Acronis True Image Online User's Guide

User's Guide

Table of conte nts

1 General information ..............................................................................................................3

1.1 What is Acronis True Image Online? ......................................................................................... 3

1.2 System requirements ................................................................................................................. 3

1.3 Acronis True Image Online installation and startup .................................................................. 3

1.4 Subscription information ........................................................................................................... 5

1.5 Technical Support ...................................................................................................................... 6

1.6 Generating a system report ....................................................................................................... 6

2 Main window ........................................................................................................................7

3 Backing up to Acronis Online Storage .....................................................................................9

3.1 Log in to the online storage ....................................................................................................... 9

3.2 Computer selection .................................................................................................................10

3.2.1 Data encryption in Acronis True Image Online ........................................................................................... 11

3.2.2 Why does the program ask for the key ....................................................................................................... 11

3.3 Setting up Acronis True Image Online for a new computer ....................................................11

3.4 Online backup task creation ....................................................................................................12

3.4.1 Selecting items to back up ............................................................................................................................ 12

3.4.2 Excluding items from online backup ............................................................................................................ 14

3.4.3 Scheduling ...................................................................................................................................................... 16

3.4.4 Credentials ..................................................................................................................................................... 18

3.4.5 Backup operation progress........................................................................................................................... 18

4 Acronis True Image Online settings ...................................................................................... 19

4.1 Connection attempts ...............................................................................................................19

4.2 Storage connection speed .......................................................................................................20

4.3 Storage cleanup .......................................................................................................................21

4.4 Proxy settings ...........................................................................................................................21

4.5 Backup priority .........................................................................................................................23

4.6 E-mail notification ....................................................................................................................23

4.7 Pre/Post commands ................................................................................................................25

4.8 Acronis Customer Experience Program ...................................................................................26

5 Recovery from Online Storage .............................................................................................. 27

5.1 Recovering data from Online Storage .....................................................................................27

5.2 Selecting a version to recover .................................................................................................28

5.3 Recovery operation progress ...................................................................................................29

6 Removing data from Online Storage ..................................................................................... 30

7 Viewing Log ......................................................................................................................... 31

1 General information

1.1 What is Acronis True Image Online?

Acronis True Image Online is an application that allows you to use Acronis Online service for safeguarding your most important files.

Acronis True Image Online allows you to save important files to a secure remote location and recover them when the need arises. Because files are stored on a remote storage, they are protected even if your computer gets stolen or your house burns down. So the risk of data loss as a result of fire, theft, or other natural disasters is practically eliminated. If something happens to your backup image, PC, or external storage device, you can get your most important files back. If your computer crashes, you can recover your files back to your PC or another system that has Acronis True Image Online or Acronis True Image Home 2011 installed on it.

In addition, you can recover your data from Acronis Online Storage on any computer with a Web browser without the necessity of installing Acronis True Image Online or Acronis True Image Home

2011. Simply go to the Acronis True Image Online Web site using this link https://www.acronis.com/my/online-backup/ and log in to your account. When your subscription information page opens, click Recover my data now. After the Acronis Online Storage page opens, select the computer from which you backed up the files you need to recover and then download the files to your current computer.

You can save documents, photos, music, and more from up to five PCs on one account. If a computer crashes, no problem... Just log in from another computer and retrieve your files.

1.2 System requirements

The hardware requirements of Acronis True Image Online correspond to the minimum requirements for the operating system installed on the computer to be used for running Acronis True Image Online.

Supported operating systems

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

 Windows XP SP3  Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2  Windows Vista SP2 (all editions)  Windows 7 (all editions)

1.3 Acronis True Image Online installation and startup

1. Installing Acronis True Image Online

To install Acronis True Image Online:

 Run the setup file. Before starting the setup process, Acronis True Image Online will check for the

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

 In the Install Menu, click on the Install Acronis True Image Online to launch the installation

procedure.

 Read and accept the terms of the license agreement in the License Agreement window.  Read the participation terms and decide whether you want to participate in the Acronis

Customer Experience Program.

 In the Custom Setup window, click the Browse... button and specify a folder to install the

product to.

 In the Select Administrators Options window, choose the program availability: Install for all

users that share this computer or Install for the current user only.

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

2. Running Acronis True Image Online

You can run Acronis True Image Online by selecting Start -> Programs -> Acronis -> Acronis True Image Online -> Acronis True Image Online or by clicking on the appropriate shortcut on the

desktop.

