Acronis True Image 11 -vs- Norton Ghost 12.0

I have no experience with imaging software. I am looking for back up software that will make an exact copy of my HD to restore from. I like to mess around with alot of software betas and different settings and I need to be able to return to a working system if necessary.

How are these two programs:

Acronis True Image 11 and Norton Ghost 12.0

What are the pros and cons of using both programs?

What hardware is required? DL-DVDs/external HD's etc..

How do they work?

Any assistance would be truly appreciated.

 

Nobody can tell me anything about these two programs?

 

After only 6 hours? Bumping threads is not allowed here until after the message has been in place for 24 hours.

Gary

P.S. I still use Ghost 2003. It works great.

 

Sorry Gary, I didn't know there was a limit on bumping.

 

I just restored my HD using Vista's built in Complete PC backup. Worked perfectly and restored everything in <15 minutes (is that good? never used acronis/ghost).

You can backup the HD to DVDs or an external HD. To restore, boot from your Vista DVD-->Click Repair Computer-->Complete Restore-->Choose Image-->Restore!

I used this process to even restore my image to my new HD. I was surprised that Microsoft didn't care that it was to another HD.

FYI, this is only with Vista Ultimate (maybe Enterprise).

 

I've had some issues restoring with ATI 11. I hear ATI 10 was better. I got ATI 11 because of all the bad press I read about the more current versions of Ghost. You might search over at Wilders, too. There's a lot of conversations about this topic there of late.

You might alternatively or additionally look into something like Sandboxie.

 

I bought Acronis TI 10 33 days before TI 11 came out. TI 10 won't restore my system, and yes, I've spent hours with Acronis support trying to fix it.

Long story short, the cheap bastards won't include me in their 30 day upgrade policy, and won't give me a refund either.

Last Acronis product I buy.

 

Acronis True Image 11 worked like a charm.......no hassles for complete hard drive cloning....you just need to burn the bootable version of their software on a CD.....

 

I would use the built in Vista image creator. Its free and works great. I believe it also uses the industry standard file extention for its image. I had a customer who used Acronis 11 to restore his image back on his T61 and it worked, but when he tried to restore his files and folders he got a blank screen with a blinking cursor, which on a Lenovo means the OS is FUBAR.

 

That did not work for me. However, I've not retried it since, either. I do still use ATI 11 to do a full backup every week as I have been able to do that and can access them for reference (or presumably selective folder restores, outside of ATI 11). Hopefully, if I ever do need to do a full restore I will be able to, although that is probably some sort of delusion, as nothing has really changed since the last time it did not work.

 

Acronis True image is amazing. I'm a network administrator for a medium size company and I can tell you that the universal restore is great. You can restore to any hardware... e.g A server to a laptop etc.

It just works perfect.

I would recommend going with Acronis over Ghost any day!

 

So you can create a bootable version of Acronis, like I could with my old standby Ghost 2003. I avoided newer versions of Ghost because the newer ones all want to run while the OS is running and frankly I don't trust any image app that does NOT run in a bootable fashion.

Gary

 

Yep, an Acronis Boot CD is what I use.

 

I just entered "backup" in Vista's in-built search, and "Backup and Restore Center" is the option one would want..then selecting the option "Backup Computer" which from its description will "Create a Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore Image of your entire computer, which can be used to recover from a hardware failure."

This is in Vista Ultimate as quoted above, and also in Vista Business (which I am using).

 

It's good to hear that Complete PC works! I wondered how well it would perform, I'll probably have to make a backup now

 

I had bought Norton Ghost 12 some while ago, but didn't use it till yesterday. I had to format last night, so I cloned my Windows drive, and softwares (where they are installed) drive just after a clean format, with all the Windows setting and services and softwares settings and all done.

I'm sure Gary remembers my questions about Norton Ghost?

It was a cake walk to install and clone the drives. Absolutely easy.

This is a software I hope I never have to use!

 

I travel extensively with a Dell notebook running XP Pro and use EFS for data security. I travel with a cloned copy of the hard drive. I create the "backup clone" a day or two before I leave town using Norton Ghost 2003 (running standalone).

I also make a Ghost copy of my notebook before installing new software. I have only had to revert a few times over the years - but - was extremely glad I could revert.

Near as I can see, Norton does not make a standalone version of Ghost for Vista. I am really big on standalone clone images as I know the image was created in a "stable state" (i.e. files were not being updated during the backup).

