Others say...

"Shredded Acronis disk - feel much better"
It is a great idea for a product but IT DOES NOT WORK. That is not really the kind of comment you want to hear in regards to backup software but right out the box, my installation (build 7??) did not work beyond the interface. It created many corrupted images before it created a "true" image and then it would not restore the image. I went to the Acronis site and downloaded their most recent build (8??). If you are in the market for this product, look at the site and the user forums. There are allot of disgruntled users there. Hope they don't work for the Postal Service. If you read the forums you would be surprised to see the product work at all. After I downloaded the new build, I took it slow and was able to: 1) save an image of a C: drive text file to the D: drive, 2) delete the text file and restore the file with the image 3) save an image of a C: drive text file to a CD, 4) delete the text file and restore the file with the CD image after booting with the Acronis boot disk, 5) save an image of my primary C: drive to D: drive and a CD (this process is lengthy, don't be swayed by their suggestions of performance). 6) verify the integrity of both images - OK 7) delete many keys in the registry and files on the C: drive - system, program -enough to destroy system operations and cause the system not to reboot, 8) reboot with the Acronis boot disk, install the image CDs (3), re-verify the CDs that I created and checked OK about 30 min prior, 9) received multiple instance of popup message "Error opening the file, a possible reason may be poor media quality." There is no quality in this product and there is no integrity in Acronis. Backup your data to flash memory sticks, and be ready to rebuild your OS or switch data to a backup operating platform. As a note, I rank Acronis only slightly more useful than Norton because even though they both exhibit an inability to program software for the end-user, Norton takes up more space and is more of a memory hog. Other than that, they both don't deserve whatever market share they are clinging to.

"Exactly what I wanted!"
I've tried Ghost and Vertias. They are good software packages, but just too complex.

I wanted something that could simply take an image of my harddrive and store it on another physical device. Both Vertias and Ghost Enterprise edition seemed to make the assumption that I had an external backup server. I don't. And while I'm sure I could have taken extra time to configure Vertias or Ghost to work on my server, I just don't have the time for that.

Acronis is exactly what Vertias and Ghost are not. It is straight forward, user friendly, hassle free. It's exactly what I was looking for. I have had ZERO problems backing up and restoring using Acronis. I recommend it highly!

"Caveat Emptor"
I will not describe the many fine operating features of Acronis True Image, because simply stated, while it looks good at first ultimately completely failed to perform as advertised. Maybe it costs extra to get a restore done. I will never know, because as I now see is commonly reported, their tech support is tragic. Read on for a more agonizingly detailed narrative of my experience, otherwise, be very careful before purchasing ATI. If you still do, be sure to test it thoroughly before any warranty has ended.

...

I was attracted to Acronis True Image because I had done just enough research to come to believe recent incarnations of Ghost were overpriced, outdated and could not do what I needed. I did not read far enough to discover many users ultimately found the same to be true of True Image.

I have a Toshiba Satellite notebook and was looking for a simple backup solution using an external USB HD - hardly an unusual situation, I felt. About 3 weeks after purchasing True Image and making a full backup, I was suddenly in need of a full restore. After following the Acronis procedure, the software would not recognize the drive, and I could not proceed. I tried every method imaginable to me for a few hours, but rather than commence yet another hand rebuild of the system, I decided to test their support claims. I knew not only I could repair things myself, but that it would take many hours, and I had believed I had purchased a "one click" type solution.

The only support options offered are fax and email, which is not uncommon these days but still irritating, even more in a crisis such as this. The crash occurred on a Friday afternoon, despite Acronis' claims of "24/7" response, I had no realistic expectations of a reply over the weekend. In a typical setting, total data loss is a serious emergency, and this could have been a chance for the "little guy" to shine, but it was not to be so.

I received a reply the following Monday afternoon. All that was suggested was that I download the most recent version and try again.

And from that point followed over 5 weeks of completely unproductive correspondence, I was asked for and provided over 20 screenshots of the True Image diagnostic programs. I was offered 4 workarounds involving the Linux command line, they were all to no avail, and they finally stopped answering my queries altogether, even a final, ever polite request for resolution before I came to the conclusion you are now reading: Caveat Emptor indeed..

My situation was not life-or-death, and while it did not shut down my network or mean the loss of irretrievable data it was highly annoying and I did in fact miss a few opportunities due to lost appointments and bookmarks, as well as a few Itunes I had not yet ripped. Still, I was grateful to be able to test the product before recommending it or installing it for my small and HO clients, as an IT tech for the past many years, I subscribe to the theory that "an untested backup is no backup at all". Actually, it's worse than none, as one continues to work with the confidence of data security only to one day make the heart-stopping discovery that much more was lost than expected.

I was able to utilize some of the Acronis image to replace missing files and settings, but this is something I could have achieved through any means of backup I have ever used in the past, and is the very least I could expect and about the only reason I was able to remain relatively detached throughout this process. After giving a detailed explanation of this experience, the vendor (not Amazon) unhesitatingly refunded my purchase price, but unfortunately, refused to publish this review.

"Dysfunctional software & technical support"
I purchased and used Acronis True Image (ATI) v8.0 for three months, based upon the advertising that extolled its virtues and ease of use. I assumed that it was working as intended. That is, until the time came that I actually needed to open a previous image and extract an individual file. The software refused to work, even though the advertising lauded that particular function.

I worked with ATI Technical Support for two weeks, and they were never able to resolve the issue. At the end of that time, their "support" had devolved to, "Uninstall such-and-such a program that's on your computer, and see what happens." At that point I made the decision to uninstall ATI instead, since I'd already invested a significant amount of hours, and there still seemed no way to make the software actually work as advertised.

I got rid of ATI, then purchased Terabyte Unlimited's "Image for Windows." It worked flawlessly, and while it is slower than ATI, at least it does what it's supposed to do. I hope this review will help others avoid the mistake of purchasing Acronis True Image.

By the way, if you've had the software more than 30 days after purchasing and downloading it, Acronis will not refund the purchase price. Since I had no need to check the functionality of the images until I'd used ATI for about three months, the company would issue no refund. Shafted again!

"Answer to my prayers"
I've been through so many bad products, and this one worked so well and with so little effort I'm writing my first Amazon review, which I don't normally do. Installed without a hitch, burned a bootable CD-R effortlessly, and created images to my network-attached storage drive, which Norton Ghost refused to do properly. High recommendation. I wish more products were like this.