acronis.

com

Acronis True Image

for Western Digital

User Guide REVISION: 3/22/2023

Table of contents
Introduction 7
What is Acronis True Image for Western Digital? 7
Backups created in Acronis True Image for Western Digital (2020 and later) 7
Backup schemes 7
Cleaning up TIBX format backups 7
Cleaning up local backups manually has the following scheme: 8
Which backups retain TIB format 8
System requirements and supported media 8
Minimum system requirements 8
Supported operating systems 9
Supported file systems 9
Supported storage media 10
Installing and uninstalling Acronis True Image for Western Digital 10
Activating Acronis True Image for Western Digital 12
Upgrading Acronis True Image for Western Digital 12
Technical Support 13
Getting started 14
User interface language 14
Protecting your system 14
Backing up your computer 14
Creating Acronis bootable media 16
Backing up all data on your PC 17
Backing up your files 18
Cloning your hard drive 19
Why do I need it? 19
Before you start 19
Cloning a disk 20
Recovering your computer 21
Basic concepts 24
The difference between file backups and disk/partition images 25
Full, incremental and differential backups 26
Full method 26
Incremental method 27
Differential method 28
Changed Block Tracker (CBT) 29

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 Deciding where to store your backups 30
Preparing a new disk for backup 31
Authentication settings 31
Acronis Nonstop Backup 32
Nonstop Backup limitations 32
How it works 32
Retention rules 32
Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage 33
Nonstop Backup - Frequently asked questions 33
Backup file naming 34
Naming convention for backup files created by Acronis True Image for Western Digital 34
Integration with Windows 35
Wizards 36
FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning 37
Backing up data 39
Backing up disks and partitions 39
Backing up files and folders 41
Backup options 42
Scheduling 43
Backup schemes 46
Notifications for backup operation 52
Image creation mode 54
Backup splitting 54
Backup validation option 55
Removable media settings 56
Error handling 57
Computer shutdown 58
Performance of backup operation 58
Laptop power settings 60
Operations with backups 61
Backup operations menu 61
Backup activity and statistics 62
Sorting backups in the list 64
Validating backups 64
Backup to various places 65
Adding an existing backup to the list 66
Cleaning up backups and backup versions 66

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Recovering data 68
Recovering disks and partitions 68
Recovering your system after a crash 68
Recovering partitions and disks 78
About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes 80
Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS 83
Recovering files and folders 84
Searching backup content 86
Recovery options 87
Disk recovery mode 87
Pre/Post commands for recovery 87
Validation option 88
Computer restart 88
File recovery options 88
Overwrite file options 89
Performance of recovery operation 89
Notifications for recovery operation 90
Protection 93
The Protection dashboard 93
Active protection 93
Anti-ransomware protection 93
Configuring Active Protection 94
Managing files in Quarantine 95
Configuring Protection exclusions 96
Disk cloning and migration 97
Disk cloning utility 97
Clone Disk wizard 98
Manual partitioning 99
Excluding items from cloning 101
Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD 103
SSD size 103
Which migration method to choose 103
What to do if Acronis True Image for Western Digital does not recognize your SSD 103
Migrating to SSD using the backup and recovery method 105
Tools 107
Acronis Media Builder 107
Creating Acronis bootable media 108

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 Acronis bootable media startup parameters 110
Adding drivers to an existing .wim image 111
Creating an .iso file from a .wim file 112
Making sure that your bootable media can be used when needed 113
Selecting video mode when booting from the bootable media 117
Adding a new hard disk 118
Selecting a hard disk 119
Selecting initialization method 119
Creating new partitions 120
Security and Privacy Tools 123
Acronis DriveCleanser 123
System Clean-up 128
Mounting a backup image 136
How to mount an image 137
Unmounting an image 137
Working with .vhd(x) files 138
How to use .vhd(x) files 138
Limitations and additional information 138
Converting Acronis backup 138
Importing and exporting backup settings 139
Troubleshooting 141
Resolving the most frequent issues 141
Acronis System Report 141
Acronis Smart Error Reporting 142
When you have an Internet connection 142
When you do not have an Internet connection 143
How to collect crash dumps 143
Acronis Customer Experience Program 144
Index 145

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Copyright statement
© Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023. All rights reserved.

All trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.

Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit
permission of the copyright holder.

Distribution of this work or derivative work in any standard (paper) book form for commercial
purposes is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder.

DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS,

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE
EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID.

Third party code may be provided with the Software and/or Service. The license terms for such
third-parties are detailed in the license.txt file located in the root installation directory. You can
always find the latest up-to-date list of the third party code and the associated license terms used
with the Software and/or Service at https://kb.acronis.com/content/7696

Acronis patented technologies

Technologies, used in this product, are covered and protected by one or more U.S. Patent Numbers:
7,047,380; 7,246,211; 7,275,139; 7,281,104; 7,318,135; 7,353,355; 7,366,859; 7,383,327; 7,475,282;
7,603,533; 7,636,824; 7,650,473; 7,721,138; 7,779,221; 7,831,789; 7,836,053; 7,886,120; 7,895,403;
7,934,064; 7,937,612; 7,941,510; 7,949,635; 7,953,948; 7,979,690; 8,005,797; 8,051,044; 8,069,320;
8,073,815; 8,074,035; 8,074,276; 8,145,607; 8,180,984; 8,225,133; 8,261,035; 8,296,264; 8,312,259;
8,347,137; 8,484,427; 8,645,748; 8,732,121; 8,850,060; 8,856,927; 8,996,830; 9,213,697; 9,400,886;
9,424,678; 9,436,558; 9,471,441; 9,501,234; and patent pending applications.

6 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

Introduction

What is Acronis True Image for Western Digital?

Acronis True Image for Western Digital is a complete cyber protection solution that ensures the
security of all your information. It can back up your documents, photos, emails, and selected
partitions, and even the entire disk drive, including operating system, applications, settings, and all
of your data. One of its main advantages is the data protection and security features.

Backups allow you to recover your computer system should a disaster occur, such as losing data,
accidentally deleting critical files or folders, or suffering a complete hard disk crash.

Key features:

l Backing up your computer

l Acronis bootable media
l Hard disk cloning
l Security and privacy tools

Learn how to protect your computer: "Protecting your system".

Backups created in Acronis True Image for Western

Digital (2020 and later)
Acronis True Image 2020 introduced a new backup format - TIBX, which is even more reliable and
convenient. The TIBX format is used for disk backups created to internal drives, external drives,
network storage.

To learn more about backup file naming, see "Backup file naming" (p. 34).

Backup schemes
Backing up in the TIBX format supports all backup schemes. As opposed to the TIB format, which
saves every backup version as a separate file, the TIBX format saves full and differential backup
versions as separate files, while incremental backup versions are automatically merged into their
base backups (full or differential).

Cleaning up TIBX format backups

If you’d like to clean up backup versions you do not need anymore, use automatic and manual
cleanup methods.

In case automatic or manual cleanups are configured, some small auxiliary files may stay in the
storage after the cleanup. Windows may show the size of these files bigger than the real one. You
can see the physical size by checking Windows file properties.

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Note
Do not delete any files manually!

Cleaning up local backups manually has the following scheme:

l Full backups can be deleted with the dependent versions only.
l Differential backup versions can be deleted independently of any other backup versions.
l Incremental backups:
o If it is the last backup chain, then any incremental backup can be deleted to free up the space.
o If it is not the last backup chain, any incremental backup version can be deleted only together
with all other incremental versions of the same chain.

Which backups retain TIB format

The file-level backups continue to use the TIB format.

To compare naming of a .tibx archive with a .tib archive in detail, refer to Backup file naming.

System requirements and supported media

Minimum system requirements

Acronis True Image for Western Digital requires the following hardware.

l At least one storage device by Western Digital hardware brands, including WD, SanDisk, and G-
Tech, or a network attached storage by Western Digital.
l Intel CORE 2 Duo (2GHz) processor or equivalent
The CPU must support SSE instructions.
l 2 GB RAM
l 7 GB of free space on the system hard disk
l CD-RW/DVD-RW drive or USB drive for bootable media creation
o Required free space for Linux is about 660 MB.
o Required free space for Windows is about 700 MB.
l Screen resolution is 1024 x 768
l Mouse or other pointing device (recommended)

Warning!
Successful backup and recovery are not guaranteed for the installations on virtual machines.

Other requirements
l An internet connection is required for the product activation and for downloading protection
updates.

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l You need to have administrator privileges to run Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

Supported operating systems

Acronis True Image for Western Digital has been tested on the following operating systems.

l Windows 11
l Windows 10 32-bit & 64-bit

Note
l Beta builds are not supported. See https://kb.acronis.com/content/60589.
l Windows Embedded, IoT editions, Windows 10 LTSB, Windows 10 LTSC, and Windows 10 in S
mode are not supported.
l To use Acronis True Image for Western Digital on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, you
will need the following security updates from Microsoft: KB4474419 and KB4490628. See
https://kb.acronis.com/content/69302.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital also lets you create a bootable CD-R/DVD-R or USB drive that
can back up and recover a disk/partition on a computer running any Intel- or AMD- based PC
operating system, including Linux®.

It is possible for the software to work on other Windows operating systems, but it is not guaranteed.

Warning!
Successful recovery is guaranteed only for the supported operating systems. Other operating
systems can be backed up using a sector-by-sector approach, but they may become unbootable
after recovery.

Supported file systems

l NTFS
l Ext2/Ext3/Ext4
l ReiserFS(3)1
l Linux SWAP2
l HFS+/HFSX3
l FAT16/32/exFAT4

If a file system is not supported or is corrupted, Acronis True Image for Western Digital can copy
data using a sector-by-sector approach.

1File systems are supported only for disk or partition backup/recovery operations.
2File systems are supported only for disk or partition backup/recovery operations.
3Disk recovery, partition recovery, and cloning operations are supported without resizing.
4Disk recovery, partition recovery, and cloning operations are supported without resizing.

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Supported storage media
l Hard disk drives (HDD)
l Solid-state drives (SSD)
l Networked storage devices
o My Cloud (Sequoia)
o My Cloud (Glacier)
o WD Cloud for Japan
o My Cloud Mirror
o My Cloud Mirror (Gen 2)
o My Cloud EX2
o My Cloud EX2 Ultra
o My Cloud EX2100
o My Cloud EX4
o My Cloud EX4100
o My Cloud DL2100
o My Cloud DL4100
o My Cloud PR2100
o My Cloud PR4100
l FTP servers

Note
The FTP server must allow passive mode file transfers. Acronis True Image for Western Digital
splits a backup into files with a size of 2GB when backing up directly to an FTP server.

l CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R (including double-layer DVD+R), DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, BD-R, BD-RE
l USB 1.1 / 2.0 / 3.0, USB-C, eSATA, FireWire (IEEE-1394), SCSI, and PC card storage devices

Limitations on operations with dynamic disks

l Recovery of a dynamic volume as a dynamic volume with manual resizing is not supported.
l Disk cloning operation is not supported for dynamic disks.

The firewall settings of the source computer should have Ports 20 and 21 opened for the TCP and
UDP protocols to function. The Routing and Remote Access Windows service should be disabled.

Installing and uninstalling Acronis True Image for

Western Digital
You cannot install Acronis True Image for Western Digital in the same system where Acronis True
Image, Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, or any other Cyber Protection software by Acronis is
already installed.

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To install Acronis True Image for Western Digital

1. Run the setup file.

Before starting the setup process, Acronis True Image for Western Digital will check for a newer
build on the website. If there is one, the newer version will be offered for installation.
2. Select the installation mode:
l Click Install for the default installation.
Acronis True Image for Western Digital will be installed on your system partition (usually C:).
3. When the installation is complete, click Start application.
4. Read and accept the terms of the license agreements for Acronis True Image for Western Digital
and Bonjour.
Bonjour software will be installed on your computer for advanced support of NAS devices. You
can uninstall the software at any time.
You can also agree to participate in the Acronis Customer Experience Program. You can change
this setting at any time.

When Acronis True Image for Western Digital is started for the first time, it is activated automatically
if it detects a Western Digital storage device. If the device is not detected automatically, click Rescan
in the Product activation required window. Refer to "Activating Acronis True Image for Western
Digital" (p. 12) for details.

To recover from an Acronis True Image for Western Digital error

If Acronis True Image for Western Digital ceased running or produced errors, its files might be
corrupted. To repair this problem, you first have to recover the program. To do this, run Acronis
True Image for Western Digital installer again. It will detect Acronis True Image for Western Digital
on your computer and will ask you if you want to modify or remove it.

To uninstall Acronis True Image for Western Digital completely

l If you use Windows 11, click Start > Settings > Apps > Acronis True Image for Western Digital
> Uninstall.
l If you use Windows 10, click Start > Settings > Apps > Acronis True Image for Western Digital
> Uninstall.
l If you use Windows 8, click the Settings icon, then select Control Panel > Uninstall a program >
Acronis True Image for Western Digital > Uninstall.
l If you use Windows 7, click Start > Control Panel > Uninstall a program > Acronis True Image
for Western Digital > Uninstall.

Then follow the instructions on the screen. You may have to restart your computer afterwards to
complete the task.

Note
If you used "Acronis Nonstop Backup" (p. 32), select in the window that appears what to do with the
zone and Nonstop Backup storages.

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Activating Acronis True Image for Western Digital
Acronis True Image for Western Digital is activated automatically when a Western Digital storage
device is detected on your system. The license is valid for five years after the last addition of a
storage device by Western Digital. When the license is about to expire, you will get a notification.
To check the license expiration date

To check the date when your license expires, click About on the sidebar.

To extend the license by adding a new device

1. Connect a new storage device by Western Digital.

2. Restart Acronis True Image for Western Digital. The device will be identified automatically.
3. You can manually start the search for the Western Digital device. To do that, on the sidebar, click
About, and then click the Prolong button.

Upgrading Acronis True Image for Western Digital

You can upgrade Acronis True Image for Western Digital to Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office.

Your backups created with a previous version of Acronis True Image for Western Digital are
completely compatible with the newer version of Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office. After you
upgrade, all of your backups will automatically be added to your backup list.

We strongly recommend that you create а new bootable media after each product upgrade.

To purchase the full version

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click About, and then click Upgrade. The online store opens.
3. Click Upgrade.
4. Provide your payment information and follow the on-screen instructions.

To update Acronis True Image for Western Digital

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click About.
If there is a new version available, you will see the appropriate message next to the current build
number.
3. Click Download and install.
Before you start downloading, make sure that your firewall will not block the download process.
4. When the new version is downloaded, click Install now.

To check for updates automatically, go to the Settings tab, and then select the Automatically
check for updates at startup check box.

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Technical Support
If you need assistance with Acronis True Image for Western Digital, refer to the official support
resources of Western Digital at https://www.westerndigital.com/support/.

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Getting started

User interface language

Before you start, select a preferred language for the Acronis True Image for Western Digital user
interface. By default, the language is set in accordance with your Windows display language.

To change the user interface language

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. In the Settings section, select a preferred language from the list.

Protecting your system

1. Back up your computer.
2. Create Acronis bootable media.

It is recommended to test the bootable media as described in Making sure that your bootable
media can be used when needed.

Backing up your computer

When should I back up my computer?

Create a new backup version after every significant event in your system.

Examples of these events include:

l You bought a new computer.

l You reinstalled Windows on your computer.

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l You configured all system settings (for example, time, date, language) and installed all necessary
programs on your new computer.
l Important system update.

Note
To ensure you save a healthy state of a disk, it is a good idea to scan it for viruses before backing it
up. Use antivirus software for this purpose. Note this operation often takes a significant amount of
time.

How do I create a backup of my computer?

You have two options to protect your system:

l Entire PC backup (recommended)

Acronis True Image for Western Digital backs up all your internal hard drives in disk mode. The
backup contains the operating system, installed programs, system settings, and all your personal
data including your photos, music, and documents.
l System disk backup
You can choose to back up your system partition or the entire system drive. Refer to Backing up
disks and partitions for details.

We do not recommend using nonstop backup as a primary way to protect your system, because the
main purpose of this technology is protection of frequently changed files. For the safety of your
system, use any other schedule. See examples in "Examples of custom schemes" (p. 51). Refer to
"Acronis Nonstop Backup" (p. 32) for more details about the Nonstop Backup feature.

To back up your computer

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
If this is your first backup, you will see the backup configuration screen. If you already have some
backups in the backup list, then click Add backup.
3. Click the Backup source icon, and then select Entire PC.
If you want to back up your system disk only, then click Disks and partitions, and then select
your system partition (usually C:) and the System Reserved partition (if any).
4. Click the Backup destination icon, and then select a storage place for the backup (see
recommendation below).
5. Click Back up now.

As a result, a new backup box appears in the backup list. To create a new version of the backup in
future, select the backup box from the list, and then click Back up now.

Where do I store my disk backups?

You can store your backups on internal or external drives, and network attached storage (NAS)
devices by Western Digital.

Refer to Deciding where to store your backups for details.

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How many backup versions do I need?

In most cases, you need 2-3 backup versions of your entire PC contents or your system disk, with a
maximum of 4-6 (see above for information about when to create backups). You can control the
number of backup versions by using automatic cleanup rules. Refer to Custom schemes for details.

Remember, the first backup version (the full backup version) is the most important. It is the biggest
one, because it contains all data stored on the disk. Further backup versions (the incremental and
differential backup versions) may be organized in different schemes. These versions contain only
data changes. That’s why they are dependent on the full backup version and why the full backup
version is so important.

By default, a disk backup is created by using the incremental scheme. This scheme is optimal, in
most cases.

Note
For advanced users: it is a good idea to create 2-3 full backup versions and store them on different
storage devices. This method is much more reliable.

Creating Acronis bootable media

Acronis bootable media is a CD, DVD, USB flash drive, or other removable media from which you
can run Acronis True Image for Western Digital when Windows cannot start. You can make a media
bootable by using Acronis Media Builder.

To create Acronis bootable media

1. Insert a CD/DVD or plug in a USB drive (USB flash drive, or an HDD/SSD external drive).
2. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
3. On the sidebar, click Tools, and then click Rescue Media Builder.
4. On the first step, select Simple.
5. Select the device to use to create the bootable media.
6. Click Proceed.

To use Acronis bootable media

Use Acronis bootable media to recover your computer when Windows cannot start.

1. Connect the bootable media to your computer (insert the CD/DVD or plug in the USB drive).
2. Arrange the boot order in BIOS so that your Acronis bootable media is the first device to be
booted.
Refer to Arranging boot order in BIOS for details.
3. Boot your computer from the bootable media and select Acronis True Image for Western
Digital.
Once Acronis True Image for Western Digital is loaded, you can use it to recover your computer.

Refer to Acronis Media Builder for details.

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Backing up all data on your PC
What is an Entire PC backup?

