Acronis True Image 2014 User's Guide

RTM

User's Guide

Table of contents

1 Getting started ......................................................................................................................7

1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 7

1.1.1 What is Acronis® True Image™ 2014? ........................................................................................................... 7

1.1.2 What is Acronis True Image 2014 Premium? ................................................................................................ 8

1.1.3 Acronis True Image 2014 basic concepts ...................................................................................................... 8

1.1.4 New in Acronis True Image 2014 ................................................................................................................. 10

1.1.5 FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning ................................................................................................... 11

1.1.6 System requirements and supported media .............................................................................................. 13

1.1.7 Installing Acronis True Image 2014 .............................................................................................................. 14

1.1.8 Activating Acronis True Image 2014 ............................................................................................................ 16

1.1.9 Trial version information .............................................................................................................................. 17

1.1.10 Upgrading Acronis True Image 2014 ........................................................................................................... 18

1.1.11 Installing Acronis Hotfixes............................................................................................................................. 19

1.1.12 Technical Support .......................................................................................................................................... 19

1.2 Program workspace .................................................................................................................20

1.2.1 Get started tab .............................................................................................................................................. 20

1.2.2 Backup and recovery tab .............................................................................................................................. 21

1.2.3 Synchronization tab ...................................................................................................................................... 25

1.2.4 Tools and utilities tab .................................................................................................................................... 28

1.2.5 Wizards and notification area icons ............................................................................................................. 28

1.2.6 Acronis Backup Explorer ............................................................................................................................... 30

1.2.7 Integration with Windows ............................................................................................................................ 37

1.2.8 Login menu .................................................................................................................................................... 38

1.2.9 Settings menu ................................................................................................................................................ 39

1.2.10 Help menu ..................................................................................................................................................... 39

2 How to ................................................................................................................................ 41

3 Backing up data ................................................................................................................... 42

3.1 The difference between file backups and disk/partition images ............................................42

3.2 Full, incremental and differential backups ..............................................................................43

3.3 Backup file naming ...................................................................................................................45

3.4 Backing up partitions and disks ...............................................................................................47

3.5 Backing up files and folders .....................................................................................................50

3.5.1 Data categories .............................................................................................................................................. 51

3.5.2 Support for Zip format .................................................................................................................................. 52

3.6 Backing up e-mail .....................................................................................................................53

3.7 Using Acronis Nonstop Backup ................................................................................................55

3.7.1 Protecting your data continuously ............................................................................................................... 56

3.7.2 Protecting your system continuously .......................................................................................................... 57

3.7.3 Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage ........................................................................................................ 58

3.7.4 What to do when Nonstop Backup storage is full? .................................................................................... 58

3.7.5 Nonstop Backup - Frequently asked questions ........................................................................................... 59

3.8 Making reserve copies of your backups ..................................................................................60

3.9 How to make bootable removable media with a backup........................................................61

3.10 Backup to various places .........................................................................................................62

3.11 Adding an existing backup to the list .......................................................................................63

3.12 Deleting backups and backup versions ....................................................................................64

3.13 Backup options ........................................................................................................................65

3.13.1 Backup schemes ............................................................................................................................................ 66

3.13.2 Single version scheme ................................................................................................................................... 66

3.13.3 Version chain scheme ................................................................................................................................... 67

3.13.4 Custom schemes ........................................................................................................................................... 67

3.13.5 Image creation mode .................................................................................................................................... 71

3.13.6 Backup protection ......................................................................................................................................... 71

3.13.7 Pre/Post commands for backup ................................................................................................................... 72

3.13.8 Backup splitting ............................................................................................................................................. 73

3.13.9 Backup validation option .............................................................................................................................. 74

3.13.10 Backup reserve copy ..................................................................................................................................... 74

3.13.11 Removable media settings ........................................................................................................................... 75

3.13.12 Backup comment .......................................................................................................................................... 75

3.13.13 Screenshot settings ....................................................................................................................................... 76

3.13.14 Error handling ................................................................................................................................................ 76

3.13.15 Computer shutdown ..................................................................................................................................... 77

3.13.16 File-level security settings for backup .......................................................................................................... 77

3.13.17 Windows account .......................................................................................................................................... 77

3.13.18 Performance of backup operation ............................................................................................................... 78

3.13.19 Notifications for backup operation .............................................................................................................. 79

3.13.20 Excluding items from backup ....................................................................................................................... 80

3.14 Validating backups ...................................................................................................................82

3.15 Consolidating backup versions ................................................................................................82

3.15.1 Backup selection ............................................................................................................................................ 83

3.15.2 Result location ............................................................................................................................................... 83

3.16 Cloning backup settings ...........................................................................................................84

4 Recovering data ................................................................................................................... 85

4.1 Recovering your system after a crash......................................................................................85

4.1.1 Trying to determine the crash cause ........................................................................................................... 85

4.1.2 Preparing for recovery .................................................................................................................................. 86

4.1.3 Recovering your system ................................................................................................................................ 87

4.2 Recovering partitions and disks ...............................................................................................89

4.3 Recovering partitions protected with Acronis Nonstop Backup .............................................91

4.4 How to recover more than one partition at once ...................................................................91

4.5 Recovering a disk backup to a different disk under rescue media ..........................................95

4.5.1 Recovering a disk with a hidden partition ................................................................................................... 95

4.6 Recovering data from file-level backups ...............................................................................101

4.7 Recovering file versions .........................................................................................................102

4.8 Recovering to different hardware .........................................................................................103

