Acronis TrueImage Deluxe User’s guide Acronis TrueImage Deluxe
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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 5 1. 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 INSTALLING AND STARTING WORK WITH .................................................. ACRONIS TRUEIMAGE DELUXE ............................................................... 14 ACRONIS TRUEIMAGE DELUXE SYSTEM PACKAGE ................................... 14 INSTALLATION ......................................................................................
3.1.12 RESTORATION SCRIPT .......................................................................................66 3.2 PARTITION RESTORATION PECULIARITIES ................................................. 67 3.3 PECULIARITIES OF RESTORATION FROM REMOVABLE MEDIA.................... 69 3.4 RESTORING SEPARATE FILES ..................................................................... 70 3.4.1 3.4.2 3.4.3 CONNECTING A DRIVE FROM A PARTITION IMAGE ...............................................
Introduction What is Acronis TrueImage Deluxe Acronis TrueImage Deluxe is the first title in a new generation of software for creating exact images of hard disks (and partitions). It will let you store an image of your disk in an archive file on a hard disk or on one of numerous removable media, such as Iomega Zip or Jaz, CD-R(W) or DVD-R(W) disc. Having an exact copy of your hard disk, you will be able to restore its data at anytime – in case of a system error, virus infection, or even disk malfunction.
• Convenient tools for restoration of separate files and folders from an archive file: you can connect a logical drive from an archived image and simply copying files. Connecting a logical drive from an image file means that you will be able to browse stored and encoded partition contents like any real disk partition in Windows or in a Windows Explorer window. (see Figure 3.24 below).
cases this means that some system or data files are corrupt or newly updated driver are inoperable. Quite often it is extremely difficult to fix such problems, or even determine the exact software component that is causing the problem. The necessity of software back-ups Data files are the most critical and valuable files on your PC hard disk as they contain information of a «personal» nature. Operating system and applications can be reinstalled with disks/discs.
The usage of partition and disk back-up copying software turned out to be simpler as well as more visual. Such programs allow the user to work by means of a simple and user-friendly interface, while minimizing storing and restoring operations to several easy steps.
• Select the disk/partition data compression level for archive file creation; • Specify if you need a single file or the one split into several volumes of fixed size (for example, for creating a large disk/partition archive file on a CD-RW); • Protect an archive file with a password if needed; • Enter a comment for your archive file with information about stored images of disks/partitions, their data files, OS version, or any other information if needed; • Execute the disk/partition image creation script, y
Opportunities for Acronis TrueImage Deluxe usage There are several variants of Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software usage: 1. Creating images of and restoring your PC’s information. You can use Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software to create images of separate partitions of your PC hard disk, or the whole drive in an archive file on another disk or removable media. You can use our software to regularly create images of your information, applications and your operating system update.
applications, and restoring their settings, simply use Acronis TrueImage Deluxe! Create an image of your hard disk in an archive file on any media, be it another hard disk or CD-R, CD-RW. Install a new disk, boot with a CD (or diskette) containing Acronis TrueImage Deluxe, and restore the old disk contents from the image to a new disk. You can also change disk partition size and location along with their type and operating system if needed.
How to find the necessary information in this guide Acronis TrueImage Deluxe user’s guide contains the following main chapters: • 1. «Installing and Starting Work with Acronis TrueImage Deluxe» - this describes how to install, run, and remove the software; • 2. «Creating a disk/partition image on a hard disk» - this describes how to store an exact disk/partition image on a hard disk or removable media; • 3.
Hardware and software requirements To take full advantage of Acronis TrueImage Deluxe one should have: • A PC-compatible computer with a Pentium CPU or similar, • 32 MB RAM, • A floppy or a CD-RW drive, • VGA monitor, • A mouse (recommended), • Free disk space for archive files. Software usage conditions The conditions for Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software usage are described in the «License agreement», included with this package.
1. Installing and Starting Work with Acronis TrueImage Deluxe 1.1 Acronis TrueImage Deluxe system package Acronis TrueImage Deluxe system package includes: • An installation disc, • This guide, • License agreement, • Registration card, • Advertising materials. 1.2 Installation You can purchase the Acronis TrueImage Deluxe program on a compact disc (CD-ROM) or download it from the Internet. The CD-ROM contains an installer that can be run in Windows 9x/ and Windows NT/2000/XP operating systems.
