext3/Ext4 *  ReiserFS *  JFX *  Linux SWAP *

If a file system is not supported or is corrupted, Acronis Small Office Backup can copy data using a sector-by-sector approach.

* The Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, ReiserFS, JFX, and Linux SWAP file systems are supported only for disk or partition backup/recovery operations. You also cannot perform backups to disks or partitions with these file systems.

1.1.4.4 Supported storage media

 Hard disk drives*  Solid State Drives (SSD)  FTP servers**  CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R (including double-layer DVD+R), DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, BD-R,

BD-RE***

 USB 1.1 / 2.0 / 3.0, FireWire (IEEE-1394) and PC card storage devices

* Acronis Small Office Backup does not support the following dynamic volume types: Mirrored and RAID-5.

Recovery of a dynamic volume as a dynamic volume with manual resizing is not supported

** An FTP server must allow passive mode file transfers. For data to be recovered directly from an FTP server, the backup must consist of files no greater than 2GB each.

The firewall settings of the source computer should have Ports 20 and 21 opened for the TPC and UDP protocols to function. The Routing and Remote Access Windows service should be disabled.

*** Burned rewritable discs cannot be read in Linux without a kernel patch.

1.1.4.5 SSD support

The recommended offset for Solid State Drives (SSD) is a multiple of 64 KB (most commonly, 1024KB or 2048 sectors).

Small Office Backup provides full support of SSDs. It keeps the proper offset of SSD during such operations as image recovery and cloning. Specifically, full support means that:

 If you recover a disk backup to an SSD or clone a disk to an SSD, the offset will be automatically

set to the default 1024 KB (2048 sectors).

 If you recover a partition backup to a target empty non-partitioned (unallocated) SSD, the offset

will be automatically set to the default 1024 KB (2048 sectors).

 If you recover a partition backup to a target empty partitioned SSD, the target SSD will keep its

original offset.

1.1.5 Small Office Backup installation

Installing Small Office Backup

To install Small Office Backup:

1. Run the setup file. Before starting the setup process, Small Office Backup will check for a newer

build on the website. If there is one, the newer version will be offered for installation.

2. In the install menu, click Install to start the installation procedure.

3. Read and accept the terms of the license agreement in the License Agreement window.

4. Read the participation terms and decide whether you want to participate in the Acronis

Customer Experience Program.

5. In the Setup options window, change the installation folder, if necessary.

6. Click Proceed to begin installation.

Recovering from an Small Office Backup error

If Small Office Backup ceased running or produced errors, its files might be corrupted. To repair this problem, you first have to recover the program. To do this, run Small Office Backup installer again. It will detect Small Office Backup on your computer and will ask you if you want to repair or remove it.

Removing Small Office Backup

Depending on your operating system perform one of the following:

Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add or remove programs -> Acronis Small Office Backup -> Remove.

Click Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features (or Uninstall a program) -> Acronis Small Office Backup -> Remove (or Uninstall).

Then follow the instructions on the screen. You may have to reboot your computer afterwards to complete the task.

1.1.6 Small Office Backup activation

To use Acronis Small Office Backup, you need to activate it via the Internet. Without activation, the fully functional product works for 30 days. If you do not activate it during that period, all program functions will become unavailable except recovery.

Note that only Small Office Backup with a full subscription must be activated. You do not need to activate the product with a trial subscription.

Activation will be performed automatically if the following conditions are met:

 Your computer has an Internet connection.  You have an Acronis account.  You purchased a full subscription or serial number.  You installed the product only on 1 computer.

Acronis Small Office Backup is activated when you sign in for the first time after purchasing the full subscription.

Moving license between computers

If you have one Acronis account, you can activate Acronis Small Office Backup on 1 computer only. If you install the product on a second computer, you will see a corresponding error message at the bottom of the console window. In such an event, you can move the license to your new computer from the one where the product is already activated. If you want to move the license, perform the following steps.