4.8.1 Recovering your system with the help of Acronis Universal Restore ..................................................... 103

4.8.2 Recovering your system with the help of Acronis Universal Restore under rescue media ................... 104

4.9 Acronis Universal Restore ......................................................................................................107

4.9.1 Purpose of Acronis Universal Restore ....................................................................................................... 107

4.9.2 General principles of Acronis Universal Restore ....................................................................................... 108

4.10 About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes .............................................................108

4.11 Arranging boot order in BIOS.................................................................................................109

4.12 Recovery options ...................................................................................................................110

4.12.1 Disk recovery mode .................................................................................................................................... 110

4.12.2 Pre/Post commands for recovery .............................................................................................................. 111

4.12.3 Validation option ......................................................................................................................................... 111

4.12.4 Computer restart ......................................................................................................................................... 112

4.12.5 File recovery options ................................................................................................................................... 112

4.12.6 Overwrite file options ................................................................................................................................. 112

4.12.7 Performance of recovery operation .......................................................................................................... 113

4.12.8 Notifications for recovery operation ......................................................................................................... 113

4.13 Restoring computer to factory settings .................................................................................115

5 Synchronizing data ............................................................................................................. 117

5.1 About the Sync feature ..........................................................................................................117

5.2 How we ensure security of your data ....................................................................................117

5.3 What you can and cannot synchronize..................................................................................118

5.4 Does sync depend on the subscription to Acronis Cloud? ....................................................119

5.5 Signing in to your Acronis account ........................................................................................119

5.6 Sync icons ...............................................................................................................................120

5.7 Default sync ...........................................................................................................................121

5.8 Sync creation .........................................................................................................................121

5.8.1 How to sync data between your computers ............................................................................................. 121

5.8.2 How to sync with a local folder .................................................................................................................. 122

5.8.3 How to sync data with other people ......................................................................................................... 123

5.9 What is True Image for mobile devices? ...............................................................................125

5.9.1 How to install True Image app on your mobile device ............................................................................. 126

5.9.2 Synchronizing a mobile device ................................................................................................................... 126

5.10 Versions of synchronized files ...............................................................................................126

5.10.1 Reverting to a previous file version ........................................................................................................... 127

5.11 How to clean up your space on Acronis Cloud ......................................................................127

5.12 How to recover a deleted file ................................................................................................128

5.13 How to share folders .............................................................................................................129

5.14 How to create public links to files and folders ......................................................................130

5.15 How to unlink a device from your account ............................................................................131

5.16 How to revoke an invitation to share a sync .........................................................................131

5.17 How to leave a sync ...............................................................................................................132

6 Using online backup ........................................................................................................... 134

6.1 What is Acronis Cloud? ..........................................................................................................134

6.2 Subscription information .......................................................................................................134

6.3 Backing up files to Acronis Cloud ...........................................................................................135

6.4 Backing up disks to Acronis Cloud .........................................................................................136

6.5 Changing source computer for an online backup ..................................................................138

6.6 Online backup options ...........................................................................................................138

6.6.1 Acronis Cloud cleanup ................................................................................................................................ 138

6.6.2 Encryption key ............................................................................................................................................. 139

6.6.3 Windows account for Online backup ........................................................................................................ 139

6.6.4 Operation priority ....................................................................................................................................... 139

6.6.5 Network connection speed limit ................................................................................................................ 140

6.6.6 Notifications ................................................................................................................................................. 141

6.6.7 Exclusions ..................................................................................................................................................... 142

6.7 Recovery from Acronis Cloud ................................................................................................143

6.7.1 Recovering data from online backups ....................................................................................................... 143

6.7.2 Selecting a version to recover .................................................................................................................... 144

6.7.3 Disk recovery from Cloud ........................................................................................................................... 144

6.8 Removing data from Acronis Cloud .......................................................................................149

7 Useful information ............................................................................................................. 150

7.1 Protecting your system ..........................................................................................................150

7.2 Deciding where to store your backups ..................................................................................151

7.2.1 FTP connection ............................................................................................................................................ 152

7.2.2 Authentication settings ............................................................................................................................... 153

7.3 Making sure that your rescue media can be used when needed ..........................................153

7.3.1 Selecting video mode when booting from the rescue media .................................................................. 157

7.4 Testing that your backups can be used for recovery .............................................................158

7.5 Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD .....................................................................158

7.5.1 Preparing for migration .............................................................................................................................. 158

7.5.2 Migrating to SSD using the backup and recovery method....................................................................... 163

7.6 Scheduling ..............................................................................................................................163

7.6.1 Daily execution parameters........................................................................................................................ 165

7.6.2 Weekly execution parameters ................................................................................................................... 165

7.6.3 Monthly execution parameters ................................................................................................................. 166

7.6.4 Upon event execution parameters ............................................................................................................ 166

7.7 Searching backups and their content ....................................................................................166

7.7.1 Searching ...................................................................................................................................................... 166

7.7.2 Using Windows Search with Acronis True Image 2014 ............................................................................ 167

8 Tools and utilities .............................................................................................................. 172

8.1 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager .......................................................................................173

8.2 Creating bootable rescue media ............................................................................................174

8.2.1 Acronis Media Builder ................................................................................................................................. 175

8.2.2 Creating BartPE disc with Acronis True Image 2014 ................................................................................. 179

8.2.3 Creating WinPE-based rescue media ......................................................................................................... 181

8.2.4 How to prepare a USB flash drive for Acronis Media Builder .................................................................. 187