The executable will then be loaded into the computer memory and the following window will appear on the screen: Click Next button to continue. 2. To continue working with the software you will need to accept the conditions of the license agreement between you (the user) and the software developer. For this purpose set the switch in the lower part of the window to I accept this agreement position. Click the Next button to continue.
3. If you disagree with the agreement conditions, set the switch to I decline this agreement position and click the Next button. In this case you will be thanked for the interest in the software, and the program will terminate. 4. In the next window you will need to enter the product serial number that you will find on the Acronis TrueImage Deluxe registration form – AND DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER YOUR SOFTWARE TOO! Click the Next button after entering the serial number.
5. In the next page you should specify a folder to install TrueImage Deluxe program to. The default folder is C:\Program Files\Acronis\TrueImage. If you agree with it, click Next . If you want to install the program to a different folder, enter its name and path into the appropriate field. If there is no such folder on a disk, it will be created during installation. You can choose a folder for program installation by clicking Browse… . You will see a folder tree of your hard disk.
6. On the next page you will be offered to make TrueImage Deluxe available to all users of the computer or only to the current user. If you want to make the program available to all users, check the Yes, I want to install Acronis TrueImage Deluxe for all users box. (This page of InstallationWizard is specificial for Windows NT/2000/XP operating systems.) If you use Windows 9x/Me family operating system the above page of the wizard will be omitted. Click Next to continue.
7. In the next page you will be offered to create a new program group for Acronis TrueImage Deluxe program or to select an existing. If you agree to create a new group just click Next . If you want to use one of the existing program groups, select it by clicking it with the mouse. After selecting a program group, click Next to continue. 8. After selecting program group the installation program will show you the generated installation script.
9. If you are sure all installation parameters are correct, click the Proceed button. The process of copying of Acronis TrueImage Deluxe files on your computer will be executed and shown in a special window. 10. On the next page you will be asked to create a bootable diskette or CD-R(W) for Acronis TrueImage Deluxe. This is very important as the disk partition data restoration software can only be run from a bootable diskette or CD-R(W). Therefore it is strongly recommended you create either of them.
In next window you will select a device for bootable media creation. Acronis TrueImage Deluxe allows you to create either a bootable diskette or a CD-R(W) disc. Select the preferred device from the list. Having chosen a device and pressed Next , you will see the next window asking you to insert a diskette or a disc into the appropriate device.
Having prepared a diskette or CD-R(W) and inserted it into the appropriate device, press Proceed . It will take some time to copy the necessary files to load Acronis TrueImage Deluxe. The copying process will be shown in the following window: 11. The installation process will be completed and you will be offered the opportunity to read the README file.
After installation of Acronis TrueImage Deluxe is completed, you should restart your computer. 12. Having opened Programs menu, you will find the Acronis program group containing the Acronis TrueImage Deluxe program. This menu will look like: 1.3 Repairing Acronis TrueImage Deluxe If a bootable diskette or compact disc is spoiled, please create a new one.
1.4 Removing the software To remove the software select Acronis -> TrueImage -> Uninstall Acronis TrueImage Deluxe from the Programs menu. You will see a dialog box asking if you really want to remove the software from your PC hard disk. Press Yes to confirm removal. Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software will be completely removed. 1.5 User Interface 1.5.1 Terminology In these paragraphs you will find information about the Acronis TrueImage Deluxe user interface, its main features and controls.
Using the Mouse Acronis TrueImage Deluxe window interface performs best when using a mouse. Of course it is possible to do everything without one, but it is much less convenient. In this guide we use «click the … button» expression instead of «place the mouse pointer on the button (object) and click the left mouse button (press and release the left mouse button)». The mouse is used to check checkboxes, press buttons, select items (lines) from a list, etc.
press and hold the left mouse button, move the mouse until you are satisfied with the position of the dialog, and release the button. Window Titlebar Titlebar is located on the top of a window and contains a text string that describes the window (the title itself) and minimize/maximize and close buttons. The titlebar can also be used to change the position of a window on the screen.
Same result can be obtained by pressing the 1.5.4 . Dialogs and Controls A dialog box (dialog window, dialog) is a window that allows browsing and editing various information. Size of a dialog is usually fixed. The user interacts with a dialog via controls. There can be the following controls in a dialog: • Checkbox; • Radio button; • Edit field; • Spinner – a special type of edit field: ; • List; • Memo field; • Slider; • Button.