To move the license from a computer that has an installed activated product:

1. Install Acronis Small Office Backup on another computer.

2. Sign in using the same Acronis account.

3. Find the error message at the bottom of the window and click Move license.

4. On the opened webpage, follow the on-screen instructions.

From the list, choose a computer you want to move the license from. Note that the product will be deactivated on the chosen computer.

1.1.7 Trial subscription information

After you install Small Office Backup and sign in to your Acronis account, you will automatically get a trial subscription.

The trial subscription allows you to use Small Office Backup only during the trial period of 30 days. After the trial period expires, you will only be able to recover your data and add new disks.

Please note that the Acronis Universal Restore utility is not available in the trial subscription.

For details about purchasing a full subscription, see How to get a subscription (p. 13).

Acronis Cloud trial subscription

When you activate your trial subscription, you get fully functional Online Backup and 50 GB of storage space on Acronis Cloud for 30 days. After that, Online Backup will work for 30 days in recovery-only mode.

After the period of 60 days, all the versions of backed up files will be permanently deleted from Acronis Cloud.

1.1.8 How to get a subscription

Acronis Small Office Backup is a subscription-based product. First you will automatically get a 30-day free trial subscription (see details in Trial version information (p. 13)). After that you will be able to buy a full subscription.

To get a full subscription:

1. Start Small Office Backup.

2. In the login window, enter the email address and password of your Acronis account, and then

click Sign in.

If you do not have the account yet, click Create account. See details below.

3. On the toolbar, click the Manage subscription button.

4. In the opened webpage, choose a tariff plan, click Upgrade and provide your payment

information.

If you have a serial number, click the corresponding link, enter the serial number in the box, and click Submit.

How to create an Acronis account

Start Small Office Backup, click Sign in on the toolbar, and then click Create account. Fill in the appropriate fields of the registration form, and the account will be created for you.

Provide your first and last names and e-mail address. You will be offered a country selected on the basis of the IP address of your computer, though you can select another country, if you wish.

Then provide a password for your new account and confirm the password by retyping it once more in the appropriate field. When you have performed all actions necessary for account registration, please wait for an e-mail message that will confirm opening of the account.

To keep your personal data secure, choose a strong password for your Acronis account, guard it from getting into the wrong hands, and change it from time to time.

1.1.9 Installing Acronis Hotfixes

What is an Acronis Hotfix?

Acronis Hotfix is a small update for Acronis products. It makes changes to one or more application files or registry keys but does not change an application version. A hotfix targets only a specific Acronis Small Office Backup build, and cannot be applied to any other build.

Acronis Hotfixes are distributed through Acronis Knowledge Base articles, which describe the problem to be fixed in detail. Each article can be accessed through SER or directly by searching Acronis Knowledge Base.

Advantages of installing Acronis Hotfixes:

In this section

Main window ........................................................................................... 16

Wizards and notification area icons ......................................................... 20

Acronis Backup Explorer .......................................................................... 20

Sign-in menu ............................................................................................ 26

Settings menu .......................................................................................... 26

Help menu ................................................................................................ 27

 Hotfix installation does not require much time and resources. You do not need to wait until the

next product update to fix a particular issue.

 A hotfix package is much smaller than the product installation package, though it may include

files from previous hotfixes for consistency.

 You can install only necessary hotfixes, if several hotfixes are available.

All changes from hotfixes released between updates will be included in the new product versions (updates or upgrades).

How to install Acronis Hotfixes?

To check whether new Acronis Hotfixes are available, click Check for updates from the Help menu. A list of available hotfixes for the current build will be displayed in a table, where you can select those you want to install. When you select an Acronis Hotfix, its release notes (changes and enhancements to be applied to the product) will be displayed below.

Note, if a new Acronis Small Office Backup update is available, Acronis Hotfixes will not be displayed since each update contains all hotfixes released before.