8.3 Creating factory bootable media ...........................................................................................188

8.4 Trying system changes safely ................................................................................................189

8.4.1 What is Try&Decide .................................................................................................................................... 189

8.4.2 Starting the Try mode ................................................................................................................................. 192

8.4.3 Stopping the Try mode ............................................................................................................................... 192

8.4.4 Try&Decide options and notifications ....................................................................................................... 192

8.4.5 Try&Decide: typical use cases .................................................................................................................... 194

8.5 Working with Acronis Secure Zone ........................................................................................195

8.5.1 Acronis Secure Zone .................................................................................................................................... 196

8.5.2 Acronis Secure Zone location ..................................................................................................................... 197

8.5.3 Selecting partitions ...................................................................................................................................... 197

8.5.4 Size of Acronis Secure Zone ........................................................................................................................ 198

8.5.5 Managing Acronis Secure Zone .................................................................................................................. 198

8.5.6 Acronis Secure Zone summary ................................................................................................................... 201

8.6 Cloning a hard disk .................................................................................................................201

8.6.1 General information .................................................................................................................................... 201

8.6.2 Security......................................................................................................................................................... 202

8.6.3 Selecting clone mode .................................................................................................................................. 203

8.6.4 Selecting a source disk ................................................................................................................................ 204

8.6.5 Selecting a destination disk ........................................................................................................................ 205

8.6.6 Move method .............................................................................................................................................. 205

8.6.7 Data migration ............................................................................................................................................. 206

8.6.8 Manual partitioning .................................................................................................................................... 206

8.6.9 Excluding items from cloning ..................................................................................................................... 208

8.6.10 Cloning summary ........................................................................................................................................ 209

8.7 Adding a new hard disk..........................................................................................................210

8.7.1 Selecting a hard disk .................................................................................................................................... 210

8.7.2 Selecting initialization method ................................................................................................................... 212

8.7.3 Creating new partitions .............................................................................................................................. 212

8.7.4 Add new disk summary............................................................................................................................... 215

8.8 Acronis Extended Capacity Manager .....................................................................................215

8.8.1 If Acronis Extended Capacity Manager does not start ............................................................................. 217

8.9 Trim SSD .................................................................................................................................217

8.10 Security and Privacy Tools .....................................................................................................218

8.10.1 Acronis DriveCleanser ................................................................................................................................. 219

8.10.2 File shredder ................................................................................................................................................ 226

8.10.3 System Clean-up .......................................................................................................................................... 228

8.10.4 Hard Disk Wiping methods ......................................................................................................................... 234

8.11 Mounting an image ................................................................................................................236

8.12 Unmounting an image ...........................................................................................................239

8.13 Working with vhd files ...........................................................................................................239

8.13.1 Converting tib images into vhd virtual disks and vice versa .................................................................... 239

8.13.2 Recovery using vhd files created by Windows Backup ............................................................................ 241

8.13.3 Booting from a .tib image of your system partition ................................................................................. 242

8.13.4 Acronis Boot Sequence Manager ............................................................................................................... 243

8.14 Importing and exporting backup settings ..............................................................................243

9 Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................ 245

9.1 Acronis System Report ...........................................................................................................245

9.2 Acronis Smart Error Reporting ...............................................................................................246

9.3 How to collect crash dumps ..................................................................................................248

9.4 General recommendations ....................................................................................................248

9.5 Creating a custom rescue CD .................................................................................................249

9.6 Viewing log.............................................................................................................................250

9.7 Acronis Customer Experience Program .................................................................................251

10 Glossary of Terms .............................................................................................................. 254

1 Getting started

In this section

What is Acronis® True Image™ 2014? ....................................................... 7

What is Acronis True Image 2014 Premium? ............................................. 8

Acronis True Image 2014 basic concepts ................................................... 8

New in Acronis True Image 2014 ............................................................. 10

FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning ................................................ 11

System requirements and supported media ........................................... 13

Installing Acronis True Image 2014 .......................................................... 14

Activating Acronis True Image 2014 ........................................................ 16

Trial version information .......................................................................... 17

Upgrading Acronis True Image 2014 ........................................................ 18

Installing Acronis Hotfixes ........................................................................ 19

Technical Support .................................................................................... 19

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 What is Acronis

Acronis True Image 2014 is an 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, while also securely destroying any confidential data you no longer need. With this software, you can back up selected files and folders, settings and messages of Microsoft e-mail clients — or even the entire disk drive or selected partitions. Online Backup will allow you to store your files and disks on a remote storage. Your data will be protected even if your computer is lost, stolen or destroyed. Acronis Nonstop Backup continuously saves changes in your system and files, as often as every five minutes, so you can rollback easily to any point in time if needed.

Acronis True Image 2014 provides you with all the essential tools to recover your computer system should a disaster occur, such as losing data, accidentally deleting critical files or folders, or suffering a complete hard disk crash.

With the unique technology developed by Acronis and implemented in Acronis True Image 2014 you can perform exact, sector-by-sector disk backups. Such backups include all operating systems, applications and configuration files, personal settings, and data.

Acronis True Image 2014 helps you protect your identity as well. Simply deleting old data will not remove it permanently from your computer. Acronis True Image 2014 includes Acronis DriveCleanser that permanently destroys files and wipes personal information from partitions and/or entire disks, as well as the System Clean-up tool that cleans up your Windows system of all traces of user activity.

True Image™ 2014?

