Acronis True Image Home 2012:PC Backup and Recovery (PC)

Edit 26/01/2012 - see end of review.
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Installed the software without incident. Created a full system backup without problem. validated the backup again without issue. THEN decided to test the backup.

I tried to mount the backup as a virtual drive (can only be done in Windows 7). The process progressed, "assigning drive letter" it said then the machine completely lock up. Only a hard reset would get me out of this impasse (i.e. turned the power off then back on at the mains). Decided to validate the backup again - validated no problem. Repeated my attempt to mount the backup as a virtual drive but again the machine completely locked up.

Wrote, explaining the problem, to Acronis Support and enclosed an Acronis System Report. They replied, after a week, suggesting that I validate the backup and try again and if this failed to solve the problem I was to let them know and enclose an Acronis system report. Had they bothered to read my initial report, I asked myself? Anyway did as they asked but again the system completely crashed (well it would wouldn't it). I reported this third failure to Acronis but I am still waiting for a reply.

On with the testing. I decided to try a full system restore to a spare Hard Disk I had. It progressed well but having restored all the data files it told me it could not restore the system. I tried to boot from the disk which I had just "restored to" but the BIOS reported that it could not find a system disk (unsurprisingly). I reported the problem to Acronis Support and I am awaiting a response.

As a final test I decided I would make a full system backup using a free backup Software package EaseUS Todo Backup (Free Edition). It backupup, restored and mounted the backup as a virtual drive beautifully. I told Acronis Support but they have not commented to date.

I should stress that the above happened on one machine in my set-up - I have not had the courage to try it on any others. Therefore this could be a one off problem and this review should be viewed as such. As for Acronis Support - well perhaps they're having a an "off period" but reading other reviews it seems unlikely (see also the reviews on the US Amazon site).

In summary, treat this software with caution and do not assume that a validated backup will be of any use in the future.

For informatation : I use Windows 7 64bit on a machine with an AMD quad core processor, 8GB memory and 2 x 1 TB Hard Disks

Edit 26/01/2012: Tired of waiting for a solution to my problems and I have now uninstalled Acronis from my system has I can not trust this software with my data. What a complete waste of money!

I am a great fan of Acronis products & have been a long time user of True Image. So I am seriously aggrieved by the poor quality of Acronis True Image 2012. I bought it because Acronis True Image 2011 had crashed a few times & so I thought I would upgrade - more fool me!

I installed it & immediately felt that the new user interface was a step in the wrong direction. Everything is oriented towards it searching your disks for its own backup files (.TIB files) and then presenting these to you as your possible backup choices. To me, this is a real dumbing down of the approach & a step to be more like the Microsoft Backup solution, where they seek to remove all useful capabilities & treat everyone like an idiot.

A serious problem, for me, is the lack of a proper list of scheduled backup jobs - one of the better features of Acronis True Image 2011. Each job in Acronis True Image 2012 can be separately scheduled but there is no list as such - just the same list of every backup job it can find on your disks.

I then had all sorts of problems with copying / cloning backup jobs - the software crashed repeatedly with errors which don't exist in the Acronis Knowledgebase. But, after many emails & chat sessions with Support, I got that fixed (but only after many red herrings at their end).

And today, getting ready for my monthly backups, lo and behold, it refuses to properly recognise any of the scheduled jobs which write to DVD (my long term backups) and again fails with errors which are not in the Knowledgebase.

So, I have now given up & reverted to using the older version, which actually does everything I want & is more reliable.

Buy it at your peril !! And read the other negative reviews first!!

The Final update:-

Well the reply from Support has been received: Because I closed the original Support Case for installation problems and it has taken me some time to spot that the software has been destroying my data and not backing up properly I have a choice. Either I have to pay for support (for a product that has never been satisfactory) or I can have a refund of the purchase price. One of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make and the refund has now been made via PayPal.

A further update:-

Now the software has been running for a few weeks here is a summary of how it has performed:

Backups - the backups still stop and start at regular intervals although they do restart without any input from me. However their integrity is doubtful at best, see below.

Synchronisation - a complete disaster. Having left it running for a few weeks I tried comparing the directories that were supposed to be synchronised. The Pictures directory was significantly different in all three locations and the job that was supposed to be synching this location was running almost continuously. I have now given up and found a better solution. This week my Documents sync went crazy and created tens of thousands of duplicate files on all the drives it was trying to synchronise. Each copy had a slightly longer filename and some filenames were so long that Windows is unable to delete them. Had to buy software to delete the rogue files.

Following advice from the Acronis Support Forum I have spent 2 DAYS uninstalling and re-installing the software. The current position is that 1 PC has a backup that hasn't run since this morning despite numerous files that it is supposed to be protecting having changed. I have had to cancel any attempts to synchronise folders as the duplicate file problem continues. The other PC has had so many restarts and restores to an earlier point that I have lost count currently it is saying that there are no backups for it and Acronis True Image is not responding.

It is hard to sum up how awful this software is although a visit to the support forums before any potential purchase should convince you to go elsewhere.

John

I have edited this review following the release of an udpate to the software which has addressed the problems I was encountering. The original version deserved no stars as it was practically useless but this new version is doing the job it was bought for.

I have the software installed on a Laptop PC and a Desktop PC both of which are backed up to a NAS Drive. The non-stop backup is now running and backs up the changed files shortly after changes are made. I also use the synchronise feature to keep folders in synch across both PCs as well as matching folders on the NAS Drive and again, although not instant, this is working well.

As a result of this I have rated the product with 4 stars....it would have been 5 if it had worked like this originally.

So if you decide to buy this software make sure that it is updated fully before you start to use it.

I have left my original text below this comment as a record of what happened originally.

John

ORIGINAL REVIEW -

I installed this software on two PCs that are running Windows Vista and it has been a nightmare.

The so-called non-stop backup is more a stop-start backup with the process crashing on a regular basis and having to be manually re-started.

The email back up facility prevents that PC from closing down with a message that 'Operatrions are in Progress'. I gave it up to 72 hours but it made no difference, I had to force a shutdown and have no idea whether the backup worked.

I contacted customer support last week and have sent them the crash logs but I am still waiting for a response.

Backup software should be there for reassurance but I have no faith in this product at all.