After selecting Acronis Hotfixes you want to install, click Download and Install button. Also, if you select Do not notify me about the unselected hotfixes in the future option, a hotfix window will not appear at the program startup until a new hotfix is available. Though, if you check for updates manually (Help -> Check for updates), the window will appear even when this option is selected.

After all selected Acronis Hotfixes are installed, click Close and run button to start the product.

1.1.10 Technical Support

Maintenance and Support Program

If you need assistance with your Acronis product, please go to http://www.acronis.com/support/

Product Updates

You can download the latest updates for all your registered Acronis software products from our website at any time after logging into your Account (https://www.acronis.com/my) and registering the product. See Registering Acronis Products at the Website (http://kb.acronis.com/content/4834) and Acronis Website User Guide (http://kb.acronis.com/content/8128).

1.2 Program workspace

1.2.1 Main window

The main window provides quick access to all of the program functionality.

If you have not created any backups yet, the program will offer to create a new backup or add an existing backup. If you have at least one backup, the screen will display the list of your backups.

The toolbar

See the toolbar commands description in Toolbar (p. 18).

The backups area

The area shows the backups you already have. It provides access to all operations with the existing backups and allows you to start recovery of your data.

 Back up now - adds a new backup version to the existing backup or replaces the existing backup

version, depending on the backup scheme being used.

 Recover - click to recover data.

When a backup box is collapsed, the backup and recovery operations can be started by clicking the appropriate icons. These icons, along with the Operations menu icon (a gear), appear when you move the pointer over a box area.

You can collapse and expand the backup box by clicking the triangle near a backup name.

Operations menu

Clicking the gear icon in the box of a selected backup or right-clicking in the free area of the box opens an Operations menu containing the following items:

 View log - click to open the log for the current backup.  Expand - expands the selected backup box (available for collapsed boxes).  Collapse - collapses the selected backup box into a narrow stripe (available for expanded boxes).  Recover files (available only for disk backups) - opens the Backup Explorer window, where you

can select any version of the backup.

 Back up now - adds a new backup version to the existing backup or replaces the existing backup

version, depending on the backup scheme being used.

 Open location - opens the folder containing the backup files.  Edit settings - allows editing of the current backup settings.  Recover (available for Online Backup only) - opens the Acronis Cloud application.  Clean up (available for Online Backup only) - opens a dialog box where you can choose whether

you want to delete the backup files only or both the backup files and settings. Note that the backup box will remain in the backup list in both cases.

 Recreate backup settings - allows configuring the settings for backups that were manually added

to the backup list. For example, this item may appear for backups created on another computer.

Without backup settings, you will be unable to perform certain operations. Specifically, you cannot refresh the backup by clicking Back up now. Also, you cannot edit and clone the backup settings and schedule.

 Validate - starts backup validation.  Delete - opens a dialog box where you can choose whether you want to delete the backup

completely or the backup box only. In the last case, the backup files will remain in the location, and you will be able to add the backup to the list later. Note that if you delete a backup completely, the deletion cannot be undone.

 More - opens the following additional items:

 Create shortcut - creates a shortcut on the Desktop. With the shortcut you can run a backup

without starting Small Office Backup.

 Consolidate versions - you can delete the backup versions you no longer need while

Command

Description

Disk and partition backup

This feature allows you to protect your computer by creating backups of your partitions (including the system one) and whole disks.

File backup to Cloud

This feature allows you to store your data in the secure Acronis Cloud which is accessible via the Internet.

Manage subscription

Clicking this button opens a webpage that allows you to view your cloud storage state, update your subscription, change tariff, etc.

Mount/Unmount image

With this tool you can explore a previously created image.

Tools

Add new disk

This feature allows you to add a new hard disk drive to your computer.

Acronis Startup Recovery Manager

This feature allows you to start Acronis Small Office Backup without loading the operating system by pressing F11 at boot time before the operating system starts.