An Entire PC backup is the easiest way to back up the full contents of your computer. We
recommend that you choose this option when you are not sure which data that you need to protect.
If you want to back up your system partition only, refer to Backing up disks and partitions for
details.

When you select Entire PC as a backup type, Acronis True Image for Western Digital backs up all
your internal hard drives in disk mode. The backup contains the operating system, installed
programs, system settings, and all your personal data including your photos, music, and documents.

The recovery from an Entire PC backup is also simplified. You only need to choose the date to which
you want to revert your data. Acronis True Image for Western Digital recovers all data from the
backup to the original location. Note that you cannot select specific disks or partitions to recover
and you cannot change the default destination. If you need to avoid these limitations, we
recommend that you back up your data with an ordinary disk-level backup method. Refer to Backing
up disks and partitions for details.

You can also recover specific files and folders from an Entire PC backup. Refer to Backing up files
and folders for details.

If an Entire PC backup contains dynamic disks, you recover your data in partition mode. This means
that you can select partitions to recover and change recovery destination. Refer to About recovery
of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes for details.

To create an Entire PC backup

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
3. Click the plus sign at the bottom of the backup list.
4. Click the Backup source icon, and then select Entire PC.
5. Click the Backup destination icon, and then select a destination for the backup.

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6. [optional step] Click Options to set the options for the backup. For more information see Backup
options.
7. Click Back up now.

Backing up your files

To protect files such as documents, photos, music files, and video files, there is no need to back up
the entire partition containing the files. You can back up specific files and folders and save them to
the following storage types:

l Local or network storage

This option is fast and easy. Use it to protect rarely changed files.

To back up files and folders

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
3. Click the Backup source icon, and then select Files and folders.
4. In the opened window, select the check boxes next to the files and folders that you want to back
up, and then click OK.
5. Click the Backup destination icon, and then select a destination for backup:
l Your external drive—When an external drive is plugged into your computer, you can select it
from the list.
l NAS—Select an NAS from the list of found NAS devices. If you have only one NAS, Acronis
True Image for Western Digital will suggest using it as a backup destination by default.

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 l Browse—Select a destination from the folder tree.

Note
This option is available only if you have an internal or external Western Digital storage device
attached to your system.

6. Click Back up now.

Refer to Backing up files and folders for details.

Cloning your hard drive

This option is available only if you have an internal or external Western Digital storage device
attached to your system.

Why do I need it?

When you see that the free space on your hard drive is not enough for your data, you might want to
buy a new, larger hard drive and transfer all your data to the new drive. The usual copy operation
does not make your new hard drive identical to the old one. For example, if you open File Explorer
and copy all files and folders to the new hard drive, Windows will not start from the new hard drive.
The Clone disk utility allows you to duplicate all your data and make Windows bootable on your new
hard drive.

Before you start

We recommend that you install the target (new) drive where you plan to use it and the source drive
in another location, for example, in an external USB enclosure. This is especially important for
laptops.

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Note
It is recommended that your old and new hard drives work in the same controller mode (for
example, IDE or AHCI). Otherwise, your computer might not start from the new hard drive.

Cloning a disk
1. On the sidebar, click Tools, and then click Clone disk.
2. On the Clone Mode step, we recommend that you choose the Automatic transfer mode. In this
case, the partitions will be proportionally resized to fit your new hard drive. The Manual mode
provides more flexibility. Refer to Clone Disk wizard for more details about the manual mode.

Note
If the program finds two disks, one partitioned and another unpartitioned, it will automatically
recognize the partitioned disk as the source disk and the unpartitioned disk as the destination
disk. In this case, the next steps will be bypassed and you will be taken to the cloning Summary
screen.

3. On the Source Disk step, select the disk that you want to clone.

4. On the Destination Disk step, select the destination disk for the cloned data.

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 Note
If any disk is unpartitioned, the program will automatically recognize it as the destination and
bypass this step.

5. On the Finish step, ensure that the configured settings suit your needs, and then click Proceed.

By default, Acronis True Image for Western Digital shuts down the computer after the clone process
finishes. This enables you to change the position of master/subordinate jumpers and remove one of
the hard drives.

Recovering your computer

Recovery of a system disk is an important operation. Before you start, we recommend that you read
the detailed descriptions in the following Help topics:

l Trying to determine the crash cause

l Preparing for recovery
l Recovering your system to the same disk

Let’s consider two different cases:

1. Windows works incorrectly, but you can start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
2. Windows cannot start (for example, you turn on your computer and see something unusual on
your screen).

Case 1. How to recover computer if Windows works incorrectly?

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click Backup.

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3. From the backup list, select the backup that contains your system disk. The backup can be
located on local or network storage.
4. On the right panel, click Recovery.
5. Depending on the backup type, click Recover PC or Recover disks.
6. In the opened window, select the backup version (the data state from a specific date and time).
7. Select the system partition and the System Reserved partition (if any) to be recovered.
8. Click Recover now.

Note
To complete the operation, Acronis True Image for Western Digital must restart your system.

Case 2. How to recover computer if Windows cannot start?

1. Connect Acronis bootable media to your computer, and then run the special standalone version
of Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
Refer to Step 2 Creating Acronis bootable media and Arranging boot order in BIOS for details.
2. On the Welcome screen, select My disks below Recover.
3. Select the system disk backup to be used for recovery. Right-click the backup and choose
Recover.
When the backup is not displayed, click Browse and manually specify the path to the backup.

Note
This option is available only if you have an internal or external Western Digital storage device
attached to your system.

4. At the Recovery method step, select Recover whole disks and partitions.

22 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

5. Select the system partition (usually C) on the What to recover screen. Note that you may
distinguish the system partition by the Pri, Act flags. Select the System Reserved partition (if any),
as well.
6. You may leave all settings of the partitions without changes and click Finish.
7. Check the summary of operations, and then click Proceed.
8. When the operation finishes, exit the standalone version of Acronis True Image for Western
Digital, remove the bootable media (if any), and boot from the recovered system partition. After
making sure that you have recovered Windows to the state you need, restore the original boot
order.

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Basic concepts
This section provides general information about basic concepts which could be useful for
understanding how the program works.

Backup and recovery

Backup refers to the making copies of data so that these additional copies may be used to recover
the original after a data loss event.

Backups are useful primarily for two purposes:

l To recover an operating system when it is corrupted or cannot start (called disaster recovery).
Refer to Protecting your system for more details about protecting your computer from a disaster.
l To recover specific files and folders after they have been accidentally deleted or corrupted.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital does both by creating disk (or partition) images and file-level
backups respectively.

Recovery methods:

l Full recovery can be performed to the original location or to a new one.

When the original location is selected, the data in the location is completely overwritten with the
data from the backup. In case of a new location, the data is just copied to the new location from
the backup.

Backup versions

Backup versions are the file or files created during each backup operation. The number of versions
created is equal to the number of times the backup is executed. So, a version represents a point in
time to which the system or data can be restored.

Backup versions represent full, incremental and differential backups - see Full, incremental and
differential backups.

The backup versions are similar to file versions. The file versions concept is familiar to those who
use a Windows feature called "Previous versions of files". This feature allows you to restore a file as
it existed on a particular date and time. A backup version allows you to recover your data in a similar
way.

Disk cloning

This operation copies the entire contents of one disk drive to another disk drive. This may be
necessary, for example, when you want to clone your operating system, applications, and data to a
new larger capacity disk. You can do it two ways:

l Use the Clone disk utility.

l Back up your old disk drive, and then recover it to the new one.

Backup file format

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Acronis True Image for Western Digital usually saves backup data in the proprietary tib format using
compression. The data from .tib file backups can be recovered only through Acronis True Image for
Western Digital, in Windows or in the recovery environment.

Acronis Nonstop Backup uses a special hidden storage for data and metadata. The backed up data
is compressed and split into files of about 1 GB. These files also have a proprietary format and the
data they contain can be recovered only with the help of Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

Backup validation

The backup validation feature allows you to confirm that your data can be recovered. The program
adds checksum values to the data blocks being backed up. During backup validation, Acronis True
Image for Western Digital opens the backup file, recalculates the checksum values and compares
those values with the stored ones. If all compared values match, the backup file is not corrupted.

Scheduling

For your backups to be really helpful, they must be as up to date as possible. Schedule your backups
to run automatically and on a regular basis.

Deleting backups

When you want to delete backups and backup versions you no longer need, do it by using the tools
provided by Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital stores information on the backups in a metadata
information database. Therefore, deleting unneeded backup files in File Explorer will not delete
information about these backups from the database. This will result in errors when the program
tries to perform operations on the backups that no longer exist.

The difference between file backups and disk/partition

images
When you back up files and folders, only the files and folder tree are compressed and stored.

Disk/partition backups are different from file and folder backups. Acronis True Image for Western
Digital stores an exact snapshot of the disk or partition. This procedure is called "creating a disk
image" or "creating a disk backup" and the resulting backup is often called "a disk/partition image"
or "a disk/partition backup".

What does a disk/partition backup contain?

A disk/partition backup contains all the data stored on the disk or partition:

1. Zero track of the hard disk with the master boot record (MBR) (applicable to MBR disk backups
only).
2. One or more partitions, including:

25 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

 a. Boot code.
b. File system meta data, including service files, file allocation table (FAT), and partition boot
record.
c. File system data, including operating system (system files, registry, drivers), user data and
software applications.
3. System Reserved partition, if any.
4. EFI system partition, if any (applicable to GPT disk backups only).

What is excluded from disk backups?

To reduce image size and speed up image creation, by default Acronis True Image for Western
Digital only stores the hard disk sectors that contain data.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital excludes the following files from a disk backup:

l pagefile.sys
l hiberfil.sys (a file that keeps RAM contents when the computer goes into hibernation)

You can change this default method by turning on the sector-by-sector mode. In this case, Acronis
True Image for Western Digital copies all hard disk sectors, and not only those that contain data.

Full, incremental and differential backups

Acronis True Image for Western Digital offers three backup methods: full, incremental, and
differential.

Full method
The result of a full method backup operation (also known as full backup version) contains all of the
data at the moment of the backup creation.

Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the full method.
Acronis True Image for Western Digital saves the entire document every time you run backup.

1.tibx, 2.tibx, 3.tibx, 4.tibx—files of full backup versions.

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Additional information

A full backup version forms a base for further incremental or differential backups. It can also be
used as a standalone backup. A standalone full backup might be an optimal solution if you often roll
back the system to its initial state or if you do not like to manage multiple backup versions.

Recovery: In the example above, to recover the entire work from the 4.tibx file, you need to have
only one backup version—4.tib.

Incremental method
The result of an incremental method backup operation (also known as incremental backup version)
contains only those files which have been changed since the LAST BACKUP.

Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the incremental
method. Acronis True Image for Western Digital saves the new page every time you run backup.

Note: The first backup version you create always uses full method.

l 1.tibx—file of full backup version.

l 2.tibx, 3.tibx, 4.tibx—files of incremental backup versions.

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Additional information

Incremental method is the most useful when you need frequent backup versions and the ability to
roll back to a specific point in time. As a rule, incremental backup versions are considerably smaller
than full or differential versions. On the other hand, incremental versions require more work for the
program to provide recovery.

Recovery: In the example above, to recover the entire work from the 4.tibx file, you need to have all
the backup versions—1.tibx, 2.tibx, 3.tibx, and 4.tibx. Therefore, if you lose an incremental backup
version or it becomes corrupted, all later incremental versions are unusable.

Differential method
The result of a differential method backup operation (also known as differential backup version)
contains only those files which have been changed since the LAST FULL BACKUP.

Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the differential
method. Acronis True Image for Western Digital saves the entire document except the first page
stored in the full backup version.

Note: The first backup version you create always uses full method.

l 1.tibx—file of full backup version.

l 2.tibx, 3.tibx, 4.tibx—files of differential backup versions.

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Additional information

Differential method is an intermediate between the first two approaches. It takes less time and
space than a full one, but more than an incremental one. To recover data from a differential backup
version, Acronis True Image for Western Digital needs only the differential version and the last full
version. Therefore, recovery from a differential version is simpler and more reliable than recovery
from an incremental one.

Recovery: In the example above, to recover the entire work from the 4.tibx file, you need to have
two backup versions—1.tibx and 4.tibx.

To choose a desired backup method, you usually need to configure a custom backup scheme. For
more information see Custom schemes.

Note
An incremental or differential backup created after a disk is defragmented might be considerably
larger than usual. This is because the defragmentation program changes file locations on the disk
and the backups reflect these changes. Therefore, it is recommended that you re-create a full
backup after disk defragmentation.

Changed Block Tracker (CBT)

The CBT technology accelerates the backup process when creating local incremental or differential
disk-level backup versions. Changes to the disk content are continuously tracked at the block level.
When a backup starts, the changes can be immediately saved to the backup.

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Deciding where to store your backups
Acronis True Image for Western Digital supports quite a few of storage devices. For more
information, refer to "Supported storage media" (p. 10).

The table below shows possible backup destinations for your data.

HDD* SSD* USB File Network SMB FTP DVD Memory

flash server, share card
drive NAS or
NDAS

MBR + + + + + + + + +
partitions or
entire disks
(HDD, SSD)

GPT/dynamic + + + + + + + + +
volumes or
disks

Files and + + + + + + + + +
folders

*Internal or external.

Though backing up to your local hard drive is the simplest option, we recommend that you store
your backups off-site because it enhances the security of your data.

1. External drive
If you plan to use an external USB hard drive with your desktop PC, we recommend that you
connect the drive to a rear connector by using a short cable.
2. Home file server, NAS, or NDAS
Check whether Acronis True Image for Western Digital detects the selected backup storage, both
in Windows and when booted from the bootable media.
To gain access to an NDAS-enabled storage device, in many cases you will need to specify the
NDAS device ID (20 characters) and the write key (five characters). The write key allows you to
use an NDAS-enabled device in write mode (for example, for saving your backups). Usually the
device ID and write key are printed on a sticker attached to the bottom of the NDAS device or on
the inside of its enclosure. If there is no sticker, you need to contact your NDAS device vendor to
obtain that information.
3. Network share
See also: Authentication settings.

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Preparing a new disk for backup
A new internal or external hard drive may not be recognized by Acronis True Image for Western
Digital. If this is the case, use the operating system tools to change the disk status to Online and
then to initialize the disk.

To change a disk status to Online

1. Open Disk Management. To do this, go to Control Panel -> System and Security ->
Administrative Tool, start Computer Management, and then click Disk Management.
2. Find the disk marked as Offline. Right-click the disk and then click Online.
3. The disk status will be changed to Online. After that, you will be able to initialize the disk.

To initialize a disk

1. Open Disk Management. To do this, go to Control Panel -> System and Security ->
Administrative Tool, start Computer Management, and then click Disk Management.
2. Find the disk marked as Not Initialized. Right-click the disk and then click Initialize Disk.
3. Select a partition table for the disk - MBR or GPT, and then click OK.
4. [optional step] To create a volume on the disk, right-click the disk, click New Simple Volume,
and then follow the wizard's steps to configure the new volume. To create one more volume,
repeat this operation.

Authentication settings
If you are connecting to a networked computer, in most cases you will need to provide the
necessary credentials for accessing the network share. For example, this is possible when you select
a backup storage. The Authentication Settings window appears automatically when you select a
networked computer name.

If necessary, specify the user name and password, and then click Test connection. When the test is
successfully passed, click Connect.

Troubleshooting
When you create a network share that you plan to use as a backup storage, ensure that at least one
of the following conditions is met:

l Windows account has a password on the computer where the shared folder is located.
l Password-protected sharing is turned off in Windows.
For example, in Windows 7, you can find this setting at Control Panel —> Network and
Internet —> Network and Sharing Center —> Advanced sharing settings —> Turn off
password protected sharing.

Otherwise, you will not be able to connect to the shared folder.

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Acronis Nonstop Backup
Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

Acronis Nonstop Backup provides easy protection of your disks and files. It allows you to recover
entire disks, individual files and their different versions.

The main purpose of Acronis Nonstop Backup is continuous protection of your data (files, folders,
contacts, etc.), though you can use it to protect partitions as well. If you choose to protect an entire
partition, you will be able to recover the partition as a whole using the image recovery procedure.

We do not recommend using nonstop backup as a primary way to protect your system. For the
safety of your system, use any other schedule. Refer to Examples of custom schemes for examples
and details.

Nonstop Backup limitations

l You can create only one nonstop backup.
l Windows libraries (Documents, Music, etc.) can be protected with a disk-level nonstop backup
only.
l You cannot protect data stored on external hard drives.

How it works
Once you start Acronis Nonstop Backup, the program will perform an initial full backup of the data
selected for protection. Acronis Nonstop Backup will then continually monitor the protected files
(including open ones). Once a modification is detected, the changed data is backed up. The shortest
interval between the incremental backup operations is five minutes. This allows you to recover your
system to an exact point in time.

Acronis Nonstop Backup checks file changes on the disk, not in the memory. If, for instance, you are
working in Word and do not save for a long time, your current changes in the Word document will
not be backed up.

You may think that at these backup rates the storage will fill in no time. Do not worry as Acronis
True Image for Western Digital will back up only so called "deltas". This means that only differences
between old and new versions will be backed up and not whole changed files. For example, if you
use Microsoft Outlook or Windows Mail, your pst file may be very large. Furthermore, it changes
with each received or sent E-mail message. Backing up the entire pst file after each change would be
an unacceptable waste of your storage space, so Acronis True Image for Western Digital backs up
only its changed parts in addition to the initially backed up file.

Retention rules
Local backups

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Acronis Nonstop Backup keeps all backups for the last 24 hours. The older backups will be
consolidated in such a way that Nonstop Backup will keep daily backups for the last 30 days and
weekly backups until all Nonstop Backup data destination space is used.

The consolidation will be performed every day between midnight and 01:00 AM. The first
consolidation will take place after the Nonstop Backup has been working for at least 24 hours. For
example, you have turned on the Nonstop Backup at 10:00 AM on July 12. In this case the first
consolidation will be performed between 00:00 and 01:00 AM on July 14. Then the program will
consolidate the data every day at the same time. If your computer is turned off between 00:00 and
01:00 AM, the consolidation will start when you turn the computer on. If you turn off Nonstop
Backup for some time, the consolidation will start after you turn it on again.

All other versions are automatically deleted. The retention rules are pre-set and cannot be changed.

Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage

Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage can be created on local hard disk drives (both internal and
external).

In many cases an external hard disk will be the best choice for Nonstop Backup data storage. You
can use an external disk with any of the following interfaces: USB (including USB 3.0), eSATA,
FireWire, and SCSI.

You can also use an NAS as the storage, but with one limitation - it must be accessible with the SMB
protocol. It does not matter whether an NAS share you want to use for the storage is mapped as a
local disk or not. If the share requires login, you will need to provide the correct user name and
password. For more information see Authentication settings. Acronis True Image for Western Digital
remembers the credentials and the subsequent connections to the share do not require login.

