Acronis has gone to pot. What's the best backup software now?

I recently bought home version on sale. When I dl'd the trial I was offered a coupon code for $18. EaseUS Todo Backup.

I am using Win10 with no issues. I made an image compressed, burned an ISO thumb drive, then tested it on a blank hard drive from boot and it loaded a perfect image.

I have it set to back up my pictures on a weekly basis as well.

I think it's visually clean, optimizes for SSD check box, and above all much cheaper than the others. I would never pay $50-70 like some of them cost.
 
Haha, I finally got tired of Acronis' shit, too. I'm insisting on a non-proprietary archive format (except for system partition backups) this time around.

Edit: to be more specific, Acronis people are assholes, and they do a lot of hinky shit, like mentioned by the OP.
 
Morlock said:
Haha, I finally got tired of Acronis' shit, too. I'm insisting on a non-proprietary archive format (except for system partition backups) this time around.
Click to expand...

What format do they use? I assume they still do compression, so do they use zip or rar files?
 
Hi... First forgive me for my poor English (I'm Italian)...

I'm a Linux User (Debian is my present OS and Windows runs on VmWare) but when I have to repair Windows PCs I trust Clonezilla and Macrium: they never failed me. I had the chance to try Clonezilla on Windows 10 too and everything was fine. Of course you have to use the Alternative version 64 bit if you have a UEFI based PC. Clonezilla is basic even if you can use it in the hard way, but if you keep the standard settings it's perfect (for me at least): ok, it doesn't have incremental backup options but it's not a big issue for me.

If you want to transfer Win to another PC with different hardware you need the paid version of Macrium (or Todo backup etc...).

Differently, if you use live Linux CDs like SysRescueCD or similar (Including Clonezilla) you have a lot of chances to clone and image every OS via the command line. It can look a bit nerdy for somebody but if you learn to use these tools they can be very useful not only to clone but to recover data too from damaged HD etc...

There's also a very cool piece of software but it works only on Debian and Debian based: SYSTEMBACK. It has a lot of options but the main is the capability of creating a live ISO of your system (you can include or exclude personal data) you can run or install everywhere, no matter the hardware you have. The only issue (but it's not a real issue) is that if you have Nvida or ATI drivers and the target PC has different graphic drivers or a different version, you have to exclude them (Systembacks make this operation very easy) or run the live in the safe graphics mode. A good options of Systemback is the creation (only if you want) of personal restore points, really working, not like Windows... So you don't have to create a live USB/DVD unless you have boot troubles.
But, I repeat, it works only on Debian and Debian Based (Ubuntu, Mint etc...).

My final thought is that there's no perfect cloning tool for all users: I keep all in my mutiboot USB :) and test them periodically...

PS: if you like Linux and like old school interfaces, after you learn Clonezilla I suggest another live CD: Ghost For Linux (G4L): I used it just two time on not UEFI PCs so I don't know if it's good for everything but it's worth a try...

Bye!
 
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I read the Veeam contract you must accept and there is some shady stuff in there about sharing info it gathers from you.
 
JJ, I have no idea what encryption or compression algorithms they use. Their extension is *.tib, in case that tells you something it doesn't tell me. I just tried to open one with WinRAR, but it said unrecognized. So, probably not anything normal, expected, healthy, or on the up-and-up like zip, 7z, or RAR.

But yes, Acronis does use some kind of compression, though IIRC you can turn it off if you like.

Everything I've gleaned indicates that Acronis wants to hold your data hostage as much as possible.

P.S., as for it being "normal" for new software to stop working with old backups, the least they could do is put that on the tin in big, blinking letters. Doesn't really inspire confidence when you 1) have a system that you can't get working and need to restore from a backup 2) your current software says "sorry, can't restore from the old files uncle Acronis made, take it up with him" 3) there's no easy way to figure out which version you made it with, unless you knew to write that down somewhere.

The least they could do is say, "hey, those were made with version x.x, this is version y.y, you need to install x.x to restore from those backups."

Fuck Acronis.
 
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I used to love Acronis...but their 2015 and 2016 software is messed up. Paragon is currently offering free serial numbers for their 2016 Backup program. Till November 1 2016 I believe.
 
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What's the catch with Paragon's free download of their software? Is it going to install a massive amount of malware on the system, or be a 14 day trial, after which you have to pay double MSRP to get it working again?
 
Ladyhawk said:
My old version of Acronis True Image 2009 used to make one full backup and then dozens of incremental backups on my two internal backup drives. My recent hard drive crash necessitated that I "upgrade" to Acronis True Image 2016 because the Acronis 2009 boot disc didn't recognize my hard drives.

