User`s guide

You might think it would take a while to make a copy of your entire hard disk, but the proprietary

technologies used in Acronis True Image OEM Quick Backup ensure that image creation is quite fast.

You should create images of your primary disk and any other partition you normally use. If you have

multiple partitions on a drive, it is advisable to include all of them in the image, because failure of the

hard drive in most cases will mean that all the partitions it contains also fail.

Although we strongly recommend you to create images of your hard disk on a regular basis, that is

just part of a reliable backup strategy.

6.3 Some typical backup scenarios

Below are several scenarios of "classic" backups describing frequently used backup tasks. Depending

on your backup strategy, you may find some of them useful.

6.3.1 Backing up a system partition

It is recommended to back up the system partition when your C: disk consists of a single partition,

though in this case partition backup is equivalent to system disk backup. It is also makes sense to

back up the system partition if it contains all your applications and important data or if you do not

have enough free space for backing up the entire system disk. A system partition backup would be

most helpful when you need to recover the operating system corrupted by a virus, malware or, for

example, after Windows update installation. Recovery on a new hard disk drive is possible too,

though it may be a bit complicated in case you want to create more than one partition on the new

hard disk. Otherwise it is better to back up the entire system disk, especially if it has hidden recovery

or diagnostic partitions created by your computer's manufacturer. Furthermore, a system disk

backup is more convenient when recovering on a new disk. Backing up the system partition may also

be advisable when you like testing a lot of applications or games. Most applications cannot be

uninstalled without a trace, including Acronis True Image OEM Quick Backup itself. You can make a

basic system partition backup containing your operating system and main applications like MS Office

and Outlook. Thereafter you will always be able to recover that basic system state after trying new

programs – if you don't like them or if something goes wrong.

6.3.2 Backing up an entire system disk

When your backup storage device has enough free space, it is advisable to back up the entire system

disk. Such a backup is most suitable for recovering your system and applications both when you need

to recover them on the original hard disk drive or a new one, e.g. after your hard drive failed.

Incidentally, if your system disk contains several partitions, an entire disk backup also provides for

recovery of any individual partition.

Because system disk backups are the most important for disaster recovery, it is advisable to check

both the system disk and the hard disk to be used as the backup storage for errors with the help of

Microsoft's Chkdsk utility, which is part of Windows. The utility can repair errors and locate bad

sectors.

You can back up the system disk both in Windows and in the recovery environment. Before starting a

system disk backup in Windows it is advisable to close such applications as MS Outlook and DBMS

programs.

Though the program locks the system partition while making a so called "snapshot" (see Acronis True

Image OEM Quick Backup basic concepts), some users still prefer backing up the system disk when

Windows is not running.