When an external hard disk or NAS is unavailable, the Nonstop Backup destination can be an
internal disk, including a dynamic one. Keep in mind that you cannot use a partition to be protected
as a Nonstop Backup storage.

Before creating Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage, Acronis True Image for Western Digital
checks whether the selected destination has enough free space. Acronis True Image for Western
Digital multiplies the volume of data to be protected by 1.2 and compares the calculated value with
the available space. If the free space on the destination satisfies this minimum storage size criterion,
the destination can be used for storing Nonstop Backup data.

Nonstop Backup - Frequently asked questions

Why does Acronis Nonstop Backup pause on its own? - This is the designed behavior of Acronis
Nonstop Backup. When the system load rises to a critical level, Acronis Nonstop Backup receives the
overload alarm from Windows and pauses itself. This is done to aid Windows relieve the load
caused by other applications. The overload can be caused by running resource-intensive
applications (for example, performing a deep system scan with your antivirus software).

33 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

In such a case Nonstop Backup automatically pauses and you cannot restart it. After pausing,
Acronis Nonstop Backup gives the system one hour to relieve the load and then attempts to restart.

The automatic restart count for Acronis Nonstop Backup is 6. This means that after the first
automatic restart Acronis Nonstop Backup will attempt to restart five more times with intervals of
exactly one hour between attempts.

After the sixth unsuccessful attempt, Acronis Nonstop Backup will wait for the next calendar day. On
the next day the automatic restart count will automatically reset. When not interfered with, Acronis
Nonstop Backup performs six restart attempts per day.

The restart attempt count can be reset by doing any of the following:

l Restarting Acronis Nonstop Backup service;

l Rebooting the computer.

Restarting Acronis Nonstop Backup service will only reset the restart count to 0. If the system is still
overloaded, Acronis Nonstop Backup will pause again. For information on restarting the Acronis
Nonstop Backup service, refer to https://kb.acronis.com/content/14708.

Rebooting the computer will reset the load and the restart count. If the system overloads again,
Acronis Nonstop Backup will pause.

Why does Acronis Nonstop Backup sometimes cause a high CPU load? - This is the expected
behavior of Acronis Nonstop Backup. This may happen on restart of a paused Acronis Nonstop
Backup if a considerable amount of protected data has been modified during the pause.

For example, if you manually pause the Acronis Nonstop Backup that you use for protecting your
system partition and then install a new application. When you restart Acronis Nonstop Backup, it
loads the CPU for some time. However, the process (afcdpsrv.exe) then goes back to normal.

This happens because Acronis Nonstop Backup needs to check the backed up data against the data
that have been modified during the pause to ensure protection continuity. If there was a
considerable amount of data modified, the process may load CPU for some time. After the check is
done and all the modified data is backed up, Acronis Nonstop Backup goes back to normal.

Can I have Acronis Nonstop Backup storage on an FAT32 partition of a local hard disk? - Yes,
FAT32 and NTFS partitions can be used as the storage.

Can I set up Acronis Nonstop Backup storage on a network share or NAS? - Yes, Acronis
Nonstop Backup supports network shares, mapped drives, NAS and other network attached devices
with one limitation - they must use the SMB protocol.

Backup file naming

Naming convention for backup files created by Acronis True Image

for Western Digital
A TIB backup file name has the following attributes:

34 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

l Backup name
l Backup method (full, inc, diff: full, incremental, differential)
l Number of backup chain1 (in the form of b#)
l Number of backup version2 (in the form of s#)
l Number of volume (in the form of v#)
For example this attribute changes when you split a backup into several files. Refer to Backup
splitting for details.

Thus a backup name may look the following way:

1. my_documents_full_b1_s1_v1.tib
2. my_documents_full_b2_s1_v1.tib
3. my_documents_inc_b2_s2_v1.tib
4. my_documents_inc_b2_s3_v1.tib

If you are creating a new backup, and there is already a file with the same name, the program does
not delete the old file, but adds to the new file the "-number" suffix, for example, my_documents_inc_
b2_s2_v1-2.tib.

Integration with Windows

Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

During installation Acronis True Image for Western Digital provides closer integration with Windows.
Such merging allows you to get the most out of your computer.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital integrates the following components:

l Acronis items on the Windows Start menu

l Acronis True Image for Western Digital button on the taskbar
l Shortcut menu commands

Windows Start menu

The Start menu displays Acronis commands, tools and utilities. They give you access to Acronis True
Image for Western Digital functionality, without having to start the application.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital button on the taskbar

1Sequence of minimum two backup versions that consist of the first full backup version and the subsequent one or

more incremental or differential backup versions. Backup version chain continues till the next full backup version (if
any).
2The result of a single backup operation. Physically, it is a file or a set of files that contains a copy of the backed up

data as of a specific date and time. Backup version of files created by Acronis True Image for Western Digital have a
.tibx extension. The TIBX files resulting from consolidation of backup versions are also called backup versions.

35 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

The Acronis True Image for Western Digital button on the Windows taskbar shows the progress and
result of Acronis True Image for Western Digital operations.

Tray Notification Center

When Acronis True Image for Western Digital is open, you can see the status of any operation in it.
However, since some operations can take quite a while, such as a backup, there is no need to keep
Acronis True Image for Western Digital to learn its result.

The Tray Notification Center contains latest notifications in one place, lets you see important
operation statuses without opening Acronis True Image for Western Digital at the moment when
you need them. The following notifications are shown in Acronis Tray Notification Center:
information on the results of backup operations, and other important notifications from Acronis
True Image for Western Digital. The Tray Notification Center is minimized and hidden under Acronis
True Image for Western Digital in the tray.

Shortcut menu commands

To access shortcut menu commands, open File Explorer, right-click selected items, point to Acronis
True Image for Western Digital, and then select a command.

l To create a new file-level backup, select New file backup.

l To create a new disk-level backup, select New disk backup.
l To mount a disk-level backup (.tib file), select Mount.
l To validate a backup (.tib file), select Validate.

File-level recovery in File Explorer

1. In File Explorer, double-click the backup file (.tib file) that contains the data to recover.
2. Copy or drag the files and folders to any location on your computer, as if they were stored on an
ordinary disk.

Wizards
When you use the available Acronis True Image for Western Digital tools and utilities, the program
will in many cases employ wizards to guide you through the operations.

For example, see the screenshot below.

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A wizard window usually consists of the following areas:

1. This is the list of steps to complete the operation. A green checkmark appears next to a complete
step. The green arrow indicates the current step. When complete all the steps, the program
displays the Summary screen in the Finish step. Check the summary and click Proceed to start
the operation.
2. This toolbar contains buttons to manage objects you select in area 3.
For example:
l Details - displays the window that provides detailed information about the selected
backup.
l Properties - displays the selected item properties window.
l Create new partition - displays the window where you can configure a new partition
settings.
l Columns - allows you to choose which table columns to display and in which order.
3. This is the main area where you select items and change settings.
4. This area displays additional information about the item you select in area 3.

FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning

l I have a 150 GB system partition, but the occupied space on that partition is only 80 GB.
What will Acronis True Image for Western Digital include in a backup?—By default, Acronis

37 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

 True Image for Western Digital copies only the hard disk sectors that contain data, so it will
include only 80 GB in a backup. You can also choose the sector-by-sector mode. Note that such a
backup mode is required only in special cases. For more information, see Image creation mode.
While creating a sector-by-sector backup, the program copies both used and unused hard disk
sectors and the backup file will usually be significantly larger.
l Will my system disk backup include drivers, documents, pictures, etc.?—Yes, such a backup
will contain the drivers, as well as the contents of the My documents folder and its subfolders, if
you kept the default location of the My documents folder. If you have just a single hard disk in
your PC, such a backup will contain all of the operating system, applications and data.
l I have an old hard disk drive which is almost full in my notebook. I purchased a new
bigger HDD. How can I transfer Windows, programs and data to the new disk?—You can
either clone the old hard disk on the new one or back up the old hard disk and then recover the
backup to a new one. The optimum method usually depends on your old hard disk partitions
layout.
l I want to migrate my old system hard disk to an SSD. Can this be done with Acronis True
Image for Western Digital?—Yes, Acronis True Image for Western Digital provides such a
function. For procedure details, see Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD.
l What is the best way to migrate the system to a new disk: cloning or backup and
recovery?—The backup and recovery method provides more flexibility. In any case, we strongly
recommend to make a backup of your old hard disk even if you decide to use cloning. It could be
your data saver if something goes wrong with your original hard disk during cloning. For example,
there were cases when users chose the wrong disk as the target and thus wiped their system
disk. In addition, you can make more than one backup to create redundancy and increase
security.
l What should I back up: a partition or the whole disk?—In most cases, it is better to back up
the whole disk. However, there may be some cases when a partition backup is advisable. For
example, your notebook has a single hard disk with two partitions: system (disk letter C) and the
data (disk letter D). The system partition stores your working documents in the My documents
folder with subfolders. The data partition stores your videos, pictures, and music files. If you only
want to back up the system partition, you don’t have to back up the whole disk. In this case, a
partition backup will be enough. Besides, if you only want to have your data backed up (not the
system files), you can create a file backup. However, we recommend creating at least one whole
disk backup if your backup storage has enough space.
l Does Acronis True Image for Western Digital support RAID?—Acronis True Image for
Western Digital supports hardware RAID arrays of all popular types. Support of software RAID
configurations on dynamic disks is also provided. Acronis bootable media supports most of the
popular hardware RAID controllers. If the standard Acronis bootable media does not "see" the
RAID as a single volume, the media does not have the appropriate drivers. In this case you can
create WinPE-based media and add the required drivers there (in the advanced mode).

38 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

Backing up data

Backing up disks and partitions

Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

As opposed to file backups, disk and partition backups contain all the data stored on the disk or
partition. This backup type is usually used to create an exact copy of a system partition of the whole
system disk. Such backup allows you to recover your computer when Windows works incorrectly or
cannot start.

To back up partitions or disks

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
3. Click Add backup.
4. [Optional] To rename the backup, click the arrow next to the backup name, click Rename, and
then enter a new name.
5. Click the Backup source area, and then select Disks and partitions.
6. In the opened window, select the check boxes next to the partitions and disks that you want to
back up, and then click OK.
To view hidden partitions, click Full partition list.

Note
To back up dynamic disks you can use only the partition mode.

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 7. Click the Backup destination area, and then select a destination for backup:
l Acronis Cloud—Sign in to your account, and then click OK.
l Your external drive—When an external drive is plugged into your computer, you can select it
from the list.
l NAS—Select an NAS from the list of found NAS devices. If you have only one NAS, Acronis
True Image for Western Digital will suggest using it as a backup destination by default.
l Browse—Select a destination from the folder tree.

Note
If possible, avoid storing your system partition backups on dynamic disks, because the system
partition is recovered in the Linux environment. Linux and Windows work with dynamic disks
differently. This may result in problems during recovery.

8. [optional step] Click Options to set the options for the backup. For more information see Backup
options.
9. [optional step] Click the Add a comment icon, and then type a comment to the backup version.
Backup comments will help you to find the necessary version later, when recovering your data.
10. Perform one of the following:
l To run the backup immediately, click Back up now.
l To run the backup later or on a schedule, click the arrow to the right of the Back up now
button, and then click Later.

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Note
When you back up your data to Acronis Cloud, the first backup may take a considerable amount of
time to complete. Further backup processes will likely be much faster, because only changes to files
will be transferred over the Internet.

Note
Once an online backup is started, you are free to close Acronis True Image for Western Digital. The
backup process will continue in background mode. If you suspend the backup, turn off your
computer, or disconnect it from the Internet, the backup will resume when you click Back up now or
when the Internet connection is restored. A backup interruption does not cause your data to be
uploaded twice.

Backing up files and folders

Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

To protect files such as documents, photos, music files, video files, there is no need to back up the
entire partition containing the files. You can back up specific files and folders.

To back up files and folders

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click Backup.
3. Click Add backup.
4. [Optional] To rename the backup, click the arrow next to the backup name, click Rename, and
then enter a new name.
5. Click the Backup source area, and then select Files and folders.

Important
To back up data that is synced to the cloud by a third-party cloud service provider, the actual
data must be stored locally. If the files or folders are stored in the cloud, you will see only their
local placeholders. Placeholders often have a cloud icon and are also considerably smaller in
size. When you select source files for backup, you must select the local files, and not the
placeholders. If the cloud service does not store your data locally, it cannot be backed up and
recovered.

6. In the opened window, select the check boxes next to the files and folders that you want to back
up, and then click OK.

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 7. Click the Backup destination area, and then select a destination for backup:
l Your external drive—When an external drive is plugged into your computer, you can select it
from the list.
l NAS—Select an NAS from the list of found NAS devices. If you have only one NAS, Acronis
True Image for Western Digital will suggest using it as a backup destination by default.
l Browse—Select a destination from the folder tree.
8. [optional step] Click Options to set the options for the backup. For more information see Backup
options.
9. [optional step] Click the Add a comment icon, and then type a comment to the backup version.
Backup comments will help you to find the necessary version later, when recovering your data.
10. Perform one of the following:
l To run the backup immediately, click Back up now.
l To run the backup later or on a schedule, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up
now button, and then click Later.

Additionally, watch the English-language video instructions at https://goo.gl/i4J1AN.

Backup options
When you create a backup, you can change additional options and fine-tune the backup process. To
open the options window, select a source and destination for a backup, and then click Options.

Note that options of each backup type (disk-level backup, file-level backup, online backup, nonstop
backup) are fully independent and you should configure them separately.

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After you have installed the application, all options are set to the initial values. You can change them
for your current backup operation only or for all backups that will be created in future. Select the
Save as default check box to apply the modified settings to all further backup operations by
default.

If you want to reset all the modified options to the values that were set after the product installation
initially, click the Reset to initial settings button. Note that this will reset the settings for the
current backup only. To reset the settings for all further backups, click Reset to initial settings,
select the Save the settings as default check box, and then click OK.

Additionally, watch the English-language video instructions at https://goo.gl/bKZyaG.

Scheduling

Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

Location: Options > Schedule

The Schedule tab allows you to specify the backup and validation schedule settings.

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You can specify a schedule for backups created or validated regularly:

l Daily—The operation will be executed once a day or more frequently.

l Weekly—The operation will be executed once a week or several times a week on the selected
days.
l Monthly—The operation will be executed once a month or several times a month on the
selected dates.
l Upon event—The operation will be executed upon an event.
l Nonstop—The operation will run every five minutes.
l Do not schedule—The scheduler will be turned off for the current operation. In this case the
backup or validation will run only when you click Back up now or Validate respectively in the
main window.

Advanced settings
Clicking Advanced settings allows you to specify the following additional settings for backup and
validation:

l Back up only when the computer is locked or screensaver is running—Select this check box
to postpone a scheduled operation until the next time the computer is not in use (a screen saver
is displayed or computer is locked). For the validation schedule, the check box changes to Run
the validation only when the computer is idle.

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l Wake up the sleeping/hibernating computer—Select this check box to wake up the
sleeping/hibernating computer to perform the scheduled operation.
l Prevent the computer from going to sleep/hibernate—Select this check box to eliminate a
situation when a time-consuming backup is interrupted if the computer goes into sleep or
hibernation mode.
l Run missed operations at the system startup with delay (in minutes)—Select this check box
to force the missed operation to run at the next system startup, if the computer was switched off
at the scheduled time, and the operation was not performed.
Additionally, you can set a time delay to start backup after the system startup. For example, to
start backup 20 minutes after system startup, enter 20 in the appropriate box.
l Run missed operations when an external device is connected [optional, if you schedule a
backup to a USB flash drive, or validation of a backup that is located on a USB flash drive]—Select
this check box to run a missed operation when the USB flash drive is attached if it was
disconnected at the scheduled time.

Daily backup parameters

You can set up the following parameters for backups created or validated daily:

l Every—Select the daily periodicity from the dropdown list (for example, every 2 hours).
l Once a day—The operation starts once a day at the specified time.
l Twice a day—The operation starts twice a day. Select the time for each of the two operations.

Description of the Advanced settings see in Scheduling.

Weekly backup parameters

You can set up the following parameters for backups created or validated weekly:

l Days of the week—Select the days on which to run the operation .

l At—Select the operation start time.

Description of the Advanced settings see in Scheduling.

Monthly backup parameters

You can set up the following parameters for backups created or validated monthly:

l Every—Select a numeral and a day of the week from the dropdown lists. For example, select
Every first Monday to run the operation on the first Monday of every month.
l On selected days of the month—Select the date(s) for backup. For example, you may want to
run the operation on the 10th and the last day of the month.
l At—Select the operation start time.

Description of the Advanced settings see in Scheduling.

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Upon event execution parameters
You can set up the following parameters for backups created or validated upon some event:

l Once a day only—Select the check box if you want to run the operation only at the first
occurrence of the event on the current day.
l Specify the event triggering the backup creation or validation:
o When an external device is connected—The operation starts each time the same external
device (USB flash drive or an external HDD) you previously used as a backup destination is
plugged into your computer. Note that Windows should recognize this device as external.
o User logon—The operation starts each time the current user logs on to the OS.
o User logoff—The operation starts each time the current user logs off the OS.
o System shutdown or restart—The operation starts at every computer shutdown or reboot.
o System startup with delay (in minutes)—The operation starts at every OS startup with the
delay time you specified.

Description of the Advanced settings see in Scheduling.

Backup schemes
Location: Options > Backup scheme

Backup schemes along with the scheduler help you set up your backup strategy. The schemes allow
you to optimize backup storage space usage, improve data storage reliability, and automatically
delete the obsolete backup versions.

The backup scheme defines the following parameters:

l Backup methods that will be used to create backup versions (full, differential or incremental)
l Sequence of the backup versions created using different methods
l Version cleanup rules

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Acronis True Image for Western Digital allows you to choose from the following backup schemes:

l Single version scheme—Select this scheme if you want to use the smallest backup storage.
l Version chain scheme—This may be the optimal scheme in many cases.
l Incremental scheme—Select to create a full version after every five incremental versions. This is
the default scheme.
l Differential scheme—Select to create only differential backups after an initial full backup.
l Custom scheme—Select to set up a backup scheme manually.

You can easily change the backup scheme for a pre-existing backup. This will not affect the integrity
of the backup chains, so you will be able to recover your data from any previous backup version.

Note
You cannot change the backup scheme when backing up to optical media such as a DVD/BD. In this
case, Acronis True Image for Western Digital by default uses a custom scheme with only full
backups. This is because the program cannot consolidate backups stored on optical media.

Single version scheme

This backup scheme is the same for both disk backup and file backup types (except scheduler
settings).

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The program creates a full backup version and overwrites it every time according to the specified
schedule or when you run the backup manually. In this process, the old version is deleted only after
a new version is created.

Note
The very first file will remain for auxiliary purposes, without your data in it. Do not delete it!