When performing scheduled backups, Acronis True Image 2014 automatically selects a backup mode (full, incremental, differential), in accordance with the backup scheme set by the user.

You can store backups on almost any PC storage device.

Windows-style interface and wizards will make your work easier. Just perform a few simple steps and let Acronis True Image 2014 take care of everything else! When a system problem occurs, the software will get you up and running in no time.

1.1.2 What is Acronis True Image 2014 Premium?

Acronis True Image 2014 Premium is an ultimate version of Acronis True Image 2014. In addition to the features of Acronis True Image 2014, the Premium version provides:

 Support of dynamic disks

Operations with dynamic disks expand the range of hard drive configurations supported by Acronis True Image 2014. Dynamic disks offer greater flexibility for volume management and may provide benefits in computers with more than one hard drive.

 Acronis Universal Restore

Before using this feature, please run Acronis Rescue Media Builder and create a bootable media.

This feature lets you restore an image of a Windows operating system to a different hardware environment. You can restore information on independent computers regardless of the hardware used on the independent computer. This may come in handy, for example, after replacing a damaged motherboard or when deciding to migrate your system from a desktop to a laptop. For more information see Acronis Universal Restore (p. 107).

 Acronis WinPE ISO builder

To use this feature, you need to download and install Acronis Media Add-on from the Acronis website.

This program adds Acronis True Image 2014 plug-in to WinPE (Windows Preinstallation Environment) distributions based on any of the following kernels: WinPE 1.5, 2.x, 3.0, 4.0. To be able to create or modify PE 2.x and 3.0 images, you must have Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) installed. To create PE 4.0, you should install Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). Running Acronis True Image 2014 in the preinstallation environment may provide better

compatibility with your computer’s hardware because the preinstallation environment uses

Windows drivers. For more information see Creating WinPE-based rescue media (p. 181).

1.1.3 Acronis True Image 2014 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 True Image 2014 does both by creating disk (or partition) images and file-level backups respectively.

Backup versions

Backup versions are the file or files created during each backup operation. If you do not use consolidation feature, the number of versions created is always equal to the number of times the backup is executed or to the number 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. 43).

The backup versions are similar to file versions. The file versions concept is familiar to those who use a Windows Vista and Windows 7 feature called "Previous versions of files". 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.

Disk cloning

This operation migrates or copies the entire contents of one disk drive to another disk drive. This may be necessary, for example, when installing a larger capacity disk. The result is two identical drives with the same file structure. The "Disk Clone" tool effectively copies all of the contents of one hard disk drive onto another hard disk drive. The operation allows you to transfer all the information (including the operating system and installed programs) from one hard disk drive to another without having to reinstall and reconfigure all of your software.

Acronis True Image 2014 does not provide for cloning a single partition. You can only clone the entire drive.

You can also transfer all the information from your hard disk drive to another one by backing up the entire old hard disk and then recovering the backup to the new disk.

Backup file format

Acronis True Image 2014 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 True Image 2014 program. This may be done in Windows or in the recovery environment.

However, Acronis True Image 2014 is also able to create file-level backups in the well-known zip format. This allows you to retrieve files from backups anywhere without using Acronis True Image

2014. The most widely used operating systems Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, have built-in support for the zip file format.

Acronis Nonstop Backup uses a special hidden storage for data and metadata. The backed up data is compressed and split into files of about 1 GB. These files also have a proprietary format and the data they contain can be recovered only with the help of Acronis True Image 2014.

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 True Image 2014 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.

Acronis Nonstop Backup uses a different consolidation mechanism. The program consolidates the metadata it uses for managing the backed up data. Because the metadata information volume is significantly less than the backed up data volume, consolidation requires much less time and system resources.

Disaster recovery

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

Acronis True Image 2014 provides for recovery from a disaster caused by system data corruption, viruses, malware, or other causes.

If the operating system fails to boot, Acronis True Image 2014 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 a Acronis True Image 2014 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.

1.1.4 New in Acronis True Image 2014

 Disk backup to Acronis Cloud - Back up your system disk to the safe remote storage and you can

be confident that you will be able to recover it. Protect your computer from virus attack, data corruption, accidental deletion of system files, hard disk failure or computer damage. By using Acronis Cloud you can ensure that your system and the most important data are in a safe place and ready for recovery.

 Incremental recovery from Acronis Cloud - When you recover a disk from Acronis Cloud, Acronis

True Image 2014 does not download the entire disk space to your computer. It scans your disk searching for data changes and recovers only those files that are different from files in the image. This technology significantly reduces the amount of data you need to download in order to recover your disk.

 Bare-metal recovery from Acronis Cloud - Users of Acronis True Image 2014 Premium can

recover a system disk to a dissimilar hardware by using the Acronis Universal Restore feature. Note that this operation requires a bootable media created with Acronis Rescue Media Builder.

 5 GB of storage space on Acronis Cloud for free - Every user of a full version of Acronis True

Image 2014 gets 5 GB of free space on Acronis Cloud for 1 year.

 Online Backup performance improvement - Now online backup and recovery from Acronis Cloud

work faster.

 Maximum number of online backups - Now unlimited number of online backups can be created

from a single computer.

 Fast and easy in-app purchase and upgrade - You can buy and upgrade products, add more

space to Acronis Cloud storage, purchase and prolong subscriptions to the Acronis Cloud service inside the program interface, without necessity to go to the Acronis website.

