User manual ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE 8.0

User's Guide Acronis True Image 8.0 Compute with confidence www.acronis.com Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004. All rights reserved. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. OS/2 is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. 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 this 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. 2 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 End-user license agreement END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT BY ACCEPTING, YOU (ORIGINAL PURCHASER) INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO ACCEPT THE PRODUCT UNDER THESE TERMS YOU MAY CHOOSE NOT TO ACCEPT BY SELECTING "I decline..." AND NOT INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE. The Acronis True Image (the Software) is Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004. All rights are reserved. The ORIGINAL PURCHASER is granted a LICENSE to use the software only, subject to the following restrictions and limitations. 1. 2. The license is to the original purchaser only, and is not transferable without prior written Permission from Acronis. The Original Purchaser may use the Software on a single computer owned or leased by the Original Purchaser. You may not use the Software on more than a single machine even if you own or lease all of them without the written consent of Acronis. The Original Purchaser may not engage in, nor permit third parties to engage in, any of the following: Providing or permitting use of or disclosing the Software to third parties. Providing use of the Software in a computer service business, network, timesharing or multiple user arrangement to users who are not individually licensed by Acronis. Making alterations or copies of any kind in the Software (except as specifically permitted above). Attempting to un-assemble, de-compile or reverse engineer the Software in any way. Granting sublicenses, leases, or other rights in the Software to others. Making copies, or verbal or media translations, of the users guide. Making telecommunication data transmission of the software. 3. A. B. C. D. E. F. G. Acronis has the right to terminate this license if there is a violation of its terms or default by the Original Purchaser. Upon termination for any reason, all copies of the Software must be immediately returned to Acronis, and the Original Purchaser shall be liable to Acronis for any and all damages suffered as a result of the violation or default. ENTIRE RISK THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU THE PURCHASER. ACRONIS DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE OR ITS FUNCTIONS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE OR THAT ANY DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED. NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES - IN NO EVENT SHALL ACRONIS OR ITS VENDORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR THE LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ACRONIS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 3 Table of contents Table of Contents CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................6 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 3.1 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 3.2.4 3.3 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 6.1 6.2 7.1 7.2 7.3 4 What is Acronis True Image? ................................................................................... 6 What's new in Acronis True Image 8.0? .................................................................... 6 What is a disk image? ............................................................................................. 7 Software usage terms and conditions ....................................................................... 8 Bundle contents...................................................................................................... 9 System requirements .............................................................................................. 9 Acronis True Image installation ................................................................................ 9 Running Acronis True Image.................................................................................. 10 Removing the program.......................................................................................... 10 Main program window........................................................................................... 11 Acronis Secure Zone ............................................................................................. 13 Creating Acronis Secure Zone ................................................................................ 14 Resizing Acronis Secure Zone................................................................................. 15 Deleting the images in Acronis Secure Zone ............................................................ 16 Deleting Acronis Secure Zone ................................................................................ 17 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager ......................................................................... 17 Selecting partitions ............................................................................................... 19 Selecting image mode ........................................................................................... 19 Selecting image location........................................................................................ 21 Selecting image file size ........................................................................................ 21 Selecting data compression level............................................................................ 22 Protecting images with passwords.......................................................................... 23 Providing comments.............................................................................................. 24 Image creation script ............................................................................................ 