Backup scheduler setting for disk backup: monthly.

Backup scheduler setting for file backup: daily.

Result: you have a single up-to-date full backup version.

Required storage space: minimal.

Version chain scheme

This backup scheme differs for disk backup and file backup types.

Disk backup version chain

At first the program creates the 1st full backup version. The version will be kept until you delete it
manually. After that, according to the specified schedule (or when you run backup manually) the
program creates: 1 full and 5 differential backup versions, then again 1 full and 5 differential backup
versions and so on. The versions will be stored for 6 months. After the period the program analyzes
if the oldest backup versions (except the 1st full version) may be deleted. It depends on the
minimum number of versions (eight) and version chains consistency. The program deletes the
oldest versions one by one after creating new versions with the same backup method (for example,
the oldest differential version will be deleted after creation of the newest differential version). First
of all the oldest differential versions will be deleted, then - the oldest full version.

Backup scheduler setting: monthly.

Result: you have monthly backup versions for the last 6 months plus the initial full backup version
that may be kept for a longer period.

Required storage space: depends on the number of versions and their sizes.

File backup version chain

According to the specified schedule (or when you run backup manually) the program creates: 1 full
and 6 incremental backup versions, then again 1 full and 6 incremental versions and so on. The
versions will be stored for 1 month. After the period the program analyzes if the oldest backup
versions may be deleted. It depends on the version chain consistency. To keep the consistency, the
program deletes the oldest versions by chains "1 full + 6 incremental backup versions" after creating
a new analogous version chain.

Backup scheduler setting: daily.

Result: you have backup versions for every day of the last month.

Required storage space: depends on the number of versions and their sizes.

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Custom schemes
With Acronis True Image for Western Digital you also can create your own backup schemes.
Schemes can be based on the pre-defined backup schemes. You can make changes in a selected
pre-defined scheme to suit your needs and then save the changed scheme as a new one.

Note
You cannot overwrite existing pre-defined backup schemes.

In addition, you can create custom schemes from scratch based on full, differential or incremental
backup versions.

So first of all select one of the backup methods in the appropriate box.

l Full
Select this method if you want to create only full backup versions.
l Incremental
Select this method if you want to create backup chains containing only full and incremental
backup versions.
You can configure the scheme by using one of the following options:
o Create only incremental versions after the initial full version—Select this option to create
only one backup version chain. Automatic cleanup is not available for this option.
o Create a full version after every [n] incremental versions—Select this option to create
several backup version chains. This is a more reliable but more space-consuming backup
scheme.
l Differential
Select this method if you want to create backup chains containing only full and differential
backup versions.
You can configure the scheme by using one of the following options:
o Create only differential versions after the initial full version—Select this option to create
only one backup version chain. Automatic cleanup is not available for this option.
o Create a full version after every [n] differential versions—Select this option to create
several backup version chains. This is a more reliable but more space-consuming backup
scheme.

Turn on automatic cleanup

l Old version cleanup rules—To delete obsolete backup versions automatically, you can set one
of the following cleanup rules:
o Delete versions older than [n] days [available for full method only]—Select this option to
limit the age of backup versions. All versions that are older than the specified period will be
automatically deleted.
o Delete version chains older than [n] days [available for incremental and differential
methods only]—Select this option to limit the age of backup version chains. The oldest version

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 chain will be deleted only when the most recent backup version of this chain is older than the
specified period.
o Store no more than [n] recent versions [available for full method only]—Select this option
to limit the maximum number of backup versions. When the number of versions exceeds the
specified value, the oldest backup version will be automatically deleted.
o Store no more than [n] recent version chains [available for incremental and differential
methods only]—Select this option to limit the maximum number of backup version chains.
When the number of version chains exceeds the specified value, the oldest backup version
chain will be automatically deleted.
o Keep size of the backup no more than [defined size] [not available for local backups]—
Select this option to limit the maximum size of the backup. After creating a new backup
version, the program checks whether the total backup size exceeds the specified value. If it's
true, the oldest backup version will be deleted.
l Do not delete the first version of the backup—Select this check box to keep the initial data
state. The program will create two initial full backup versions. The first version will be excluded
from the automatic cleanup, and will be stored until you delete it manually. If you select
incremental or differential method, the first backup chain will start from the second full backup
version. And only the third version of the backup will be incremental or differential one. Note that
when the check box is selected for the full method, the Store no more than [n] recent versions
check box changes to Store no more than 1+[n] recent versions.

Managing custom backup schemes

If you change anything in an existing backup scheme, you can save the changed scheme as a new
one. In this case you need to specify a new name for that backup scheme.

l You can overwrite existing custom schemes.

l You cannot overwrite existing pre-defined backup schemes.
l In a scheme name, you can use any symbols allowed by OS for naming files. The maximum length
of a backup scheme name is 255 symbols.
l You can create not more than 16 custom backup schemes.

After creating a custom backup scheme, you can use it as any other existing backup scheme while
configuring a backup.

You can also use a custom backup scheme without saving it. In this case, it will be available only for
the backup where it was created and you will be unable to use it for other backups.

If you do not need a custom backup scheme anymore, you can delete it. To delete the scheme,
select it in the backup schemes list, click Delete, and then confirm in the Delete scheme window.

Note
The pre-defined backup schemes cannot be deleted.

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Examples of custom schemes

1. Entire PC backup “Two full versions”

Case: You want to protect all data on your computer with two full versions and you want to update
the backup once a month. Let’s see how you can do it by using a custom backup scheme.

1. Start configuring an entire PC backup.

2. Make sure Entire PC is selected as the backup source.
3. Click Options, open the Schedule tab, click Monthly, and then specify a day of the month (for
example, the 20-th). This will result in a backup version being created on a monthly basis, on the
day you specify. Then, specify a start time for the backup operation.
4. Open the Backup scheme tab, and then choose Custom scheme instead of Incremental
scheme.
5. In the Backup method box, select Full from the drop-down list.
6. To limit the number of versions, click Store no more than [n] recent versions, and type or
select 2, and click OK.
In this case, the program will create a new full version every month, on the 20-th day. After
creating the third version, the oldest version will be automatically deleted.
7. Check that all settings are correct and click Back up now. If you want your first backup to be run
only at the time you specified in the Scheduler, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up
now button and select Later in the drop-down list.

2. File backup “Daily incremental version + weekly full version”

Case: You have files and/or folders you work with every day. You need to save your daily work
results and want to be able to recover data state to any date for the last three weeks. Let’s see how
you can do this using a custom backup scheme.

1. Start configuring a file backup. Refer to Backing up files and folders for details.
2. Click Options, open the Schedule tab, click Daily, and then specify a start time for the backup
operation. For example, if you finish your everyday work at 8 PM, specify this time or a little later
(8.05 PM) as the start time.
3. Open the Backup scheme tab, and then choose Custom scheme instead of Incremental
scheme.
4. In the Backup method box, select Incremental from the drop-down list.
5. Click Create a full version after every [n] incremental versions, and type or select 6.
In that case, the program will first create the initial full backup version (no matter how you set up
a backup process, the first backup version will always be the full one), and then six incremental
versions day by day. Then, it will create one full version and six incremental versions again and
so on. So every new full version will be created in exactly a week's time.
6. To limit the storage time for the versions, click Turn on automatic cleanup.
7. Click Delete version chains older than [n] days, type or select 21, and click OK.

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8. Check that all settings are correct and click Back up now. If you want your first backup to run
only at the time you specified in the Scheduler, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up
now button and select Later in the drop-down list.

3. Disk backup “Full version every 2 months + differential version twice a month”
Case: You need to back up your system partition twice a month and create a new full backup version
every two months. In addition, you want to use no more than 100 GB of disk space to store the
backup versions. Let’s see how you can do it using a custom backup scheme.

1. Start configuring a disk backup. Refer to Backing up disks and partitions.

2. Select your system partition (usually C:) as the backup source.
3. Click Options, open the Schedule tab, click Monthly, and then specify, for example, the 1st and
15th days of the month. This will result in a backup version in about every two weeks. Then,
specify a start time for the backup operation.
4. Open the Backup scheme tab, and then choose Custom scheme instead of Incremental
scheme.
5. In the Backup method box, select Differential from the drop-down list.
6. Click Create a full version after every [n] differential versions, and type or select 3.
In that case the program will first create the initial full backup version (no matter how you set up
a backup process, the first backup version will always be the full one), and then three differential
versions, each one in about two weeks. Then again a full version and three differential versions
and so on. So every new full version will be created in two months.
7. To limit storage space for the versions, click Turn on automatic cleanup.
8. Click Keep size of the backup no more than [defined size], type or select 100 GB, and click
OK.

Note
When the total backup size exceeds 100 GB, Acronis True Image for Western Digital will clean up
the existing backup versions to make the remaining versions satisfy the size limit. The program
will delete the oldest backup chain consisting of a full backup version and three differential
backup versions.

9. Check that all settings are correct and click Back up now. If you want your first backup to be run
only at the time you specified in the Scheduler, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up
now button and select Later in the drop-down list.

Notifications for backup operation

Location: Options > Notifications

Sometimes a backup or recovery procedure can last an hour or longer. Acronis True Image for
Western Digital can notify you when it is finished via email. The program can also duplicate
messages issued during the operation or send you the full operation log after operation completion.

By default, all notifications are disabled.

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Free disk space threshold
You may want to be notified when the free space on the backup storage becomes less than the
specified threshold value. If after starting a backup Acronis True Image for Western Digital finds out
that the free space in the selected backup location is already less than the specified value, the
program will not begin the actual backup process and will immediately inform you by displaying an
appropriate message. The message offers you three choices - to ignore it and proceed with the
backup, to browse for another location for the backup or to cancel the backup.

If the free space becomes less than the specified value while the backup is being run, the program
will display the same message and you will have to make the same decisions.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital can monitor free space on the following storage devices:
local hard drives, USB cards and drives, and Network shares (SMB). This option cannot be enabled
for FTP servers and CD/DVD drives.

To set the free disk space threshold

1. Select the Show notification message on insufficient free disk space check box.
2. Enter a threshold value in the Notify me when free disk space is less than box.

Note
The message will not be displayed if the Do not show messages and dialogs while processing
(silent mode) check box is selected in the Error handling settings.

Email notification
1. Select the Send email notifications about the operation state check box.
2. Configure email settings:
l Enter the email address in the To field. You can enter several addresses, separated by
semicolons.
l Enter the outgoing mail server (SMTP) in the Server settings field.
l Set the port of the outgoing mail server. By default, the port is set to 25.
l Select the required encryption for the emails.
l If required, select the SMTP authentication check box, and then enter the user name and
password in the corresponding fields.
3. To check whether your settings are correct, click the Send test message button.

If the test message sending fails

1. Click Show extended settings.

2. Configure additional email settings:
l Enter the sender's email address in the From field. If you are not sure what address to specify,
then type any address you like in a standard format, for example [email protected].
l Change the message subject in the Subject field, if necessary.

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 To simplify monitoring a backup status, you can add the most important information to the
subject of the email messages. You can type the following text labels:
o %BACKUP_NAME%—The backup name
o %COMPUTER_NAME%—The name of the computer where the backup was started
o %OPERATION_STATUS%—The result of the backup or other operation
For example, you can type: Status of backup %BACKUP_NAME%: %OPERATION_STATUS%
(%COMPUTER_NAME%)
l Select the Log on to incoming mail server check box, and enter the incoming mail server
(POP3) under it.
l Set the port of the incoming mail server. By default, the port is set to 110.
3. Click the Send test message button again.

Additional notification settings

l Send notification upon operation's successful completion—Select this check box to send a
notification concerning a process completion.
l Send notification upon operation failure—Select this check box to send a notification
concerning a process failure.
l Send notification when user interaction is required—Select this check box to send a
notification with operation messages.
l Add full log to the notification—Select this check box to send a notification with a full log of
operations.

Note
You will only get email notifications for a particular backup.

Image creation mode

Location: Options > Advanced > Image creation mode

You can use these parameters to create an exact copy of your whole partitions or hard disks, and
not only the sectors that contain data. For example, this can be useful when you want to back up a
partition or disk containing an operating system that is not supported by Acronis True Image for
Western Digital. Keep in mind that this mode increases processing time and usually results in a
larger image file.

l To create a sector-by-sector image, select the Back up sector-by-sector check box.

l To include all unallocated disk space into the backup, select the Back up unallocated space
check box.
This check box is available only when the Back up sector-by-sector check box is selected.

Backup splitting
Location: Options > Advanced > Backup splitting

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Note
Acronis True Image for Western Digital cannot split already existing backups. Backups can be split
only when being created.

Large backups can be split into several files that together make up the original backup. A backup
can also be split for burning to removable media.

The default setting - Automatic. With this setting, Acronis True Image for Western Digital will act as
follows.

When backing up to a hard disk:

l If the selected disk has enough space and its file system allows the estimated file size, the
program will create a single backup file.
l If the storage disk has enough space, but its file system does not allow the estimated file size, the
program will automatically split the image into several files.
l If you do not have enough space to store the image on your hard disk, the program will warn you
and wait for your decision as to how you plan to fix the problem. You can try to free some
additional space and continue or select another disk.

Alternatively, you may select the desired file size from the drop-down list. The backup will then be
split into multiple files of the specified size. This is useful when you store a backup to a hard disk in
order to burn the backup to CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW or BD-R/RE later on.

Backup validation option

Location: Options > Advanced > Validation

You can specify the following settings:

l Validate backup each time after it is completed—Select to check the integrity of the backup
version immediately after backup. We recommend that you enable this option when you back up
your critical data or system disk.
o Validate the latest diverse backup version only—A quick validation of the last backup slice.
o Validate entire backup
l Validate backup on schedule—Select to schedule validation of your backups to ensure that
they remain "healthy".
o The latest diverse backup version when it is completed
o Entire backup when it is completed
The default settings are as follows:
o Frequency—Once a month.
o Day—The date when the backup was started.
o Time—The moment of backup start plus 15 minutes.

You can also configure start of the validation manually from the backup context menu.

To do this, right-click the backup and choose:

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l Validate all versions
l Validate the latest version
Example: You start a backup operation on July 15, at 12.00. The backup version is created at
12.05. Its validation will run at 12.15 if your computer is in the "screen saver" state at the
moment. If not, then the validation will not run. In a month, August 15, at 12.15, the validation will
start again. As before, your computer must be in the "screen saver" state. The same will occur on
September 15, and so on.
You can change the default settings and specify your own schedule. For more information see
Scheduling.

Removable media settings

Location: Options > Advanced > Removable media settings

When backing up to removable media, you can make this media bootable by writing additional
components to it. Thus, you will not need a separate bootable disk.

Warning!
Acronis True Image for Western Digital does not support creating bootable media if a flash drive is
formatted in NTFS or exFAT. The drive must have a FAT16 or FAT32 file system.

The following settings are available:

l Place Acronis True Image for Western Digital on media—We strongly recommend selecting
this option to support USB, PC Card (formerly PCMCIA), and SCSI interfaces along with the storage
devices connected via them.
l Place Acronis True Image for Western Digital (64-bit) on media—The same option for 64-bit
systems.
l Place Acronis System Report on media—Select this option to generate system report that is
used for collecting information about your system in case of any program problem. Report
generation will be available before you start Acronis True Image for Western Digital from the
bootable media. The generated system report can be saved to a USB flash drive.
l Place Acronis System Report (64-bit) on media—The same option for 64-bit systems.
l Ask for first media while creating backups on removable media—Select this option to
display the Insert First Media prompt when backing up to removable media. With the default
setting (option selected), backing up to removable media may not be possible if the user is away,
because the program will wait for someone to click OK in the prompt box. Therefore, you should
disable the prompt when scheduling a backup to removable media. Then, if the removable media
is available (for example, CD-R/RW inserted) the backup can run unattended.

If you have other Acronis products installed on your computer, the bootable versions of these
programs' components will be offered as well.

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32-bit or 64-bit components
Pay attention to which versions of Acronis True Image for Western Digital and Acronis System
Report are compatible with your computer.

32-bit components 64-bit components

BIOS-based 32-bit computers + -

BIOS-based 64-bit computers + +

EFI-based 32-bit computers + -

EFI-based 64-bit computers - +

Error handling
When Acronis True Image for Western Digital encounters an error while performing a backup, it
stops the backup process and displays a message, waiting for a response on how to handle the
error. You can configure an error handling policy, so Acronis True Image for Western Digital will not
stop the backup process, but will handle the error according to the rules that you set, and will
continue working.

Note
This topic applies to backups that use local or network backup destinations.

To set up the error handling policy

1. On the Backup dashboard > Options > Advanced > Error handling
2. Set the error handling policy:
l Do not show messages and dialogs while processing (silent mode) - Enable this setting to
ignore errors during backup operations. This is useful when you cannot control the backup
process.
l Ignore bad sectors - This option is available only for disk and partition backups. It lets you
successfully complete a backup even if there are bad sectors on the hard disk.
We recommend that you select this check box when your hard drive is failing, for example:
o Hard drive is making clicking or grinding noises during operation.
o The S.M.A.R.T. system has detected hard drive issues and recommends that you back up
the drive as soon as possible.
When you leave this check box cleared, the backup may fail because of possible bad sectors
on the drive.
l Repeat attempt if a backup fails - This option allows you to automatically repeat a backup
attempt if the backup fails for some reason. You can specify the number of attempts and the
interval between attempts. Note that if the error interrupting the backup persists, the backup
will not be created.

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 Note
Scheduled backup operations will not start until all attempts are completed.

3. Click OK.

Computer shutdown
Location: Options > Advanced > Computer shutdown

You can configure the following options:

l Stop all current operations when I shut down the computer—When you turn off your
computer while Acronis True Image for Western Digital is performing a long operation, for
example a disk backup, this operation prevents the computer from shutdown. When this check
box is selected, Acronis True Image for Western Digital automatically stops all its current
operations before shutdown. This may take about two minutes. The next time you run Acronis
True Image for Western Digital, it will restart the stopped backups.
l Shut down the computer after the backup is complete—Select this option if the backup
process you are configuring may take a long time. In this case, you will not have to wait until the
operation completion. The program will perform the backup and turn off your computer
automatically.
This option is also useful when you schedule your backups. For example, you may want to
perform backups every weekday in the evening to save all your work. Schedule the backup and
select the check box. After that you may leave your computer when you finish your work knowing
that the critical data will be backed up and the computer will be turned off.

Performance of backup operation

Location for backups to local destinations: Options > Advanced > Performance

Compression level
You can choose the compression level for a backup:

l None—The data will be copied without any compression, which may significantly increase the
backup file size.
l Normal—The recommended data compression level (set by default).
l High—Higher backup file compression level, takes more time to create a backup.
l Max—Maximum backup compression, but takes a long time to create a backup.