Checkbox A checkbox is a control that can be in two states: on or off. If it is off, it is a blank square, if it is on, it has a tick (or a cross in text mode) inside it. To the right from the square there is a description of the checkbox. You can toggle the state of a checkbox either by clicking the square or its description, or by pressing the Space key when the checkbox has focus. The description of a checkbox sometimes has an underlined letter in it.
Edit Field The purpose of an edit field is to browse and edit information in the form of a text string. A text string can be edited only via the keyboard. Clicking the mouse moves the focus to the edit field. When an edit field gets the focus, the string in it becomes highlighted. Typing anything over a highlighted string removes the old contents of the field and replaces it with newly typed characters.
List Lists are used in dialogs to select one item from a group (which can be quite large) or to perform some actions with the item (delete it from the group, edit it, etc) or with the group itself (add an item, change the order of items, etc). A list is a rectangle with several lines, each designated to one item. If the items do not fit into the rectangle horizontally or vertically, horizontal and/or vertical scrollbar appears.
The following keys are active in a memo field: • Up and Down keys scroll the text one line up or down respectively; • Left and Right keys scroll the text left or right if it does not fit into the rectangle horizontally; • PgUp and PgDn keys move the cursor one page up or down respectively; • Home and End keys move the cursor to the beginning or the end of the text respectively. Some actions can be performed on the memo field with the help of the mouse.
pressing the Alt key together with the letter that is underlined on the button). A dialog usually has a default button. It differs from usual buttons, because double-clicking the mouse or pressing the Enter key (if they are not allocated for other purposes in the current control) is equivalent to pressing the default button. Unlike other buttons, the default button is highlighted.
The program will remember the position and the size of the partition that you have entered this way and will use them when creating the transformation scenario. 1.5.5 Informative Elements Aside from controls TrueImage Deluxe uses elements that inform you about some parameters of hard disk structure and the actions the program performs. Hard Disk and Partition Parameters On the picture you can see the parameters of a hard disk as they are displayed by the TrueImage Deluxe program.
Progress Bar A progress bar is a purely informative dialog element (it is not a control). It is used to display the current state of some lengthy process (copying a partition etc.). 1.5.6 Special Dialog Types Wizard A Wizard is a dialog that allows displaying and editing information in several pages, like the properties dialog. Unlike the latter you can move along the Wizard’s pages only in a one-after-another fashion.
1.6 Running Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software Acronis TrueImage software runs in different modes during disk/partition image creation or restoration, in case of a serious system malfunction or disk filing structure damage. To create a disk/partition image under Windows, select Start -> Programs -> Acronis -> TrueImage -> Acronis TrueImage Deluxe. You will immediately see a welcome window containing the partition (disk) image creation and restoration wizard.
2. Creating disk/partition images 2.1 Creating a disk/partition image on a hard disk 2.1.1 Welcome page Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software starts with the welcome page (Figure 2.1). It enumerates all the main software capabilities, described in the Introduction. Let’s shortly revise them once again. The software allows to create images of hard disk partitions or the whole disks and store them in an archive file.
Figure 2.1. Wizard Welcome window Press Next to begin working with Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software. 2.1.2 Selecting an action The next wizard window will offer you to select an action to perform with the help of Acronis TrueImage Deluxe (Figure 2.2).
Figure 2.2. Action Selection window Set the switch to Create an image of a partition or the whole hard disk drive position. Click Next to continue. 2.1.3 Selecting partitions for image creation In the next Selecting Partitions to Image window (Figure 2.3) you will see the structure of the disks connected to your PC. Click a rectangle representing a partition to select it. As a result this rectangle will become underlined red.
Figure 2.3. Selecting Partitions to Image window Having chosen the partitions and/or disks, click Next to continue. Have in mind that this button will be disabled until none of partitions and disks is selected. 2.1.4 Image archive location In the next Image Archive Location window you’ll need to select a type of a device to create a disk/partition image on (Figure 2.4).
Figure 2.4. Selecting Image Archive location Let’s assume you have chosen a hard disk as an image creation device. Click Next to continue. Creating an image on a removable media will be described in the next section of this chapter; see 2.2 «Creating a disk/partition image on removable media». 2.1.5 A disk/partition archive file In the next Image Archive Creation window you’ll need to provide an archive filename to store images of chosen partitions (disks) to as well as its full path (Figure 2.5).