25 Selecting image creation priority ............................................................................ 26 Selecting an image to restore from......................................................................... 27 Checking image integrity before restoration ............................................................ 28 Selecting a partition to restore ............................................................................... 28 Selecting a location to restore to ............................................................................ 29 Selecting partition type ......................................................................................... 30 Selecting a file system........................................................................................... 31 Selecting restored partition size ............................................................................. 32 Assigning a letter to a partition .............................................................................. 33 Checking file system integrity ................................................................................ 33 Restoring several partitions at once........................................................................ 34 Restoration script.................................................................................................. 35 Connecting a virtual disk ....................................................................................... 36 Unplugging a virtual disk ....................................................................................... 37 General information .............................................................................................. 38 Security ............................................................................................................... 39 Executing transfers ............................................................................................... 39 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 CHAPTER 2. INSTALLATION AND OPERATION ........................................................9 CHAPTER 3. GENERAL PROGRAM INFORMATION..................................................11 CHAPTER 4. CREATING A PARTITION (DISK) IMAGE............................................19 CHAPTER 5. RESTORING A DISK (PARTITION) FROM AN IMAGE .........................27 CHAPTER 6. BROWSING AND RESTORING INDIVIDUAL FILES.............................36 CHAPTER 7. TRANSFERRING THE SYSTEM TO A NEW DISK ..................................38 Contents 7.4 8.1 8.2 8.3 9.1 9.2 10.1 10.2 10.3 11.1 11.2 11.3 A.1 A.2 A.2.1 A.2.2 A.2.3 A.2.4 A.2.5 A.2.6 B.1 B.1.1 B.1.2 B.1.3 B.2 B.2.1 B.2.2 B.2.3 B.2.4 B.2.5 Cloning with manual partitioning ............................................................................ 46 Selecting a hard disk............................................................................................. 48 Creating a new partition ........................................................................................ 49 Disk add script...................................................................................................... 49 Creating scheduled tasks ....................................................................................... 50 Managing scheduled tasks ..................................................................................... 55 Checking images................................................................................................... 57 Creating bootable media ....................................................................................... 58 Viewing logs......................................................................................................... 58 Recovering Acronis True Image ............................................................................. 60 Frequently asked questions ................................................................................... 60 Technical support ................................................................................................. 63 Hard disk partitions............................................................................................... 65 File systems ......................................................................................................... 65 FAT16.................................................................................................................. 66 FAT32.................................................................................................................. 66 NTFS ................................................................................................................... 66 Linux Ext2............................................................................................................ 67 Linux Ext3............................................................................................................ 67 Linux ReiserFS...................................................................................................... 67 Installing hard disks in computers .......................................................................... 68 Installing a hard disk, general scheme.................................................................... 68 Motherboard sockets, IDE cable, power cable ......................................................... 69 Installation modes, jumpers................................................................................... 70 BIOS ................................................................................................................... 71 Setup utility.......................................................................................................... 71 Standard CMOS setup menu .................................................................................. 71 Arranging boot sequence, advanced CMOS setup menu ........................................... 73 AwardBIOS .......................................................................................................... 75 Hard disk initialization errors.................................................................................. 