Acronis True Image

"True Image" redirects here. For font management, see TrueImage.
Acronis True Image

Acronis True Image 2015
Original author(s) Acronis
Stable release 2016 release / August 17, 2015 (2015-08-17)[1]
Development status Active
Operating system Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Home Server 2011, Windows 10, OS X El Capitan OS X Mavericks, OS X Yosemite[2]
Platform IA-32 and x86-64
Available in English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Korean, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Indonesian, Portuguese, Dutch[3]
Type Data protection and backup software
License Trialware
Website Official website
Acronis True Image 2015 running from Bootable USB or Optical Disc Media

Acronis True Image is a software product produced by Acronis that provides data protection including, backup, archive, access and recovery for Microsoft, OSX, iOS and Android operating systems.[4] As disk imaging software, True Image can restore the previously captured image to another disk, replicating the structure and contents to the new disk, also allowing disk cloning and partition resizing, even if the new disk is of a different capacity. The backups are in a proprietary format which saves using a .tib filename format.[5] Acronis was launched in 2003 and has over 5 million consumers and 500,000 businesses as users.[6]

Overview

Editions

Several editions of Acronis True Image are available. Acronis True Image Cloud is a subscription-based software plus service offering that allows both local and online backup with unlimited cloud backup, and offers backup for a selection of mobile phones and tablets.[7] Acronis True Image 2016 is the local backup edition of the product. Both editions are available at retail outlets.[8]

Operation

Acronis True Image can make two types of backups: file backup and disk backup. Apart from being able to back up select groups of files on a disk, it can create full system images, which are exact snapshots of an entire disk drive sector by sector. The program can back up a system hard drive while the OS is running. Acronis True Image can browse the contents of backups and restore them partially or entirely. It can also mount a disk backup as a virtual disk, thus allowing the user to access them as he would normally do from a real read-only disk.

Although backups can be restored when the system is running, a major purpose of backup is to restore the system when it fails to start. Therefore, Acronis True Image can install Acronis Startup Recovery Manager (ASRM), a computer program that helps restore backups at boot time. Additionally, Acronis True Image can create a copy of Acronis Rescue Media, a bootable disk that contains a copy of Acronis True Image and can restore backups to a computer when the contents of the entire computer are lost.

The Acronis True Image Cloud version allows cloud users to also back up their mobile devices. iPhone and Android smartphones are supported, along with popular iPad and Windows tablets. This edition also brings back the, "Try and Decide" option which lets users perform potentially risky actions such as the installation of un-trusted software with the option of returning to the system function before the action if any problems occur.[9]

Acronis True Image Cloud allows multiple devices to be backed up, managed and archived on the Acronis Cloud from the online dashboard, enabling users to access rarely used files from any of their devices without needing to use personal storage.[10]

Supported file systems

Acronis True Image supports multiple file systems including NTFS, FAT32, ext2, ext3, ext4, ReiserFS, and Linux Swap.[11]

In addition to the officially supported file systems, Acronis True Image also provides raw sector backup and restore options for all other file systems. 'Raw' mode provides support for a file system that is corrupt, or that isn't officially supported, by capturing a complete image of all sectors on the disk.

History

Acronis began in 2001 as a division of SWsoft[6] and in 2003 became a separate company and continued to release the Acronis True Image software. Prior to 2010, True Image name was applied to all platforms from Home to Corporate. A re-branding of the product line would see the Acronis True Image name be used for the home version, while the business tools would be re-named.[12]

Versions

Version Year Notes
6.0 2002 Supports creation of disk images on recordable DVD media and external USB drives.
7.0 2003 Includes a wizard-driven interface. Supports disk cloning that directly duplicates the contents of a hard drive to another.
8.0 2004 Supports backing up to a network location and restoring individual files from a disk image.
9.0 2005 The last version to supports Windows 98 and Windows ME. Secure Zone allows backing up to a hidden drive partition. Startup Recovery Manager helps restore during boot time without a separate boot disk.
10.0 2006 Backs up and restores directly from network shares and FTP servers. Can save archives of Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express as well as Windows Address Book.
11.0 2007 File Shredder helps permanently destroy files. Try&Decide helps set up a sandbox in which untrusted programs can safely run without the risk of permanently changing or damaging the system.
2009 2009 One-click Backup backs up a computer using default settings, without asking any question other than backup destination.
2010 2010 Supports Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) and Windows 7. Nonstop Backup provides continuous data protection. Online Backup backs up data to an off-site location on the Internet. Version 13 home available as free WD Edition (see partnerships below)
2011 2010 Supports USB 3.0, integration with Windows 7 and predefined backup schemes.
2012 2011 Supports File synchronization, Network-attached storage, Nonstop Backup over network and integrated online backup.[13]
2013 2012 Adds mobile access and Windows 8 support (except UEFI Secure Boot).[14] Version 16 Home available as free WD Edition AND Seagate DiskWizard (see partnerships below)
2014 2013 Bug fixes, minor changes. UEFI Secure Boot support was added in this version.
2015 2014 Radically changed the UI and removed many features including backup file conversion from the .tib format to .vhd and vice versa, user backup file management (deletion of individual backups when destination media is too full to backup), user-driven consolidation of incremental backups, import and export of backup settings, and the ability to sort backups by date.[15] Version 18 Home available as free WD Edition (see partnerships below)
2016 2015 Added support for Windows 10. Removed support for Windows Vista.