Figure 2.5. The list of devices, connected to the PC Select a hard disk and click the “+” sign to the left of its icon to browse a list of files and folders of this disk (Figure 2.6). Select a necessary file from the list. Figure 2.6. Selecting a folder and an archive file name You can assign a filename along with its path in the appropriate field, for example, F:\backup\backup1.tib. The disks and folders tree will be set to correspond the entered filename and the path, i.e.
If there’s no F:\backup folder on the F: disk, it will be created along with an archive file inside it. If an archive file with the entered filename already exists in the chosen folder, you’ll be prompted about it by Acronis TrueImage with a question if you want to create a new file with the same name, that is to delete an old archive file and create a new one instead (Figure 2.7). Figure 2.7. An archive file with the filename entered is already exist.
2.1.6 Image’s data compression level In the next Compression level window you’ll need to select a data compression level of a partition image. A compression level can be selected by moving the slider (Figure 2.8). If you select zero compression, files will be obviously moved to an archive file without any compression, which is inefficient. On the other hand the work speed might drop and image creation time might increase, if you select the maximal compression.
try to and free some additional space on the partition, where an archive file is being created, and then continue the image creation. But you will also be able to terminate Acronis TrueImage Deluxe, prepare a partition for image creation, and run the process anew. FAT16 and FAT32 limit file sizes. In particular, the maximal file size of FAT16 and FAT32 is 4 GB. FAT32 file system is currently the most widespread in individual users’ PCs.
Figure 2.9. Splitting an archive file into separate volumes Having set the image creation mode (Automatic or Fixed size) and entered an archive volume size if needed, click Next to continue. 2.1.8 Protecting an archive file with a password An archive file with a partition (disk) image can be protected with a password.
Figure 2.10. Protecting an archive file with a password When you try to restore a password protected partition (disk) from an image, stored in an archive file, Acronis TrueImage Deluxe will prompt you to enter it into the appropriate window and won’t allow restoring it by a person without this password. Click Next to continue. 2.1.
Figure 2.11. Commenting an archive file Click Next to continue. 2.1.10 Image creation script In the next window you’ll see a partition (disk) image creation script (several images, perhaps). It will contain a list of operations to be performed on partitions (disks) along with their main features. Figure 2.12. An archive file creation script All operations of a partition (disk) image creation in an archive file are delayed in Acronis TrueImage Deluxe.
Script creation includes the following steps, as you’ve seen before: • Selecting partitions (one or several) and/or disks, • Selecting a device type to create an archive file with a partition and/or disk image on, • Selecting a file or entering an archive file name, • Selecting a data compression level of an archive file, • Selecting an archive type (single or multivolume), • Protecting an archive file with a password, • Commenting a partition and/or disk archive file.
2.1.12 Finishing image creation Image creation procedure finishes by way of such a message: Figure 2.14. Finishing image creation Clicking Exit closes Acronis TrueImage Deluxe. In this certain case a partition with 689 MB of data was compressed to a 267 MB archive file. It took 3 minutes to create it. (We remind that these values are very rough, as files of different types can be compressed very differently.) 2.2 Creating a disk/partition image on removable media 2.2.
this type include Iomega Zip, CD-R, CD-RW drives, DVD-R, DVD-RW, magneto-optical drives, and some other. Anyway, all removable media drives, connected to your PC, will be enumerated in this list. In the given case there’s only LG CD-RW 8080B (8x/4x/32x) recorder in it, except a usual 3.5’’ floppy drive. Figure 2.15. Available removable media drives Click a drive you want to create a partition and/or disk image on. Click Next to continue. 2.2.
Figure 2.16. An archive file name for CD-R(W) recording If a CD-RW disk already has an archive file, created earlier by Acronis TrueImage Deluxe, the software will be able to append one (or several) more archive files to the disk, having enough free space. If a CD has been recorded by another software, Acronis TrueImage Deluxe won’t be able to record an archive file to it, even having enough free space. Click Next to continue.
2.2.4 The script window Having commented an archive file, you’ll get to the script window of image creation in an archive file on removable media (Figure 2.17). Figure 2.17. The script window of image creation in an archive file on removable media As you can see, the script window of image creation in an archive file on removable media is the same as the script window of image creation in an archive file on a hard disk (Figure 2.12).