Create bootable media

If your computer cannot start, use bootable rescue media to run the standalone version of Small Office Backup, and recover your system from a previously created system partition backup.

maintaining the consistency of the backup.

 Clone settings - clones the current backup settings when you need to create several similar

backups. Clone the backup settings and then introduce the required changes.

 Move... - click to move all the backup files to another location. The subsequent backup

versions will be saved to the new location.

If you change the backup destination by editing the backup settings, only new backup versions will be saved to the new location. The earlier backup versions will remain in the old location.

 Remove from the list - removes the current backup from the backup list shown in the My

backups area. This operation also turns off the scheduling of the removed backup (if a schedule was set), but it does not delete the backup files.

 Recover (available for Online Backup only) - opens the Acronis Cloud application.

In case of online backup, the Operations menu will have less items. The Operations menu of backups created on another computer and added to the backup list without importing the backup settings will also have less items.

1.2.1.1 Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the window contains the most frequently used commands for creating new backups, managing the backup list, validating backups, etc.

Browse for backup

Click this item to browse for backups on your computer and add them to the backup list. This may be useful when you have backups created on another computer.

Recover

Click this item to recover data from your backups and then select the backup that contains the required data.

Show only my favorite backups

This icon filters the backups which you have marked as favorite.

Expand all backup boxes

This icon expands all collapsed backup boxes.

Collapse all backup boxes

This icon collapses all expanded backup boxes into narrow stripes.

Type

This command sorts all backups by types.

Name

This command sorts all backups in alphabetical order.

Date created

This command sorts all backups starting from the newest down to the oldest.

Sort by

Date updated

This command sorts all backups by date of the last version. The newer the last backup version, the higher the backup will be placed in the list.

Total size

This command sorts all backups by size, starting from the biggest down to the smallest.

Scheduling type

This command sorts all backups into two groups

- backups with a schedule and backups without a schedule, which can be started only manually.

Execution result

This command sorts all backups

Explore all backups

This command allows you to explore all your backups in the Acronis Backup Explorer using the time line.

Validate all backups

This command checks the integrity of all your backups.

More features

Update backup list

Click to search for lost backups.

Remove from the list

All backups

This command removes all backup boxes from the backup list. The removed backups can be returned to the list by using the Browse for

backup tool.

Not-backe d-up-yet boxes

This command removes all "empty" backup boxes from the backup list. Be careful because, after removal, such backup boxes cannot be returned to the list.

1.2.2 Wizards and notification area icons

When you use the available Acronis Small Office Backup tools and utilities, the program will in many cases employ wizards to guide you through the operations.

Wizards have a sidebar listing all the steps (both required and optional) needed for completing the operation. For example, see the screen shot below.

The completed steps are marked with green checkmarks. The green arrow shows the current step. After you complete all the required steps and come to the Finish step, the program displays the Summary screen. Check the summary of the operation to be performed and then click Proceed to start the operation.

Taskbar notification area icons

During most of the operations, special indicator icons appear in the Windows taskbar notification area (the right portion of the status bar with the clock). If you mouse over the icon, you will see a tool tip indicating the operation's progress or state. Right-clicking on the icon opens a shortcut menu where you can change the operation's status or cancel the operation if necessary. This icon doesn't depend on the main program window being open. It is present for background execution of scheduled backups as well.

1.2.3 Acronis Backup Explorer

The Acronis Backup Explorer provides you with a wealth of information on your backups: backup types, backup versions number, dates, contents, backup results, etc. In addition, the Backup Explorer

allows you to explore and recover backed up data (both partitions and individual files and even file versions). It also allows for operations with backups - you can validate them, mount images as disks, and delete backup versions you no longer need.

Let's have a closer look on the Acronis Backup Explorer. It has two tabs for viewing backups and their content: Disks and partitions and Files and folders.

1.2.3.1 Disks and partitions tab

The Disks and partitions tab shows the backed up disks and partitions that the selected backup version contains.

The tab shows the disks and partitions state of when the current backup version was created.