80 CHAPTER 8. ADDING A NEW HARD DISK...............................................................48 CHAPTER 9. SCHEDULED TASKS.............................................................................50 CHAPTER 10. OTHER OPERATIONS........................................................................57 CHAPTER 11. TROUBLESHOOTING.........................................................................60 APPENDIX A. PARTITIONS AND FILE SYSTEMS.....................................................65 APPENDIX B. HARD DISKS AND BIOS SETUP ........................................................68 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 5 Introduction Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1 What is Acronis True Image? Acronis True Image solves all backup problems, ensuring the safety of all information on your PC. Using it, you'll be able to create exact hard disk images, including all operating systems, applications and configuration files, software updates, personal settings and all of your data. If failures occur that block access to information or affect system operation, or if you accidentally delete necessary files, you'll be able to restore the system and lost data easily. You won't have to select files and folders for backup, as many backup applications require. Instead, you will store all your disk data. As a result, Acronis True Image is simpler and faster than competitive applications. You can store images on almost any PC storage device: local hard drives, network drives or a variety of IDE, SCSI, FireWire (IEEE-1394), USB (1.0, 1.1 and 2.0) and PC card (formerly called PCMCIA) removable media drives, including CD-R(RW), DVD-recordable, magneto-optical, Iomega Zip and Jaz drives. You can restore the partition or lost data from an image any time. You can also connect an image as a virtual drive, browse its contents and extract selected files to the hard disk. The unique technology developed by Acronis and implemented in Acronis True Image allows you to create exact, sector-by-sector disk images and restore their content directly from Windows without the reboots typical for similar products. If you are going to install a new hard disk drive, Acronis True Image will help you transfer information from the old one in minutes, including operating systems, applications, documents and personal settings. Wizards and a user-friendly, Windows XP-styled interface will make your work even more convenient. Just answer some simple questions and let Acronis True Image take care of everything else! When a problem occurs, it will get you up and running in short order. 1.2 What's new in Acronis True Image 8.0? Acronis True Image 8.0 has several new features: · Adjustment of a priority for process of image creation 6 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 Introduction · Exception paging/hibernate files from images for the decreasing of image file size · Partition/disk image integrity check before restoration · Partition/disk file system integrity check after restoration · Logs viewing; · Two boot disk variants: complete and safe · Improved interface and performance 1.3 What is a disk image? A disk (partition) image is a file that contains a copy of all information stored on a disk. The image stores the installed operating system, all programs, and all documents and settings. By backing up your information regularly, you will protect yourself from data loss in case of system failure or PC malfunctions. By default, Acronis True Image image files have a ".tib" extension and can contain images of several partitions or disks. Images of large partitions or several disks could be quite large. If so, they can be split into several files that together make an original image. A single image can also be split for burning to removable media. A single image that is split across multiple CDs is sometimes called a "spanned volume." Acronis True Image can create incremental images. An incremental image contains only data from those hard disk sectors that changed after the previous disk image (complete or incremental) was created. Thus such an image is significantly smaller and takes less time to create than a full image. However, as it does not contain all the necessary information about disks (partitions), it requires more than one image for restoration, including the current incremental image and at least one previous image or, ideally, all the previous incremental images and the initial complete image. You can't foresee the exact number of images required for a particular restoration, as it depends on how much data changes between image creations. Note that you can create incremental images more often, as they are far smaller than complete images and take significantly less time to create. If you create such images often, you'll be able to restore disks (partitions) relatively easily and quickly. If you just use complete images, this will require far more time and space (up to 10 times more). An incremental image created after a disk is defragmented might be considerably larger than usual. This is because the defragmentation program changes file locations on disk and incremental images reflect these changes. Using incremental stages instead of complete images gives you more flexibility in what you restore. It takes much less time and as little as one tenth the disk space. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 7 Introduction Acronis True Image stores only those hard disk parts that contain data (for supported partition types). This reduces image size and speeds up image creation and restoration from. A partition image includes all files and folders independent of their attributes (including hidden and system files), boot record, FAT (file allocation table) and root. A disk image includes images of all disk partitions as well as the zero track with master boot record (MBR). 1.4 Software usage terms and conditions The conditions for Acronis True Image 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 True Image on your system. Each registration card has a unique registration number. Under current legislation, the «License Agreement» is considered a contract between you and Acronis Inc. The contract is a legal document and its violation may result in legal action. Illegal use and/or distribution of this software will be prosecuted. 