I attempted to restore my C drive with Acronis, taking the backup from a second drive. At the end of the process it said there were errors, operation failed. Now I cannot open True Image to try another earlier restore. Shortcuts to most programs on the desktop now look different, and I am unable to open these any programs with the changed icons. Any suggestions on where to go from here? Thanks.
Your restore effort is likely totally screwed... only option left is to reinstall Windows from scratch. The process of "imaging" is technically weak for all makers of such software... an dumbass effort to save space. No help now, but when you get functional again, try using Acronis True Image to Clone your hard drive for backup purposes. That works very well.
u can try reinstalling Acronis true image, and then try to recover your Drives image from the second drive. if that fails, it may be possible to use Disk director (acronis) in dos, in boot, or even acronis true image itself. and then to format drive C first and then try recovering the image from the 2nd drive onto C. there should be no problem doing this. as long as you have the image save on another drive, and you're certain it has not been damaged (that's one reason why acronis can make its own secure-area in hard drives), then u'll definately be able to recover the your old drive. hope you'll find a way.
Not sure what you mean by imaging... I did a full and several incremental backups. I can see the value of mirroring a hard drive to protect against a hard drive failure, but how would it help you if files become corrupted? My idea was to be able to go back to a functional state should a virus or other issue cause problems.
Imaging is an interesting process. It uses an algorithm to convert your HD data into a single very large file (maybe several CDs). When you restore, that file is played back onto your HD. The problem is that process and media are flaky. If one small spot in that big file has a problem, the entire thing is trashed... and it happens a lot. Cloning is copying your HD, cluster-by-cluster, bit-by-bit onto another HD. If your working drive becomes corrupted, you copy your backup HD onto your working drive and bring it up to date. It's best to have at least 3 HDs for this purpose. One should be kept as "baseline"... with Windows + SPs + updates + programs you always keep on the drive (like Office). Acronis is great for this cloning. So is Casper XP 3.0.
This is the way to go... I use Casper XP. A very good setup is 2 internal SATA drives... And one external SATA drive in a quality enclosure like NexStar 3. Internally you byte-by-byte clone c: to e: every 2-3 days... While the external drive can be a more sporadic clone or perhaps a more incremental backup. If c: damaged... Just swap SATA cables... and e: clone becomes your new c: drive. Windows cannot tell the difference... they are identical (though can be different size/make drives). This is good because it's super simple... imo, the most dangerous solution is a proprietary RAID system. They are super sexy and tell a great story... But also ** so complex ** that if anything goes wrong... You are at the mercy of 3rd parties to recover.
I also use Acronis TrueImage to clone my SATA C: drive to IDE; then should some problem occurs Win2k/XP is able to load from the IDE, too, switching BIOS boot sequence. Please note that for security reasons, it is better so use some utility (or Acronis Director ) to HIDE the backup clone disk you just made to avoid virus, worms etc can trash it...or just disconnect the cable!
Is Acronis simple to use? I looked at their website. It looks pretty straightforward? I am considering backing up or cloning, whichever is better, because I am starting to get some BSOD on my old backup computer. I never thought there was anything I wanted to back up, but I am reconsidering. TIA Dan
Yes, it's simple; just get a trial and you will be guided by a 'wizard' either you choose to clone your main disk (called 'source') or save an image.