You can switch between the backup versions by using the time line at the bottom of the screen. For more information see Time line (p. 23).

To recover disks and/or partitions:

1. On the time line, select the backup version from which you want to recover your disks/partitions.

The version's exact date and time will be displayed near the backup name. Your data will be recovered to the state it was at that point in time.

2. Select the corresponding check boxes of the disks or partitions you want to recover.

3. Click the Recover button.

To recover specific files and folders from the disk/partition backups:

1. Click the Files and folders tab.

2. Select files and folders you want to recover.

3. Click the Recover button.

For more information on recovering files and folders see Files and folders tab (p. 22).

Right-clicking on a backup version opens the shortcut menu with other available operations:

 Recover - select to recover the current backup version.  Validate - select to check the integrity of the backup version data.  Mount - select to mount the backup version as a disk.  Delete version - select to delete the backup version (the backup chain will not be corrupted).  View - select to set up the time line to show some additional information.

To find a file or folder you need to recover, type the file or folder name in the search field.

Both tabs also show backup comments, and allow for adding, editing and deleting comments to the selected backup version. If a backup version does not have comments, click the Add comment icon, then type your comments in the comments area and click the Save icon. If there is already a comment, you can edit it after clicking the Edit icon. Having finished editing, click the Save icon to save the changed comment or the Cancel icon to cancel the changes.

1.2.3.2 Files and folders tab

The Files and folders tab shows the backed up files and folders contained in the selected backup version. The left-hand area of the tab shows a directory tree and the right-hand area - the contents of a selected directory tree item.

The tab shows the files and folders states of when the current backup version was created. You can switch between the backup versions by using the time line at the bottom of the screen. For more information on using the time line see Time line (p. 23).

To recover files and/or folders:

1. On the time line, select the backup version, from which you want to recover your files/folders.

The version's exact date and time will be displayed near the backup name. Your data will be recovered to the state it was at this point in time.

2. Select the corresponding check boxes of the files and folders you want to recover (see selection

rules below). Short information about the selected items (their number and total size) will be displayed near the Recover button.

3. Click the Recover button.

You can also recover files and folders by dragging them to your Desktop or into a selected folder in Windows Explorer.

You cannot recover files by dragging them to an FTP, recordable CD/DVD or other optical media, as well as mounted ISO files.

Selection rules

Check boxes that correspond to the items may be in the following states:

 Selected (check mark in square) - this state indicates that the item is selected for recovery. A

selected folder means that all items in the folder are selected.

 Cleared (clear square) - this state indicates that the item is not selected.  Mixed (filled square) - this state is available for folders only and indicates that some items in the

folder are selected and the others are not. Note that you cannot set the state by clicking the check box, but you can change it to a cleared or selected state.

Selecting a disk, partition, file or folder to make it the current item in a list does not mean selecting it for recovery!

The majority of user interface elements located on this tab are described in the Disks and partitions tab (p. 21) section. Here we describe the items specific for the tab.

When you click an item, short information on this item is displayed under the browser area. The set of displayed parameters depends on the item's type. Clicking the View versions link opens the View Versions window with a list of all versions of the file in the backup. You can recover a desired version by its backup time.

By double-clicking on a file in the right-hand area, you will recover the file to a temporary folder. Then Acronis Small Office Backup will open the file using the associated application.

1.2.3.3 Time line

Usually the time line at the bottom of Acronis Backup Explorer screen shows information on the backup versions stored in the selected backup. The time line provides easy navigation through backup versions and allows you to recover your data to the state it was in at a certain date and time.

The squares that represent backup versions have colored stripes at the bottom. The color of the stripes depends on the backup types (violet for disk backups, and brown for other backups).

The picture below shows various states of a time line. The states vary depending on the number of backups and the time interval through which you are navigating.

The "Now" interval shows backup versions created during the last hour.

The "Today" interval shows backup versions created from the beginning of the current day to the last hour.

