User`s guide

Bootable media builder

With bootable media builder, you can create bootable media in order to use the agents and other

rescue utilities in a rescue environment. Availability of the agent add-ons in a rescue environment

depends on whether an add-on is installed on the machine where the media builder is working.

1.3.1 Agent for Windows

This agent enables disk-level and file-level data protection under Windows.

Disk backup

Disk-level data protection is based on backing up either a disk or a volume file system as a whole,

along with all the information necessary for the operating system to boot; or all the disk sectors using

the sector-by-sector approach (raw mode). A backup that contains a copy of a disk or a volume in a

packaged form is called a disk (volume) backup or a disk (volume) image. It is possible to recover

disks or volumes as a whole from such backup, as well as individual folders or files.

File backup

File-level data protection is based on backing up files and folders residing on the machine where the

agent is installed or on a network share. Files can be recovered to their original location or to another

place. It is possible to recover all files and folders that were backed up or select which of them to

recover.

Other operations

Conversion to a virtual machine

Rather than converting a disk backup to a virtual disk file, which requires additional operations to

bring the virtual disk into use, Agent for Windows performs the conversion by recovering a disk

backup to a new virtual machine of any of the following types: VMware Workstation, Microsoft

Virtual PC, Parallels Workstation or Citrix XenServer Open Virtual Appliance (OVA). Files of the fully

configured and operational machine will be placed in the folder you select. You can start the machine

using the respective virtualization software or prepare the machine files for further usage.

Disk management

Agent for Windows includes Acronis Disk Director Lite - a handy disk management utility. Disk

management operations, such as cloning disks; converting disks; creating, formatting and deleting

volumes; changing a disk partitioning style between MBR and GPT or changing a disk label, can be

performed either in the operating system or using bootable media.

1.3.1.1 Universal Restore

The Universal Restore add-on enables you to use the restore to dissimilar hardware functionality on

the machine where the agent is installed, and create bootable media with this functionality.

Universal Restore handles differences in devices that are critical for Windows start-up, such as

storage controllers, motherboard or chipset.

1.3.1.2 Deduplication

This add-on enables the agent to back up data to deduplicating vaults managed by Acronis Backup &

Recovery 10 Storage Node.