8 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 Installation and operation Chapter 2. Installation and operation 2.1 Bundle contents The Acronis True Image system package includes: · an installation disk · user manual · License Agreement · registration card · advertising materials 2.2 System requirements Acronis True Image requires the following hardware: · Pentium or compatible PC · 32 MB RAM · floppy disk drive or CD-ROM drive · VGA monitor · mouse (recommended) · free hard disk space for image files A CD-ROM drive is required to install Acronis True Image 2.3 Acronis True Image installation To install Acronis True Image: 1. Insert the installation CD into your drive. 2. Follow the instructions on the screen. 3. After making your installation choices and copying Acronis True Image files onto your hard disk, you will be prompted to create a bootable diskette or CD-R/W. (You can omit this step if you have purchased the boxed product that contains a bootable CD). While Acronis True Image creates disk images in Windows, it might be necessary to restore the image from a bootable disk. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that you create one. However, you can do that after the installation as well. After installation of Acronis True Image is completed, you should restart your computer. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 9 Installation and operation 2.4 Running Acronis True Image In normal mode, you can run Acronis True Image from Windows by selecting Acronis True Image, from Start Programs. This will bring the program window onto the screen. If your operating system does not load for some reason, you can run Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. However, this must be installed prior to use; see "Acronis Startup Recovery Manager" to learn more about this procedure. To activate the program, press F11 during PC bootup, when you see a corresponding message that tells you to press that key. Acronis True Image will be run in the standalone mode, allowing you to restore previously created images or an image from the Acronis Secure Zone. If your disk data is totally corrupted and you can not boot (or if you have not installed Acronis Startup Recovery Manager), you should use the bootable media supplied with the retail box version or created during the installation procedure. It will automatically load Acronis True Image, allowing you to recover the damaged partitions. 2.5 Removing the program To remove Acronis True Image from your PC, select Acronis True Image Remove Acronis True Image in the Programs menu. You will see a dialog to confirm the program removal. Click Yes to confirm and Acronis True Image will be completely removed. You may have to reboot your computer afterwards to complete the task. 10 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 General program information Chapter 3. General program information 3.1 Main program window The main program window contains the menu, toolbar and the Windows XP Explorer-like interface divided into two areas. The right area contains operation icons; the left one has corresponding action descriptions, typical actions and additional tools. The main program window The menu, toolbar and menu items in the left area duplicate themselves, providing more convenience. Having selected (clicked) an operation, you can execute it in several ways: by double-clicking its icon, by selecting Start Now in the Operations menu, by selecting the same operation in the Operations window, or by clicking Start on the toolbar. The main window contains operation icons divided into three groups. The Disk Imaging group contains disk image operations: · Create Image ­ create a disk (partition) image · Restore Image ­ restore a disk (partition) from a previously created image · Explore Image ­ connect and view an image as a virtual drive · Unplug Image ­ disconnect the connected virtual drive Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 11 General program information The New Disk Deployment group includes operations required when a new disk drive is installed: · Disk Clone ­ transfer operating system, applications and data from the old disk to the new one · Add New Disk ­ add a disk for data storage, leaving the operating system and applications on the old drive The Tasks group initially contains only one operation: · Add Scheduled Task ­ create a scheduled disk (partition) image creation or restoration task with specified time or periodicity. After a scheduled task is created, its icon is added to the group. The total number of group icons depends on the number of scheduled operations. Program menu The program menu line contains the Operations, Tools, View and Help items. The Operations menu changes when either an operation icon or scheduled task is selected. In the first case, the menu contains only Start Now to execute the selected operation. For information on managing scheduled tasks, see Chapter 9. · Delete ­ deletes selected operation. Appears only when a scheduled task is selected The Tools menu contains the following items: · Manage Acronis Secure Zone ­ creates a special hidden system partition on a disk for storing disk (partition) images · Activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager ­ activates the boot restoration manager · Check Image ­ runs disk (partition) integrity checking procedure · Create Bootable Rescue Media ­ runs the bootable media creation procedure · Show Log ­ opens a window with logs The View menu contains items for managing the program window look: · Toolbars ­ contains commands that control toolbar icons · Common Task Bar ­ enables/disables common task panel in the left area · Status Bar ­ enables/disables the status bar · Tiles Icons List ­ controls how operation icons look · Refresh ­ refreshes the main program window The Help menu allows you to invoke help and get information about Acronis True Image. 