Acronis True Image 11 Home [OLD VERSION]

Bought this with the sole intention of cloning a failing hard drive with a larger one. Figured this would save me hours of work installing & transferring programs. Well, I installed it with no problems & ran the Clone program. It did everything it was supposed 2 do in the order shown in the instructions. The program is slightly lacking in instructional material but workable. When it was done, nothing had been written 2 the new drive. Tried several more variations, still with no joy. Now I end up spending hours/days researching & reading FAQ's & reviews 2 find any answers 2 my questions. After many hours of reading reviews I finally found a ray of hope & tried again. Success!! It worked flawlessly! It completed the clone in a relatively short period of time & the new larger cloned hard drive is running my system with no noticeable issues. What I found:
1. Do you need 2 format the new drive? No, although I did during the numerous different combinations I tried. The program found it & reformatted it 2 create the partition 4 the clone with no problem.
2. To follow up on #1. When I formatted the drive I named it something I could easily spot. This is helpful if you have several drives in your system.
3. If it doesn't work the first time following the directions, don't waste time trying other configurations. Just reboot with the program disk in the CD drive & it will boot up & allow you 2 perform the tasks you want. This is what I finally did & after this if worked as advertised.
I gave 3 stars because the program finally did what it was supposed 2 do after many hours of research. If this had been a simple note in their directions it would saved a great amount of time. I was just about 2 return it as a defective program when I found the suggestion 2 boot up from the disk.

After I bought Acronis True Image 11 Home I was having several problems, mostly involving the software hanging. I went 2 the Acronis website 2 try 2 look up solutions. The website didn't work at all, 4 days, then wouldn't let me log in 4 several more. I wrote them an email about this. Got canned email acknowledgement with statement that they'd get back 2 me. They never did.

Later I sent them a question about yet another of the technical problems I was having (and couldn't find an answer 2 in their knowledge base). Again I got a canned email acknowledgement with statement that they'd get back 2 me. It took them 22 days 2 return my email. In the meantime I had already contacted the Better Business Bureau. That was weeks ago, & they haven't responded 2 the BBB either.

What really bothers me about this is that, although Acronis can't be bothered 2 respond 2 my support email questions, they've been sending me emails offering 2 sell me the new, improved version (True Image Home 2009) 4 almost as much money as I paid 4 the original problematic software just a few months ago! They don't seem 2 have any problem sending marketing email!

I owned True Image 10 4 a year before recently upgrading 2 11. 10 did the job on more than one occasion, including a full restore of the C Drive, but it never lived up 2 my expectations because unless I booted with Vista, Acronis was unable 2 see the 500 Gig USB drive I purchased specifically 4 doing backups. If I booted with the Acronis recovery CD, the USB drive was invisible. Acronis tech support was sympathetic, but was never able 2 solve the problem.

A couple of weeks ago 11 went on sale, so I thought I'd give it a try. Problem solved! The recovery CD can see, & restore from, my 500 Gig drive, the interface is noticeably slicker, & there are several utilities not present in 10. I am happy as a clam! Great piece of software.

I purchased Acronis True Image 11 Home Edition in August from Amazon 4 $30. I immediately did an image backup of my C drive & squirreled it away. The process 2 create the image backup is so easy, even your grandmother (or a caveman) could do it.
I didn't immediately review this program until I tested it under fire. That test came yesterday, when I picked up some nasty DLL files that were trying 2 attach themselves as "IE helpers" -- that kind of help I don't need. I tried 2 delete these files, but couldn't. I tried 2 restore from a system restore point, but that wouldn't work either. I tried 2 repair Windows XP, but again those pesky DDL files were still there.

I thought 2 myself, now is the time 2 test Acronis. I opted 2 restore everything on my C drive from the Acronis image backup, as I didn't know what files may have been corrupted. Less than 1/2 later (actually I think it only took about 10 minutes), my PC was back 2 its normal self & those pesky DLL files were gone.

This is a definite 5-star program, & I would recommend it at twice the price. If I didn't have Acronis, I would be spending my entire weekend rebuilding my C drive. That's not my idea of a "fun" weekend. With that in mind, I figure that I have already recouped my investment. I have 100% confidence in this program.

Does back-up & restore. Instructions are cryptic & incomplete. It took two days 2 restore my hard drive. I finally got on line with one of their techs (a very good service) & figured it out.

The problem was that it makes multiple files when writing 2 a FAT drive, & the instructions didn't say which file 2 back up or in what order. It turns out that backing up any one file will automatically invoke the others. Also, there are several choices about back-up which aren't obvious 2 the casual user.

Acronis True Image 11 Home provides the maximum flexibility 2 ensure you are adequately protected & can recover from unforeseen events such as viruses, unstable software downloads, & hard drive failures. Create an exact copy of your PC 4 a full backup or backup only your important data ? your choice. Creates an exact copy of your PC 4 a full backup Backs up & restores your music, video, & data Protects your applications Boot your computer even if your operating system has failed & restore your system image from Acronis Secure Zone Backs up your e-mails & Outlook data & settings Try & Decide: easy rollback of system changes Protects your PC application configuration settings Schedules backups automatically by time or system events Privacy protection Supports Microsoft Windows Vista Email notifications Saves 2 FTP