User's Manual
Table Of Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 1.1 What is Acronis® True Image™?
- 1.2 New in this version
- 1.3 Backups created in Acronis True Image 2020 or later
- 1.4 System requirements and supported media
- 1.5 Installing Acronis True Image 2021
- 1.6 Activating Acronis True Image 2021
- 1.7 Trial version information
- 1.8 Upgrading Acronis True Image 2021
- 1.9 Technical Support
- 2 Getting started
- 3 Basic concepts
- 3.1 Basic concepts
- 3.2 The difference between file backups and disk/partition images
- 3.3 Full, incremental and differential backups
- 3.4 Deciding where to store your backups
- 3.5 Using Acronis Nonstop Backup
- 3.6 Backup file naming
- 3.7 Integration with Windows
- 3.8 Wizards
- 3.9 FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning
- 4 Backing up data
- 4.1 Backing up disks and partitions
- 4.2 Backing up files and folders
- 4.3 Backing up mobile devices
- 4.4 Backing up Office 365 data
- 4.5 Backup options
- 4.5.1 Scheduling
- 4.5.2 Backup schemes
- 4.5.3 Notifications for backup operation
- 4.5.4 Excluding items from backup
- 4.5.5 Image creation mode
- 4.5.6 Backup protection
- 4.5.7 Pre/Post commands for backup
- 4.5.8 Backup splitting
- 4.5.9 Backup validation option
- 4.5.10 Backup reserve copy
- 4.5.11 Removable media settings
- 4.5.12 Error handling
- 4.5.13 File-level security settings for backup
- 4.5.14 Computer shutdown
- 4.5.15 Online backup protection
- 4.5.16 Performance of backup operation
- 4.5.17 Selecting a data center for backup
- 4.5.18 Laptop power settings
- 4.5.19 Wi-Fi networks for backup to Acronis Cloud
- 4.6 Operations with backups
- 4.6.1 Backup operations menu
- 4.6.2 Backup activity and statistics
- 4.6.3 Sorting backups in the list
- 4.6.4 Replicating backups to Acronis Cloud
- 4.6.5 Validating backups
- 4.6.6 Backup to various places
- 4.6.7 Adding an existing backup to the list
- 4.6.8 Notarized backup
- 4.6.9 Cleaning up backups, backup versions, and replicas
- 4.6.10 Cleaning up space on Acronis Cloud
- 4.6.11 Removing data from Acronis Cloud
- 5 Recovering data
- 5.1 Recovering disks and partitions
- 5.2 Recovering files and folders
- 5.3 Searching backup content
- 5.4 Recovering Office 365 data
- 5.5 Recovery options
- 6 Archiving data
- 7 Sharing data
- 8 Protecting family data
- 9 Antivirus and antimalware protection
- 10 Vulnerability assessment
- 11 Synchronizing data
- 12 Disk cloning and migration
- 13 Tools
- 13.1 Acronis Media Builder
- 13.2 Making sure that your bootable media can be used when needed
- 13.3 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager
- 13.4 Try&Decide
- 13.5 Acronis Secure Zone
- 13.6 Adding a new hard disk
- 13.7 Security and Privacy Tools
- 13.8 Mounting an image
- 13.9 Unmounting an image
- 13.10 Working with .vhd(x) files
- 13.11 Importing and exporting backup settings
- 13.12 Acronis Universal Restore
- 14 Troubleshooting
- 15 Glossary of Terms
- Acronis Active Protection
- Acronis Drive
- Acronis Notary
- Acronis Secure Zone
- Acronis Startup Recovery Manager
- Archive
- Archiving operation
- Backup
- Backup operation
- Backup settings
- Backup version
- Backup version chain
- Bootable media
- Data synchronization
- Differential backup
- Differential backup version
- Disk backup (Image)
- Full backup
- Full backup version
- Image
- Incremental backup
- Incremental backup version
- Mobile backup
- Nonstop backup
- Nonstop protection
- Notarization
- Notarized backup
- Notarized file
- Online backup
- Recovery
- Suspicious process
- Sync
- Validation
- Version of synced file
44 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2020
cases. For more information, see Image creation mode (p. 63). While creating a sector-by-sector
backup, the program copies both used and unused hard disk sectors and the backup file will
usually be significantly larger.
Will my system disk backup include drivers, documents, pictures, etc.? - Yes, such a backup will
contain the drivers, as well as the contents of the My documents folder and its subfolders, if you
kept the default location of the My documents folder. If you have just a single hard disk in your
PC, such a backup will contain all of the operating system, applications and data.
I have an old hard disk drive which is almost full in my notebook. I purchased a new bigger
HDD. How can I transfer Windows, programs and data to the new disk? - You can either clone
the old hard disk on the new one or back up the old hard disk and then recover the backup to a
new one. The optimum method usually depends on your old hard disk partitions layout.
I want to migrate my old system hard disk to an SSD. Can this be done with Acronis True Image
2021? - Yes, Acronis True Image 2021 provides such a function. For procedure details, see
Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD (p. 139)
What is the best way to migrate the system to a new disk: cloning or backup and recovery? -
The backup and recovery method provides more flexibility. In any case, we strongly recommend
to make a backup of your old hard disk even if you decide to use cloning. It could be your data
saver if something goes wrong with your original hard disk during cloning. For example, there
were cases when users chose the wrong disk as the target and thus wiped their system disk. In
addition, you can make more than one backup to create redundancy and increase security.
What should I back up: a partition or the whole disk? - In most cases, it is better to back up the
whole disk. However, there may be some cases when a partition backup is advisable. For
example, your notebook has a single hard disk with two partitions: system (disk letter C) and the
data (disk letter D). The system partition stores your working documents in the My documents
folder with subfolders. The data partition stores your videos, pictures, and music files. Such files
are already compressed and backing them up using Acronis True Image 2021 would not give you
significant reduction of the backup file size. However, we recommend creating at least one whole
disk backup if your backup storage has enough space.
Could you tell me how to clone: in Windows or after booting from the Acronis bootable media?
Even when you start cloning in Windows, the computer will reboot into the Linux environment
the same as when booting from the Acronis bootable media. Because of this, it is better to clone
under Acronis bootable media. For example, there may be a case when your hard disk drives are
detected in Windows and not detected in Linux. If this is the case, the cloning operation will fail
after reboot. When booting from the bootable media, you can make sure that Acronis True
Image 2021 detects both the source and target disks before starting the cloning operation.
Can I clone or back up and recover a dual boot machine? Yes, this is possible when both
operating systems are Windows. If your systems are installed in separate partitions of the same
physical hard disk drive, cloning or recovery usually proceeds without any problems. If the
systems are on different physical hard disk drives, there may be some problems with bootability
after recovery.
Does Acronis True Image 2021 support RAID? - Acronis True Image 2021 supports hardware
RAID arrays of all popular types. Support of software RAID configurations on dynamic disks is also
provided. Acronis bootable media supports most of the popular hardware RAID controllers. If the
standard Acronis bootable media does not "see" the RAID as a single volume, the media does not
have the appropriate drivers. In this case you can try to create WinPE-based media. This media
may provide the necessary drivers.