I am postponing my upgrade to a new notebook with Vista until I am certain I can make a clone copy of my hard drive.

Judging by your comments, ATI 11 will do that (assuming you cut a bootable CD). How do you know you have a "bulletproof" clone? Does ATI 11 have a utility to check the integrity of the "backup image"? I don't mind spending a little money for good software.
I am certain I sound pretty cautious. I have used a number of backup software packages and Ghost 2003 was one of the few that was really bulletproof. A few others left me rebuilding systems from scratch. And some run forever.

I don't feel comfortable using MS Complete PC Backup as I am already too dependent upon Microsoft.

Vince

 

I gave up on Acronis. It never would restore an image. I can't get a reasonable answer nor a refund from Acronis, either.

I got Paragon Drive Backup 8.51 Personal and it works for me.

I'll never buy nor recommend Acronis again.

 

What was your exact problem ? Acronis has worked good for me in cloning my harddrive and restoring through Boot CD

 

As long as you are dropping the image back to the same partition it came from, I can attest that standalone Ghost 2003 (yes 2003) writes and restores Vista NTFS partitions. I have never tried ANYTHING else, nothing that had to diddle with the partition tables in ANY way. I use booIT NG for that stuff.

 

I make the backup (verified) to a USB external harddrive. Shut down the notebook. Boot the notebook from an ATI Bootable CD. Start the restore of the internal drive from the external USB drive. ATI11 detects both the USB external harddrive and the internal drive in the notebook. Then it simply stops. No message. Nothing. 100% Repeatable. Tried all the cryptic little UNIX commands that are recommended, too. Have not tried the BartPE option as I see no reason to go to those extents in an attempt to make an EXPENSIVE piece of software work. Besides, as I understand it, BartPE won't work with Vista, I would have to use something called VistaPE.

ATI11 IS A POS IMHO.

 

WOW@the poll results being misleading compared to the actual posts. I never tried ATI and don't think I ever will after reading this thread.

I like Norton Ghost. It can be slow sometimes but has always got the job done for me. Very user friendly and I love the Convert to VMware file option and the copy entire drive option. Ghost is about the only thing I like from Symantec/Norton

As for the one built in Vista, I guess it would most likely work just fine when backing up a Vista Partition.

 

I vote for True Image v.11.

I used this on Monday to make an exact copy of a laptop PC to a USB hard drive. Very fast transfer and easy to use too.

Only problem I encountered was the fact that you can not boot WinXP from a USB Hard Drive, no problem if you can take the drive out the enclosure tho.

BTW. I have not used Norton in the past so I can't comment on that.

 

That is sad to hear that it doesn't work for you. Are you using the 'Clone Disk' feature from Disk Utilities tab ?

I use this 'Clone disk' feature from ATI11 BootCD for both storing image to another hdd and restoring back.

Specifically I do what is mentioned in Chapter 14, Pg 86 of this ATI Manual

Did you try this 'Clone Disk' feature ?

 

I did a "BACKUP", because that is what I was trying to accomplish.

While I empathize with your interest, I no longer have ANY interest in ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE other than to OBTAIN A REFUND for a DEFECTIVE PRODUCT. Although I do not expect that either, because of the LOW LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SUPPORT FROM ACRONIS.

 

Can ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE backup your system to Dvds?

 

yes, it can backup to dvds... but it might take a bunch of dvds! i have acronis true image and i love it. no problems. guess i'm lucky, maybe imaging software is a hit or miss, it sure works great for me. i've restored my entire hard drive a couple of times with it. woot!

i use acronis for the same kind of thing i suspect the OP would. if i install something i'm not sure i will want to keep, i make an image right before. then, i can restore that image if i want. acronis can also run from a boot cd if you totally fry your operating system. pretty sweet. it's a lifesaver for reinstallation!

 

Acronis True Image 11 is the best!! Have nevre let me down!

 

I also have had excellent success with Acronis 10 and 11. I use the BACKUP feature and the RESTORE to restore an entire partition/boot drive. I swear I have seen a restore work even faster / better than a fresh install. Boy, that was wild. Dave

 

true that! excellent backup/restore program! can't live without it really.

The restore only takes 8 minutes on my laptop for a Vista Installation and 4 minutes for an XP Installation!

 

yeah, a full restore is about 5-10 minutes for me. a WHOLE lot faster than a new install... with drivers, updates, tweaks, programs, etc., a full install takes me forever...