The "week" interval can be named either "Week ago" or "This week".

When today is Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, the "week" interval is named "Week ago". In such cases, the time line shows backup versions created during the previous week and from the beginning of the current week to the beginning of today.

When today is Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, the "week" interval is named "This week". In such cases the time line shows backup versions created from the beginning of the current week to the beginning of today.

The "month" interval can be named either "Month ago" or "This month".

When today is any date from the 1st to 15th day of the month, the "month" interval is named "Month ago". In that case the time line shows backup versions created during the previous month and from the beginning of the current month to the "week" interval.

When today is any date from the 16th to 31st day of the month, the "month" interval is named "This month". In that case the time line shows backup versions created from the beginning of the current month to the "week" interval.

The "This year" interval shows backup versions created from the beginning of the current year to the “month” interval.

The "Older" interval shows backup versions created from earlier than the beginning of the current year.

Working with time intervals and backup versions

Time intervals may be expanded (when the number of backup versions fits onto the time line) or folded into a square "block". When a time interval is expanded, the squares representing backup versions may contain a "warning" or "error" icon. Such an icon indicates that warning(s) or error(s) have been written into the Log during version creation.

If more than one backup version has been created during a day within "week", "month", "year", or "older" time interval, such a date is shown on the time line using a special "version pack" icon.

If you hover over a folded block for more than half a second, a balloon will show the information about the time interval start, its end, and the number of backup versions it contains.

If you hover over a backup version within an expanded time interval, a balloon will show more detailed information about the backup version.

Clicking on a folded block or its name above or below the time line expands the corresponding time interval. If the number of backup versions within the time interval is too big to fit onto the time line, the horizontal scroll line allows you to navigate through the backup versions within the time interval.

If you select another folded block and there is no room for displaying all backup versions of the newly expanded block, then the current expanded block will collapse.

By clicking on a backup version, you select it in the Backup Explorer.

Shortcut menus

Right-clicking on the time line opens the shortcut menu. The menu contents will change depending on the selected item.

Backup version:

 Recover  Validate  Mount...  Delete version

Backup version packs and time blocks:

Right-clicking on a folded version pack or time interval's block opens the shortcut menu with a single item:

 Expand

Viewing additional information on the time line

You can also set up the time line to show additional information. The appropriate commands are available in the View submenu. The View submenu is opened by right-clicking on a backup version or by right-clicking on time line's free space.

 Show software installations - if this item is selected, the time line shows icons that indicate

moments when new programs have been installed on your computer.

 Show software updates - if this item is selected, the time line shows icons that indicate updates

of Windows and programs installed on your computer.

 Show warnings - if this item is selected, the time line shows all the backup versions that have

been suspended or completed with warning messages (selected by default).

 Show errors - if this item is selected, the time line shows failed backup versions and backup

versions that have completed with errors.

1.2.4 Sign-in menu

Clicking Sign in opens a window for signing in to your Acronis account. After you sign in, the Sign in item is replaced by the e-mail address of your account.

Clicking the e-mail address of your account opens a menu with the following items:

 My account – click to go to the screen where you can view and change your account information.  Acronis Cloud – click to go to your account page on the Acronis website.

The line below shows the percentage of your used space on Acronis Cloud.

 Manage subscription – click to open a webpage where you can view the subscription state,

change tariff plan and renew your current subscription.

 Sign out – click to sign out from the current account. This may be useful if you have more than

one account.

1.2.5 Settings menu

With the Settings menu you can make or change some settings of Small Office Backup. To open the menu, click the gear icon at the upper-right corner of the program screen. The Settings menu contains the following items:

 View log - opens the log of Small Office Backup operations.

 Customer Experience Program - allows joining or leaving Acronis Customer Experience Program.

For more information on the program click the Learn more link in the opened window.

 Timeout settings - allows you to specify the time interval the program should wait for your

response. For more information see Timeout settings (p. 131).