3. Recovering from an Acronis True Image Online error

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

4. Removing Acronis True Image Online

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

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

computer afterwards to complete the task.

5. Extracting Acronis True Image Online

When installing Acronis True Image Online, you can save the setup (.msi) file on a local or network drive. This will help when recovering the existing component installation.

To save the setup file:

 In the Install Menu, right click on Install Acronis True Image Online and select Extract.  Select the location where you want to save the setup file and click the Save button.

The following .msi file will be extracted:

 AcronisOnlineBackup.msi.

6. Installing, recovering and removing Acronis True Image Online using msiexec.exe utility

Recovering or updating the existing Acronis True Image Online installation with use of the .msi file must be done from the command line as follows:

 Choose Start -> Run.  Type cmd.  When the command-line interpreter window opens, type the following command:

msiexec /i path_to_msi_file\msi_file_name.msi REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus.

 After the install wizard window opens, you will be able to install, repair or remove the product.

7. Upgrading from old versions of Acronis True Image Online

If you already have Acronis True Image Online 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, so if you roll back Acronis True Image Online to an older version, you likely will have to re-create the archives using the older version.

1.4 Subscription information

Performing backups in Acronis Online Storage requires subscription to the Acronis True Image Online service. To subscribe, start Acronis True Image Online and click the Subscribe to Acronis True Image Online service link on the login window. This will open your Web browser and take you to the main Acronis Web site to continue registration.

If you already have an Acronis account, type the e-mail address and password for that account under "Log in to Your Account" to the right. You will be taken to your account page where you will be able to subscribe to the Acronis True Image Online service.

If you do not have an Acronis account, fill in the appropriate fields, 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 online backups, guard it from getting into the wrong hands, and change it from time to time.

After opening an Acronis True Image Online account, log in to your account page, subscribe to the Acronis True Image Online service, and then wait for an e-mail message describing the details of your subscription plan and expiration date.

Trial subscription

If you would like first to try the Acronis True Image Online service, Acronis offers a 1-month free trial subscription to Acronis True Image Online service. You will have 2 GB of storage space for the trial period. Be aware that after the trial period is over, you won't be able to use the Acronis True Image Online service and all your data on the Online Storage will be deleted.

If you like Acronis True Image Online service, you can go to https://www.acronis.com/my/onlinebackup/ and select a suitable subscription plan. To change your tariff, renew the subscription, or unsubscribe, go to the same subscription Web page.

1.5 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).

1.6 Generating a system report

When you need help from Acronis support team, in most cases information about your system is necessary for resolving your problem. Sometimes getting the information is an inconvenient and time consuming process. Acronis True Image Online has a tool that simplifies the procedure. It generates a system report containing all the necessary technical information and allows you to save the information to file. When it’s necessary, you can attach the created file to your problem description and send it to Acronis support team to simplify and speed up the search for a solution.

To generate a system report:

 On the Help menu click Generate System Report, or  On the main program window click the Help arrow, and select Generate System Report

After the report is generated:

 To save the generated system report to file, click Save and in the opened window specify a

location for the created file. Then you will be able to send the report to Acronis support team.

 To save the generated system report to file and send it to Acronis support team right away, click

Save and Send and specify a location for the created file. In addition, the program will open your e-mail client and will attach the report file to a message for Acronis support team.

 To exit to the main program window without saving the report, click Cancel.

2 Main window

This window shows the current state of your space on the Acronis Online Storage. The online storage space is presented as a stripe. All your registered computers are displayed as tabs that share the stripe. You can see the amount of storage space that every computer has used, as well as the amount of free space left on the Online Storage in accordance with your quota.

To remove the selected computer from the registered computers list and delete all its online backups from the Online Storage, click Options → Remove from Online Storage and then click Yes in the confirmation window.

Online data management

You can back up data only from the current computer. You can specify what data to back up, what data to exclude from the backup, schedule the online backup task, and recover data from the Online Storage. In addition, you can delete from the Online Storage files and folders you do not need anymore.

Every time you back up the same file, Acronis True Image Online creates versions of the file on the Online Storage. When recovering the file you will be able to select the version that you need.

For all other computers you can only browse and recover the backed up data that is stored on the Online Storage.