 

Do both versions (10/11) of Acronis True Image work with Vista? I'm especially interested if they will restore Vista x64.

I'm assuming there is a boot level image capture option, right?

I plan on doing a clean install of Vista Ultimate x64, and perhaps dual booting with XP...or loading it into Virtual PC at some time.

 

Successfully cloned two Thinkpad hard drives quickly & (mostly) easily with ATI 10/11.

In the second case: the drive cloned successfully from internal to USB enclosure, but I got the dreaded blinking cursor after I installed the new drive internally and tried to boot. Apparently this is a common problem. So since the data was already on the old drive, which was now in the enclosure, I

- rebooted with the Acronis CD,
- deleted the partitions on the new drive,
- ran the cloning process again from the USB drive -> internal drive.

Booted just fine.

 

I've used ATI v11 on XP,Vista 32 and Vista 64 with no problems. I've scaled up in size but haven't tried to scale down. I went from 64gb to 320 in XP, 32 and 64 bit Vista with zero problems..did incremental and restored directories fine.

 

I've used ATI 11 on XP to both increase and decrease partition sizes, and to move allocated space from one partition to another, all without the slightest problem.

 

My vote also goes to Acronis. I've been using it for over a year on 3 different machines without any major issues. The backup function works as expected, however the bootable restore CD sometimes locks up for long periods of time or doesn't detect my external USB hard disk.

 

ShadowProtect Desktop (3.3 currently), by Storagecraft Technology. And, no, I have zero affiliation with 'em; I discovered them after hours of comparison and research --- Enterprise IT level (serious and it works) software ... a DEAL at $10 more than Ghost (not cheap, $79 currently) but got PC Mag Editor's Choice award and 4.5 of 5 (whereas Both Norton Ghost 14 and Acronis TI Home 2009 (11's successor) got 3 or less).

This Shadowprotect is the real deal, and it has a 30-day trial (as opposed to Acronis' 15 days). It's functionality is at minimum _equal_ to Ghost and TI (imaging, network, etc..).

Seriously -
This ugly URL will bring up a comparison on PCMag including all 3 (the comma-delimited list is product ids to compare):

"http://www.pcmag.com/compare_products/0,1943,,00.asp?sid=1882&a=224359,224307,224026"
(The URL is truncating, so I surrounded in quotes. Just cut-n-paste. This is PC Magazines comparison and rating of the 3 products we discuss here)


PCMag on ShadowProtect 3.1:
"This software provides the fastest and smoothest backups and restores of any drive-image utility on the market, and a Vista-based emergency disk guarantees compatibility with the widest range of backup hardware. ShadowProtect Desktop 3.1 is the best such product and worth ten times its price in terms of peace of mind and flexibility."

ShadowProtect, after long hours of research and comparison - hands down blows away both the two in the thread's title - and $79 is not much for data and system security peace-of-mind, IMHO

Cheers,
Stephen

 

oh, now's my turn!!

Windows Home Server .. and you never look back again ..

(do i have to explain it, really? everyone get one and be happy..)

 

I have used Acronis for quite a few years, and never had a problem with any of their versions. Saved my @ss on more than a few occasions

On the other hand, I would not touch anything by Symantec with a ten foot pole. After getting to know more than I ever wanted to know about how they design their software, I will not allow any of their stuff on any of my computers, period.

 

I've used Acronis for a few years as well, although it does have some anomolies. It wouldn't recognize my hard drives on my Gateway P7811fx. It also wouldn't recognize beyond two hard drives on my desktop either.

I miss Powerquest's Partition Magic and Drive Image. Since Norton picked them up I don't feel they've been as good.

Regarding the built-in Complete PC Backup, that utility is only available on Business and Ultimate versions. Not on Home Premium or Home Basic. Although it does work rather well, but it doesn't offer many options, compression mainly. I did a PC backup of my Vista install which was 36GB on disk, it shrunk to about 20GB as a backup, and also did a backup to DVD and it was only 8GB! I wish I could only use 8GB over 20GB on my hard drive too.

 

I have read a good number of posts just like yours - people who really like Acronis and have very good experience with it. I have also read a rather disturbing number of posts in which Acronis messes up royally (not as many, but - TOO MANY, imho). Rather than the dime-a-dozen sites that prefer this one over that one, and often something no one has ever heard of - at least PCMag and CNET have _some_ credibility to protect. Symantec is squarely OUT, I agree with you. I liked it alot years ago - it was great, and apparently it's suffered a slow and ugly transformation along with support at Symantec.

