What were the bad comments?
I updated to 2013 & restored backups from several years ago, quite a few times already. Didn't have any issues.

Sorry for the long, continual sentences on this Forum that this FireFox Version gives, as I'm not at my main computer that has Chrome on it>Comment#1)...it is unstable, it is full of bugs ranging from the 'annoying'(e.g. continuous backup suspends with no reason and then doesn't want to start again) to the 'critical'(e.g. fails to recover files from the backup, despite having validate it and found good)... Comment#2)...Never used a program with so many bugs, even blue screen errors trying to do 'continuous backup'. Difficult to figure out, unpredictable behaviour, does full backups when you want incremental backups, confusing naming conventions, impossible to understand the consolidation function, no way I could trust this program with my backups. When I finally wanted to recover a file, couldn't do it...

Windows 8 introduces far better backup software away from msbackup.Not sure third party is needed any more.

Windows 8 still includes the capability of doing disk images via the windows 7 backup system, although clearly it is not intended to be used by the average user. MS expects the average user will only have Windows Store issued metro (or whatever the ugly tile interface operating system is called this week) applications, which will survive a "refresh." Even if you opt to use the windows 7 system (type "windows 7 file" into search to bring up Windows 7 File Recovery from the murky bowels of Win 8), you still need to be very very careful about how you manage the image you create. Windows will overwrite preexisting images with the new one, and uses an inscrutable system to update images with incremental changes to the existing image. The help forums are littered with the bones of  unfortunate Windows users who tried to move their images from anyplace except where Windows put them and were then unable to restore the image. Careful re-naming and husbanding of the backup folders may make it possible, but it is not easy.


A third party imaging solution (some of the free ones are quite adequate) will allow you to much more reliably keep images that will restore to an exact point in time. 

http://m.lifehacker.com/5...me-machine-for-windows

jimusic

Quick Question: When I went hunting for Acronis True Image, some reviewers said that like many things, the newer versions were not as good, and some said not even worth buying. I held off on it. So...what version do most of you have and/or approve or disapprove of?

I'm using Acronis True Image 2010. I forget the version I was using before that, but it was really old. The only reason I upgraded was the version I had did not support Windows 7. It had some major problems at first not being able to see USB ports when you used it via their bootable CD utility, but they came out with an update and it works like a charm now.

You don't even have to install it if you don't want to. You can download a special ISO Image that you burn to a CD that has the HDD backup and restore utilities on it. It's a bootable CD once you burn it and comes up with a basic Windowish/DOS looking version of Acronis. Think DOS 7.0.

I use the Bootable CD Utility so I never even have it installed on my system when I do the backups. When you install it in Windows, it loads all kinds of extra's that I don't want on my system. It's just easier (for me anyway) to use the Bootable CD utility and never let it install on my system in the first place.

It supports USB drives, both stick and HDD. So you can plug in a USB HDD, boot from the CD, and back up your DAW HDD directly to the USB HDD without ever actually installing Acronis.

IIRC, you can even install that ISO to a USB thumb drive so you don't have to waste a CD.

They keep emailing me all the time urging me to upgrade, but what I have works so there's really no need. The only time I plan on upgrading is when I upgrade to a Windows version that my version of Acronis won't backup anymore.

...So you can plug in a USB HDD, boot from the CD, and back up your DAW HDD directly to the USB HDD without ever actually installing Acronis... That's what I have - a 1 TB external Western Digital USB 3.0 HDD that's divided into 3 partitions, that I also store all my VST installs, both DAW complete software install files, & all License keys & #s, etc. That's sounds pretty cool! Thanks. [Still with Windows 7-64 Bit for now, although I snagged the Windows 8 Pro for $39.99, PLUS a backup DVD for $12.99 + $2.50 shipping as well.]

When I picked up the 3 HDD I had to replace, they all came with an Acronis True Image CD.

When inserted, gave the options for 

Creating the regular OS Drive

Creating Clones

Not sure what other options there were.


Unfortunately when this happened I wasnt to the point of having a spare clone yet, just DVD back ups of my projects (Which paid off)

I will have a clone ready though for the OS and Sonar HDD cause that was the big head ache for me.  Everything from all those fine little tweaks in BIOS and the OS to something as small as once you load Disk 1 with GR4, needing to go into NI Service Center and run those updates, not to mention all the little extra niceties like changing colors on your different Views in Sonar.

So many time consuming necessary things that ya forget about when a system is and has been running great that add DAYS to a rebuild as you work and run into something and think to yourself-"Oh I forgot I had to do .... to take care of this problem"  Then ya gotta go make those changes, reboot and start again until ya run into another one that was forgotten  

I usually just give my computer a swift kick every once in a while to reseat the components and shake the dust of the hard drive spindals. Then I sit down to a nice cup of cocoa with it and remind it even though its running Microsoft it's not an office computer but rather a digital audio workstation. Then we both feel better and like a real recording studio. 

...I usually just give my computer a swift kick every once in a while... Hahaha! Having read that, isn't Windows 7 back up good enough? >>>Sound of record needle scratches across vinyl, then dead silence, followed by countless voices of laughter throughout the various crowd levels!<<< I'm still with Windows 7 -64 Bit, [although I did snag Windows 8 in time]. I have done a Windows back up a few times, but have not tried it as a restore - not needed yet. Unfortunately, the reviews for Acronis True Image 10 & up are terrible on Amazon, and some other sites. There is a free one given away from Western Digital, [of which I have 2 WD drives], but it's only Version 9, and reading above, Bub said that Version 10 would be needed for Windows 7. Of course the free one could be even worse.

Now and then I copy my project folder to another drive.