User's Guide TrueImage 6.0 Compute with confidence www.acronis.com Copyright © SWsoft, 2000-2002. All rights reserved. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. OS/2 is a registered trademarks of IBM Corporation. Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners. Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Distribution of the work or derivative work in any standard (paper) book form for commercial purposes is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder. DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED «AS IS» AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 1. INSTALLING ACRONIS TRUEIMAGE AND GETTING STARTED . 6 1.1 ACRONIS TRUEIMAGE SYSTEM PACKAGE ...................................... 6 1.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ................................................................. 6 1.3 INSTALLATION................................................................................. 6 1.4 REPAIRING/UPGRADING ACRONIS TRUEIMAGE.............................. 7 1.5 REMOVING THE SOFTWARE............................................................. 7 1.6 USER INTERFACE............................................................................. 7 1.7 STARTING WORK WITH ACRONIS TRUEIMAGE ............................... 8 CHAPTER 2. CREATING DISK/PARTITION IMAGES........................................ 9 2.1 SELECTING PARTITIONS TO IMAGE ............................................... 10 2.2 IMAGE ARCHIVE LOCATION .......................................................... 11 2.3 COMPRESSION LEVEL.................................................................... 13 2.4 IMAGE ARCHIVE SPLITTING .......................................................... 14 2.5 PROTECTING AN ARCHIVE FILE WITH A PASSWORD ..................... 15 2.6 IMAGE ARCHIVE COMMENTS ........................................................ 16 2.7 AN ARCHIVE FILE CREATION SCRIPT............................................ 17 CHAPTER 3. RESTORING A DISK/PARTITION FROM AN IMAGE .................. 18 3.1 SELECTING AN ARCHIVE FILE ....................................................... 19 3.2 SELECTING A PARTITION TO BE RESTORED .................................. 21 3.3 SELECTING A DESTINATION PARTITION........................................ 22 3.4 SELECTING THE RESTORED PARTITION TYPE AND FILE SYSTEM . 23 3.5 RESIZING A PARTITION.................................................................. 25 3.6 SELECTING A PARTITION LETTER.................................................. 26 3.7 SELECTING THE NEXT PARTITION TO BE RESTORED .................... 27 3.8 PARTITION RESTORATION SCRIPT WINDOW ................................. 28 3.9 PARTITION RESTORATION PECULIARITIES .................................... 29 3.10 PECULIARITIES OF RESTORATION FROM REMOVABLE MEDIA...... 30 CHAPTER 4. RESTORING INDIVIDUAL FILES................................................ 31 APPENDIX A. PARTITIONS AND FILE SYSTEMS.............................................. 36 A.1 HARD DISK PARTITIONS................................................................ 36 A.2 FILE SYSTEMS................................................................................ 36 A.2.1 A.2.2 A.2.3 A.2.4 A.2.5 A.2.6 FAT16......................................................................................................37 FAT32......................................................................................................37 NTFS........................................................................................................38 LINUX EXT2 .............................................................................................38 LINUX EXT3 .............................................................................................38 LINUX REISERFS ......................................................................................38 Acronis TrueImage 3 Introduction What is Acronis TrueImage Acronis TrueImage is your ultimate data insurance policy! It takes an exact image of your hard disk drive or separate partitions for complete backup, and allows you to restore all of their contents, including operating systems, programs, personal data and settings. In the event of fatal software or hardware failure Acronis TrueImage protects your data, even when ordinary file backup software does not work. Acronis TrueImage stores disk images on hard and floppy disks, any recordable CD/DVD media, ZIP®, Jaz® and other removable storage devices, allowing to protect archives by a password with an extremely easy Windows XP-like wizard-driven interface. Acronis' exclusive innovative technology allows to create and restore complete disk images online in Windows, so you don't have to deal with annoying reboots to DOS or other systems, even when backing up system partitions. Archive File Acronis TrueImage creates archive files, that is files containing images of partitions and disks. The images contain both data of partitions and/or disks and information, allowing you to restore a partition (disk) from the image. Partition images include all its files and folders, irrespective of their attributes (hidden, system, etc.), Master Boot Record (MBR), File Allocation Table (FAT), and a root directory (Root). Acronis TrueImage software stores only the data sectors of a hard disk in its partition image. Acronis TrueImage software creates an archive file with a '.tib' extension. The .tib file can contain images of several partitions and/or disks. An archive file of large disk partitions or several partitions (and disks) can become quite large. In this case Acronis TrueImage will split the image into more than one archive volume or archive volume files. Splitting an archive into separate volumes may also be required for writing to removable media Create an image of your hard disk in an archive file on any media, be it another hard disk or CD-R, CD-RW. Install a new disk, boot with a CD (or diskette) containing Acronis TrueImage, and restore the old disk contents from the image to a new disk. You can also change disk partition size and location along with their type and operating system if needed. 