File format

Acronis True Image provides backward compatibility for image files (with the .tib extension) created with a single previous version, that is, images created with an immediate previous version can be successfully restored. Backups are created to be compatible between different editions of Acronis True Image within the same version (Home, Enterprise), e.g., between former Acronis True Image Echo Workstation and Acronis True Image Echo Enterprise Server, or between Linux and Windows versions.[16] Compatibility is not guaranteed between products that are not within the same version.[17] Guaranteed cross-version compatibility is documented.[12]

Format conversion

VMware Converter by virtualization company VMware supports converting .tib files created by former Acronis True Image Echo 9.1 and 9.5, and Acronis True Image Home 10 and 11 into a virtual machine.[18][19] However, reports about failure to recognize Acronis True Image 2013 .tibs were met with the response "unfortunately VMware Converter doesn't support current Acronis True Image versions".[20]

Acronis True Image has an option to convert backups between its proprietary .tib and Microsoft's VHD backup format,[21] more widely supported, and documented under the Microsoft Open Specification Promise.

Partnerships

Acronis has licensed custom versions of Acronis True Image to certain hard disk manufacturers, including Western Digital's Acronis True Image WD Edition,[22] Intel Data Migration Software[23] and Seagate DiscWizard.[24] Such editions are free to download and use, but only with that manufacturer's hard drives.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Acronis backup software and recovery services in UK. Backup software for data backup and disaster recovery in Windows and Linux - Acronis". Acronis, Inc. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Acronis True Image 2016". Acronis. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Acronis True Image Home".
  4. ↑ Williams, Mike (16 September 2015). "Acronis True Image 2016 v19.0.5620". PC Advisor. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  5. ↑ "Backup File Extension List". Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 Philipson, Graeme (4 December 2015). "Acronis Head Signals Cloud Future". Cloud(Australia:iTWire). Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  7. ↑ Williams, Rob (September 16, 2014). "Acronis True Image 2015 Brings Overhauled Interface, Huge Focus on Simplicity". Tech Gage. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  8. ↑ Backup to the cloud using the regular Acronis True Image 2016. Nick Peers. Beta News. January 25, 2016
  9. ↑ Williams, Mike (August 18, 2015). "Acronis True Image Cloud 2016 Gets Mobile Backup". Beta News. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  10. ↑ Morgan, Holly (August 18, 2015). "Acronis Launches New True Image". ARN. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Acronis True Image 2016". Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  12. 1 2 "1689: Backup Archive Compatibility Across Different Product Versions". Kb.acronis.com.
  13. ↑ "Release Notes for Acronis True Image Home 2012". Acronis, Inc. Retrieved 2011-10-28.
  14. ↑ Collins, Barry (2013-01-15). "Windows 8 Secure Boot snags Acronis True Image". Dennis Publishing. Retrieved 2013-01-16.
  15. ↑ "65498: Summary of Features Removed in ATI2015". acronis.com. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Acronis knowledgebase article (subscription required)
  17. ↑ "Acronis support staff on Wilder Security forums: tib compatibility between Acronis versions, 2009". Wilderssecurity.com.
  18. ↑ "Acronis native file format supported by VMware Converter: VMware Converter Supports Acronis .TIB Format". Acronis.com. 2008-01-15. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  19. ↑ "vCenter Converter Standalone 5.5, User's Guide" (PDF). Vmware.com. p. 20. Retrieved 2014-11-23.
  20. ↑ VMWare communities response to "converter standalone problem with Acronis True Image Home 2013", 3 August 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2014
  21. ↑ File-Extensions.org: How to run Acronis bootable partition backup as virtual machine in VMware Workstation, Michal Blazek, 9 January 2013
  22. ↑ "WD Support". Support.wdc.com. 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2014-11-24.
  23. ↑ "Acronis Migration Tools Now Offered with Intel Solid-State Drives". Acronis Press Center. 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
  24. ↑ "Seagate DiscWizard". Acronis.com. Retrieved 2016-02-20.

Further reading

External links

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