1.1.5 FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning

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

will Acronis True Image 2014 include in a backup? - By default, Acronis True Image 2014 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. 71). 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 either clone the old hard disk on the new one or back up the old hard disk and then recover the backup to a new one. The optimum method usually depends on your old hard disk partitions layout.

 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 (available in Acronis

True Image 2014 Premium). You will need to select the Use Acronis Universal Restore check box when configuring recovery. For more information, see Recovering to different hardware (p. 103). 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 Acronis True Image 2014 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 (available in Acronis True Image 2014 Premium). 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. 103).

 I want to migrate my old system hard disk to an SSD. Can this be done with Acronis True Image

2014? - Yes, Acronis True Image 2014 provides such a function. For procedure details, see Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD (p. 158)

 What is the best way to migrate the system to a new disk: cloning or backup and recovery? -

The backup and recovery method provides more flexibility. In any case, we strongly recommend to make a backup of your old hard disk even if you decide to use cloning. It could be your data saver if something goes wrong with your original hard disk during cloning. For example, there were cases when users chose the wrong disk as the target and thus wiped their system disk. In addition, you can make more than one backup to create redundancy and increase security.

 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 Acronis True Image 2014 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.

 Could you tell me how to clone: in Windows or after booting from the rescue media? Even

when you start cloning in Windows, the computer will reboot into the Linux environment the same as when booting from the rescue media. Because of this, it is better to clone under rescue media. For example, there may be a case when your hard disk drives are detected in Windows and not detected in Linux. If this is the case, the cloning operation will fail after reboot. When booting from the rescue media, you can make sure that Acronis True Image 2014 detects both the source and target disks before starting the cloning operation.

 Can I clone or 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, cloning or 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. Furthermore, recovering a backup of a dual boot machine to different hardware requires using Acronis Universal Restore.

 Does Acronis True Image 2014 support RAID? - Acronis True Image 2014 supports hardware

RAID arrays of all popular types. Support of software RAID configurations on dynamic disks is provided in Acronis True Image 2014 Premium. 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. Owners of the Acronis True Image 2014 Premium can try to create WinPE-based rescue media. This media may provide the necessary drivers.

 Can I use Acronis True Image 2014 to migrate from a single disk to RAID? This is possible in

many cases. However, it is better to use the backup and recovery method rather than cloning. If you recover a backup of a single disk to RAID, you will usually need to use the Universal Restore feature provided in Acronis True Image 2014 Premium to add the RAID drivers during recovery. The drivers must have the .inf filename extension.

1.1.6 System requirements and supported media

1.1.6.1 Minimum system requirements

Acronis True Image 2014 has minimum hardware requirements corresponding to that of the operating system installed on the computer to be used for running Acronis True Image 2014. In addition Acronis True Image 2014 requires the following hardware:

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

Using Acronis Nonstop Backup requires at least 1 GB RAM.

Acronis True Image 2014 rescue media has the following hardware requirements:

 1 GB 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.

1.1.6.2 Supported operating systems

Acronis True Image 2014 has been tested on the following operating systems:

 Windows XP SP3  Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2  Windows Vista SP2 (all editions)  Windows 7 SP1 (all editions)  Windows 8 (all editions)  Windows Home Server 2011

Acronis True Image 2014 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.)

1.1.6.3 Supported file systems

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

If a file system is not supported or is corrupted, Acronis True Image 2014 can copy data using a sector-by-sector approach.

* The Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, ReiserFS, and Linux SWAP file systems are supported only for disk or partition backup/recovery operations. You cannot use Acronis True Image 2014 for file-level operations with these file systems (file backup, recovery, search, as well as image mounting and file recovering from images). You also cannot perform backups to disks or partitions with these file systems.

1.1.6.4 Supported storage media

 Hard disk drives*  Solid State Drives (SSD)  Networked storage devices  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

* Limitations on operations with dynamic and GPT disks:

 Operations with dynamic disks are available only in Acronis True Image 2014 Premium.  Creation of Acronis Secure Zone on dynamic disks is not supported.  Recovery of a dynamic volume as a dynamic volume with manual resizing is not supported.  Try&Decide® cannot be used for protecting dynamic and GPT disks.  "Clone disk" operation is not supported for dynamic disks.

Acronis True Image 2014 supports large hard disk drives with a capacity of more than 2TB. This support is provided even if the operating system does not have support for such hardware. For more information see Acronis Extended Capacity Manager (p. 215).

** 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.

1.1.6.5 SSD support

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

Acronis True Image 2014 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.

1.1.7 Installing Acronis True Image 2014

Installing Acronis True Image 2014

To install Acronis True Image 2014:

1. Run the setup file. Before starting the setup process, Acronis True Image 2014 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 Serial number window, enter a serial number for the full or trial version. Type or copy and

paste the serial number in the text box.

To get a serial number for the free trial version at Acronis Web site, click Get trial serial number. The serial number will be sent to a specified e-mail address. The trial version of Acronis True Image 2014 works for 30 days.

Additional parameters:

 Set additional options - if this check box is selected, the Setup options step becomes

available.

 Activate the product automatically - select this check box to activate the product via the

Internet during the installation. You may clear the check box. In that case you will need to activate the product after installation. See details in Activating Acronis True Image 2014 (p.

16).

6. This step is available only if the Set additional options check box is selected in the Serial number

window.

