Windows 7 Acronis True Image Home 2010 / SSD / Try and Decide / Mozilla Firefox 5

stereox

New Member
Hello.
I want to ask you some questions about ATI 2010 / SSD compatibility / Try and Decide option
My OS is Windows 7 / 32 bit. I have a new SSD, OCZ Vertex2 and 2 more HDD's
The SSD is for the C partition, and the other 2 HDD's are only for storage. When i used to have C on HDD, i never had problems with the option Try and Decide, but now, with the SSD as OS partition, almost everytime when i test a program, i enable Try and Decide and can test whatever i want, with no fear of viruses or whatever.
But after i reboot, i have there 2 options : Continue in the Mode and Stop and Discard changes ( something like that )
When i press Stop and Discard changes,Windows starts up, etc .... Mozilla Firefox 5, my default browser is messed up.
A lot of changes / options / settings from Mozilla, are up side down. I don't understand how comes, but it's true.
Every other programs / settings are okay after i use Try and Decide, except Mozilla Firefox.
I never used System Restore from Windows 7, and i don't wanna use it. I wish i could restore my backup image, often, but i heard is not recommended for SSD ( life time - shorter, etc )
I mention that i didn't created the Acronis Secure Zone. Could that be the reason ?
But when i used the HDD as C partition, some time before, i didn't have those problems, and i never created Acronis Secure Zone.
Could be, maybe, some compatibility between ATI Home 2010 and SSD ?
Please give me some tips, i really need / like / use a lot / Acronis, i don't wanna change this program.
PS : i tried today some other similar programs, like Shadow Defender, etc
But after i restart the computer / discard changes, only Mozilla Firefox is with problems.
Do you have any idea how could i fix that ? Some people adviced me to use MozBackup, and after i restart and Mozilla is " destroyed" i could use MozBackup.
But i thought i find a way to fix my problem.
Thanks in advance.
 
Hello.

I have an Intel SSD that I use as my OS drive.

Right now, I'm using Acronis TI 2011 to back it up. When do you back it up make sure to back up the entire drive, not just the partition the OS is on. When you a clean install W7, it aligns the partitions correctly and creates a special System partition that both need to be preserved. The best way to do this is a complete drive image.

I don't use the Secure Zone, I just create the image of the system drive to another drive in my system (I currently have 1 SSD and 4 HDs in my system).

My image creation is as follows...

Secure Wipe SSD
Install Windows 7
Activate
All Windows Updates
Basic system tweaks (turn off restore, power settings, Favorites shortcuts, etc)
Boot from the Acronis CD and create my image to another hard drive

Note that I don't install any drivers or applications -- the reason I do this is that between installs of my OS there will be updates to drivers and applications and I don't want to try to install updates on top of installs. Clean installs of drivers and apps keeps the system clean of clutter.

For most of my currently used applications, I use Ninite to download a single installer for them all.

I manually download the drivers before reinstalling my image so that I have the most up to date.

Hope this helps...


T
 
Thanks a million.
Can you explain, please, how to back up the entire drive ? I only backup up the partition. Where is the difference, actually ?
" The best way to do this is a complete drive image"
I didn't understand what you mean. Drive image backup ? That's what i'm doing.

"Boot from the Acronis CD and create my image to another hard drive"
Another think i don't understand. Why do you create your image ( SSD image - C partition, i guess ) to another hard drive ???
Do you think is harmful for SSD's to use often the recovery option with Acronis ? Some people said that :)
Thanks again for your help.
LE: I attached here a picture, that's the way i proceed when i backup my C partition. Do i have to check NTFS System Reserved , too ?
I don't understand how to backup the entire hard drive :) I thought backing up the C partition and backing up the entire hard drive, aere the same.
 

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When you install Acronis, you get an option to create "Rescue media". This is a bootable CD that you can backup and restore outside of Windows.

When you boot from this, you get an option to Backup or Restore. I would choose the option to Backup an entire drive, instead of just a partition.

Follow the prompts from there to choose your SSD and make sure you choose the entire drive and not just a partition, and then you get a choice of what location to save that backup to and other options.

I've restored my SSD several times from this backup. When I do so, I first do a secure erase to clear the drive then boot from the Acronis Rescue Media and restore the entire drive.


T
 
When you install Acronis, you get an option to create "Rescue media". This is a bootable CD that you can backup and restore outside of Windows.

When you boot from this, you get an option to Backup or Restore. I would choose the option to Backup an entire drive, instead of just a partition.

Follow the prompts from there to choose your SSD and make sure you choose the entire drive and not just a partition, and then you get a choice of what location to save that backup to and other options.

I've restored my SSD several times from this backup. When I do so, I first do a secure erase to clear the drive then boot from the Acronis Rescue Media and restore the entire drive.