12 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 General program information Status bar In the bottom of the main window, there is a status bar divided into two parts. The left part briefly describes the selected operation; the right one indicates image operation progress and results. A double-click on the operation progress line opens the operation progress window. If you double-click on the operation results, you will see the logs window (see "Viewing logs"). Taskbar notification area icon During image creation operations, a special indicator icon appears in the notification area (the right portion of the status bar with the clock). If you place the cursor over the icon, you will see a tool tip indicating the operation's progress. This icon doesn't depend on the main program window being open. It is present for background execution of scheduled tasks as well. Disk and partition information You can change disk schemes and data representation in all schemes you see in various wizards. To the right are three icons: Arrange Icons by, Choose Details and Display the properties of the selected item (also duplicated in the context menu invoked by double-clicking objects). To sort messages by a particular column, click the header (another click will switch the messages to the opposite order) or Arrange Icons by button and select the column. To select columns to view, right-click the headers line or left-click the Choose Details button. Then flag the columns you want to display. If you click the Display the properties of the selected item button, you will see the selected partition or disk properties window. This window contains two panels. The left panel contains the properties tree and the right describes the selected property in detail. The disk information includes its physical parameters (connection type, device type, size, etc.); partition information includes both physical (sectors, location, etc.), and logical (file system, free space, assigned letter, etc.) parameters. You can change the width of columns by dragging their borders with the mouse. 3.2 Acronis Secure Zone Acronis Secure Zone is a special, hidden system partition for storing disk and partition images. Ordinary applications can't access it, for image security purposes. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 13 General program information If you create a zone, it will be listed after all PC disks available for image creation and restoration. The Acronis Secure Zone is primarily meant to be used with Acronis Startup Recovery Manager (see below). It can be used to store both images and data. The zone is primarily made to manually or automatically create and restore disk images safely. Therefore it is always available for image creation as long as there is space for it. If there is not enough space, older images will be deleted to create space. This means you can automatically create disk images easily on a schedule (see Chapter 9)., and you won't be bothered by zone overflow issues. The Acronis Secure Zone can still be filled completely when creating incremental images (see "Incremental images"). This happens because the program can't delete the first (complete) image, since it might be required for restoration. Thus, you should periodically check zone free space when creating incremental images, to increase it, if necessary, or re-create base images. Acronis Secure Zone can be located on any local disk. It is created at the expense of unallocated space, if available, or at the expense of partition free space. A PC can have only one secure zone. To create a zone on another disk, you must first delete any existing zone. You can store a disk (partition) image on the same disk (partition) if there's enough space for it, but you should not keep your primary images on the same partition or disk. You should burn images to removable media, such as a CD, DVD or Zip disks, another hard disk or a network drive. The only reason to create an image on the same partition (except for creating an image in the Acronis Secure Zone) is to use the image as a local, secondary backup. This backup could be used to restore damaged files. (Remember, if your disk becomes physically damaged, an image stored on the same partition will be inaccessible.) When you click Manage Acronis Secure Zone in the menu, the program searches for the zone on all local drives. If a zone is found, the wizard will offer to delete or resize it. If there is no zone, you'll be prompted to create it. Before you create the zone, estimate its size. To do this, start image creation and select disks and partitions to image into the zone. At the compression level stage, you will see estimated image size. Multiply this by 1.5. If you plan to install additional applications or create incremental images, increase the zone size. 3.2.1 Creating Acronis Secure Zone If there are several disks installed, select one on which to create Acronis Secure Zone. Select the partition on which space will be used to create the zone. 14 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 General program information Enter the size of the zone or drag the slider. In the next window, you will see a zone creation script containing the list of briefly described operations to be performed on partitions (disks). After you click Proceed, Acronis True Image will start creating the zone. Progress will be reflected in the opened window. If necessary, you can stop zone creation by clicking Cancel. However, the script will be canceled only after the current operation is finished. Acronis Secure Zone creation might take several minutes or more. Please wait until the whole procedure is finished. 3.2.2 Resizing Acronis Secure Zone When prompted by the wizard, select Manage Acronis Secure Zone. Select to increase or decrease the zone. You might need to increase it to provide more space for images. The opposite situation might arise if either partition lacks free space. After this, select a partition from which free space will be used to increase Acronis Secure Zone or that will receive free space after the zone is reduced. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 15 General program information Set the new size for Acronis Secure Zone. In the next window, you will see a zone resize script containing a list of briefly described operations to be performed on partitions (disks). After you click Proceed, Acronis True Image will start resizing the zone. Progress will be reflected in the opened window. If necessary, you can stop zone creation by clicking Cancel. However, the script will be canceled only after the current operation is finished. Zone resizing might take several minutes or longer. Please wait until the whole procedure is finished. 