1.2.6 Help menu

The Help menu allows you to open the program's Help, perform certain operations, view product's build number, etc. To open the menu, click the question mark icon at the upper-right corner of the program screen. The Help menu contains the following items:

 Help - opens the program's Help.  Generate system report - click to generate an Acronis system report for sending to Acronis

Customer support.

 Customer support - takes you to Acronis Customer support Web page.  Check for updates - click to check for Small Office Backup updates (you can also disable or enable

automatic checking for updates by selecting or clearing the Automatically check for updates at startup check box).

 Activate - click to activate the product.  Upgrade to full version - click to buy the full version of the product if you are using the trial

version.

 Acronis Web site - takes you to the Acronis Web site.  About Acronis Small Office Backup - shows information about Small Office Backup including the

product's serial number and build number.

2 Backing up data

In this section

What is a disk/partition image? ............................................................... 28

Full, incremental and differential backups .............................................. 28

Backing up partitions and disks ................................................................ 29

Making reserve copies of your backups ................................................... 31

How to make bootable removable media with a backup ........................ 31

Adding an existing backup to the list ....................................................... 33

Deleting backups and backup versions .................................................... 33

Backup options ......................................................................................... 33

Validating backups ................................................................................... 49

Consolidating backup versions ................................................................. 49

Cloning backup settings ........................................................................... 51

2.1 What is a disk/partition image?

When Small Office Backup backs up a disk or partition, it stores a sector-by-sector snapshot of the disk or partition. This includes the operating system, registry, drivers, software applications, data files, and system areas hidden from the user. This procedure is called "creating a disk image," and the resulting backup is often called a disk/partition image.

By default Acronis Small Office Backup stores only the hard disk sectors that contain data.

Furthermore, Acronis Small Office Backup does not back up pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys (a file that keeps RAM contents when the computer goes into hibernation). This reduces image size and speeds up image creation and recovery.

A partition image includes all files and folders (including hidden and system files), boot record, and FAT (file allocation table). It also includes files in the root directory and the zero track of the hard disk with the master boot record (MBR).

A disk image includes images of all disk partitions and the zero track with the MBR.

2.2 Full, incremental and differential backups

Acronis Small Office Backup offers you three backup methods:

1) Full: contains all of the data at the moment of the backup creation. It forms a base for further incremental or differential backups. It can also be used as a standalone backup.

2) Incremental: Only those files will be included which have been changed since the LAST backup.

3) Differential: Only those files will be included which have been changed since the last FULL backup.

We suggest you to choose one of the following three approaches of using the backup methods:

"Full" - A standalone full backup might be an optimal solution if you often roll back the system to its initial state or if you do not like to manage multiple files.

"Incremental" - These are most useful when you need frequent backups and the ability to roll back to a specific point in time. Having created a full backup once, if you then create an incremental backup each day of a month, you will get the same result as if you created full backups every day of the month. As a rule, incremental backups are considerably smaller than full or differential backups.

Such a backup scenario may consist of a weekly full system backup with intermediate, daily backups that cover data that was changed since the LAST backup.

This scenario, while requiring less storage space and time for the daily backups, will require more work for the program to provide recovery after a system crash. In the event of a Thursday crash, the program would have to recover the Wednesday, Tuesday, and Monday incremental backups and the last FULL backup.

"Differential" – is an intermediate between the first two approaches. Each differential backup includes all the files changed since the last full backup. It takes less time and space than "Full", but more than "Incremental". The good thing is that recovering is simpler than for (2) - the program will have to recover the last differential backup and the last full backup.

To choose a desired backup method, you usually need to configure a custom backup scheme. For more information see Custom schemes (p. 36).

An incremental or differential backup created after a disk is defragmented might be considerably larger than usual. This is because the defragmentation program changes file locations on the disk and the backups reflect these changes. Therefore, it is recommended that you re-create a full backup after disk defragmentation.

