Hey Jon - Dave's advice sounds spot on (wouldn't expect otherwise! ). Have you ever used any tweaking or tuning software....anything which may have turned off services deemed 'unnecessary'?

I do not use the scheduling feature myself....I don't create incremental nor differential backups either. I have some valid reasons for this.

Here is a simple clarification of the backup types, just in case you are not aware:
Full Backup is self explanatory.
Incremental Backup - backs up only those files that have changed since the very last backup...whether it be full or incremental.
Differential Backup - backs up all files that have changed since the last FULL backup.

EXAMPLES
Say we are creating a backup each Monday:-
[b:292u0jam]Incremental[/b:292u0jam]: First Monday - Full Backup. Second Monday - Incremental Backup would include only changes made since Full Backup. 3rd Monday - Incremental Backup would include only changes made since last Incremental Backup, and so on. Because there is no duplication, backup file sizes are minimal.

[b:292u0jam]Differential[/b:292u0jam]: First Monday - Full Backup. Second Monday - Differential Backup would include only changes made since Full Backup. 3rd Monday - Differential backup would include all changes made since last Full Backup, and so on. As you can see, the differential method does duplicate changes, so file sizes would be larger than with incremental.

Incremental backups are handy for space saving but in these days of inexpensive large capacity external drives, that should no longer be a major consideration. When it comes to restoration, incremental is by far the clumsiest and most time consuming; one has to restore the last full backup plus [i:292u0jam][b:292u0jam]all[/b:292u0jam][/i:292u0jam] the subsequent incremental backups....and there could be lots of them, depending on how often/regularly they are scheduled. Provided space (or lack of it) is not as issue, differential backups would be the better option. Restoration involves just the last full backup plus the[i:292u0jam] latest[/i:292u0jam] differential backup.....clear as mud???

I create full disk images only, this is what I do:

I create a new full disk image every two months until I have 3 images stored. I then continue to create a new full disk image every two months, replacing the oldest one with the latest. Three images is probably overkill but corruptions can/do occur and I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Now if my system crashes I have an image to restore which can be from one day old to 2 months maximum, plus alternatives. My system does not change all that much in two months so, even if I was unlucky enough for the system to crash right on the maximum, updating would be minimal. The timing can be adjusted, of course, to suit personal requirements. If someone is frequently making changes then a one month roll over might suit better but I would regard 2 months as being maximum.

As I said Jon, I have my own valid reasons for doing it that way. I am not necessarily advocating that method nor suggesting it is the best.

Also, one should always perform some basic maintenance prior to creating a full image; I clean up all temp files and unnecessary data, then use MyDefrag to defrag and optimize. Not much point including unneeded files in an image, plus it all helps keep the output file size to a minimum.

Cheers now.....JIM

Hope you're not gone for too long, Jon!

Hey Jon - Welcome back mate. I know your latest comments were addressed to Dave, but I'm gunna answer anyway.

I wrote a basic guide on how to use Acronis to create a full image of 'C' drive for the DCT news letter some time back....there are pictures and everything!!

Anyway, start off by taking a look here: https://davescomputertips.com/newsle ... p#article6

Then please post back with any remaining questions.

Cheers....JIM

Hey Jon - Great news....well done!!

Your suggested schedule for creating backups sounds fine. After any new major installation or otherwise every 2 months or so. The trick is to strike a happy medium between space occupied by images and not letting the system get too far behind with updates. 2 - 3 months strikes a pretty good balance, depending on total number of programs installed....more programs generally = more updates.

Bear in mind too that you still have System Restore to fall back on. I always manually create a system restore point prior to any new software installation but do not create an image.....that I do just every two months. Remember to always perform a system restore from safe mode too....it is more reliable that way.

Because I do not need nor use the bells and whistles in Acronis; incremental backups, differential backups, scheduled backups, etc. I do not actually have Acronis installed. Again, I have valid reasons for this. I install Acronis and create a couple of boot discs (from the options within the program) then completely uninstall Acronis. I then use an Acronis boot disk to create and/or restore any images. No problems, no issues, no conflicts, it just works.

Cheers mate....JIM

Hey Jon - I meant when restoring. Creating a restore point can be done OK when the full system is running. Restoration is always better done from within safe mode though.

There are two ways to access safe mode:

1) Is, IMO, the best way. You will need to restart the computer. Just as the BIOS is finishing but before the operating system starts loading, start pressing the 'F8' key repeatedly. If you have got the timing right you should then see a screen with a list of options, just select the [b:1aulceum]Safe Mode[/b:1aulceum] option (with no other appendages). Navigation while in that screen is via up and down arrows. The Safe Mode option should be selected (highlighted) by default, if that is the case just press 'Enter'. But if it is not, just use the up and down arrows to highlight it and then press 'Enter'.

2) Open a [b:1aulceum]Run[/b:1aulceum] dialogue and type [b:1aulceum]msconfig[/b:1aulceum] into the Run dialogue box and the press 'Enter' or click [b:1aulceum]OK[/b:1aulceum]. Now, in the System Configuration window, click on the[b:1aulceum] Boot[/b:1aulceum] tab (across the top). Now you should see, under "Boot options", a little box next to[b:1aulceum] Safe Boot[/b:1aulceum]. Place a checkmark (tick) in that box by clicking on it. Click [b:1aulceum]Apply [/b:1aulceum]then [b:1aulceum]OK [/b:1aulceum]and restart the computer. To go back to normal boot just do the same thing, except remove that tick.

Cheers mate....JIM

[quote="ozbloke":1vo0lsbr]I do not actually have Acronis installed. Again, I have valid reasons for this.[/quote:1vo0lsbr]
Actually I think this is just another sign of Jim's advancing age. It's installed. He just doesn't remember it's installed! (I crack myself up sometimes)

[quote="WiseTioga":1vo0lsbr]Jim,
By the way, when I did the system image back-up it created two [2] separate back-ups. One quite a bit smaller than the other. What's the deal here?
[/quote:1vo0lsbr]
It is possible that your previous efforts resulted in an incomplete file. Do they have the same filename, but with a suffix (backup-1, backup-2)?
Is the second file the smaller one?
If they have the same filename I suspect the option to split the backup was checked. It splits the files to CD or DVD size. If that is the case the first file should be around 4.7GB.

If they are not the same size I suspect one is an incomplete backup from your previous attempts.

I would probably create a new full image once a month, but I'm anal about those things. You can automate Acronis so it updates the image every couple days without any intervention on your part. If your computer is on all the time set it to make differential backups in the middle of the night while you're asleep.