Hi All - Acronis has long been considered [i:1sncqk0k]the[/i:1sncqk0k] premier imaging software and for very good reasons. For years I have used Acronis as my back-up/imaging software, for me there has been none better, that is until very recently.
The advent of my new machine rendered Acronis unusable...to say I was dumbfounded and disappointed would be a total understatement. The problems arose through my new machine's hardware configuration, something to do with the Intel ICH9 chipset and SATA drives.....the Acronis boot disc could not, would not recognise any hard drives. There is a full forum thread dedicated to the subject here: http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthre ... l+error%3A
The Acronis support is quite good but I had just set up my new machine and was impatient and anxious to implement some sort of backup policy....the forum thread (linked to above) only served to suggest that a resolution from Acronis might well be a long winded process...so, I began a search for alternatives.
I installed and tested most of the known freeware imaging products and while some were quite good I encountered the exact same problem as I had with Acronis...everything worked well up until trying the rescue/boot CD. Another hiccup was Vista, a couple of freebies worked well when coupled with the BartPE boot CD but, alas, BartPE does not support Vista (XP is fine)....have you got the violin out yet?
Anyway, long story short, during my search and subsequent testing I happened across a freeware product which I found to be very good...'Macrium Reflect'. It is available in a free edition or full edition (commercial). I hasten to add (don't wish to step on anyone's toes) I am not suggesting for one minute that Macrium is superior to Acronis, the free edition has very limited features but for those who are seeking a basic imaging solution which is free I can highly recommend Macrium Reflect FREE Edition. Here is a link to the site and a list/comparison of features: http://www.macrium.com/ReflectFree.asp
Unfortunately Macrium did not work for me either (the rescue CD part) but it functioned perfectly on my wife's HP desktop running Vista so for anyone without the problematical ICH9 chipset it should be fine.
In the end I opted for an alternative commercial product..'Casper', which is cloning software (as opposed to imaging)...it clones from one drive to another, creating a perfect bootable copy...this method has its positives and negatives but that, as they say, is another story.
cheers.....JIM
I don't have your specific set of hardware, but software that I've used for years and truly love is Norton Ghost (the old, pre-Symantec version).
It's worked fine for me so far on whatever I throw at it, but again, I don't have newer hardware {alas, someday).
Hey Zig - Norton Ghost and Acronis were once [i:3umjfwi3]the[/i:3umjfwi3] only choice, as you well know ....I've never used Ghost myself but I know it remains a lot of people's favourite. Macrium Reflect is terrific for a free alternative, did you take a look?
Casper is a bit different, it works better with 2 internal disks.....it clones (from within the OS) the full 'C' drive (not compressed and used sectors only) to the second drive. From there, you can swap out files, replace files, etc. If the 'C' drive becomes unbootable for any reason, just change the BIOS setting and boot from the clone...then use Casper to clone from the second drive back to 'C'. It is a very easy process and quite fast (around 15 minutes for me).
I suppose the major drawback with Casper for 'older' machines would be lack of compression and limited hard drive space..but for modern machines where large (huge even) hard drive capacity is the norm, Casper is a very good alternative.
cheers mate.....JIM
I downloaded this program twice and it will not install. I get an error box which I ran through Google with no response. The message says InstallStubCombined
an error has occurred-code 0x01
The download is at Cnet . What would you suggest from here?
Which program are you talking about here....presumably Macrium Reflect? I have never come across that error before so can't help there. At which stage is the error message being generated, right after you run the setup/execute file or some way into the install process? You [i:2dzfhhmx]are [/i:2dzfhhmx]attempting a standard install to your main drive ('C') and not trying to install it to a virtual hard drive or something like that, are you?
Try disabling all security software you have installed; firewall, AV, etc. and see if it will then install okay.
Downloads from Cnet are generally very reliable....I just had a good look around for a different download location and all roads lead to Cnet. Looks like that's the only place you can get it from now.
Maybe someone else might have some ideas on the error message.
sorry, can't be of more help,
JIM
This is going to help the situation, but I dread the day I have to buy a new computer and it comes with Vista. From what I have read here, I am very happy to have XP on my 3 machines.
Cheers
"Do Something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn't, do
something else." - FDR
Starchy,
Don't believe everything you read about Vista. It's a great OS. Not perfect, but pretty darn good, especially when you consider all of the possible hardware combinations it has to work on.
I too used Acronis for many years and was very pleased with it. I now use Windows Home Server instead and am extremley pleased with it.Backs up my pc and three laptops daily.
Hi bluesman and welcome to the forum!!
I have to agree that Windows Home Server is a jewel. I love it, and I think it fills a niche has been missing in the home market. The possibilities are endless. I expect to see some media functionality in the next version.
That said, I never let my copy of Acronis get out of my sight. I still use it once a month to make a full backup. If you've read any of our newsletters I always say, "You can never have enough backups".
I also like acronics so much... then its bad news.
I am really hoping that they will release patch for this.
ozbloke...
I'm kind of late to the party on this thread, but have you checked the Wilders forum link you provided lately? I'm running a similar setup on one of my machines, using TI 2009, and haven't had the problems you mention. Granted, this is version 12, I think, so that bug may be gone by now. Ironically, simpler machines on my network will work fine with just about any version from 7.0 forward, even a 733mHz P3 box!
If you haven't upgraded, Acronis has a goofy offer going on until 4/24/09.
http://www.acronis.com/promo/h.....py-easter/
Macrium reflect is a very useful software, but I prefer the power of TI. YMMV.
hth
Ron
Hey Ron - I have now acquired Acronis 2009. As you surmised, those bugs have been fixed...problem solved. Macrium is very good freeware but, I too, prefer to have the 'power' of Acronis.
Acronis is great software but I was a tad disappointed it took them so long to overcome the problems associated with newer hardware.
cheers mate.....JIM
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