Figure 2.18. Insert a disk into the recorder Having inserted a disk, click OK . The procedure of recording an archive file to CD-R or CD-RW recorder will begin. Figure 2.19. Image creation progress If an archive file can’t be recorded to a single CD-R (or CD-RW) disk, Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software will pause image creation and prompt you to insert another disk into the drive. The image creation procedure finishes with a message window completely the same as on the figure above (Figure 2.14).
3. Restoring a disk/partition from an image 3.1 Restoring a partition (disk) Partition or disk restoration from an image is a more complex procedure than storing. When you store a partition, you can do it directly under Windows or from a bootable CD. But your system is assumed inoperable in general. If your data partition files are corrupt, you’ll be able to restore the partition with Acronis TrueImage Deluxe directly under Windows.
Figure 3.1. Selecting an action: restore a partition Click Next to continue. 3.1.2 Selecting an archive file In the next window Acronis TrueImage Deluxe will show you the complete list of storage devices connected to your PC, including hard disks as well as any other storage drives (Figure 3.2). Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.3. Selecting an archive file If you commented the archive file when creating it, the description will help you understand if you selected the right archive file or the partition image is located in some other file. Your comment will be shown in the right part of the Image Archive Selection window. Notice that a comment is available without entering a password that protects an archive file.
experimenting with various applications or device drivers, to restore one of them if needed. Having made sure that you are to restore a partition from the right archive file, click Next to continue. 3.1.3 Entering a password So, if an archive file is protected with a password, Acronis TrueImage Deluxe will prompt you for it in the next window. You won’t be able to move to the next wizard page, i.e. to continue the restoration without entering a password, as the Next key will be disabled.
Select a partition for restoration by clicking the appropriate rectangle. It will become underlined red (by default). Figure 3.6. Selecting a partition to be restored from an archive file You can select several partitions and/or disks for restoration during a session of Acronis TrueImage Deluxe, but you’ll have to do it in turns (see 3.1.11 «The next partition/disk to be restored»), i.e. select one partition (disk) and set restoration parameters for it first, and then repeat this for all other.
Figure 3.7. Selecting a destination partition Click Next to continue. 3.1.6 Exclusive partition access Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software must obtain exclusive access to a partition to restore an image from an archive file to. It means no other software must work with this partition during the restoration. Therefore it’s recommended to close all applications for the restoration period (for more information see 3.2 «Partition restoration peculiarities»).
Figure 3.8. Unavailability of exclusive access to a partition We’ll discuss this situation later (see 3.2 «Partition restoration peculiarities»). It may appear at system partition restoration (the one PC is currently booted from). So, having selected the destination to restore a partition from an archive file, click Next to continue. 3.1.7 Partition type (primary/logical) You can change the type of a partition from an archive file, while restoring it (Figure 3.9).
Figure 3.9. Selecting the restored partition type Having selected partition type, click Next to continue. 3.1.8 File system Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software allows to similarly change a partition file system at restoration (Figure 3.10). Let’s assume you are restoring a partition from a low capacity disk with the FAT16 file system to a new higher capacity hard disk. It would be ineffective (and just impossible in some cases) to use the FAT16 file system on a high capacity hard disk.
Figure 3.10. Selecting the restored partition file system Click Next to continue. 3.1.9 Changing size of a partition to be restored So, you are to restore a hard disk partition. The reasons can be very different: you might have just installed a bad device driver, causing system instability; or Windows registry is damaged. The question might be a hard disk: there have appeared many bad sectors; file read/write errors have become regular.
Figure 3.11. Changed partition: initial size The figure below shows the initial 3.907 GB partition size changed to the 2.007 GB. Figure 3.12. Resizing a partition The next figure (Figure 3.13) demonstrates changing partition location.
Figure 3.13. Changing partition location Having changed partition size and location if needed, click Next to continue. 3.1.10 Selecting a letter for a partition to be restored Having restored a partition, Acronis TrueImage Deluxe will «map» its contents, stored in an archive file, to a logical drive. Windows operating system uses Roman alphabet letters for disk and partition identification. Letters are automatically assigned during OS boot process.