Note
The optimal data compression level depends on the type of files stored in the backup. For example,
even maximum compression will not significantly reduce the backup size, if the backup contains
essentially compressed files, like .jpg, .pdf or .mp3.

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Note
You cannot set or change the compression level for a pre-existing backup.

Operation priority
Changing the priority of a backup or recovery process can make it run faster or slower (depending
on whether you raise or lower the priority), but it can also adversely affect the performance of other
running programs. The priority of any process running in a system, determines the amount of CPU
usage and system resources allocated to that process. Decreasing the operation priority will free
more resources for other CPU tasks. Increasing backup or recovery priority may speed up the
process by taking resources from the other currently running processes. The effect will depend on
total CPU usage and other factors.

You can set up the operation priority:

l Low (enabled by default)—The backup or recovery process will run slower, but the performance
of other programs will be increased.
l Normal—The backup or recovery process will have the equal priority with other processes.
l High—The backup or recovery process will run faster, but the performance of other programs
will be reduced. Be aware that selecting this option may result in 100% CPU usage by Acronis
True Image for Western Digital.

Snapshot for backup

Warning!
This option is for advanced users only. Do not change the default setting if you are not sure which
option to choose.

During a disk or partition backup process, which often takes a long time, some of the backed-up
files may be in use, locked, or being modified in one way or another. For example, you may work on
a document and save it from time to time. If Acronis True Image for Western Digital backed up files
one by one, your open file would likely be changed since the backup start, and then saved in the
backup to a different point in time. Therefore, the data in the backup would be inconsistent. To
eliminate it, Acronis True Image for Western Digital creates a so-called snapshot that fixes the data
to back up to a particular point in time. This is done before the backup starts and guarantees that
the data is in consistent state.

Select an option from the Snapshot for backup list:

l No snapshot—A snapshot will not be created. The files will be backed up one by one as an
ordinary copy operation.
l VSS—This option is default for disk-level and the Entire PC backups, and guarantees data
consistency in the backup.

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 Warning!
This is the only recommended option for backing up your system. Your computer may not start
after recovery from a backup created with a different snapshot type.

l Acronis snapshot—A snapshot will be created with the Acronis driver used in previous versions
of Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
l VSS without writers—This option is default for file-level backups. VSS writers are special VSS
components for notifying applications that a snapshot is going to be created, so that the
applications prepare their data for the snapshot. The writers are needed for applications that
perform large number of file operations and require data consistency, for example databases.
Because such applications are not installed on home computers, there is no need to use writers.
In addition, this reduces the time required for file-level backups.

Laptop power settings

Location: Settings > Battery saver

Note
This setting is only available on computers with batteries (laptops, computers with UPS).

Long-term backups may consume the battery power quite fast. When you work on your laptop and
there is no power supply around you or when your computer has switched to UPS after a blackout,
it's reasonable to save the battery charge.

To save the battery charge

l On the sidebar, click Settings > Battery saver, select the Do not back up when battery power
is less than check box, and then use the slider to set the exact battery level for the charge saving
to start.

When this setting is turned on, if you unplug your laptop power adapter or use a UPS for your
computer after a blackout, and the remaining battery charge is equal or below the level in the slider,
all current backups are paused and scheduled backups will not start. Once you plug the power
adapter back in or the power supply is restored, the paused backups will be resumed. The
scheduled backups that have been missed because of this setting will be started as well.

This setting does not block backup functionality completely. You can always start a backup
manually.

Local mobile backups do not depend on this setting. Your mobile data is backed up to local storage
on your computer as usual.

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Operations with backups

Backup operations menu

The backup operations menu provides quick access to additional operations that can be performed
with the selected backup.

The backup operations menu can contain the following items:

l Rename (not available for backups to Acronis Cloud)—Set a new name for a backup in the list.
The backup files will not be renamed.

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l Reconfigure (for backups manually added to the backup list)—Configure the settings of a backup
created by a previous version. This item may also appear for backups created on another
computer and added to the backup list without importing their settings.
Without backup settings, you cannot refresh the backup by clicking Back up now. Also, you
cannot edit and clone the backup settings.
l Reconfigure (for online backups)—Bind a selected online backup to the current computer. To do
this, click this item and reconfigure settings of the backup. Note that only one online backup can
be active on one computer.
l Validate the latest version—Start quick validation of the last backup slice.
l Validate all versions—Start validation of all backup slices.
l Clean up versions—Delete backup versions you no longer need.
l Clone settings—Create a new empty backup box with the settings of the initial backup and
named (1) [the initial backup name]. Change the settings, save them, and then click Back up
now on the cloned backup box.
l Move—Move all of the backup files to another location. The subsequent backup versions will be
saved to the new location.
If you change the backup destination by editing the backup settings, only new backup versions
will be saved to the new location. The earlier backup versions will remain in the old location.
l Delete—Depending on a backup type, you can completely delete the backup from its location or
choose whether you want to delete the backup box only. When you delete a backup box, the
backup files remain in the location and you will be able to add the backup to the list later. Note
that when you delete a backup completely, the deletion cannot be undone.
l Open location—Open the folder containing the backup files.
l Search files—Find a specific file or folder in a backup by entering its name into the search field.
l Convert to VHD (for disk-level backups)—Convert a selected Acronis backup version (.tibx file) to
virtual hard disks (.vhd(x) files). The initial backup version will not be modified.

Backup activity and statistics

On the Activity tab and the Backup tab, you can view additional information on a backup, such as
backup history and file types the backup contains. The Activity tab contains a list of operations
performed on the selected backup starting from its creation, the operation statuses, and statistics.
This comes in handy when you need to find out what was happening to the backup in background
mode, for example the number and statuses of scheduled backup operations, size of backed-up
data, results of backup validation, etc.

When you create the first version of a backup, the Backup tab displays a graphical representation of
the backup content by file types.

The Activity tab

Note
Nonstop backups do not have an activity feed.

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To view a backup activity

1. On the sidebar, click Backup.

2. In the backup list, select the backup, the history of which you want to view.
3. On the right pane, click Activity.

What you can view and analyze:

l Backup operations and their statuses (successful, failed, canceled, interrupted, and so on)
l Operations performed on the backup, and their statuses
l Error messages
l Backup comments
l Backup operation details, including:
o Backed up—Size of the data that the last backup version contains.
For file-level backups, Acronis True Image for Western Digital calculates the size of files to back
up. The value of this parameter is equal to the value of the Data to recover for full backup
versions. For differential and incremental versions, it is usually less than the Data to recover,
because in this case Acronis True Image for Western Digital additionally uses data from the
previous versions for recovery.
For disk-level backups, Acronis True Image for Western Digital calculates the size of the hard
drive sectors that contain data to back up. Because sectors may contain hard links to the files,
even for full disk-level backup versions the value of this parameter can be less than the value
of the Data to recover parameter.
o Speed—Backup operation speed.
o Time spent—Time spent for the backup operation.
o Data to recover—Size of the data that can be recovered from the last backup version.
o Method—Backup operation method (full, incremental, or differential).

For more information, refer to the Knowledge Base article: https://kb.acronis.com/content/60104.

The Backup tab

When a backup is created, you can view statistics on types of the backed-up files that the last
backup version contains:

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Point to a color segment to see the number of files and the total size for each data category:

l Pictures
l Video files
l Audio files
l Documents
l System files
l Other file types, including hidden system files

Data to recover shows the size of the original data that you selected to back up.

Sorting backups in the list

By default, the backups are sorted by the date they were created, starting from the newest to oldest.
To change the order, select the appropriate sorting type in the upper part of the backup list. You
have the following options:

Command Description

Name This command sorts all backups in alphabetical order.

To reverse the order, select Z —> A.

Date created This command sorts all backups from newest to oldest.

To reverse the order, select Oldest on top.

Date updated This command sorts all backups by date of the last version. The newer the last

Sort backup version, the higher the backup will be placed in the list.

by To reverse the order, select Least recent on top.

Size This command sorts all backups by size, from biggest to smallest.

To reverse the order, select Smallest on top.

Source type This command sorts all backups by the source type.

Destination This command sorts all backups by the destination type.

type

Validating backups
The validation procedure checks whether you will be able to recover data from a backup.

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For example, backup validation is important before you recover your system. If you start recovery
from a corrupted backup, the process will fail and your computer may become unbootable. We
recommend that you validate system partition backups under bootable media. Other backups may
be validated in Windows. See also Preparing for recovery and Basic concepts.

To validate an entire backup in Windows

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital, and then click Backup on the sidebar.
2. In the backup list, click the down arrow icon next to the backup to validate, and then click
Validate.

To validate a specific backup version or an entire backup in a standalone version of Acronis True
Image for Western Digital (bootable media)

1. On the Recovery tab, find the backup that contains the version that you want to validate. If the
backup is not listed, click Browse for backup, and then specify the path to the backup. Acronis
True Image for Western Digital adds this backup to the list.
2. Right-click the backup or a specific version, and then click Validate Archive. This opens the
Validate Wizard.
3. Click Proceed.

Backup to various places

You can save versions of a backup to different destinations by changing the backup destination
when editing the backup settings. For example, after you save the initial full backup to an external
USB hard drive, you can change the backup destination to a USB stick by editing the backup settings.

The subsequent incremental or differential backups will be written to the USB stick.

Note
You cannot continue backing up to an optical disc.

Note
Acronis Secure Zone and FTP servers can contain an entire backup only.

Splitting backups on the fly

When free space on the destination storage (CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW) is insufficient to complete the
current backup operation, the program displays a warning message.

To complete the backup, perform one of the following

l Free up some space on the disk, and then click Retry.

l Click Browse, and then select another storage device.
l Click Format to erase all data on the disk, and then proceed with the backup.

When versions of a backup are stored in different locations, you may need to specify the locations
during recovery.

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Adding an existing backup to the list
You may have Acronis True Image for Western Digital backups created by a previous product
version or copied from another computer. Every time you start Acronis True Image for Western
Digital, it scans your computer for such backups and adds them to the backup list automatically.

If you have backups that are not shown in the list, you can add them manually.

To add backups manually

1. In the Backup section, at the bottom of the backup list, click the arrow icon, and then click Add
existing backup. The program opens a window where you can browse for backups on your
computer.
2. Select a backup version (a .tib file), and then click Add.
The entire backup will be added to the list.

Cleaning up backups and backup versions

To delete backups and backup versions that you no longer need, use the tools provided by Acronis
True Image for Western Digital.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital stores information on the backups in a metadata
information database. Therefore, deleting unneeded backup files in File Explorer will not delete the
information about these backups from the database. This will result in errors when the program
tries to perform operations on the backups that no longer exist.

Deleting an entire backup

In the Backup section, click the down arrow icon next to the backup to delete, and then click Delete.

Depending on the backup type, this command completely deletes the backup from its location, or
allows you to choose whether you want to delete the backup entirely (with all its files) or just
remove it from the list. When you remove the backup from the displayed list, the backup files
remain in the location and you will be able to add the backup to the list later. Note that if you delete
a backup entirely, the deletion cannot be undone.

Cleaning up backup versions automatically

1. Go to the Backup section.
2. From the backup list, select the backup for which you want to clean up replica versions, and then
click Options.
3. On the Backup scheme tab, select Custom scheme, select a backup method, and then click
Turn on automatic cleanup.
4. Configure cleanup rules for the backup.
Refer to Custom schemes for details.

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Note
After the cleanup, some auxiliary files may stay in the storage. Do not delete them!

Cleaning up backup versions manually

When you want to delete backup versions that you no longer need, use the tools provided in the
application. If you delete backup version files outside Acronis True Image for Western Digital, for
example in File Explorer, this will result in errors during operations with the backups.

Versions of the following backups cannot be deleted manually:

l Backups stored on CD, DVD, BD, or Acronis Secure Zone.

l Nonstop backups.

To clean up specific backup versions

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. In the Backup section, click the down arrow icon next to the backup to clean up, and then click
Clean up versions.
The Clean up backup versions window opens.
3. Select the required versions and click Delete.
4. Click Delete in the confirmation request.

Please wait for the cleanup operation to complete. After the cleanup, some auxiliary files may stay
in the storage. Do not delete them.

Cleaning up versions that have dependent versions

When you select a backup version to delete, remember that this version may have dependent
versions. In this case, the dependent versions will be selected for deletion as well, because data
recovery from such versions becomes impossible.

l When you select a full version - the program also selects all dependent incremental and
differential versions till the next full version. In other words, the entire backup version chain will
be deleted.
l When you select a differential version - the program also selects all dependent incremental
versions within the backup version chain.
l When you select an incremental version - the program also selects all dependent incremental
versions within the backup version chain.

See also

Full, incremental and differential backups.

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Recovering data

Recovering disks and partitions

Recovering your system after a crash

When your computer fails to boot, it is advisable to at first try to find the cause using the
suggestions given in Trying to determine the crash cause. If the crash is caused by corruption of the
operating system, use a backup to recover your system. Make the preparations described in
Preparing for recovery and then proceed with recovering your system.

Trying to determine the crash cause

A system crash can be due to two basic factors:

l Hardware failure
In this scenario, it is better to let your service center handle the repairs. However, you may want
to perform some routine tests. Check the cables, connectors, power of external devices, etc.
Then, restart the computer. If there is a hardware problem, the Power-On Self Test (POST) will
inform you about the failure.
If the POST does not reveal a hardware failure, enter BIOS and check whether it recognizes your
system hard disk drive. To enter BIOS, press the required key combination (Del, F1, Ctrl+Alt+Esc,
Ctrl+Esc, or some other, depending on your BIOS) during the POST sequence. Usually the
message with the required key combination is displayed during the startup test. Pressing this
combination takes you to the setup menu. Go to the hard disk autodetection utility which usually
comes under "Standard CMOS Setup" or "Advanced CMOS setup". If the utility does not detect
the system drive, it has failed and you need to replace the drive.
l Operating system corruption (Windows cannot start up)
If the POST correctly detects your system hard disk drive, then the cause of the crash is probably
a virus, malware or corruption of a system file required for booting. In this case, recover the
system using a backup of your system disk or system partition. Refer to Recovering your system
for details.

Preparing for recovery

We recommend that you perform the following actions before recovery:

l Scan the computer for viruses if you suspect that the crash occurred due to a virus or malware
attack.
l Under bootable media, try a test recovery to a spare hard drive, if you have one.
l Validate the image under bootable media. A backup that can be read during validation in
Windows, may not always be readable in a Linux environment.
Under bootable media, there are two ways to validate a backup:

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 o To validate a backup manually, on the Recovery tab, right-click a backup and select Validate
Archive.
o To validate a backup automatically before recovery, on the Options step of the Recovery
Wizard, select the Validate backup archive before recovery check box.

l Assign unique names (labels) to all partitions on your hard drives. This will make finding the disk
containing your backups easier.
When you use the bootable media, it creates disk drive letters that might differ from the way
Windows identifies drives. For example, the D: disk identified in the bootable media might
correspond to the E: disk in Windows.

Recovering your system to the same disk

Before you start, we recommend that you complete the procedures described in Preparing for
recovery.

To recover your system

1. Attach the external drive if it contains the backup to be used for recovery and make sure that the
drive is powered on.
2. Arrange the boot order in BIOS so as to make your Acronis bootable media (CD, DVD or USB
drive) the first boot device. See Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS.
If you use a UEFI computer, pay attention to the boot mode of the bootable media in UEFI BIOS.
It is recommended that the boot mode matches the type of the system in the backup. If the
backup contains a BIOS system, then boot the bootable media in BIOS mode; if the system is
UEFI, then ensure that UEFI mode is set.

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3. Boot from Acronis bootable media and select Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
4. On the Home screen, select My disks below Recover.
5. Select the system disk or partition backup to be used for recovery.
When the backup is not displayed, click Browse and specify path to the backup manually.

Note
If the backup is located on a USB drive, and the drive is not recognized correctly, check the USB
port version. If it is a USB 3.0 or USB 3.1, try connecting the drive to a USB 2.0 port.

6. Select Recover whole disks and partitions at the Recovery method step.

7. [Optional] At the Recovery point step, select the date and time to recover your system to.
8. Select the system partition (usually C) on the What to recover screen. If the system partition has
a different letter, select the partition using the Flags column. It must have the Pri, Act flags. If
you have the System Reserved partition, select it, too.

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 9. At the Settings of partition C (or the letter of the system partition, if it is different) step check
the default settings and click Next if they are correct. Otherwise, change the settings as required
before clicking Next. Changing the settings will be needed when recovering to the new hard disk
of a different capacity.
10. Carefully read the summary of operations at the Finish step. If you have not resized the
partition, the sizes in the Deleting partition and Recovering partition items must match.
Having checked the summary click Proceed.

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11. When the operation finishes, exit the standalone version of Acronis True Image for Western
Digital, remove Acronis bootable media and boot from the recovered system partition. After
making sure that you have recovered Windows to the state you need, restore the original boot
order.

Recovering your system to a new disk under bootable media

Before you start, we recommend that you complete the preparations described in Preparing for
recovery. You do not need to format the new disk, as this will be done in the process of recovery.

Note
It is recommended that your old and new hard drives work in the same controller mode (for
example, IDE or AHCI). Otherwise, your computer might not start from the new hard drive.

To recover your system to a new disk

1. Install the new hard drive to the same position in the computer and use the same cable and
connector that was used for the original drive. If this is not possible, install the new drive to
where it will be used.

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2. Attach the external drive if it contains the backup to be used for recovery and make sure that the
drive is powered on.
3. Arrange the boot order in BIOS so as to make your bootable media (CD, DVD or USB stick) the
first boot device. See Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS.
If you use an UEFI computer, pay attention to the boot mode of the bootable media in UEFI BIOS.
It is recommended that the boot mode matches the type of the system in the backup. If the
backup contains a BIOS system, then boot the bootable media in BIOS mode; if the system is
UEFI, then ensure that UEFI mode is set.
4. Boot from the bootable media and select Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
5. On the Home screen, select My disks below Recover.
6. Select the system disk or partition backup to be used for recovery. When the backup is not
displayed, click Browse and specify path to the backup manually.

Note
If the backup is located on a USB drive, and the drive is not recognized correctly, check the USB
port version. If it is a USB 3.0 or USB 3.1, try connecting the drive to a USB 2.0 port.

7. If you have a hidden partition (for example, the System Reserved partition or a partition created
by the PC manufacturer), click Details on the wizard's toolbar. Remember the location and size
of the hidden partition, because these parameters need to be the same on your new disk.

8. Select Recover whole disks and partitions at the Recovery method step.

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 9. On the What to recover step, select the boxes of the partitions to be recovered.
If you select an entire disk, MBR and Track 0 of the disk will also be recovered.