T
I already have the Acronis Rescue Media CD.
If i have an option to backup an entire drive, with Acronis Rescue Media CD, i think the same option must be in the Acronis UI.
But i can't see it.
Please, Taliseian, explain why / how do you clear the drive ( secure erase ) before restoring ?? Why do you do that ?
Just recover the image / full hard drive, and that should be fine. Sorry if i'm wrong.
I ask you again : Do you think is harmful for SSD's to use often the recovery option with Acronis ? image or entire full hard drive ...
Thank you.

LE : I tried with Acronis Rescue Media CD. The same options ( except Try and Decide ) like in the Acronis UI.
See my attached pic, please, post no 3. I have there " Partitions to back up" but no " disc drive to back up"
 
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I prefer using the Bootable Media instead of the Windows based options since there are open files that cannot be manipulated while the OS is running.

About the secure erase, google a program called 'Parted Magic'. It's also a bootable CD that I use to run a complete wipe of the SSD using the Internal Secure Erase option (Start button - System Utilities - Erase Disk -- I'm not running PM right now, but I think that's how you get to it) to basically reset the SSD and wipe all the NAND Flash cells.

As for the harm, Xtreme Systems has been running several SSD Endurance tests and they're showing that the current model of SSDs from Intel, OCZ, Samsung and others last a lot longer than most reports.

SSD Write Endurance 25nm Vs 34nm

For example...

Kingston SSDNow 40GB- Intel 25 rebrand
138.60 TB writes
Media Wearout Indicator (MWI) - 24%
Re-allocated Sector Count (RaS) -6

Intel 320 40GB
183 TB writes.
MWI- 5%
RaS-18

You can use a program called SSD Life to check your information and even get an estimated date of drive failure. Just for the record, I've Secured Erased, reformatted, and installed my OS several times and here is my current info...

Intel 80g X25-M
Work Time - 5mo 7dys
Health 99%
Est Lifetime - 8yr 7mo (Feb 17, 2020)
Total Data Written -- 3533.5gb
Re-allocated Sector Count - 0
Media Wearout Indicator - 0

SSD drives are a lot more reliable than people have given credit for.

T
 
:bighug:
Taliseian, i think you are my hero.
Let's talk about SSD Lifetime / Acronis / Parted Magic / step by step.
First of all : i don't get it why do you erase the entire SSD before you use the Acronis restore ( image partition of full hard drive )
What's the advantage ? You said " reset the SSD and wipe all the NAND Flash cells"
Isn't that harmful for your SSD ?? To be honest, i do not know to much about SSD's ( NAND Flash cells ?!?! ) :andwhat:
I installed Windows on my new SSD, on Saturday ( 2 July ) and i have now the program SSD Lifetime. Those values are not to much, for 4-5 days using the new SSD ??
Here's a pic. But i think, after 7-8 months, there'll be " estimated lifetime - 2 years "
I don't know how to check about how many TB my SSD can " take" :)
And, if i'd use Parted Magic to reset the SSD and wipe all the NAND Flash cells :) could i, after that, restore my back up image, with Acronis Rescue Media CD ? Would that be okay ? I guess, all the settings / programs / will be the same as they were when i backed up the image, but for the SSD ... ?! Would be reseted and the NAND Flash cells are like "new" ?
Sorry for asking so much :)
 

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Think of an SSD as a large flash/usb drive (simplistic in explanation but I think its close - I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong). On an SSD, you can not use a cell that has been partially used. They are marked either used (if they have any data in them) or unused (again simplistic explanation but close). By doing a Secure Erase, it completely clears all the cells and marks them as available. I'm not sure if it's really a needed step and may be overkill, but I do it just to make sure.

The program your using is the same program I'm using. The bottom shows your total Read and Written in GB to the drive. Just above that you get an estimated date of failure based on your usage patterns -- in your case you've got about 8yrs left on your drive. If you want to see your MWI or RaS, click on the S.M.A.R.T button and you'll get a screen that will show your drive information.

T
 
I'm not using SSD but I use TI to create backup images at partition level for each of four bootable systems (Windows 7 64 bit, Windows XP, Linux and Trackback). The images are stored on a fifth partition of the same hard drive and I have no problems imaging or restoring from any of them.
 
I would give it a try with Parted Magic.
But i'm not sure. I explain the way i would proceed : i erase it with
Parted Magic, after that i create ( not install ) a new C partition, and when everything is done, i restore the backed up image, with Acronis Rescue Media CD.
Would that work ?
 

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This is what I do...

