User`s guide

Once the program starts the partition backup process, it temporarily freezes all the operations on the

partition and creates its "snapshot". Snapshot creation usually takes just several seconds. After that,

the operating system continues working as the imaging process is under way.

The Acronis driver also continues to keep the point-in-time view of the partition. Whenever the

driver sees a write operation directed at the partition, it checks whether these sectors are already

backed up. If they are not, the driver saves the data on the sectors to be overwritten to a special

buffer. Overwriting will then proceed.

All of the partition sectors of the point-in-time will be backed up intact and an exact "image" of the

partition will be created.

Backup file format

Acronis True Image Home 2011 Netbook Edition usually saves backup data in the proprietary tib

format using compression. This reduces the amount of needed storage space. It also allows for

backward compatibility with the previous Acronis True Image Home Netbook Edition version.

When creating a tib file, the program calculates checksum values for data blocks and adds these

values to the data being backed up. These checksum values allow for the verification of data

integrity.

The data from tib file backups can be recovered only through the Acronis True Image Home 2011

Netbook Edition program. This may be done in Windows or in the recovery environment.

However, Acronis True Image Home 2011 Netbook Edition is also able to save data in the well-known

zip format. This allows you to retrieve files from backups anywhere without using Acronis True Image

Home 2011 Netbook Edition.

For example, you can back up files to a USB stick and retrieve files from such backups on your

notebook without installing Acronis True Image Home 2011 Netbook Edition. The most widely used

operating systems Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, have built-in support for the zip file format.

Backup validation

The backup validation feature allows you to confirm that your system can be recovered. As

mentioned above, the program adds checksum values to the data blocks being backed up. During

backup validation, Acronis True Image Home 2011 Netbook Edition opens the backup file,

recalculates the checksum values and compares those values with the stored ones. If all compared

values match, the backup file is not corrupted and there is a high probability that the backup can be

successfully used for data recovery.

We recommend that validation of system partition backups take place when booting from a rescue

media.

Acronis True Image Home 2011 Netbook Edition lets users of Windows 7 Enterprise and Window 7

Ultimate ensure that they will be able to boot after recovery of the system partition. The program

allows you to boot from a tib file containing the system partition image. It converts the tib file into a

VHD file which is then used for actual booting. If you can boot from the converted vhd file, you will

be able to boot after recovering this backup to your disk.

Consolidation

Consolidation allows you to delete backups which are no longer needed from a backup chain.

A chain to be consolidated can consist of a full backup and one or more incremental backups.