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

7. Click Proceed to begin installation. To make changes in the setup, use the Back and Next buttons.

Note

 If you purchased a boxed product, the installation CD contains an installation file for installing an

Acronis True Image 2014 plug-in for the BartPE utility. BartPE (Bart Preinstalled Environment) is a bootable Windows CD/DVD created from the original Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation/setup CD. Applications are installed into BartPE in the form of plug-ins and the Acronis True Image 2014 plug-in can be included into the BartPE plug-in tab. Booting from the BartPE CD/DVD with the included Acronis True Image 2014 plug-in will allow you to work in a well-known Windows environment and use practically all Acronis True Image 2014 functionality for recovering your system from a disaster. For more information on the BartPE visit the BartPE homepage at http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/.

 You can also download that installation file from the Acronis website.

Recovering from an Acronis True Image 2014 error

If Acronis True Image 2014 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 Acronis True Image 2014 installer again. It will detect Acronis True Image 2014 on your computer and will ask you if you want to repair or remove it.

Removing Acronis True Image 2014

Select Start -> Settings -> Control panel -> Add or remove programs -> Acronis True Image 2014 -> Remove. Then follow the instructions on the screen.

If you use Windows Vista, select Start -> Control panel -> Programs and Features -> Acronis True Image 2014 -> Remove. Then follow the instructions on the screen. You may have to reboot your

computer afterwards to complete the task.

If you use Windows 7, select Start -> Control Panel -> Uninstall a program -> Acronis True Image 2014 -> Uninstall. Then follow the instructions on the screen. You may have to reboot your computer afterwards to complete the task.

If you use Windows 8, click the Settings icon, then select Control Panel -> Uninstall a program -> Acronis True Image 2014 -> Uninstall.

If you used the Acronis Secure Zone, Acronis Nonstop Backup or Acronis Extended Capacity Manager, select in the window that appears what to do with the zone, Nonstop Backup storages or extended capacity disks. Then click Next to proceed with the uninstallation procedure.

Upgrading from old versions of True Image

If you already have True Image installed, the new version will simply update it; there is no need to remove the old version and reinstall the software.

Please keep in mind that the backups created by the later program version may be incompatible with the previous program versions. Therefore if you roll back Acronis True Image 2014 to an older version, you likely will have to re-create the backups using the older version. We strongly recommend that you create new bootable media after each product upgrade.

1.1.8 Activating Acronis True Image 2014

To use Acronis True Image 2014, 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 the program functions become unavailable except the recovery.

You can activate Acronis True Image 2014 either on your computer or from another computer, if your computer is not connected to the Internet.

Activation on a computer connected to the Internet

If your computer is connected to the Internet, you can activate the product either automatically or from within the program.

To activate the product automatically:

1. Start the installation procedure. See details in Installing Acronis True Image 2014.

2. At the Serial number step, select the Activate the product automatically check box. In this case

Acronis True Image 2014 will try to perform activation during the first start after installation.

To activate the product from the main screen:

1. Start Acronis True Image 2014.

2. On the main program screen, click Activate now on the information bar.

If the computer where you install Acronis True Image 2014 does not have Internet connection or if the program cannot connect to Acronis Activation Server, you may select one of the following actions:

 Try again - select this option to try to connect to the Acronis Activation Server again.  Retry automatically later - Acronis True Image 2014 will try to connect to the Acronis

Activation Server every hour without the user interaction.

 Activate from another computer - you can activate the program manually from another

machine that is connected to the Internet (see below).

Activation from another computer

If your computer is not connected to the Internet, you may activate Acronis True Image 2014 by using another computer which has connection to the Internet.

To activate the product from another computer:

1. Install and start Acronis True Image 2014.

2. On the main program screen, click Activate now on the information bar.

3. In the opened window, select Activate from another computer.

4. In the Acronis True Image 2014 Activation window, perform 3 simple steps:

1. Save your installation code to a file by clicking the Save to file button, and specify a

removable media as the file location (for example, a USB flash drive). You may also simply write down this code on a piece of paper.

2. On another computer which has the Internet connection, go to

http://www.acronis.com/activation/. The instructions on the screen will help you to get your activation code by using the installation code. Save the obtained activation code to a file on a removable media, or write it down on paper.

3. On your computer, click the Load from file button and specify a path to the file with the

activation code; or, simply type it into the box from the piece of paper.

5. Click Activate.

Moving license between computers

One serial number allows you to install Acronis True Image 2014 on a limited number of computers. The Standard edition of the product can be activated on 1 computer only. For the Family Pack edition the limit is 3 computers. If during activation Acronis True Image 2014 detects that the limit is exceeded, it displays an appropriate error message. In such a case you can either buy a new serial number or move the license to your new computer from another one on which the product is already activated. If you want to move the license, perform the following steps.

To move the license from another computer:

1. In the window with the error message, click Deactivate one of the previous installations.

2. On the opened webpage follow the instructions on the screen.

To perform this step, you need to have Acronis account. If you do not have an account yet, then create it first. You also have to register your serial number, if you have not done it. Then you need to choose from the list a computer from which you want to move the license. Note that on the chosen computer the product will be deactivated.

1.1.9 Trial version information

General limitations

The trial version of Acronis True Image 2014 works only during the trial period of 30 days. It has the following limitations:

 Disk cloning is disabled.  Only recovery is available when booting from an Acronis Bootable Media.

Synchronization

Data synchronization is available without any limitations, but when the trial period expires:

 Your computer is excluded from all syncs. After installing the full version of Acronis True Image

2014 you will be able to connect to the syncs again.

 All the versions of synced files will be permanently deleted from Acronis Cloud.