Use Parted Magic to Secure Erase my SSD
Boot from the Acronis Rescue Media and restore the entire SSD drive
Reboot directly into Windows

There is no need to format or anything. Acronis preserves that information if you restore the entire drive.


T
 
Okay, i got it.
I thought, after you use Parted Magic, SSD ( C partition - the one you just erased ) will show up as " unallocated partition"
May i ask you something, please ??
Can i see your picture ( cover the data, name, whatever ) of your back up image ??
I'm still confused about " image partition back up" and "full disc backup"
Thanks a million.
Here is a screenshoot of my backup image.
 

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It will show up as an "unallocated partition" since the drive will be completely erased. That is normal.

You want to make sure that when you create your image that it is a full drive backup and not just a single partition. That preserves the System partition and the correct alignment that SSD drives need to perform at their best.

I'm not good with pics, but my image is stored as E:\Acronis\Win7SP1.tib and the image size is 4.6gb.


T
 
I guess ( sorry if i'm wrong ) that image partition and full drive backup, are the same thing.
How is your backup looks like ? Like my attached backup pic ?
I open now Acronis True Image Home 2010. I press "backup" option, up on the left side. See pic 1 and 2
After i press Backup, a new windows opens, and i have pic 2.
I really don't understand how to backup the full drive.

LE : After i pressed File backup, i have the pic 3
Is that maybe, System State ???
 

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Mine looks a little different, but what you want is "Disc and Partition Backup" from Pic 1 and to make sure that the entire drive (not just the c: partition) is chosen for Disc 1 (which I'm assuming is your SSD) on Pic 2.

Pic 3 is for file backup and what you want to do is an entire disk backup and not files.

Imaging a Partition and Full Drive Backup are two different things. The first just does part of a disk if you have your disk divided into multiple partition, while the latter will backup and entire drive (all partitions). Just make sure that they are all chosen to ensure a backup of your entire drive.


T
 
Mine looks a little different, but what you want is "Disc and Partition Backup" from Pic 1 and to make sure that the entire drive (not just the c: partition) is chosen for Disc 1 (which I'm assuming is your SSD) on Pic 2.

Pic 3 is for file backup and what you want to do is an entire disk backup and not files.

Imaging a Partition and Full Drive Backup are two different things. The first just does part of a disk if you have your disk divided into multiple partition, while the latter will backup and entire drive (all partitions). Just make sure that they are all chosen to ensure a backup of your entire drive.


T
Ok, my SSD is disk 1. I have installed Windows on SSD - Disk 1, and i have there 3 folder : Program Files / Users / Windows
And of course, a lot of subfolders....hundreds.
When i installed Windows on SSD, i didn't partitioned the SSD into 2 or 3 partitions.
Only 1 partition + system reserved ( 100 MB ) That's my entire SSD
Do i have to backup up ( check ) the system reserved, too, when i backup ...? It belongs to SSD - C partition - Disk 1 :)
Offtopic : how often do you erase - with Parted Magic, your SSD ? Every 3 months ? Once in 9 months ?
 
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Yes, make sure the System Reserved portion is included when you back up the disk.

I do an erase/restore whenever I feel like. If I do an oops and install stuff I don't want to, or if I have made too many changes, or if there have been too many Windows Updates (in that case I'll restore then create a new image so that I don't have so many updates to make the next time I restore). To me, it's not a matter of time but of usage.

T
 
I think i'll give a try with Parted Magic.
The only reason for doing that is to reset the SSD an wipe all the NAND flash cells.
Don't mind me repeating / asking that : after i erase the C drive - the entire SSD - who "allocate" the new partition, before i do the recovery with Acronis Rescue CD ?
One friend of mine, few months ago, deleted ( by mistake, i don't know how ) the C partition. He tried to recover with Acronis Rescue Media CD, the backup image but he couldn't.
He called me, and i went to him. I didn't know what's going on :) Acronis Rescue Media CD reported "errors" after i tried to restore the disc image.
I said " let's" install C again ( Windows 7 - fresh install )
After i boot from DVD Win 7, i came to the part where you choice where to install Windows.
There was like that : C - unallocated partition, and D / E / as secondary partitions.
I allocated the amount of MB for C, and i didn't press NEXT, to continue installing. C was allocated, only no OS on it.
Just reboot, reject the Win 7 DVD, inserted Acronis Rescue Media CD, and ...i was able to restore the backup
:)
 
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Job done.I used Parted Magic to do the Secure Erase and with Acronis i restored the backup image.
Thank you very much.
 
Offtopic : Yesterday i checked something in Disk Management.
Disk 0 - SSD with OS, Disk 1 and Disk 2 - D and E partitions - 2 HDD's
Today, Disk 0 is E, and my SSD as OS partition is Disk 2
Is that normal ?
Thank you.
 
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