It turns out that after you defragment your hard drive (mine defrags automatically; can't remember how often), Acronis True Image Home 2016 has to make a new full backup of your hard drive. This only allowed me 8 incremental backups after the initial full backup. There is only room for one full backup on my backup hard drives. This served me well with the 2009 version, which didn't have this brand new "feature" as the tech called it.

Other things I hate about Acronis True Image Home 2016:

1. It won't let me swap out my C drive with another hard drive and continue with backups because it tags every hard drive as a separate entity. With Acronis 2009, I would occasionally restore to a new hard drive and pop it in just to make sure the images were not corrupted. I can no longer do this with Acronis 2016 because it sees the new hard drive as a new hard drive and not as drive C. If you use a new C drive, you have to erase the backup drives and start over.

2. It performed the validation tasks at 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. instead of 2:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. as specified.

Can someone recommend good backup software that will do lots of incremental backups after the initial full backup and doesn't choke after a simple defrag? It needs to come with a boot disc that will see all the storage devices on my system.

I would go back to Acronis 2009, but it won't read the images made by the 2016 version. I'd also have to use 2016 boot discs because, as I said, the 2009 boot discs stopped recognizing my hard drives somewhere along the way.

Here are two suggestions from the tech at Acronis:

1. Buy a bigger hard drive. (The current one(s) worked fine with Acronis 2009.)

2. When I complained that Acronis 2009 couldn't read the images created by Acronis 2016, he said, "Acronis 2016 can read Acronis 2016 backup files." (No shit, Sherlock.)

I'm looking for functionality and reliability. Probably I will have to go back to Acronis 2009 and use the 2016 boot discs until I can find a better solution. I really liked Acronis 2009. Why is it that newer usually ends up being worse when it comes to software? It happens all the time.
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I don't use Acronis because it isn't available for Linux as far as I know, but backups for Ubuntu isn't much better because it always fails to restore my system to working order or at least it does in Ubuntu 14.4.3. The only thing I'ver heard of that better than Acronis is Deep Freeze, but I also heard it costs a fortune. Other than that the only other thing I can recommend is Norton Ghost unless you're on a Linux or UNIX system or desire compatibly with those operating systems. Otherwise, the only backup utilities that have given me problems are Microsoft's Backup, Restore or Linuxmints backup utility and Apple's Time Machine. Everything else either is no longer supported or gone to crap or is about the same as the ones that are no longer supported. Nero has a program to if all you need it for is for Windows and Maybe Mac.
 
I'm a self-employed IT guy and I've been using Macrium Reflect, so another vote for Macrium from me.

I use a PE environment boot disk (USB now) called Gandalf, it takes care of the disk drivers for you and
has several backup/imaging apps built-in, including Reflect I believe. I used to use Windows UBCD but
that is XP based and way outdated now.

You can also run whatever imaging app you want on another computer and backup/restore drives that way.

ETA: And I don't do incremental backups except in some very specific cases. It's better and more
reliable to just do a full backup every time. That way you aren't hinging your whole backup library
on only one full backup. Easy way to get into a disaster situation doing that.

.
 
If you are using Windows 7 - 10 you can use the built in backup. It is the same as the one I use in Windows Server. In the event of a nasty update or a failed HDD you can boot off of a DVD or flash drive and recover the image. I use a batch script to do it rather than the crappy interface.

Echo off
wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:F: -include:C:,E: -allCritical -vssfull -quiet

Just change the target and included drives.
 
I tried Acronis 2016.......what a load of crap. Two out of the last three "verified good" images failed (separate rigs). Slap me for going back I guess....won't ever happen again though.
 
Spaceninja said:
If you are using Windows 7 - 10 you can use the built in backup. It is the same as the one I use in Windows Server. In the event of a nasty update or a failed HDD you can boot off of a DVD or flash drive and recover the image.
Click to expand...

I've had exactly one incident in the past 10 years or so where I wanted to do a system restore from an image. That was to recover from a botched software update that couldn't be undone. To my total amazement, restoring from Windows 7's built in backup image worked. One of the most remarkable things I've ever seen.
 
JJ Johnson said:
I've had exactly one incident in the past 10 years or so where I wanted to do a system restore from an image. That was to recover from a botched software update that couldn't be undone. To my total amazement, restoring from Windows 7's built in backup image worked. One of the most remarkable things I've ever seen.
Click to expand...

I use it on all of the servers that I deal with too. Even if they paid for something like Backup Exec that they have been paying for since they bought a server. i can recover a server in 30 minutes or less most of the time. Backup Exec would still be looking for the right backup.
 
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