Summary: Acronis TrueImage Home is a cost-effective, easy to use, reliable backup software solution.
As long time readers know, I frequently mention backing up as one of the biggest and most important missed opportunities that too many people are overlooking to protect themselves. And I get reports every day of people who've lost important data, sometimes everything, that a simple backup solution would have protected them against.
If you're still without a backup solution I recommend Acronis True Image Home as an easy to use solution for anyone who should be backing up but isn't. Acronis is easy to set up, can back up files and folders, or your entire machine, and can similarly restore individual files and folders, or your an entire machine image, quickly and easily.
When used with an external hard drive, Acronis True Image can be a nearly "set it and forget it" backup solution.
In fact, it's what's running on the very machine I'm using as I write this.
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My recommendation for backup software has always been, much like a physical exercise program, "anything you will actually do". Almost any backup solution is better than no backup solution.
But in reality, some backup solutions are definitely better than others. While there are many good backup programs out there, after having used Acronis TrueImage for a couple of years myself now, I feel confident recommending it as a solution you should consider.
In my particular case, I have it configured to perform a full backup of my primary machine once a month, and an incremental backup (copying only things that changed since the previous backup) once a night. That allows me to do two very important things:
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I can revert my entire machine to the exact state it was in on any given day a backup was taken. This is real system restore - not just a few things, but everything is backed up including files, settings and anything I didn't think to save in some other special way. Everything. Acronis allows you to burn a boot CD, from which you can then restore your entire hard disk from the backups you've made.
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I can retrieve one or more files from any of those backups as well. As long as a file was captured by one of those backups (and everything is captured) I can always find it. Acronis actually lets you mount the backups you've taken, and with a Windows Explorer interface search and then copy files directly out of the backups back to your machine.
Like I said, I get reports of data loss in one form or another every day: emails gone, family pictures lost, important documents irrecoverable. And all that loss could have been prevented with a backup solution in place.
The sad truth is that most people don't learn this lesson until it's too late. Most people decide that they need a backup solution only after they've suffered some kind of loss. And that loss is often significantly more expensive than the backup solution would have been.
And Acronis TrueImage is not expensive. I'll bet that it's significantly less expensive than losing your important or irreplaceable files.
The setup that I use works very well with an external USB hard drive. I happen to have an external 250 gigabyte drive on my desktop machine, to which these nightly backups happen without any thought on my part. Again, external drives have come down dramatically in price, and the capacity just seems to be going up and up.
It's worth it.
Try Acronis TrueImage today.
I recommend it.
Article C3387 - May 17, 2008
I have used acronis for a number of years, and must say it does have some odd issues. First one must know what they are doing to use this program. 90% of bad reviews are from people who have little idea of what they are actually doing. They do NOT read the instructions. If one is going to backup to usb hard drives, they must have a drive that windows will identify easily. Many external drives are little more than a VERY cheap built box with a good hard drive. I buy external boxes from bytecc with a cooling fan. If one is using a box without cooling you are using a hard drive toaster. I have had to take dozens of manufactured external drives apart to get to the drive to remove needed files after they boxes failed to read the drive. If you want to use acronis, MAKE CERTAIN YOU ARE USING THE LATEST UPDATE. If you attempt to recover from usb, MAKE CERTAIN THE USB DRIVE IS CONNECTED BEFORE YOU START YOUR MACHINE WITH ACRONIS BOOT DISK. If one cannot figure out how to use the software properly, they should enlist the help of someone with more savy computer skills. Asking for help from someone who knows computers, will only increase your knoledge, as they can walk you through a procedure. I clone, backup, and maintain dozens of machines with acronis without issues. On odd occasions, usually BECAUSE OF MALWARE PROBLEMS, acronis will not work properly. If you are running windows without proper virus and spyware protection, DO NOT EXPECT ANY SOFTWARE TO RUN PROPERLY. If you are a person who likes to push buttons without understanding what they are doing, DO NOT USE ACRONIS, YOU WILL ONLY BLAME THE SOFTWARE FOR ISSUES YOU CREATED.