Toolbar

The toolbar contains the following buttons:

 Back Up Now - click to run the online backup task now (present only for the current computer).  Recover - click to recover desired files and folders from the Online Storage  Options - click to open the Options menu where you can specify all Acronis True Image Online

options and settings, as well as remove a computer from the Online Storage.

The Options menu includes the following items:

 What to Back Up - select to open the dialog box where you can specify the data to back up and

the data you want to exclude from the backup. Your selection will be stored in the online backup task. So every time you run the task, the selected items will be backed up by default. You can change your selection any time.

 Schedule - select to set online backup task scheduling.  Settings - select to change Acronis True Image Online settings.  Remove from Online Storage - select to remove the computer from the Online Storage and

delete all data backed up from that computer.

The toolbar also shows when the next online backup will run. Clicking the corresponding link opens the Scheduler where you can change the online backup schedule.

The toolbar has a Search field that allows you to search for the file you want to recover. To perform search, select on the folder tree the partition from which the file was backed up and then enter the file's name (or a partial name) in the search field with the magnifying glass icon to the right of the field. The search is performed only among the files backed up from the currently selected partition. The found files, if any, will be shown in the right pane under the Search results item at the bottom of the folder tree.

Legend

Clicking the up arrow (^) at the right side of the Legend line shows the icons the program uses for indicating the states of items (files and folders) backed up on the Online Storage. Brief descriptions explain the meaning of those icons. These icons will let you see which items have been modified or deleted locally since the last online backup. They will also let you know which folders have been backed up only partially. If the Legend area interferes with the viewing of the directory tree of the current computer, you can collapse it by clicking the down arrow at the right-side end of the Legend line.

Time scale

At the bottom of the window there is a special time scale. To view any prior data state, just find the date you need using the arrows on the time scale, click the date and select a time. To go to the oldest backup date for a selected file or folder, click the "Left arrow" button below the left end of the time scale. To return to the most recent backup date, click the "Right arrow" button below the right end of the time scale.To speed up the searching process you can switch the time scale to days mode or to months mode and scroll days or months respectively. To switch to the months mode, click on a month's name on the time scale. Selecting the required month on the month scale automatically returns you to the days mode.

3 Backing up to Acronis Online Storage

3.1 Log in to the online storage

To use the Acronis Online Storage, you must first subscribe to the Acronis True Image Online service. To do this:

 Click Subscribe to Acronis True Image Online service  When the Web page opens, follow the instructions on the page. For more details see

Subscription information (p. 5).

Connecting to the online storage

To access the online storage:

Enter the E-mail address and password of your Acronis account, and then click the Log In button.

If you:

 want the program to remember your password, select the Remember my password check box.

In this case you will not have to enter your password every time you log in to the online storage.

 have forgotten your password, click Forgot password? and follow the instructions on the opened

Web page. A new password will be sent to you by e-mail.

 have forgotten which e-mail address you used for opening your Acronis account, click Forgot

Registration E-mail? and follow the instructions on the opened Web page.

 connect to the Internet via a proxy server, click Proxy settings and then provide the settings for

your proxy server. For more information see Proxy settings (p. 21).

3.2 Computer selection

If this is the first time that you are logging on to the online storage, you will be prompted to register your computer on the online storage.

To register a computer on the online storage:

 Type a name for the computer (for example, My home PC) in the appropriate field and then

select an icon for the computer. You can type any name, not necessarily the computer's network name.

 If you prefer storing your data on the online storage in encrypted form, click the Use encryption

for enhanced protection link and then type an encryption key in the appropriate field.

 Click the Register button.  After the computer connects to the Acronis True Image Online Server, set up an online backup

task for this computer. For more information see Setting up online backup for a new computer (p. 11).

What is an encryption key

To protect your data on the online storage from unauthorized access, you can use encryption. In this case your files will be encrypted before transmission over the Internet and your data will be stored on the online storage in encrypted form. To encrypt and decrypt your data, the program needs the encryption key, that you should specify when you register your computer. An encryption key is a unique alphanumeric code, like a password. You can specify any set of characters you like. Note that the key is case-sensitive.

While attempting to access the encrypted data, the program asks you to enter the encryption key.

Remember the encryption key. The key is known only to you. Acronis do not know the key and do not have the means for retrieving the forgotten key.

If the desired computer is already registered:

 Select the registered computer icon.  Type the encryption key, if necessary.

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