3.2.3 Deleting the images in Acronis Secure Zone The images saved to Acronis Secure Zone are deleted automatically if required. Acronis True Image use the following scheme to clean up Acronis Secure Zone: · If there is not enough free space in Acronis Secure Zone to create an image, then Acronis True Image deletes the most old full image with all subsequent incremental backup images. · If there is only one full image (with subsequent incremental backup images) left and full backup is in progress, then this only full image (with subsequent incremental backup images) is deleted. · Otherwise (only one full image left, and incremental backup is in progress) then you will get out of space error. In this case you will have to either create full image or increase the Acronis Secure Zone size. 16 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 General program information You can always check how much free space left in Acronis Secure Zone on the second page of the Manage Acronis Secure Zone wizard. 3.2.4 Deleting Acronis Secure Zone When you are prompted by the wizard, select Remove Acronis Secure Zone. Select partitions to which you want to add the space freed from Acronis Secure Zone. In the next window, you will see a zone deletion script containing a list of briefly described operations to be performed on partitions (disks). After you click Proceed, Acronis True Image will start deleting the zone. Progress will be reflected in the opened window. If necessary, you can stop zone creation by clicking Cancel. However, the script will be canceled only after the current operation is finished. Zone deletion might take several minutes or more. Please wait until the whole procedure is finished. Acronis Secure Zone deletion will disable Acronis Startup Recovery Manager automatically if it is activated and destroy all images stored in the zone. 3.3 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager Acronis True Image provides Acronis Startup Recovery Manager to run the program without loading the operating system. This feature is useful if Windows won't load for some reason. Using it, you can run Acronis True Image by itself to restore damaged partitions from images. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 17 General program information To use Acronis Startup Recovery Manager (it must be activated), turn on your PC and press F11, when you see the "Press F11 for Acronis Startup Recovery Manager" message. This will run a standalone version of Acronis True Image that only slightly differs from the complete version. For information on restoring damaged partitions, see Chapter 5. Be careful! Disk letters in standalone Acronis True Image might sometimes differ from Windows notation. To activate the program, click Activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. This boot manager is required for Acronis Secure Zone to work. If the boot manager is absent, the zone creation wizard will be run (see above). The restoration manager will be installed during this procedure as well. If there is Acronis Secure Zone on your PC, the boot manager will be activated immediately. When Acronis Startup Recovery Manager is activated it overwrites the Master Boot Record (MBR) with its own boot code. If you have any third party boot managers installed, then you will have to reactivate them after activating the Startup Recovery Manager. For Linux loaders (e.g. LiLo and GRUB) you might consider installing them to a Linux root (or boot) partition boot record instead of MBR before activating Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. 18 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 Creating a partition (disk) image Chapter 4. Creating a partition (disk) image Disk (partition) image creation means backing up all data stored on your PC. With the image, you can restore your PC after failure and protect yourself from hard disk data losses. 4.1 Selecting partitions In the Select partitions for backup window, you will see the hard disk layout of your PC. Flag a partition to select it. Flag a whole disk to select all its partitions to image. You can select one or more hard disks or any combination of partitions and hard disks. Disk and partition layout Having selected partitions and/or disks, click Next. Note that this button is disabled if no partitions or disks are selected. 4.2 Selecting image mode On this step, you must decide if you need to create a complete or incremental partition (disk) image. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004 19 Creating a partition (disk) image Image mode selection A complete image contains all hard disk data, so it takes a lot of space. Acronis True Image does not include swap file information (win386.swp under Windows 98/Me and pagefile.sys under Windows NT/2000/XP), or hiberfil.sys (a file that keeps RAM contents when the computer goes into hibernation). This considerably reduces the image size and increases the speed of creating the image. An incremental image contains data only from parts that changed after the previous complete or incremental image was created, so it's usually smaller and takes less time to create. Therefore, if you create the first disk (partition) image, you should select the complete mode. If you already have a complete image, it is recommended that you create incremental images. (Having a policy for creating full and incremental images is recommended. For example, you might consider creating a full image monthly and incremental images weekly.) Incremental image size is based only on changes that occurred after the previous image was created. If all image files are stored together, if doesn't matter which one you select, as the program will recognize them as a single image. If you stored the files on several removable disks, you must provide the latest image file; otherwise, restoration problems might occur. 20 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000­2004