Selecting partitions leads to appearance of the relevant steps Settings of partition. Note that
these steps start with partitions which do not have an assigned disk letter (as usually is the case
with hidden partitions). The partitions then take an ascending order of partition disk letters. This
order cannot be changed. The order may differ from the physical order of the partitions on the
hard disk.
10. On the Settings of the hidden partition step (usually named Settings of Partition 1-1), specify the
following settings:
l Location—Click New location, select your new disk by either its assigned name or capacity,
and then click Accept.

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 l Type—Check the partition type and change it, if necessary. Ensure that the System Reserved
partition (if any) is primary and marked as active.
l Size—Click Change default in the Partition size area. By default the partition occupies the
entire new disk. Enter the correct size in the Partition size field (you can see this value on the
What to recover step). Then drag this partition to the same location that you saw in the
Backup Information window, if necessary. Click Accept.

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11. On the Settings of Partition C step, specify the settings for the second partition, which in this
case is your system partition.
l Click New location, and then select unallocated space on the destination disk that will receive
the partition.

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 l Change the partition type, if necessary. The system partition must be primary.
l Specify the partition size, which by default equals the original size. Usually there is no free
space after the partition, so allocate all the unallocated space on the new disk to the second
partition. Click Accept, and then click Next.

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12. Carefully read the summary of operations to be performed and then click Proceed.

When the recovery is complete

Before you boot the computer, disconnect the old drive (if any). If Windows "sees" both the new and
old drive during the boot, this will result in problems booting Windows. If you upgrade the old drive
to a larger capacity new one, disconnect the old drive before the first boot.

Remove the bootable media and boot the computer to Windows. It may report that new hardware
(hard drive) is found and Windows needs to reboot. After making sure that the system operates
normally, restore the original boot order.

Recovering partitions and disks

You can recover your disks from backups located on local or network storage.

To recover partitions or disks

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. In the Backup section, select the backup which contains the partitions or disks you want to
recover, then open the Recovery tab, and then click Recover disks.

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3. In the Backup version list, select the backup version you want to recover by its backup date and
time.

4. Select the Disks tab to recover disks or Partitions tab to recover specific partitions. Select the
objects you need to recover.
5. In the recovery destination field below the partition name, select the destination partition.
Unsuitable partitions are marked by a red border. Note that all data on the destination partition
will be lost because it is replaced by the recovered data and file system.

Note
To recover to the original partition, at least 5 % of the partition space must be free. Otherwise,
the Recover now button will be unavailable.

6. [Optional] To set up additional parameters for the disk recovery process, click Recovery
options.
7. After you finish with your selections, click Recover now to start recovery.

Partition properties
When you recover partitions to a basic disk, you can change properties of these partitions. To open
the Partition Properties window, click Properties next to the selected target partition.

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You can change the following partition properties:

l Letter
l Label
l Type
You can make the partition primary, primary active, or logical.
l Size
You can resize the partition by dragging the right-side border with your mouse, on the horizontal
bar on the screen. To assign the partition a specific size, enter the appropriate number into the
Partition size field. You can also select the position of unallocated space—before or after the
partition.

About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes

Recovery of dynamic volumes

You can recover dynamic volumes to the following locations on the local hard drives:

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l Dynamic volume.

Note
Manual resizing of dynamic volumes during recovery to dynamic disks is not supported. If you
need to resize a dynamic volume during recovery, it should be recovered to a basic disk.

o Original location (to the same dynamic volume).

The target volume type does not change.
o Another dynamic disk or volume.
The target volume type does not change. For example, when recovering a dynamic striped
volume over a dynamic spanned volume the target volume remains spanned.
o Unallocated space of the dynamic group.
The recovered volume type will be the same as it was in the backup.
l Basic volume or disk.
The target volume remains basic.
l Bare-metal recovery.
When performing a so called "bare-metal recovery" of dynamic volumes to a new unformatted
disk, the recovered volumes become basic. If you want the recovered volumes to remain
dynamic, the target disks should be prepared as dynamic (partitioned and formatted). This can be
done using third-party tools, for example, Windows Disk Management snap-in.

Recovery of basic volumes and disks

l When recovering a basic volume to an unallocated space of the dynamic group, the recovered
volume becomes dynamic.
l When recovering a basic disk to a dynamic disk of a dynamic group consisting of two disks, the
recovered disk remains basic. The dynamic disk to which the recovery is performed becomes
"missing" and a spanned/striped dynamic volume on the second disk becomes "failed".

Partition style after recovery

The target disk's partition style depends on whether your computer supports UEFI and on whether
your system is BIOS-booted or UEFI-booted. See the following table:

My system is BIOS-booted (Windows or My system is UEFI-booted (Windows or

Acronis bootable media) Acronis bootable media)

My source The operation will not affect neither After operation completion, the partition
disk is MBR partition layout nor bootability of the disk: style will be converted to GPT style, but the
and my OS partition style will remain MBR, the operating system will fail booting from UEFI,
does not destination disk will be bootable in BIOS. since your operating system does not
support UEFI support it.

My source The operation will not affect neither The destination partition will be converted
disk is MBR partition layout nor bootability of the disk: to GPT style that will make the destination

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 My system is BIOS-booted (Windows or My system is UEFI-booted (Windows or
Acronis bootable media) Acronis bootable media)

and my OS partition style will remain MBR, the disk bootable in UEFI. See Example of
supports destination disk will be bootable in BIOS. recovery to UEFI system.
UEFI

My source After operation completion, the partition After operation completion, the partition
disk is GPT style will remain GPT, the system will fail style will remain GPT, the operating system
and my OS booting on BIOS, because your operating will be bootable on UEFI.
supports system cannot support booting from GPT
UEFI on BIOS.

Example of recovery to a UEFI system

Here is an example for transferring a system with the following conditions:

l The source disk is MBR and the OS supports UEFI.

l The target system is UEFI-booted.
l Your old and new hard drives work in the same controller mode (for example, IDE or AHCI).

Before you start the procedure, ensure that you have:

l Acronis bootable media.

Refer to Creating Acronis bootable media for details.
l Backup of your system disk created in disk mode.
To create this backup, switch to disk mode, and then select the hard drive that contains your
system partition. Refer to Backing up disks and partitions for details.

To transfer your system from an MBR disk to a UEFI-booted computer

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1. Boot from the Acronis bootable media in UEFI mode and select Acronis True Image for Western
Digital.
2. Run the Recovery wizard and follow the instructions described in Recovering your system.
3. On the What to recover step, select the check box next to the disk name to select the entire
system disk.
In the example below, you need to select the Disk 1 check box:

4. On the Finish step, click Proceed.

When the operation finishes, the destination disk is converted to GPT style so that it is bootable in
UEFI.

After the recovery, ensure that you boot your computer in UEFI mode. You may need to change the
boot mode of your system disk in the user interface of the UEFI boot manager.

Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS

To boot your computer from Acronis bootable media, you need to arrange boot order so the media
is the first booting device. The boot order is changed in BIOS or UEFI BIOS, depending on your
computer firmware interface. The procedure in both cases is very similar.

To boot from Acronis bootable media

1. If you use a USB flash drive or external drive as a bootable media, plug it into the USB port.
2. Turn your computer on. During the Power-On Self Test (POST), you will see the key combination
that you need to press in order to enter BIOS or UEFI BIOS.
3. Press the key combination (such as, Del, F1, Ctrl+Alt+Esc, Ctrl+Esc). The BIOS or UEFI BIOS
setup utility will open. Note that utilities may differ in appearance, sets of items, names, etc.

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 Note
Some motherboards have a so-called boot menu opened by pressing a certain key or key
combination, for instance, F12. The boot menu allows selecting the boot device from a list of
bootable devices without changing the BIOS or UEFI BIOS setup.

4. If you use a CD or DVD as a bootable media, insert it in the CD or DVD drive.

5. Make your bootable media (CD, DVD or USB drive) device the first booting device:
a. Navigate to the Boot order setting by using the arrow keys on your keyboard.
b. Place the pointer on the device of your bootable media and make it the first item in the list.
You can usually use the Plus Sign and the Minus Sign keys to change the order.

6. Exit BIOS or UEFI BIOS and save the changes that you made. The computer will boot from
Acronis bootable media.

Note
If the computer fails to boot from the first device, it tries to boot from the second device in the list,
and so on.

Recovering files and folders

You can recover files and folders both from file-level and disk-level backups.

To recover data in Acronis True Image for Western Digital

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1. On the sidebar, click Backup.
2. From the backup list, select the backup which contains the files or folders that you want to
recover, and then open the Recovery tab.
3. [Optional] On the toolbar, in the Version drop-down list, select the required date and time of the
backup. By default, the latest backup is recovered.
4. Select the check box for the corresponding files or folders that you want to recover, and click
Next.

5. [Optional] By default, the data is restored in the original location. To change it, click Browse on
the toolbar, and then select the required destination folder.

Note
This option is available only if you have an internal or external Western Digital storage device
attached to your system.

6. [Optional] Set the options for the recovery process (recovery process priority, file-level security
settings, etc.). To set the options, click Recovery options. The options you set here will be
applied only to the current recovery operation.
7. To start the recovery process, click the Recover now button.
The selected file version is downloaded to the specified destination.
You can stop the recovery by clicking Cancel. Keep in mind that the aborted recovery may still
cause changes in the destination folder.

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Note
If you selected several files and folders, they will be placed into a zip archive.

Searching backup content

While recovering data from local backups, you can search for specific files and folders stored in the
selected backup.

To search for files and folders

1. Start recovering data as described in Recovering partitions and disks or Recovering files and
folders.
2. When selecting files and folders to recover, enter the file or folder name into the Search field.
The program shows search results.
You can also use the common Windows wildcard characters: * and ?. For example, to find all files
with extension .exe, enter *.exe. To find all .exe files with names consisting of five symbols and
starting with “my”, enter My???.exe.

3. By default, Acronis True Image for Western Digital searches the folder selected on the previous
step. To include the entire backup in the search, click the down arrow, and then click in entire
backup.
To return to the previous step, delete the search text, and then click the cross icon.
4. After the search is complete, select the files that you want to recover, and then click Next.

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 Note
Pay attention to the Version column. The files and folders that belong to different backup
versions cannot be recovered at the same time.

Recovery options
You can configure options for the disk/partition and file recovery processes. After you installed the
application, all options are set to the initial values. You can change them for your current recovery
operation only or for all further recovery operations as well. Select the Save the settings as
default check box to apply the modified settings to all further recovery operations by default.

Note, that disk recovery options and file recovery options are fully independent, and you should
configure them separately.

If you want to reset all the modified options to their initial values that were set after the product
installation, click the Reset to initial settings button.

Disk recovery mode

Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Disk recovery mode

With this option you can select the disk recovery mode for image backups.

l Recover sector-by-sector - select this check box if you want to recover both used and unused
sectors of disks or partitions. This option will be effective only when you choose to recover a
sector-by-sector backup.

Pre/Post commands for recovery

Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Pre/Post commands

You can specify commands (or even batch files) that will be automatically executed before and after
the recovery procedure.

For example, you may want to start/stop certain Windows processes, or check your data for viruses
before recovery.

To specify commands (batch files):

l Select a command to be executed before the recovery process starts in the Pre-command field.
To create a new command or select a new batch file, click the Edit button.
l Select a command to be executed after the recovery process ends in the Post-command field. To
create a new command or select a new batch file, click the Edit button.

Please do not try to execute interactive commands, i.e. commands that require user input (for
example, "pause"). These are not supported.

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Edit user command for recovery
You can specify user commands to be executed before or after recovery:

l In the Command field type-in a command or select it from the list. Click ... to select a batch file.
l In the Working directory field type-in a path for command execution or select it from the list of
previously entered paths.
l In the Arguments field enter or select command execution arguments from the list.

Disabling the Do not perform operations until the command execution is complete parameter
(enabled by default), will permit the recovery process to run concurrently with your command
execution.

The Abort the operation if the user command fails (enabled by default) parameter will abort the
operation if any errors occur in command execution.

You can test the command you entered by clicking the Test command button.

Validation option
Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Validation

l Validate backup before recovery—Enable this option to check the backup integrity before
recovery.
l Check the file system after recovery—Enable this option to check the file system integrity on
the recovered partition.

Note
Only FAT16/32 and NTFS file systems can be checked.

Note
The file system will not be checked if a reboot is required during recovery, for example, when
recovering the system partition to its original place.

Computer restart
Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Computer restart

If you want the computer to reboot automatically when it is required for recovery, select the Restart
the computer automatically if needed for the recovery check box. This may be used when a
partition locked by the operating system has to be recovered.

File recovery options

Location: Recovery options > Advanced > File recovery options

You can select the following file recovery options:

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l Recover files with their original security settings - if the file security settings were preserved
during backup, you can choose whether to recover them or let the files inherit the security
settings of the folder where they will be recovered to. This option is effective only when
recovering files from file/folder backups.
l Set current date and time for recovered files - you can choose whether to recover the file
date and time from the backup or assign the files the current date and time. By default the file
date and time from the backup will be assigned.

Overwrite file options

Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Overwrite file options

Choose what to do if the program finds a file in the target folder with the same name as in the
backup.

Note
This option is available only while restoring files and folders (not disks and partitions).

Select the Overwrite existing files check box if you want to overwrite the files on the hard disk
with the files from the backup. If the check box is cleared, the more recent files and folders will be
kept on the disk.

If you do not need to overwrite some files:

l Select the Hidden files and folders check box to turn off overwriting of all hidden files and
folders. This option is available for file-level backups to local destinations and network shares.
l Select the System files and folders check box to turn off overwriting of all system files and
folders. This option is available for file-level backups to local destinations and network shares.
l Select the More recent files and folders check box to turn off overwriting of new files and
folders.
l Click Add specific files and folders to manage the list of custom files and folders that you do
not want to overwrite. This option is available for file-level backups to local destinations and
network shares.
o To turn off overwriting of specific files, click the plus sign to create an exclusion criterion.
o While specifying the criteria, you can use the common Windows wildcard characters. For
example, to preserve all files with extension .exe, you can add *.exe. Adding My???.exe will
preserve all .exe files with names consisting of five symbols and starting with “my”.

To delete a criterion, select it in the list, and then click the minus sign.

Performance of recovery operation

Location: Recovery options > Advanced > Performance

You can configure the following settings:

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Operation priority
Changing the priority of a backup or recovery process can make it run faster or slower (depending
on whether you raise or lower the priority), but it can also adversely affect the performance of other
running programs. The priority of any process running in a system, determines the amount of CPU
usage and system resources allocated to that process. Decreasing the operation priority will free
more resources for other CPU tasks. Increasing backup or recovery priority may speed up the
process by taking resources from the other currently running processes. The effect will depend on
total CPU usage and other factors.

You can set up the operation priority:

l Low (enabled by default)—The backup or recovery process will run slower, but the performance
of other programs will be increased.
l Normal—The backup or recovery process will have the equal priority with other processes.
l High—The backup or recovery process will run faster, but the performance of other programs
will be reduced. Be aware that selecting this option may result in 100% CPU usage by Acronis
True Image for Western Digital.

Notifications for recovery operation

Location: Recovery options > Notifications

Sometimes a backup or recovery procedure can last an hour or longer. Acronis True Image for
Western Digital can notify you when it is finished via e-mail. The program can also duplicate
messages issued during the operation or send you the full operation log after operation completion.

By default all notifications are disabled.

Free disk space threshold

You may want to be notified when the free space on the recovery storage becomes less than the
specified threshold value. If after starting a backup Acronis True Image for Western Digital finds out
that the free space in the selected backup location is already less than the specified value, the
program will not begin the actual recovery process and will immediately inform you by displaying an
appropriate message. The message offers you three choices - to ignore it and proceed with the
recovery, to browse for another location for the recovery or to cancel the recovery.

If the free space becomes less than the specified value while the recovery is being run, the program
will display the same message and you will have to make the same decisions.

To set the free disk space threshold

l Select the Show notification message on insufficient free disk space check box.
l In the Size box, type or select a threshold value and select a unit of measure.

Acronis True Image for Western Digital can monitor free space on the following storage devices:

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l Local hard drives
l USB cards and drives
l Network shares (SMB)

Note
The message will not be displayed if the Do not show messages and dialogs while processing
(silent mode) check box is selected in the Error handling settings.

Note
This option cannot be enabled for CD/DVD drives.

Email notification
1. Select the Send e-mail notifications about the operation state check box.
2. Configure email settings:
l Enter the email address in the To field. You can enter several email addresses in a semicolon-
delimited format.
l Enter the outgoing mail server (SMTP) in the Server settings field.
l Set the port of the outgoing mail server. By default the port is set to 25.
l If required, select the SMTP authentication check box, and then enter the user name and
password in the corresponding fields.
3. To check whether your settings are correct, click the Send test message button.

If the test message sending fails

1. Click Show extended settings.

2. Configure additional email settings:
l Enter the e-mail sender address in the From field. If you are not sure what address to specify,
then type any address you like in a standard format, for example [email protected].
l Change the message subject in the Subject field, if necessary.
l Select the Log on to incoming mail server check box.
l Enter the incoming mail server (POP3) in the POP3 server field.
l Set the port of the incoming mail server. By default the port is set to 110.
3. Click the Send test message button again.

Additional notification settings

l To send a notification concerning process completion, select the Send notification upon
operation's successful completion check box.
l To send a notification concerning process failure, select the Send notification upon operation
failure check box.
l To send a notification with operation messages, select the Send notification when user
interaction is required check box.

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l To send a notification with full log of operations, select the Add full log to the notification
check box.

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Protection
Note
You can turn the protection on or off in the Acronis True Image for Western Digital UI only. You
cannot stop the process manually through Task Manager or any other external tool.

The Protection dashboard

The Protection dashboard contains statistical data, provides control over the protection status, and
access to the protection settings.

To access the Protection dashboard, click Protection in the Acronis True Image for Western Digital
side bar.

On the Overview tab of the dashboard, you can:

l View statistics about the active protection status.

l View the number of detected issues, quarantined items, and protection exclusions.
l Stop the entire protection for a predefined period of time (30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, until
restart). To do this, click Turn off protection and choose the period.

Note
By turning the protection off, you deactivate Active Protection. Scheduled on-demand scans will
not start.

On the Activity tab of the dashboard, you can view a log of the changes that you applied to your
protection status and settings.

Active protection
To protect your computer from malicious software in real-time, Acronis True Image for Western
Digital uses the Acronis Active Protection technology.

Active Protection constantly checks your computer while you continue working as usual. In addition
to your files, Acronis Active Protection protects the Acronis True Image for Western Digital
application files, your backups, and the Master Boot Records of your hard drives.

Anti-ransomware protection
Ransomware encrypts files and demands a ransom for the encryption key. Cryptomining malware
performs mathematical calculations in the background, thus stealing the processing power and
network traffic of your machine.

When the Anti-ransomware Protection service is on, it monitors in real time the processes
running on your computer. When it detects a third-party process that tries to encrypt your files or

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mine cryptocurrency, the service informs you about it and asks if you want to allow the process to
continue or to block the process.