For my money - the guys who have a large corporate customer base (I already mentioned in my post above), and sell a scaled-down home user version - and also were rated WELL above the others by legitimate publications - will be the one that folks are praising greatly in years to come. Acronis == better than Ghost but too many bad experiences documented - and with fairly pedestrian laptop/desktop/NW configurations. The fact that they release patches only for showstoppers and then re-version is scary too - bugfix/patch releases should be a normal part of doing business. It's all opinion, so go the way you must - suggest reading up on ShadowProtect before you decide (if you haven't already).

 

But you now use Windows Home Server, not? (at least, according to your sig)

 

Seriously - there are great things being said about WHS, and it's great to hear such praises. In this case, where someone has a system/network and wants to simply have a secure, reliable backup solution as s/w, well -- you are proposing replacing the whole city, and it's a valid proposal. But not for folks who do not want to replace their entire OS and environment. It's a Back-Ho being suggested for folks who want a good, reliable shovel. Sorry. Just trying to point out that the thread is about Backup software and not about replacing one's OS. Please don't flame me. I will, in all likelihood, become a WHS evangelist, or at least a deacon - and will join you. For now, I'm not replacing my laptop's (3 of 'em, and 4 desktops) OS. Especially in light of the lack of Gateway support for anything but Vista on it's new 'books. Keep singing though, bro, keep singing.

Stephen

THANKS, Dave for setting me straight. I was way wrong, since I didn't dig deep. Still, even adding a new box may not be an acceptable solution for many folks, again, looking for a backup application for their lone box. But, I should hang my head in shame and embarassment, and I am. For me, if I'm on the road and perhaps have my single 320gb passport or whatever (and a slow/no n/w situation), I still want to have an image, and a way to protect the work I'm doing on the road. With a little tweakage, I'm sure that WHS in my office is available from almost anywhere (as are several online backup offerings), but, eh... it is a whole additional box. For me, I think it's about time I tried it out. Feature-wise it looks awesome.

 

uhm, whs is not about replacing the os?? it's about a backup solution. instaed of an external hdd, or a NAS, you have a WHS. that's just another box. it's like a NAS on steroids.

this doesn't change any of the notebooks, any of the desktops, at all.

you got that completely wrong, sorry.

Pic was too big, sorry

here, like a NAS or what ever, it's an additional device in the network, and you add your own systems to it. so you stay with vista / xp on all your systems like before, just install a backup-client and then it's all done.

 

No, it is a physical PC that I call my "home server". It is not running Home Server software (yet).

 

i got that from the other thread of yours. you should

link to a post of me on the other thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4917733&postcount=5

there you see the setup, and some possible hw, and a pic of the console.

 

THANKS, Dave for setting me straight. I was way wrong, since I didn't dig deep. Still, even adding a new box may not be an acceptable solution for many folks, again, looking for a backup application for their lone box. But, I should hang my head in shame and embarassment, and I am. For me, if I'm on the road and perhaps have my single 320gb passport or whatever (and a slow/no n/w situation), I still want to have an image, and a way to protect the work I'm doing on the road. With a little tweakage, I'm sure that WHS in my office is available from almost anywhere (as are several online backup offerings), but, eh... it is a whole additional box. For me, I think it's about time I tried it out. Feature-wise it looks awesome.

 

I think i said before, WHS is mostly for environments where there are more than one system. you can have up to 10 backed up with it, so it's perfect in a family house (espencially with the shared folders, so you can have your family photos and such all centrally there).

for a single system, it's mostly overkill (but still a funky thing to have and play with..).

 

I imagine the WHS server would do well with striped drives as well. I see where it provides a form of selective data redundancy, etc... but seems clear that a mirrored array would fit well here.

I have read that router configuration (folks with a wireless G that they set-n-forgot, etc..) is an issue and might be a sore point for new WHS users, especially for less tech-savvy types. Also - is it true that Windows Vista Home Premium is not supported (lack of remote access feature needed)? This includes a ton of new users, and should be supported if it's not. Is x64 client supported? Lastly, does WHS include a way to backup the server itself? I read that it does not have it's own backup functionality yet. Here's where you might end up putting my choice, Shadow Protect - to image the WHS!



Cheers and cool new stuff to play with for sure.

 

I have it with Vista Business.