Figure 3.14. Selecting a partition letter 3.1.11 The next partition/disk to be restored You can restore several partitions at one session in the same way as you can store several images. To do this, set the switch to Yes, I want to restore another partition or hard disk drive in the Next Selection window. Figure 3.15. Selecting the next partition to be restored Having clicked Next , you’ll see the Source Partition Selection window again (Figure 3.6).
• Select a destination partition (Figure 3.7), • Select a partition type (primary/logical; Figure 3.9), • Select a file system (Figure 3.10), • Change partition size and disk location if needed (Figure 3.11 - Figure 3.13). If you restore the only partition, you don’t need to set the switch to Yes, I want to restore another partition or hard disk drive. In this case you’ll get to the restoration script window at once, having clicked Next . 3.1.
• Selecting a type of a partition to be restored, • Selecting a partition file system, • Changing partition size and/or location, • Moving to the next partition to be restored or to the restoration script. Now Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software is ready for partition restoration. If you click Back , you’ll be able to select other partitions and/or disks for restoration, rethink partition size changes, its type and file system selection, in other words to change any restoration parameters.
Figure 3.17. Warning of unavailability of exclusive access to a logical drive at partition restoration This means the following. Operating system blocks logical drives for some low-level operations that Acronis TrueImage tries to perform to restore a partition. In particular, some application might work with this partition data. It can be MS Word, MS Excel, or Norton Utilities. Therefore, it is necessary to close all applications before restoring a partition.
Restoring a system partition System partition restoration is different. There are two possible situations: • System shows off failure signs, but still boots; you also succeed to run Acronis TrueImage Deluxe directly from the Windows Start menu; • System doesn’t boot, or it’s impossible to run applications, including Acronis TrueImage Deluxe, under it after booting. If you succeeded to boot Windows and run Acronis TrueImage Deluxe, you should do the following: 1.
3.4 Restoring separate files As it has been said before, Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software works with both hard disk partitions, and the whole disks (see Introduction). In particular, you can store images of several partitions or even disks in an archive file. However, if you have only one or several files damaged (or accidentally deleted!) on the partition, it would be inefficient to entirely restore it.
Figure 3.18. Exploring a partition image in an archive file Click Next to continue. 3.4.2 Selecting an archive file As in case of the whole disk partition (disk) restoration (Figure 3.2), the next window of Acronis TrueImage Deluxe will offer you the full list of storage devices, connected to your PC, which you will have to browse for the archive file with the necessary partition image (Figure 3.19). Figure 3.19.
comment only. Having clicked Next , you’ll get to the window with a prompt to enter the archive file password. Figure 3.20. Entering an archive file password Click Next to continue, having entered password if needed. In the next window you’ll be able to select one of the partition (disk) images to connect as a temporary logical drive (Figure 3.21). Figure 3.21. Selecting a partition and letter for a drive to be connected A partition is selected by clicking the appropriate rectangle representing it.
partitions simultaneously. Each of them will be represented as a separate logical drive with a letter assigned to it. The same window will also allow to select a letter to assign to a drive to be connected (Drive letter for the selected partition drop-down list). If you want to change the letter assigned by default, you should select a partition first by clicking it and then select a letter. (You can then select another partition and letter if needed, etc.
Figure 3.23. The successful drive connection message window Having clicked Exit , you’ll find out a Windows window opened right after the message window, with the contents of the connected drive (partition, stored in an archive file; Figure 3.24). Figure 3.24. The Windows window with the temporary connected logical drive Now you can easily copy any file (or file folder) from the connected logical drive to replace the damaged one on your real hard disk.
3.4.3 Disconnecting a drive You should unplug a temporary logical drive after restoring separate files and folders. If you do not do this, it will disappear after reboot. Disconnecting with the context menu Select Unplug in the context menu of a connected drive, invoked by rightclicking the disk icon in the Windows window. As a result this disk will disappear.
After selecting this operation and clicking Next , you’ll see the list of connected temporary logical drives (Figure 3.26). Use it to select a drive to unplug. Figure 3.26. The list of connected drives Click Next to continue. Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software will show you the temporary logical drive disconnection script (Figure 3.27). Figure 3.27.
By clicking Proceed , you’ll execute the script. Drive unplugging will finish with a standard message about the operation success (Figure 3.28). Figure 3.28. The successful drive unplugging window By clicking Exit you’ll finish the session of separate partition files and folders restoration from an archive file.