To allow the process to continue the activity, click Trust. If you are not sure if the process is safe and
legal, we recommend that you click Quarantine. After this, the process will be added to
Quarantine and blocked from any activities.

After blocking a process, we recommend that you check if your files have been encrypted or
corrupted in any way. If they are, click Recover modified files. Acronis True Image for Western
Digital will search the following locations for the latest file versions to recover.

l Temporary file copies that were preliminarily created during the process verification
l Local backups

If Acronis True Image for Western Digital finds a good temporary copy, the file is restored from that
copy.

Note
Acronis True Image for Western Digital does not support file recovery from password-protected
backups.

To configure Acronis True Image for Western Digital to automatically recover files after blocking a
process, select the Automatically recover files after blocking a process check box in the Active
Protection settings. See Configuring Active Protection.

Configuring Active Protection

To access Active Protection settings

1. Click Protection on the sidebar, then click Settings, and go to the Active Protection tab.

To configure Anti-ransomware Protection

1. Switch on the Anti-ransomware Protection toggle to enable Anti-ransomware Protection.

When enabled, it protects your computer from potentially harmful applications and processes
that run in the background.
2. Select the options that you want to enable.
l Automatically recover files after blocking a process – Though a process was blocked,
there is still a possibility that your files were modified. If this check box is selected, Acronis
True Image for Western Digital recovers the files as follows.
Acronis True Image for Western Digital searches the following locations for the latest file
versions to recover.
o Temporary file copies that were preliminarily created during the process verification
o Local backups
If Acronis True Image for Western Digital finds a good temporary copy, the file is restored
from that copy. If temporary file copies are not suitable for restore, Acronis True Image for

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 Western Digital searches for backup copies locally, compares the creation dates of the copies
found in both locations, and restores your file from the latest available unmodified copy.

Note
Acronis True Image for Western Digital does not support file recovery from password-
protected backups.

l Protect backup files from ransomware – Acronis True Image for Western Digital will protect
its own processes and your backups from ransomware.
l Protect network shares and NAS – Acronis True Image for Western Digital will monitor and
protect the network shares and NAS devices you have access to. You can also specify a
recovery location for files affected by a ransomware attack.
l Protect your computer from illicit cryptomining – Select this check box to defend your
computer from cryptomining malware.
3. Click OK.

Managing files in Quarantine

Based on your settings, Active protection can move blocked files to quarantine. Quarantine is a
special storage that is used to isolate infected and suspected files from your computer and data.
When you place an application file in quarantine, the risk of potential harmful actions from the
blocked application is minimized.

Quarantine is a special storage that is used to isolate blocked applications from your computer and
data. When you place an application file in quarantine, the risk of potential harmful actions from the
blocked application is minimized.

When Acronis True Image for Western Digital detects a suspicious process and informs you about it,
you decide whether to place the corresponding application in quarantine.

A quarantine is created in the root folder of the partition where the attacked files were stored, for
example C:\Acronis Active Protection Storage\Quarantine\. When you place a file in the quarantine,
you can still operate it as an ordinary file—move it to another location, copy, or delete it. Be aware
that Acronis True Image for Western Digital moves files to quarantine—it does not copy them. When
you delete a file from quarantine, you delete it permanently, and it cannot be restored. If you place
an application file in quarantine by mistake, you can still copy or move the file to its original location
on your computer. The application will continue working normally.

By default, files are kept for 30 days in quarantine and then deleted from your PC. You can review
the files in quarantine and decide whether to keep or delete them before that period expires. You
can also change the default period to keep files in quarantine.

To restore or delete files from quarantine:

1. On the Protection dashboard, click Quarantine.

2. In the Quarantine list, select an item.

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 l To return the item to its original location, click Restore.
l To delete and item, click Delete from PC.
3. Click Close.

To setup the period for automatic deletion of files from the quarantine:

1. On the Protection dashboard, click Settings, and click the Advanced tab.
2. In the Quarantine section, select the number of days to keep the quarantined items.
3. Click OK.

Configuring Protection exclusions

Active protection and Antivirus scans use the definitions from the Protection database to determine
potential threats. If you trust some executable files and folders, you can add them to the Protection
exclusions list, so Acronis True Image for Western Digital will skip them during scanning.

To add a file or folder to the Protection exclusions list

1. On the Protection dashboard, click Protection exclusions.

2. From the Add exclusion menu, select what you want to exclude.
l Add file—to exclude executable or other files from scanning and Active protection.
3. Browse for the item that you want to exclude and click Open.
4. Add another item to exclude or click Save to update the list.

To remove files or folders from the Protection exclusions list

1. On the Protection dashboard, click Protection exclusions.

2. In the list of Protection exclusions, select the check boxes for the items that you want to remove
and click Remove.
3. Click Save to update the list.

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Disk cloning and migration
Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

This operation copies the entire contents of one disk drive to another disk drive. This may be
necessary, for example, when you want to clone your operating system, applications, and data to a
new, larger capacity disk. You can do it two ways:

l Use the Clone disk utility.

l Back up your old disk drive, and then recover it to the new one.

See Also: Difference between Backup and Disk Clone

Disk cloning utility

The Clone disk utility allows you to clone your hard disk drive by copying the partitions to another
hard disk.

Note
This option is available only if you have an internal or external Western Digital storage device
attached to your system.

Before you start:

l When you want to clone your system to a higher-capacity hard disk, we recommend that you
install the target (new) drive where you plan to use it and the source drive in another location,
e.g. in an external USB enclosure. This is especially important for laptops.

Note
It is recommended that your old and new hard drives work in the same controller mode (for
example, IDE or AHCI). Otherwise, your computer might not start from the new hard drive.

Note
If you clone a disk with Windows to an external USB hard drive, you might not be able to boot
from it. We recommend cloning to an internal SSD or HDD instead.

l The Clone disk utility does not support multiboot systems.

l On program screens, damaged partitions are marked with a red circle and a white cross inside in
the upper left corner. Before you start cloning, you should check such disks for errors and correct
the errors by using the appropriate operating system tools.
l We strongly recommend that you create a backup of the entire original disk as a safety
precaution. It could be your data saver if something goes wrong with your original hard disk
during cloning. For information on how to create such a backup, see Backing up partitions and
disks. After creating the backup, make sure that you validate it.

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Clone Disk wizard
Before you start, we recommend that you read general information about Disk cloning utility.If you
use an UEFI computer and you decided to start the cloning procedure under bootable media, pay
attention to the boot mode of the bootable media in UEFI BIOS. It is recommended that the boot
mode matches the type of the system in the backup. If the backup contains a BIOS system, then
boot the bootable media in BIOS mode; if the system is UEFI, then ensure that UEFI mode is set.

To clone a disk

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click Tools, and then click Clone disk.
3. On the Clone Mode step, choose a transfer mode.
l Automatic—Recommended in most cases.
l Manual—Manual mode will provide more data transfer flexibility. Manual mode can be useful
if you need to change the disk partition layout.

Note
If the program finds two disks, one partitioned and another unpartitioned, it will automatically
recognize the partitioned disk as the source disk and the unpartitioned disk as the destination
disk. In such case, the next steps will be bypassed and you will be taken to the Summary screen.

4. On the Source Disk step, select the disk that you want to clone.

Note
Acronis True Image for Western Digital does not support cloning of dynamic disks.

5. On the Destination Disk step, select the destination disk for the cloned data.
If the selected destination disk contains partitions, you will need to confirm deletion of the
partitions. Note that the real data destruction will be performed only when you click Proceed on
the last step of the wizard.

Note
If any disk is unpartitioned, the program will automatically recognize it as the destination and
bypass this step.

6. [This step is only available if the source disk has an OS installed]. On the Disk Usage step, select
how you are going to use the clone.
l To replace a disk on this machine—the system disk data will be copied, and the clone will
be bootable. Use this clone for replacing the system disk with a new one on this PC.
l To use on another machine—the system disk data will be copied, and the clone will be
bootable. Use this clone to transfer all the data to another PC on a bootable disk.
l To use as a data disk—the disk data will be copied. Use this clone as a non-bootable data
drive.

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 7. [This step is only available in the manual cloning mode]. On the Move method step, choose a
data move method.
l As is—a new partition will be created for every old one with the same size and type, file
system and label. The unused space will become unallocated.
l Proportional—the new disk space will be proportionally distributed between cloned
partitions.
l Manual—you will specify a new size and other parameters yourself.
8. [This step is only available in the manual cloning mode]. On the Change disk layout step, you
can edit settings of the partitions that will be created on the destination disk. Refer to Manual
partitioning for details.
9. [Optional step] On the What to exclude step, you can specify files and folders that you do not
want to clone. Refer to Excluding items from cloning for details.
10. On the Finish step, ensure that the configured settings suit your needs, and then click Proceed.

If the cloning operation is stopped for some reason, you will have to configure and start the
procedure again. You will not lose your data, because Acronis True Image for Western Digital does
not alter the original disk and data stored on it during cloning.

Manual partitioning
The manual transfer method enables you to resize partitions on the new disk. By default, the
program resizes them proportionally.

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To edit a partition

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1. Select the partition, and then click Edit. This will open the Partition Settings window.

2. Specify the following settings for the partition:

l Size and position
l File system
l Partition type (available only for MBR disks)
l Partition letter and label
Refer to Partition settings for details.
3. Click Accept.

Warning!
Clicking any previous wizard step on the sidebar in this window will reset all size and location
changes that you've selected, so you will have to specify them again.

Excluding items from cloning

If you do not want to clone specific files from a source disk (for example, when your target disk is
smaller than the source one), you can opt to exclude them in the What to exclude step.

Note
We do not recommend excluding hidden and system files when cloning your system partition.

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You have two ways to exclude files and folders:

l Exclude by files and folders - this tab allows you to select specific files and folders from the
folder tree.
l Exclude by masks - this tab allows you to exclude a group of files by mask or an individual file by
name or path.
To add an exclusion criterion, click Add, type a file name, a path or a mask, and then click OK. You
can add as many files and masks as you like.

Examples of exclusion criteria:

l You can enter explicit file names:

o file.ext - all such files will be excluded from cloning.
o C:\file.ext - the file.ext file on the C: disk will be excluded.
l You can use wildcard characters (* and ?):
o *.ext - all files with a .ext extension will be excluded.
o ??name.ext - all files with a .ext extension, having six letters in their names (starting with any
two symbols (??) and ending with name), will be excluded.
l You can enter path to a folder:
o C:\my pictures - my pictures folder on the C: disk will be excluded.

You can edit and remove exclusion criteria using the corresponding buttons on the right pane.

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Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD
First of all, make sure that Acronis True Image for Western Digital detects your new SSD both in
Windows and under the Acronis bootable media. If there is a problem, see What to do if Acronis
True Image for Western Digital does not recognize your SSD.

SSD size
As SSDs usually have less capacity than HDDs, the occupied space on your old hard disk may exceed
the size of your SSD. If this is the case, migration is not possible.

To reduce amount of data on your system disk, try the following:

l Move your data files from the old hard disk to another location, such as another hard disk drive,
internal or external.
l Create .zip archives of data files (for example, your documents, pictures, audio files, etc.), and
then delete the original files.
l Clean up the hard disk using the Windows Disk Cleanup utility.

Note that for stable operation, Windows needs to have several GB of free space on the system
partition.

Which migration method to choose

If your system disk consists of a single partition (not counting the hidden System Reserved
partition), you can try to migrate to the SSD using the Clone tool. For more information see Cloning
a hard disk.

However, we recommend to use the backup and recovery method in most cases. This method
provides more flexibility and control over migration. See Migrating to an SSD using the backup and
recovery method.

What to do if Acronis True Image for Western Digital does not

recognize your SSD
Sometimes Acronis True Image for Western Digital may not recognize an SSD.

In such a case, check whether the SSD is recognized in BIOS.

If the BIOS of your computer does not show the SSD, verify that the power and data cables are
properly connected. You may also try to update the BIOS and SATA drivers. If these suggestions do
not help, contact the Support team of your SSD manufacturer.

If the BIOS of your computer does show the SSD

1. Depending on your operating system, type cmd in the Search field or in the Run field, and then
press Enter.

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2. At the command line prompt type, enter:

diskpart
list disk

The screen will show the disks connected to your computer. Find out the disk number for your
SSD. Use its size as the reference.
3. To select the disk, run the following command:

select disk N

Here N is the disk number of your SSD.

4. To remove all information from the SSD and overwrite the MBR with the default one, run the
command:

clean
exit
exit

Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital and check whether it detects the SSD. If it detects the
SSD, use the Add new disk tool to create a single partition on the disk occupying the entire disk
space. When creating a partition, check that the free space before partition is 1 MB. For more
information, see Adding a new hard disk.

To check whether your Acronis bootable media recognizes the SSD

1. Boot from the Acronis bootable media.

2. Select Tools & Utilities -> Add New Disk in the main menu and the Disk selection screen will
show the information about all hard disks in your system. Use this for checking whether the SSD
is detected in the recovery environment.
3. If the screen shows your SSD, just click Cancel.

If the bootable media does not recognize the SSD and the SSD controller mode is AHCI, you can try
to change the mode to IDE (or ATA in some BIOS brands) and see whether this solves the problem.

Warning!
Attention! Do not start Windows after changing the mode; it may result in serious system problems.
You must return the mode to AHCI before starting Windows.

If after changing the mode the bootable media detects the SSD, you may use the following
procedure for recovery or cloning under bootable media:

1. Shut down the computer.

2. Boot to BIOS, change the mode from AHCI to IDE (or ATA in some BIOS brands).
3. Boot from Acronis bootable media.
4. Recover or clone the disk.

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5. Boot to BIOS and change IDE back to AHCI.
6. Start Windows.

What to do if the above suggestions do not help

You can try to create a WinPE-based media. This may provide the necessary drivers. For more
information, see Creating Acronis bootable media.

Migrating to SSD using the backup and recovery method

You can use the following procedure for all supported operating systems. First, let's consider a
simple case: your system disk consists of a single partition. Note that for Windows 7 and later, the
system disk may have a hidden System Reserved partition.

We recommend that you migrate your system to an empty SSD that does not contain partitions (the
disk space is unallocated). Note that if your SSD is new and has never been used before, it does not
contain partitions.

To migrate your system to an SSD

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. Create Acronis bootable media, if you do not have it yet. To do this, in the Tools section, click
Create bootable media and follow the instructions on the screen.
3. Back up your entire system drive (in the disk backup mode) to a hard disk other than your
system hard disk and the SSD.
4. Switch off the computer and remove your system hard disk.
5. Mount the SSD into the slot where the hard disk was.

Note
For some SSD brands you may need to insert the SSD into a PCI Express slot.

6. Boot from your Acronis bootable media.

7. Validate the backup to make sure that it can be used for recovery. To do this, click Recovery on
the left pane and select the backup. Right-click, select Validate Archive in the shortcut menu
and then click Proceed.
8. After the validation finishes, right-click the backup and select Recover in the shortcut menu.
9. Choose Recover whole disks and partitions at the Recovery method step and then click Next.
10. Select the system disk at the What to recover step.
11. Click New location and then select the SSD as the new location for your system disk, then click
Accept.
12. At the next step click Proceed to start recovery.
13. After the recovery is complete, exit the standalone version of Acronis True Image for Western
Digital.
14. Try to boot from the SSD and then make sure that Windows and applications work correctly.

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If your system hard disk also contains a hidden recovery or diagnostic partition, as is quite often the
case with notebooks, the procedure will differ. You will usually need to resize the partitions
manually during recovery to the SSD. For instructions see Recovering a disk with a hidden partition.

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Tools
Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

Protection tools

l "Acronis Media Builder" (p. 107)

Disk cloning

l "Disk cloning utility" (p. 97)

Security and privacy

l "Acronis DriveCleanser" (p. 123)

l "System Clean-up" (p. 128)

Disk management

l "Adding a new hard disk" (p. 118)

Image mounting

l "Mounting a backup image" (p. 136)

l "Unmounting an image" (p. 137)

Acronis Media Builder

Acronis Media Builder allows you to make a USB flash drive, external drive, or a blank CD/DVD
bootable. In case Windows cannot start, use the bootable media to run a standalone version of
Acronis True Image for Western Digital and recover your computer.

You can create several types of bootable media:

l Acronis bootable media

This type is recommended for most users.
l WinPE-based media with the Acronis plug-in
Running Acronis True Image for Western Digital in the preinstallation environment may provide
better compatibility with your computer’s hardware because the preinstallation environment
uses Windows drivers.
We recommend that you create this type of media, when Acronis bootable media did not help
you boot your computer.
To use this option, you need one of the following components to be installed:
o Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK).
This component is required for creating WinPE 3.0.
o Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK).
This component is required for creating WinPE 4.0, WinPE 5.0, and WinPE 10.0.

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l WinRE-based media with the Acronis plug-in
This type of bootable media is similar to WinPE-based media, but it has an important
advantage—you do not need to download WADK or WAIK from the Microsoft website. Windows
Recovery Environment is already included in Windows Vista and later versions of Windows.
Acronis True Image for Western Digital uses these files from your system to create WinRE-based
media. Similar to WinPE-based media, you can add your drivers for better compatibility with your
hardware. However, WinRE-based media can be used only on the computer where it was created
or on a computer with the same operating system.

Notes

l We recommend that you create a new bootable media after each Acronis True Image for Western
Digital update.
l If you use non-optical media, the media must have a FAT16 or FAT32 file system.
l Acronis Media Builder supports only x64 WinPE 3.0, WinPE 4.0, WinPE 5.0, and WinPE 10.0.
l Your computer must have:
o For WinPE 3.0—at least 256 MB RAM
o For WinPE 4.0—at least 512 MB RAM
o For WinPE 5.0—at least 1 GB RAM
o For WinPE 10.0—at least 512 MB RAM
l If Acronis Media Builder does not recognize your USB flash drive, you can try using the procedure
described in the Acronis Knowledge Base article at https://kb.acronis.com/content/1526.
l When booting from the bootable media, you cannot perform backups to disks or partitions with
Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, ReiserFS, and Linux SWAP file systems.
l When booting from the bootable media and using a standalone version of Acronis True Image for
Western Digital, you cannot recover files and folders encrypted with the encryption available in
Windows XP and later operating systems. However, backups encrypted using the Acronis True
Image for Western Digital encryption feature can be recovered.

Creating Acronis bootable media

1. Plug in a USB flash drive, or an external drive (HDD/SSD), or insert a blank CD or DVD.
2. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
3. In the Tools section, click Bootable Rescue Media Builder.
4. Choose a creation method.
l Simple—This is the easiest option. Acronis True Image for Western Digital will choose the
optimal media type for your computer. If you use Windows 7 or a later version, WinRE-based
media will be created.
l Advanced—This option allows you to choose a media type. This means you can create the
bootable media not only for your computer, but for a computer running a different Windows
version. Refer to Acronis Media Builder for details.