If you lose an incremental backup or it becomes corrupted, all later incremental backups will be unusable.

2.3 Backing up partitions and disks

To back up partitions or disks:

1. Start Small Office Backup and click Disk and partition backup. This opens the Disk Backup

window.

2. Select a partition to back up by selecting the corresponding check box. If you want to back up

more than one partition, select all their check boxes in the list. If the disk has several partitions and you want to back up the whole disk, click Switch to disk mode in the upper-right corner and

then select the disk's check box. To return to the partition selection, click Switch to partition mode.

3. Select a destination for backup (you can leave the default destination when it suits you or browse

for a destination after clicking the Browse button).

You will not be able to change the selected destination after creating the first backup version.

When the backup destination is any removable media (USB stick, BD, DVD...), the Make this media bootable check box becomes selectable. Selecting the check box results in creating a

bootable recovery environment on the removable media and adding a standalone Small Office Backup version. You will be able to run Small Office Backup from the removable media on a bare-metal system or the crashed computer that cannot boot.

If possible, avoid storing your system partition backups on dynamic disks, because the system partition is recovered in the Linux environment. Linux and Windows work with dynamic disks differently. This may result in problems during recovery.

4. [optional step] If you need the backup to run on a schedule, click the link to the right of

Schedule, turn on scheduling and set the required schedule. For more information see Scheduling (p. 82).

5. [optional step] You can also change the default backup scheme by clicking on the appropriate

link. For more information see Backup schemes (p. 35).

You cannot change the backup scheme when backing up to optical media such as a DVD/BD. In this case, Small Office Backup by default uses a custom scheme with only full backups. This is because the program cannot consolidate backups stored on optical media.

6. [optional step] You can exclude hidden or system files and folders from backup, as well as files

matching the criteria you specify. For more information see Excluding items from backup (p. 47).

7. [optional step] If you would like to assign a specific name to the backup, type the name in the

Backup name field instead of the default one.

You can also add useful information to the backup name. To do so, click the Browse button and select the items you want to add in the right field of the File name line:

 add date - the backup creation date will be added  add time - the backup creation time will be added  add user name - the current user name will be added  add machine name - the computer name will be added  add task name - the name of the task that includes the backup will be added  add task run number - the sequence number of the task run will be added

8. [optional step] Click Disk backup options to set the options for the backup being configured. For

example, when your data disk contains sensitive information, you may want to protect the information by encryption. You can also choose to validate the backup immediately after its creation, though it can be done later. For more information see Backup options (p. 33).

9. When you set up the backup as needed, you can run it immediately by clicking the Back up now

button. If you want to run the backup later or on a schedule, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up now button and select Later in the drop down list to save the settings you have made.

+ 112 hidden pages

Acronis Server Cloud Backup User Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

1 Getting started

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 What is Acronis Small Office: Server Cloud Backup?

1.1.2 Acronis Small Office Backup basic concepts

1.1.3 FAQ about backup and recovery

1.1.4 System requirements and supported media

1.1.4.1 Minimum system requirements

1.1.4.2 Supported operating systems

1.1.4.3 Supported file systems

1.1.4.4 Supported storage media

1.1.4.5 SSD support

1.1.5 Small Office Backup installation

1.1.6 Small Office Backup activation

1.1.7 Trial subscription information

1.1.8 How to get a subscription

1.1.9 Installing Acronis Hotfixes

1.1.10 Technical Support

1.2 Program workspace

1.2.1 Main window

1.2.1.1 Toolbar

1.2.2 Wizards and notification area icons

1.2.3 Acronis Backup Explorer

1.2.3.1 Disks and partitions tab

1.2.3.2 Files and folders tab

1.2.3.3 Time line

1.2.4 Sign-in menu

1.2.5 Settings menu

1.2.6 Help menu

2 Backing up data

2.1 What is a disk/partition image?

2.2 Full, incremental and differential backups

2.3 Backing up partitions and disks