-pops- Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Got up this morning, switched my main machine on and after it had gone through its BIOS procedure it jiggled about a bit and then announced on screen that there was a hard drive failure.OH shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!In all my years of working with computers I've never had a catastrophic hard drive failure. Seemingly OK last night when I shut down and nothing today. Thinking back, though, there were a few hints from it yesterday that things weren't quite right and it did seem to be getting sluggish.Disheartened but not desperate, I made my normal cup of tea, found a replacement drive and got Acronis working on it.Thirteen minutes after Acronis started its work, I'm back up and running again - better than before with a new "C" drive. Better than before because now I can tell that the old drive has been deteriorating for some time.Luckily (was this a premonition?) I made a backup yesterday (usually I do them on Thursdays) and the only thing I've lost is an email from the Boots Vantage Card scheme - which I didn't want in any case.Moral of all this is make backups and keep them up to date. This could have been quite disastrous for me as this machine contains all of my work. OK, I have copies elsewhere but they would have needed to be found and sorted out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 pops - Like you I use Acronis to make regular system back-ups onto an external hard drive.However - I also use a programme named Second Copy which makes incremental copies of all my data to a second external hard drive. This is set to to update its backup files every time the computer is closed down. Because my Outlook data file is so large it adds about 30 seconds to the time when you close Windows - a small price to pay for such bullet proof security.The beauty of this programme is that it saves files individually (not condensed into one large file) and you can set it to retain a number of historic archive copies of changed files - mine is set to two - which means I can access the current file and the previous two versions.This combination has saved my bacon several times.I am pleased to see you recovered from your problem so easily. It brought to mind a recent event when I noticed a slight "clicking" coming from one of my hard drives. It seemed to be performing OK and for a while I thought little of it, but slowly strange things began to happen on the computer. I replaced the drive and bingo - the computer seemed to run faster and the odd happenings went away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 I am pleased to see you recovered from your problem so easily. Me too. :) I no longer have so much important work on my computer, but I still make regular backups on Acronis.Good training, pops! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 Irene, I used to be known for my nagging about backups and Acronis has saved me from a number of cockups in the past. This is the first time, though, that I've have a drive fail on me without warning (although there were some vague hints it was on its way out).Installing the Acronis backup on to a virgin disk was even easier and quicker than re-installing on to a disk that had messed up.Alan, I do use second Copy and find it very useful. What I wouldn't have looked forward to (in the absence of a backup) is re-installing everything (including the O/S) back to how I like it. It's odd how a computer seems to become part of you. I would have been very upset if this computer had irreparably failed on me. I have two other machines which could have recovered my files and things but this one is somehow special. Daft, I know but there it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 26, 2007 Report Share Posted August 26, 2007 I don't have any work on my computer, it is a four letter word. I swear by Acronis however thanks to pops nagging. So much easier than reinstalling everything. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael12 Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 I am pleased to see you recovered from your problem so easily. Me too. :) I no longer have so much important work on my computer, but I still make regular backups on Acronis.Good training, pops! :DNice jock :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D4\/!d Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 ...how many of us did an extra backup after reading this B) I know I did :0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 ...how many of us did an extra backup after reading this B) I know I did :0 .... and me!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Spend a few bucks, and about 10-15 minutes a week (or day) to make a backup and it will save your hours of frustration and even loss of precious data. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 How long should it take to do a full Acronis backup? My C drive is 33.7 Gig. I do the other drives saved things downloads and pictures etc. as a copy and paste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 I've just down a full backup of my C drive ~37 GB and that took exactly 19 mins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 How long should it take to do a full Acronis backup? My C drive is 33.7 Gig. I do the other drives saved things downloads and pictures etc. as a copy and paste.I suppose it depends on the speed of your computer. Mine goes through in less than thirty minutes, and a bit more to reinstall it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 There's, apparently a beta version of Acronis TI 11 out and about. No word of what's new but I'm sure we'll find out soon...I use Sync Toy from MS as well Drive Image 7 :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Mine said it would be 1hour 49 minuets, I don't know how long it did take as I left it to do it on its own, so this is to long? This is Acronis 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Mine said it would be 1hour 49 minuets, I don't know how long it did take as I left it to do it on its own, so this is to long? This is Acronis 8Mine is also 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Mine said it would be 1hour 49 minuets, I don't know how long it did take as I left it to do it on its own, so this is to long? This is Acronis 8What are you saving the backup to - an internal hard drive, external USB drive - or what.My C: drive is 36.4 GB.If I backup to my second internal SATA hard drive it takes 17 minutes. If I backup to my USB2 external hard drive it takes 36 minutes.I once had a problem with my USB hub and it ran as USB1 - the backup then wanted to take more than 4 hours (but I aborted it and fixed the hub) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Don't rely too much on the time Acronis initially tells you it will take - mine says 55 minutes when it starts off but it adjusts that as it goes along and the actual time is usually about 35 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 It's a usb2 external ide that I back up to, from an internal 80gig partitioned into 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Good point, mines to an external HDD via USB. It starts off saying 30 mins but then finishes up doing it in 19. I always say to myself "Ahh it's been practicing!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 How long should it take to do a full Acronis backup? My C drive is 33.7 Gig. I do the other drives saved things downloads and pictures etc. as a copy and paste. I backup both my C & D drives independently to an external Hard Drive. Each of the C & D drives take approximately 8 - 10 minutes.Having said that, I have spent some considerable time "cleaning up" both drives. I have removed any movies, photos, programs etc, which are not required.So, maybe if your backup is lengthy, you should ask yourself, "Do I really want all of this?". :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Or you can move the My Documents folder to another drive, and just backup the actual Windows System Files.Most of your files are saved in My Documents anyways. My Pictures, My Music etc.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310147 (XP Only) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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