Acronis Cloud

You have 5 GB of free storage space during the trial period. You can use this space to store your online backups and versions of synced files. After the trial period is over, Acronis Cloud works in recovery-only mode for 30 days. After this period you won't be able to use the Acronis Cloud service and all your data on the Cloud will be deleted.

When you start your first disk backup to Acronis Cloud, your storage quota is automatically increased to 50 GB for 30 days. This storage space is available to you in a fully functional mode only during the trial period of the product. After that you can use it in recovery-only mode. When the "50 GB/30 days" period is expired, you have additional 30 days to recover your data.

Upgrading to the full version

You can buy the full version at the Acronis website or using in-app purchase functionality. See details in Upgrading Acronis True Image 2014 (p. 18).

1.1.10 Upgrading Acronis True Image 2014

Trial version upgrade

To upgrade to the full version of the product:

1. Purchase the full version at the Acronis website: http://www.acronis.com/buy/atih/

http://www.acronis.com/buy/atih/

2. Start Acronis True Image 2014, click the Help icon and then click Upgrade to full version.

3. In the opened window, paste the full serial number in the box, and click Activate.

Built-in store

Acronis True Image 2014 adds in-app purchase functionality.

Using in-app purchase you can:

 Buy the full product, when your trial version expires.  Upgrade to the Premium version.  Buy the Family Pack upgrade for up to 3 computers.  Buy, renew, and upgrade a subscription to the Acronis Cloud service.  Purchase additional Acronis Cloud space.

Upgrading from old versions of True Image

If you already have True Image installed, the new version will simply update it; there is no need to remove the old version and reinstall the software.

We strongly recommend that you create new bootable media after each product upgrade.

1.1.11 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 True Image 2014 build, and cannot be applied to any other build.

Advantages of installing Acronis Hotfixes:

 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).

Where can I get Acronis hotfixes?

You can get Acronis Hotfixes either of the following ways:

 Find it in Acronis Knowledge Base, manually download and install on your computer. The

corresponding articles describe the problem to be fixed in detail. Each article can be accessed through SER or directly by searching Acronis Knowledge Base.

 You can download and install hotfixes via update notifications in the program. Depending on the

settings such notifications can be displayed automatically or manually by using the Check for updates command.

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 True Image 2014 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 True Image button to start the product.

1.1.12 Technical Support

Maintenance and Support Program

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

Product Updates

In this section

Get started tab ......................................................................................... 20

Backup and recovery tab ......................................................................... 21

Synchronization tab ................................................................................. 25

Tools and utilities tab ............................................................................... 28

Wizards and notification area icons ......................................................... 28

Acronis Backup Explorer .......................................................................... 30

Integration with Windows ....................................................................... 37

Settings menu .......................................................................................... 39

Help menu ................................................................................................ 39

You can download the latest updates for all your registered Acronis software products from our website at any time after logging into your Account (http://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 Get started tab

Starting Acronis True Image 2014 for the first time opens the Home screen with the Get started tab selected.

The Get started tab will help you to begin using the main Acronis True Image 2014 features, namely backup, recovery and synchronization. The program leads you through the actions required for performing those operations.

If you have not used previous versions of True Image, we recommend you become familiar with the above features by going through the steps required for completing backup, recovery and data synchronization.

After you begin using Acronis True Image 2014, it will start with displaying the tab that was selected when you exited the program.

1.2.2 Backup and recovery tab

The Backup and recovery tab provides quick access to all of the program functionality related to data backup and recovery.

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 Backup and recovery toolbar (p. 23).

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.

 Start (available for a nonstop backup only) - starts nonstop backup protection.  Stop (available for a nonstop backup only) - suspends nonstop backup protection.  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.  Recreate backup settings (available only for backups manually added to the backup list) - allows

configuring the settings for image, file, and email backups created by a previous True Image version. This item may also appear for backups created on another computer and added to the backup list without importing their settings.

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.  Clean up (available for nonstop backup only) - opens the Cleanup dialog box where you can

delete the backup versions you no longer need. The backup chain will not be corrupted.

 Recover (available for online backup only) - opens the Acronis Cloud application.

 Start backup (available for online backup only) - allows you to bind a selected online backup to

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. You can store the backups in a local storage or Acronis Cloud.

File backup

To local storage

This feature allows you to back up your files and folders.

To Acronis Cloud

This feature allows you to store your files and folders in the secure Acronis Cloud.

the current computer. To do this, click this item and reconfigure settings of the backup. Note that only one online backup can be active on one computer.

 Delete - depending on a backup type, this command completely deletes the backup from its

location or allows you to choose whether you want to delete the backup completely or the backup box only. When you delete a backup box, the backup files remain in the location, and you will be able to add the backup to the list later. Note that when 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 Acronis True Image 2014.

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

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.

In case of nonstop backup and 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.

1.2.2.1 Backup and recovery toolbar

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

Other backups

Email backup

This feature allows you to back up your email messages and settings.

Nonstop Backup

This feature continuously protects your partitions and files.

Create bootable media

If your computer cannot start, use bootable rescue media to run the standalone version of Acronis True Image 2014, and recover your system from a previously created system partition backup.

Browse

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 by a previous True Image version which are not shown in the backup list.

Add backup

Auto-search at startup

This setting allows the search for new backups at program startup to be turned on and off.

Search now

This command allows you to search for True Image backups on your computer. All found backups are automatically added to the backup list.

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. The order is as follows: disk backups - file backups email backups - nonstop backup - Windows backups - ZIP archives.

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 by the result of the last execution - backups that were completed successfully, suspended, canceled, failed and not backed up yet.

