Does Acronis True Image Work With Windows 11

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Magdalena Liendo

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Aug 3, 2024, 3:23:07 PM8/3/24

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it's not super easy to use, so if you want super easy you will have to go with something else (but it's easy enough once you learn source/destination etc), but it works outside of the OS (it runs from a bootable CD/DVD or USB stick, so it does not matter if you got Windows or Linux it will work) as it's a rock solid way to restore your system to a EXACT state it was at the time you imaged it (so any files added/changed/deleted since won't matter since the image restored will be EXACTLY like it was at the time you imaged it, meaning it's like the whole drive you are restoring is essentially wiped and restored to exactly how it is in the image file). but it does give you two warning screens before doing anything potentially destructive. but personally... when I make a image I pretty much know what to select almost instinctively by what the screen looks like and not much risk here. but when 'restoring' I make sure to slow down and pay extra attention since if you are not careful and go-through-the-motions, you could potentially wipe the wrong hard drive (assuming you got multiple HDD's in the first place).

I typically use Clonezilla on my main PC about once a month to image my main PC's boot drive (SSD) to a image file on another hard drive I have as it's solid insurance in case the system ever gets into a non-working state. it's probably not as convenient as software that runs within Windows itself, as it will probably take a bit longer to image since you got to reboot, boot to USB stick and do the imaging process, but it's reliable.

Macrium Reflect backs up my whole computer on a pre-set daily schedule while I do my work without bothering me. (So do Veeam Agent or Acronis Cyber-Protect.) Restoring a single file from a backup is equally easy.

If anyone has told you other backup apps change bits and bytes willy-nilly, that person has pulled a cruel joke on you. Sector-by-sector backup is a mundane task that most backup apps do to perfection, without repeatedly using the word "EXACTLY" in all-uppercase.

That's a exaggeration. it's not as easy as point and click, but it's closer to easy than difficult at the end of the day as you just select what you want to do on each screen shown with keyboard's up/down arrows etc and press enter. sure, if you are backing up over say a Samba share, then you got to type in certain info but it's easy enough once you learn what to do.

sure, I agree it's not the most easy way to image ones boot drive but it does what it does well and for an occasional hard drive image, it's sufficient, especially given it's not backing up high importance stuff for me anyways.

but personally for general data backup I prefer a manual approach (i.e. copy/paste) of having two copies on two different hard drives at the minimum. I would never want to rely on backup software that's primarily for imaging hard drives to do that. Clonezilla is good enough for someone who just wants to make a backup of their boot drive occasionally in case they need to restore it to a previously working state from not all that long ago.

so even if my main SSD fails, the damage would be limited since I don't really store anything of high importance on that anyways. even the stuff that is important enough, I already have backed up elsewhere. so if the boot drive fails, not that serious of a problem.

p.s. I generally avoid storing larger files on the SSD anyways, which helps speed up Clonezilla images. because even the larger files I do use, like video files and games, are all stored on my additional hard drives separate from the main boot drive which I only use Clonezilla on the main boot drive anyways.

I keep backups of anything important on additional hard drives (and for more limited higher importance data I also use DVD recordable discs). so even if my main drives SSD's were to fail in a month, data loss would be minimal enough for me. plus, I don't expect my boot drive's SSD to fail anytime soon as I am not even close to the official TBW write rating of it.

Yeah, I don't doubt that. but I would imagine that with brand name SSD's, like Samsung, they will probably last a long time (especially the more time proven SATA based SSD's). in fact, I have had mine since May 2015 and it's still going strong. I figure if it's lasted this long, it will probably go for many more years especially given I am only about 27.039TBW (drive is officially rated for 75TBW).

but what you said is also why I prefer regular hard drives for general data storage as you are more likely to get a warning before outright failure occurs. I would never use a SSD for long term data storage.

p.s. but speaking of SSD's... I wonder if there is a general time frame (or usage point) where if they don't fail, they probably won't for the foreseeable future? ; I am not sure if there is any data out there on this sort of stuff, so if not, it's probably anyones guess.

Yeah, but what you refer to is non-SATA based SSD's. I don't plan on getting rid of the common SATA based SSD's anytime soon as they seem to be a bit more time proven vs this rush to get faster-and-faster when a regular 300-550MB/s SATA SSD is plenty fast enough for most people in most tasks.

I used Acronis TI for more than a decade until early 2022 when I discovered it no longer supported Windows 10 and 11. Renewing was far too costly since they shifted to an annual subscription. I opted for the free Paragon Community Edition to back driveup my Windows 11 devices (ASUS Zenbook, HP-AIO). It works perfectly from both an external USB and the devices. Having restored images, I can vouch for the accuracy.