Conclusion Acronis TrueImage Deluxe software allows to create exact image of a disk (disk partition) in an archive file on a hard disk or any removable media. At creating a disk/partition image Acronis TrueImage Deluxe compresses the data. An archive file can be commented and protected with a password. A disk image can be used to restore your hard disk data, or deploy a system on another PC, or revert a system back on a small office PCs, as well as on a school computer room, a club, an Internet café.
In conclusion we thank you for choosing our products! We are always ready to render you qualified assistance. Wherever you are, whatever tasks and problems you face, you can always find an answer to any question about our products and their running on these pages or by contacting our technical support.
Appendix A. General Information. Hard Disks The Appendices below provide you with extra information on the hard disk organization, how information is stored on disks, how disks should be installed in the computer and plugged into motherboard, configuring disks with BIOS, partitions, file systems, and how operating systems interact with disks. A.1 Hard Disk Organization All hard disks, or hard disk drives, have basically the same structure, however diverse they are in size.
There can be up to several tens of thousands of cylinders per disk. The higher the write density on the disk, the more cylinders can be created on it and the larger the capacity of the disk. This design has many technical implementation peculiarities, but we will not discussing those here. A.2 Operating System and Hard Disks You know that hard disks are used to store information. You also know (see A.
to 256 characters long and have not one, but several extensions (or none at all). The path to the file in Linux can be up to 4096 characters long. To provide access to data organized in files and folders each operating system, for example, MS-DOS, Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000, Linux, has its own characteristic way to create and manage hard disk space, which is generally non-compatible with other OSes. However, it would be inefficient if one hard disk could be used by only one operating system.
Information about partitions on a hard disk is stored in a special disk area – in the 1st sector of the 0th cylinder, header 0, which is called a Partition Table. This sector is called the Master Boot Record, MBR. A physical hard disk can contain up to 4 primary partitions. This limitation is due only to the capacity of the Partition Table, which itself consists of only four partitions. However, this does not mean that you can install only 4 different operating systems.
If you are going to keep several operating systems on your computer, it is better to install those that can be booted from logical partitions onto logical partitions, so that they do not use up extra primary partition space. A.6 Formatting Hard Disks Within each of the partitions information has to be organized in a way understandable for the operating system that uses the partition. This organization is the file system.
Other operating systems provide hard disk formatting means to create file systems that are recognizable by these OSes. A.7 File Systems The logical structure that has been created on the hard disk is supported by means of operating system. The file system itself presents the information on the disk as an ensemble of files and folders. From the user’s point of view a file is a unit of storage of logically connected information: text, graphics, and sound.
Appendix B. Glossary Active partition. One of the primary partitions of a hard disk is usually active. Default MBR code tries to boot an operating system from the active partition of the first hard disk. Letter assignment in Microsoft operating systems depends on what partitions are active. Bad cluster. A cluster that contains bad sectors. Such cluster cannot store useful information. Bad sector.
Booting the computer is a procedure that is executed every time a computer is turned on or an operating system finishes its work or when the reset button is pressed. Booting consists of the following stages: • Hardware diagnostics; • Memory check; • Built-in BIOS initialization; • Initialization of additional hardware components and their BIOS versions (video, SCSI etc.); • Booting an operation system. Cluster. Information storage unit in such file systems as FAT and NTFS.
Hard disk. Fixed storage media along with integrated electronics that consists of several magnetic platters that rotate synchronously on one spindle. Hard disks have relatively high capacity and high read/write speed. Hard disk geometry. A set of hard disk parameters that usually includes the number of cylinders, heads and sectors per track. Head (magnetic head, read/write head).
Operating system installation is a process during which its system folders are created, system files are copied and boot sector are created. Partition. An independent area on a hard disk where a file system can be located. A partition can be either primary or logical, depending on its position in the partition structure. One of the primary partitions of a hard disk may be active. A partition has the following attributes: type, beginning and size.
System disk/partition is a disk/partition from which an operating system may be booted. This disk usually contains the boot sector and system files of the operating system. System file is a file that contains the code and constant data for an operating system. Each operating system has its own system file set. System folder. Some operating systems keep most of their files in a special folder on a partition that may be different from the system one. For example for Windows 95/98/ME operating systems IO.