4 Introduction How to Find the Necessary Information in this Guide Acronis TrueImage user's guide contains the following main chapters: · Chapter 1. «Installing Acronis TrueImage and Getting Started» and Getting Started» - this describes how to install, run, and remove the software; · Chapter 2. «Creating Disk/Partition Images» - this describes how to create an exact disk/partition image; · Chapter 3. «Restoring a Disk/Partition from an Image» - this describes how to restore the entire hard disk or individual partitions; · Chapter 4. «Restoring Individual Files» - this describes how to restore accidentally deleted or damaged files without restoring the entire hard disk. · Appendix A. «Partitions and File Systems» - this describes the hard disk structures, and interaction with an operating system. Software Usage Conditions The conditions for Acronis TrueImage software usage are described in the «License agreement», included with this package. The supplied registration card is the confirmation of your legal purchase and usage of Acronis TrueImage on your system. Each registration card has its own unique registration number. Under current legislation the «License agreement» is considered a contract between a user (you) and a software manufacturer (Acronis Inc.). The contract has legal effect and its violation may entail a court examination. Illegal use and/or distribution of this software will be prosecuted. Technical Support Users of legally purchased and registered copies of Acronis TrueImage receive free technical support from Acronis Inc. In case you have problems with installation or use that cannot be solved with this guide or read-me file, please visit our support web-site or e-mail our support department at the addresses shown below. You must also send us the registration number of your Acronis TrueImage copy. This number is written on a registration card supplied with this product. Support URL: http://www.acronis.com/support/ E-mail: support@acronis.com Acronis TrueImage 5 Chapter 1. Installing Acronis TrueImage and Getting Started 1.1 Acronis TrueImage System Package Acronis TrueImage system package includes: · an installation disc, · this guide, · license agreement, · registration card, · advertising materials. 1.2 System Requirements To take full advantage of Acronis TrueImage one should have: · a PC-compatible computer with a Pentium CPU or similar, · 32 MB RAM, · a floppy or a CD-RW drive, · VGA monitor, · a mouse (recommended), · free disk space for archive files. 1.3 Installation To install the Acronis TrueImage: 1. Insert the Acronis TrueImage installation CD into CD-ROM drive and start the installation procedure. 2. Carefully follow the installation program instructions on the screen. 3. After making your installation choices and copying of Acronis TrueImage files onto your hard disk, you will be offered to create a bootable diskette or CD-R/W (you may omit this step if you have purchased the boxed product that contains a bootable CD). While TrueImage creates disk images in Windows, it might be necessary to run restoration procedure from a bootable diskette or CD-R/W. Therefore it is strongly recommended you create either of them. You can also create the bootable diskette or CD-R/W when the set-up process is finished. 6 Chapter 1 : Installing Acronis TrueImage and Getting Started After installation of Acronis TrueImage is completed, you should restart your computer. 1.4 Repairing/Upgrading Acronis TrueImage In order to upgrade or repair your software, start the TrueImage installation program again. It will determine that TrueImage was already installed on your computer and will ask you if you want to restore (update) the program or completely remove it from disk. 1.5 Removing the Software To remove the software select Acronis TrueImage Uninstall Acronis TrueImage from the Programs menu. You will see a dialog box asking if you really want to remove the software from your PC hard disk. Press Yes to confirm removal. Acronis TrueImage software will be completely removed. 1.6 User Interface Acronis TrueImage has an extremely easy to use wizard-driven Windows graphical user interface and can be managed with a mouse or Tab, Shift+Tab, Left, Right, Up, Down, Space, Enter, and Escape keys. If you work with Windows, X Window, or OS/2 applications on a regular basis, you will have no problems understanding and using Acronis TrueImage interface. While working with a partition store and restore wizard, a user sees a sequence of Wizard pages, on each of which he (she) selects from several available actions, and thus sets switches to the desired state. Acronis TrueImage 7 The switches can be set with the mouse or keyboard. Each dialog box contains detailed text comments for the dialog's purpose and switches (control elements) as well as for each switch state. There is no Help button on Wizard pages. It is unnecessary because on each page there is detailed information about the purpose of the page and its controls. Moreover, there is detailed information about what possibilities you get if you select any of controls in any possible state. Almost all Acronis TrueImage windows are Wizard pages. 1.7 Starting Work with Acronis TrueImage Acronis TrueImage software runs in different modes during disk/partition image creation or restoration, in case of a serious system malfunction or disk filing structure damage. To create a disk/partition image under Windows, select Start Programs Acronis TrueImage Acronis TrueImage. You will immediately see a welcome window containing the partition (disk) image creation and restoration wizard. If your operating system is damaged and you are unable to boot the PC from its system partition, you should use the bootable diskette or CD-R/W that you previously created, selecting Start Program Acronis TrueImage Bootable Rescue Media Builder. 8 Chapter 1 : Installing Acronis TrueImage and Getting Started Chapter 2. Creating Disk/Partition Images Acronis TrueImage software starts with the welcome page. The next wizard window will offer you to select an action to perform with the help of Acronis TrueImage. There are three actions available: · create an image of a disk partition and/or the whole hard disk drive (a grou ...