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 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.

To search for a backed up file you need to recover, type the filename or part of its name in the search field on the main menu bar. If the search is successful, the program will open Acronis Backup Explorer and show the found file and backup(s) containing the file.

1.2.3 Synchronization tab

The Synchronization tab allows you to manage all aspects of your data synchronization process: create new syncs, turn the existing syncs on and off, change their settings, delete unneeded syncs, and so on.

Every created sync is represented by a box, similar to backup boxes. A sync box contains short information about the corresponding sync process and allows you to manage this process.

Sync toolbar

This area contains the following items:

 New sync - allows you to select a folder to synchronize and send an invitation to the computer

you want to synchronize your data with.

 Sync local folders - allows you to select two local folders to synchronize.  Manage shared syncs - opens the webpage where you can manage your shared syncs.  Show only my favorite syncs (icon) - filters the syncs which you have marked as favorite.  Expand all syncs (icon) - expands all collapsed sync boxes.  Collapse all syncs (icon) - collapses all expanded sync boxes into narrow stripes.  Sort by

 Name - sorts all syncs in alphabetical order.  Type - sorts all syncs according to their types.

Sync list area

The area shows the boxes of the syncs you already have. It provides access to all operations with the existing syncs.

Operations menu

Clicking the gear icon in the box of a selected sync opens the Operations menu containing the following items:

 Sync now - runs data synchronization process forcibly. If a sync process has been interrupted for

some reason (for example, your Internet connection has failed) or it has completed with errors, you can manually restart the sync process. To do this, first try to resolve the issue and then click Sync now.

 Pause - allows you to pause and resume the sync process. Note that the action does not delete

the sync itself and your data will not be lost.

 Share - opens the window where you can specify email addresses of persons you want to invite

to share the selected sync.

 Sync with:

 Acronis Cloud - allows you to store versions of the synced files on Acronis Cloud.  Local folder - allows you to synchronize with a local folder, for example, located on an

external hard drive.

 Other computer - allows you to synchronize with your another computer. This item is only

present for syncs between local folders.

 Cleanup options - allows you to set automatic cleanup rules for versions of the synced files.  View log - opens the log of Acronis True Image 2014 operations.  Unsync - excludes the current computer from the selected sync. This item is available only to

computers joined to a sync which was created on another computer. This command does not delete the sync itself. An unsynced computer can join the sync again afterwards.

 Remove - deletes the sync. Deleting the sync does not delete the synced folder and its contents.

However, this action deletes on Acronis Cloud all versions of the synced files if they were kept there, including the latest ones.

If you delete or rename the folder selected for synchronization, Acronis True Image 2014 excludes your computer from that sync. If you delete a subfolder inside the folder you have specified for synchronization, this subfolder will be deleted on all other computers as well.

Taskbar notification area icon

When at least one sync is active, the corresponding icon appears in the Windows taskbar notification area. Right-clicking the icon opens the shortcut menu with the following items:

 Open True Image - opens the program's main window with the Synchronization tab selected.  Open sync folder - if you have a single sync, choosing this item opens the synchronized folder. If

you have more than one sync, this opens a submenu where you can select the desired sync folder.

 Pause all syncs - pauses all synchronization processes.  Recently changed files - shows the list of files recently added or changed in your syncs.  Resume all syncs - restarts all synchronization processes if they have been paused.  Acronis website - opens in your default browser the page with information about

synchronization on Acronis website.

 Help - opens Acronis True Image 2014 Help.  Turn off sync - removes the Sync icon from the taskbar and pauses all syncs.

1.2.4 Tools and utilities tab

This tab allows you to select the tools and utilities provided by Acronis True Image 2014. Launch the required tool or utility by clicking the appropriate link. For more information see Tools and utilities (p. 172).

1.2.5 Wizards and notification area icons

When you use the available Acronis True Image 2014 tools and utilities, the program will in many cases employ wizards to guide you through the operations.

For example, see the screen shot below.

A wizard window usually consists of the following areas:

1. This is the list of steps to complete the operation. A green checkmark appears next to a complete

step. The green arrow indicates the current step. When complete all the steps, the program displays the Summary screen in the Finish step. Check the summary and click Proceed to start the operation.

2. This toolbar contains buttons to manage objects you select in area 3. For example, the toolbar on

the picture contains two buttons: Disk properties and the Choose columns icon. By clicking the first one you can view properties of the selected disk. By clicking the second one you can choose which table columns to display and in which order.

3. This is the main area where you select items and change settings.

4. This area displays additional information about the item you select in area 3.

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.

1.2.5.1 Backup information

The backup information window provides detailed information about the selected backup. This window is available to you in different wizards, such as Consolidation wizard, Mount wizard, Conversion wizard, etc. To open the window, select a backup version and click the Details button on the toolbar.

The window contains the following items:

 Path - the location where the backup is stored. In case it is an incremental or differential backup,

the location may be different from the location where the full backup is stored.

 Name - the backup name.  Backup method may be full, incremental or differential. For more information about types of

backup see Full, incremental and differential backups (p. 43).

 Backup file type - either Acronis *.tib, or *.zip -compressed type. Zip extension belongs only to

files and/or folders backups while tib extension may belong either to disk/partition, or file/folder backups.

 Created - the date and time when the backup was created.  Comments - if you have entered comments, they will be shown here.

1.2.6 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, convert to Windows backup (only disk backups), 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 (available for disk backups only) and Files and folders.

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