User`s guide

A disk image includes images of all disk partitions and the zero track with the master boot record

(MBR).

By default, files in all Acronis True Image Home 2011 Netbook Edition backups have a ".tib"

extension. This extension should not be changed.

It is important to note that you can recover files and folders from both file backups and from

disk/partition images. To do so, mount the image as a virtual disk (see Mounting an image (p. 149))

or use Acronis Backup Explorer to select the files and/or folders you need to recover from the

disk/partition backup.

3.2 Full, incremental and differential backups

Acronis True Image Home 2011 Netbook Edition offers you three backup methods:

1) Full: contains all of the data at the moment of the backup creation. It forms a base for further

incremental or differential backups. It can also be used as a standalone backup.

2) Incremental: Only those files will be included which have been changed since the LAST backup.

3) Differential: Only those files will be included which have been changed since the last FULL backup.

We suggest you to choose one of the following three approaches of using the backup methods:

"Full" - A standalone full backup might be an optimal solution if you often roll back the system to its

initial state or if you do not like to manage multiple files.

"Incremental" - These are most useful when you need frequent backups and the ability to roll back to

a specific point in time. Having created a full backup once, if you then create an incremental backup

each day of a month, you will get the same result as if you created full backups every day.

Incremental images are considerably smaller than full or differential images.

Such a backup scenario may consist of a weekly full system backup with intermediate, daily

backups that cover data that was changed since the LAST backup.

This scenario, while requiring less storage space and time for the daily backups, will require more

work on your part to provide recovery after a system crash. In the event of a Thursday crash, you

would have to recover the last FULL backup followed by the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

incremental backups.

"Differential" – is an intermediate between the first two approaches. It is also good when the

conditions are intermediate. Each differential backup includes all the files changed since the last full

backup. It takes less time and space than "Full", but more than "Incremental". The good thing is that

recovering is simpler than for (2) - you'll have to recover the last full backup and the last differential

backup.

Examples and recommendations

To choose a desired backup method, you need to configure a custom backup scheme. For more

information see Custom scheme (p. 50).

You can choose any approach for each of your backup projects according to their size and frequency

of file modifications. For example if almost all the included files appear changed before an

incremental backup starts, the incremental backup will be almost of the same size as a full backup

would be. If so, let it be "Full" to simplify the recovery.