Posted by: Dave at January 5, 2009 6:24 PMAfter reading Leo's recommendation on ACRONIS backup software, I purchased the product and installed it on my machine. Now, everytime I power on the laptop, I get the message "non system disk hit any key to continue". I hit a key and the machine continues to load. What is that? That scares the hell out of me. What kind of software does that? I removed the software for and everything appears to be working fine again.
Thanks but no thanks. Just write off 50 bucks and move on. When a software package starts fooling around with the system software load process, it is not what I want. All I wanted was a simple backup procedure so that If I loose my harddrive which happened on a previous machine, I would have a mirror copy to reload onto the new hard drive and move on.
Posted by: John Goemans at January 11, 2009 7:32 AMOk, I back up to my D:Drive, my C: is now erratic and I want to make the D:Drive my boot drive. I don't want to recover to an unstable hard drive, what are my options using acronis?
Posted by: Harold D Jones at January 14, 2009 7:38 PMI have been using Acronis since version 8, now using 10 without issues. Love the program. I also build computers.
Posted by: Bob at February 19, 2009 4:50 PMI've been using Acronis for a few years as an advanced user albeit not a techie. My experience is mixed. When it works, Acronis is a dream. However, on 3 different machines over the past 3 years I have had corruption issues where the backup is confirmed and verified but cannot be accessed - therefore, worthless. In each case, I've had to uninstall the program, then re-install being sure that I have deleted the 'Secure Zone' beforehand. I've experienced this problem with the last 3 versions of Acronis. I'm currently using version 10.
Posted by: Larry at April 13, 2009 1:41 PMIs there anyway to ghost a hard drive without installing the software? I would like to use Acronis but it must be installed. Can it be installed to a USB drive to carry around so we can back up any computer right from the USB?
If not is there any software you might recommend to do this? And how about DriveImage XML ?
Also how does Acronis and DriveImage compare to WindowsXP backup utility. Can the Windows Backup utility ghost the drive just the same as Acronis?
Thanks in advance for your help.
21-Apr-2009
Regarding the comment asking 'Is there a backup software that can create a system backup image without being installed?' You can just use Acronis TIH 2009 Boot CD, there is no need to install the Acronis program, you are able to make a backup image directly this way. I have done this myself and it seems to work on most occasions without any issues. I did encounter one problem creating a backup to an external USB drive, in which Acronis gave an incorrect message that the drive had bad sectors and would not create the backup image, however this only happened once and hasn't occurred since.
Posted by: Glenn Haslam at August 11, 2009 5:33 PMI was thinking about purchasing Acronis True Image Home 2009 until I read the comments here and a not to flattering review from PCMag.com dated 12.04.08. I am tempted to go with Leo's positive recommendation, but some doubt has been created...
Posted by: Don at September 9, 2009 8:53 AMThis is awesome advise. I have been for years not backing up my computer not knowing that there are different ways to do just that. I have not tried the software but, trusting that Acronis is a good choice, things will be much easier. Thank you!
Posted by: Adolfo Picado at September 26, 2009 12:25 PMLeo,
I enjoyed your video series on using Acronis backup & recovery software. I used it as a tutorial. However, your "How to backup" series reflects on Acronis True Image Home 2009. Last weekend I purchased Acronis True Image Home 2010. My O.S. is Windows XP Home, SP3. I'm using my external USB drive with a Western Digital 500GB external drive. I tried to follow your examples in the video tutorial, but the Acronis 2010 version has a much different interface. The new interface doesn't appear to be user friendly as shown in your video for the 2009 version! I somehow managed to create a bootable rescue media (CD) and tested it. I've backed-up my C: drive on my external Western Digital Passport hard drive. Now, when I open Acronis from my C: drive it states, "Your system is not fully protected". Perfrom the following operations: (Backup My System)" Lastly, I can't schedule incremental backups, as my external hard drive is not continuously connected to my USB port. Should I ignore the incremental backups and only do them manually? Now, my question is, would you be willing to update your video series to reflect on the NEW Acronis 2010 version?
Please advise.
Thank you,
Lawrence Brown
Posted by: Lawrence Brown at October 6, 2009 11:09 AM