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 If you select a Linux-based media, choose Acronis True Image for Western Digital components
to be placed on the media. Ensure that the components that you select are compatible with
the target computer architecture.
If you select a WinRE-based or WinPE-based media, then:
o Select an architecture type of the media—32-bit or 64-bit. Note that 32-bit bootable media
can work only on 32-bit computers, and 64-bit media is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-
bit computers.
o Select a toolkit that you want to be used for creating the bootable media. If you choose
WAIK or WADK and you do not have the selected kit installed on your computer, then you
first need to download it from the Microsoft website, and then install the required
components—Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE).
If you already have WinPE files on your computer and they are stored in a non-default
folder, then just specify their location and the Acronis plug-in will be added to the existing
WinPE image.
o For better compatibility with your hardware, you can select drivers to be added to the
media.
5. Select a destination for the media:
l CD
l DVD
l External drive
l USB flash drive
If your drive has an unsupported file system, Acronis True Image for Western Digital will
suggest formatting it to FAT file system.

Warning!
Formatting permanently erases all data on a disk.

l ISO image file

You will need to specify the .iso file name and the destination folder.
When the .iso file is created, you can burn it onto a CD or DVD. For example, in Windows 7 and
later, you can do this by using a built-in burning tool. In File Explorer, double-click the created
ISO image file, and then click Burn.
l WIM image file (available only for WinPE-based media)
Acronis True Image for Western Digital adds the Acronis plug-in to the .wim file from Windows
AIK or Windows ADK. You will need to specify a name for the new .wim file and the destination
folder.
To create a bootable media by using a .wim file, you first need to convert it to an .iso file. Refer
to Creating an .iso file from a .wim file for details.
6. Click Proceed.

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Acronis bootable media startup parameters
Here, you can set Acronis bootable media startup parameters in order to configure the media boot
options for better compatibility with different hardware. Several options are available (nousb,
nomouse, noapic, etc.). These parameters are provided for advanced users. If you encounter any
hardware compatibility problems while testing boot from the Acronis bootable media, it may be
best to contact the Acronis Support team.

To add startup parameters

1. Enter a command into the Parameters field. You can type several commands, separated by
spaces.
2. Click Next to continue.

Additional parameters that can be applied prior to booting Linux kernel

Description
The following parameters can be used to load Linux kernel in a special mode:

l acpi=off

Disables ACPI and may help with a particular hardware configuration.

l noapic

Disables APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller) and may help with a particular
hardware configuration.

l nousb

Disables loading of USB modules.

l nousb2

Disables USB 2.0 support. USB 1.1 devices still work with this option. This option allows using some
USB drives in USB 1.1 mode, if they do not work in USB 2.0 mode.

l quiet

This parameter is enabled by default and the startup messages are not displayed. Deleting it will
result in the startup messages being displayed as the Linux kernel is loaded and the command shell
being offered prior to running the Acronis True Image for Western Digital program.

l nodma

Disables DMA for all IDE disk drives. Prevents kernel from freezing on some hardware.

l nofw

Disables FireWire (IEEE1394) support.

l nopcmcia

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Disables PCMCIA hardware detection.

l nomouse

Disables mouse support.

l [module name]=off

Disables the module (e.g. sata_sis=off).

l pci=bios

Forces to use PCI BIOS, and not to access the hardware device directly. For instance, this parameter
may be used if the machine has a non-standard PCI host bridge.

l pci=nobios

Disallows use of PCI BIOS; only direct hardware access methods are allowed. For instance, this
parameter may be used if you experience crashes upon boot-up, probably caused by the BIOS.

l pci=biosirq

Uses PCI BIOS calls to get the interrupt routing table. These calls are known to be buggy on several
machines and they hang the machine when used, but on other computers it is the only way to get
the interrupt routing table. Try this option, if the kernel is unable to allocate IRQs or discover
secondary PCI buses on your motherboard.

l vga=ask

Gets the list of the video modes available for your video card and allows selecting a video mode
most suitable for the video card and monitor. Try this option, if the automatically selected video
mode is unsuitable for your hardware.

Adding drivers to an existing .wim image

Sometimes a basic WinPE disk with Acronis plug-in does not have drivers for your specific hardware,
for example, for storage device controllers. The easiest way to add them is to select the Advanced
mode in Acronis Media Builder and specify the drivers to add. You can add the drivers manually to
an existing .wim file before creating an ISO file with Acronis plug-in.

Warning!
Attention! You can only add drivers which have the .inf filename extension.

The following procedure is based on an MSDN article that can be found at

https://technet.microsoft.com/.

To create a custom Windows PE image

1. If you don't have the .wim file with the Acronis plug-in, start Acronis Media Builder and create it
by choosing WIM file as a destination for the WinPE-based media. Refer to Creating Acronis
bootable media for details.
2. Depending on your version of Windows AIK or Windows ADK, do one of the following:

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 l In the Start menu, click Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Windows PE Tools Command
Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.
l In the Start menu, click Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command
Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.
l In the Start menu, click Windows Kits, click Windows ADK, right-click Deployment and
Imaging Tools Environment, and then select Run as administrator.
3. Run the Copype.cmd script to create a folder with Windows PE files. For example, from a
command prompt, type:

copype amd64 C:\winpe_x64

4. Copy your .wim file, for example, to folder C:\winpe_x64\. By default, this file is named
AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim.
5. Mount the base image to a local directory by using the DISM tool. To do this, type:

Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\winpe_x64\AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim /index:1

/MountDir:C:\winpe_x64\mount

6. Add your hardware driver, by using the DISM command with the Add-Driver option. For example,
to add the Mydriver.inf driver located in folder C:\drivers\, type:

Dism /image:C:\winpe_x64\mount /Add-Driver /driver:C:\drivers\mydriver.inf

7. Repeat the previous step for each driver that you need to add.
8. Commit the changes by using the DISM command:

Dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\winpe_x64\mount /Commit

9. Create a PE image (.iso file) from the resulting .wim file. Refer to Creating an .iso file from a .wim
file for details.

Creating an .iso file from a .wim file

To create a bootable media by using a .wim file, you need to convert it to an .iso file first.

To create a PE image (.iso file) from the resulting .wim file

1. Depending on your version of Windows AIK or Windows ADK, do one of the following:
l In the Start menu, click Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Windows PE Tools Command
Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.
l In the Start menu, click Microsoft Windows AIK, right-click Deployment Tools Command
Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.
l In the Start menu, click Windows Kits, click Windows ADK, right-click Deployment and
Imaging Tools Environment, and then select Run as administrator.
2. Run the Copype.cmd script to create a folder with Windows PE files. For example, from a
command prompt, type:

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 copype amd64 C:\winpe_x64

3. Replace the default boot.wim file in your Windows PE folder with the newly created .wim file (for
example, AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim). If the AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim file is located on
c:\, then:
For WinPE 3.0, type:

copy c:\AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim c:\winpe_x64\ISO\sources\boot.wim

For WinPE 4.0, WinPE 5.0 or WinPE 10.0, type:

copy "c:\AcronisBootablePEMedia.wim" c:\winpe_x64\media\sources\boot.wim

4. Use the Oscdimg tool. To create an .iso file, type:

oscdimg -n –bc:\winpe_x64\etfsboot.com c:\winpe_x64\ISO c:\winpe_x64\winpe_x64.iso

Alternatively, to make the media bootable on both BIOS and UEFI computers, type:

oscdimg -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,bc:\winpe_

x64\fwfiles\etfsboot.com#pEF,e,bc:\winpe_x64\fwfiles\efisys.bin c:\winpe_x64\media
c:\winpe_x64\winpe_x64.iso

5. Burn the .iso file to a CD by using a third-party tool, and you will have a bootable Windows PE
disc with Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

Making sure that your bootable media can be used

when needed
To maximize the chances of your computer's recovery, you must test that your computer can boot
from the bootable media. In addition, you must check that the bootable media recognizes all of your
computer's devices, such as the hard drives, mouse, keyboard, and network adapter.

If you purchased a boxed version of the product that has a bootable CD and you did not update
Acronis True Image for Western Digital, you can test this CD. Otherwise, create a new bootable
media. Refer to Creating Acronis bootable media for details.

To test the bootable media

Note
If you use external drives for storing your backups, you must attach the drives before booting from
the bootable CD. Otherwise, the program might not detect them.

1. Configure your computer to enable booting from the bootable media. Then, make your bootable
media device (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM or USB drive) the first boot device. Refer to Arranging boot
order in BIOS for details.

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2. If you have a bootable CD, press any key to start booting from the CD, when you see the "Press
any key to boot from CD" prompt. If you do not press a key within five seconds, you will need to
restart the computer.
3. After the boot menu appears, choose Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

Note
If your wireless mouse does not work, try replacing it with a wired one. The same
recommendation applies to the keyboard.

4. When the program starts, we recommend that you try recovering some files from your backup. A
test recovery allows you to make sure that your bootable CD can be used for recovery. In
addition, you can make sure that the program detects all of the hard drives you have in your
system.

Note
If you have a spare hard drive, we strongly recommend that you try a test recovery of your
system partition to this hard drive.

To test recovery, as well as check the drives and network adapter

1. If you have file backups, start Recovery Wizard by clicking Recovery -> File Recovery on the
toolbar.

Note
If you have only disk and partition backup, Recovery Wizard also starts and the recovery
procedure is similar. In such a case, you need to select Recover chosen files and folders at the
Recovery Method step.

2. Select a backup at the Archive location step, and then click Next.

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3. When recovering files with the bootable CD, you are able to select only a new location for the
files to be recovered. Therefore, just click Next at the Location selection step.
4. After the Destination window opens, check that all of your drives are shown under My
Computer.

Note
If you store your backups on the network, verify that you can access the network.

Note
If no computers are visible on the network, but the Computers Near Me icon is found under
My Computer, specify the network settings manually. To do this, open the window available at
Tools & Utilities > Options > Network adapters.

Note
If the Computers Near Me icon is not available under My Computer, there may be problems
either with your network card or with the card driver provided with Acronis True Image for
Western Digital.

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5. Select the destination for the files, and then click Next.
6. Select several files for recovery by selecting their check boxes and then click Next.

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7. Click Proceed on the Summary window to start recovery.
8. After the recovery finishes, exit the standalone Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

Now, you can be reasonably sure that your bootable CD will help you when you need it.

Selecting video mode when booting from the bootable media

When booting from the bootable media the optimal video mode is selected automatically
depending on the specifications of your video card and monitor. However, sometimes the program
can select the wrong video mode, which is unsuitable for your hardware. In such case you can select
a suitable video mode as follows:

1. Start booting from the bootable media. When the boot menu appears, hover the mouse over
Acronis True Image for Western Digital item and press the F11 key.
2. When the command line appears, type vga=ask and click OK.

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3. Select Acronis True Image for Western Digital in the boot menu to continue booting from the
bootable media. To see the available video modes, press the Enter key when the appropriate
message appears.
4. Choose a video mode you think best suitable for your monitor and type its number in the
command line. For instance, typing 338 selects video mode 1600x1200x16 (see the below figure).

5. Wait until Acronis True Image for Western Digital starts and make sure that the quality of the
Welcome screen display on your monitor suits you.

To test another video mode, close Acronis True Image for Western Digital and repeat the above
procedure.

After you find the optimal video mode for your hardware, you can create a new bootable media that
will automatically select that video mode.

To do this, start Acronis Media Builder, select the required media components, and type the mode
number with the "0x" prefix (0x338 in our instance) in the command line at the Bootable media
startup parameters step, then create the media as usual.

Adding a new hard disk

Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

If you do not have enough space for your data, you can either replace the old disk with a new
higher-capacity one, or add a new disk only to store data, leaving the system on the old disk.

To add a new hard disk

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1. Shut down your computer, and then install the new disk.
2. Turn on your computer.
3. Click the Start button > Acronis (product folder) > Add New Disk.
4. Follow the wizard steps.
5. On the Finish step, ensure that the configured disk layout suits your needs, and then click
Proceed.

Selecting a hard disk

Select the disk that you have added to the computer. If you have added several disks, select one of
them and click Next to continue. You can add the other disks later by restarting the Add New Disk
Wizard.

Note
If there are any partitions on the new disk, Acronis True Image for Western Digital will warn you that
these partitions will be deleted.

Selecting initialization method

Acronis True Image for Western Digital supports both MBR and GPT partitioning. GUID Partition
Table (GPT) is a new hard disk partitioning method providing advantages over the old MBR

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partitioning method. If your operating system supports GPT disks, you can select the new disk to be
initialized as a GPT disk.

l To add a GPT disk, click Initialize disk in GPT layout.

l To add an MBR disk, click Initialize disk in MBR layout.

After selecting the required initialization method click Next.

Creating new partitions

To use the space on a hard disk, it must be partitioned. Partitioning is the process of dividing the
hard disk's space into logical divisions which are called partitions. Each partition may function as a
separate disk with an assigned drive letter, its own file system, etc.

To create a new partition

1. On the Partition creation step of the wizard, select the unallocated space, and then click Create
new partition.
2. Specify the following settings for the partition being created:
l Size and position
l File system
l Partition type (available only for MBR disks)
l Partition letter and label

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 Refer to Partition settings for details.
3. Click Accept.

Partition settings

Size
To resize the partition, do one of the following

l Point to the partition border. When the pointer becomes a double-headed arrow, drag the
pointer to enlarge or reduce the partition size.
l Type the desired partition size in the Partition Size field.

To relocate the partition, perform one of the following

l Drag the partition to a new position.

l Type the desired size in either the Free space before or Free space after field.

Note
When you create partitions, the program may reserve some unallocated space for system needs in
front of the created partitions.

File System
You can either leave the partition unformatted, or choose between the following file system types:

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l NTFS is a native file system for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and later operating
systems. Choose it if you use these operating systems. Note, that Windows 95/98/Me and DOS
cannot access NTFS partitions.
l FAT 32 is an improved 32-bit version of the FAT file system that supports volumes up to 2 TB.
l FAT 16 is a DOS native file system. Most operating systems recognize it. However, if your disk
drive is more than 4 GB, it is not possible to format it in FAT16.
l Ext2 is a Linux native file system. It is fast enough, but it is not a journaling file system.
l Ext3 – officially introduced with Red hat Linux version 7.2, Ext3 is a Linux journaling file system. It
is forwards and backwards compatible with Linux Ext2. It has multiple journaling modes, as well
as broad, cross platform compatibility in both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
l Ext4 is a new Linux file system. It has improvements in comparison to ext3. It is fully backward
compatible with ext2 and ext 3. However, ext3 has only partial forward compatibility with ext4.
l ReiserFS is a journaling file system for Linux. Generally it is more reliable and faster than Ext2.
Choose it for your Linux data partition.
l Linux Swap is a swap partition for Linux. Choose it if you want to add more swap space using
Linux.

Partition letter
Select a letter to be assigned to the partition. If you select Auto, the program assigns the first
unused drive letter in alphabetical order.

Partition label
Partition label is a name, assigned to a partition so that you can easily recognize it. For example, a
partition with an operating system could be called System, a data partition — Data, etc. Partition
label is an optional attribute.

Partition type (these settings are available only for MBR disks)
You can define the new partition as primary or logical.

l Primary - choose this parameter if you are planning to boot from this partition. Otherwise, it is
better to create a new partition as a logical drive. You can have only four primary partitions per
drive, or three primary partitions and one extended partition.

Note
If you have several primary partitions, only one will be active at a time, the other primary
partitions will be hidden and won’t be seen by the OS.

o Mark the partition as active - select this check box if you are planning to install an operating
system on this partition.
l Logical - choose this parameter if you don’t intend to install and start an operating system from
the partition. A logical drive is part of a physical disk drive that has been partitioned and allocated
as an independent unit, but functions as a separate drive.

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Security and Privacy Tools

Acronis DriveCleanser

Note
Certain features and functionalities may be unavailable in the edition that you use.

Acronis DriveCleanser allows you to permanently destroy all data on selected hard disks and
partitions. For the destruction, you can use one of the preset algorithms or create your own. Refer
to Algorithm selection for details.

Why do I need it?

When you format your old hard drive before throwing it away, the information is not destroyed
permanently and it can still be retrieved. This is a way that your personal information can end up in
the wrong hands. To prevent this, we recommend that you use Acronis DriveCleanser when you:

l Replace your old hard drive with a new one and do not plan to use the old drive any more.
l Give your old hard drive to your relative or friend.
l Sell your old hard drive.

How to use Acronis DriveCleanser

To permanently destroy data on your disk

1. Click the Start button > Acronis (product folder) > Acronis DriveCleanser.
The Acronis DriveCleanser wizard opens.
2. On the Source selection step, select the disks and partitions that you want to wipe. Refer to
Source selection for details.
3. On the Algorithm selection step, select an algorithm that you want to use for the data
destruction. Refer to Algorithm selection for details.
4. [optional step] You can create your own algorithm. Refer to Creating custom algorithm for
details.
5. [optional step] On the Post-wiping actions step, choose what to do with the partitions and disk
when the data destruction is complete. Refer to Post-wiping actions for details.
6. On the Finish step, ensure that the configured settings are correct. To start the process, select
the Wipe the selected partitions irreversibly check box, and then click Proceed.

Warning!
Be aware that, depending on the total size of selected partitions and the selected data destruction
algorithm, the data destruction may take many hours.

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Source selection
On the Source selection step, select partitions and disks where you want to destroy data:

l To select partitions, click the corresponding rectangles. The red mark ( ) indicates that the
partition is selected.
l
To select an entire hard disk, click the disk icon ( ).

Note
Acronis DriveCleanser cannot wipe partitions on dynamic and GPT disks, so they will not be shown.

Algorithm selection
On the Algorithm selection step, perform one of the following:

l To use one of the preset algorithms, select the desired algorithm. Refer to Hard Disk Wiping
Methods for details.
l [For advanced users only] To create a custom algorithm, select Custom. Then continue creating
on the Algorithm definition step. Afterwards, you will be able to save the created algorithm to a
file with *.alg extension.
l To use a previously saved custom algorithm, select Load from file and select the file containing
your algorithm.

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Hard Disk Wiping methods
Information removed from a hard disk drive by non-secure means (for example, by simple Windows
delete) can easily be recovered. Utilizing specialized equipment, it is possible to recover even
repeatedly overwritten information.

Data is stored on a hard disk as a binary sequence of 1 and 0 (ones and zeros), represented by
differently magnetized parts of a disk. Generally speaking, a 1 written to a hard disk is read as 1 by
its controller, and 0 is read as 0. However, if you write 1 over 0, the result is conditionally 0.95 and
vice versa – if 1 is written over 1 the result is 1.05. These differences are irrelevant for the controller.
However, using special equipment, one can easily read the «underlying» sequence of 1's and 0's.

Information wiping methods

The detailed theory of guaranteed information wiping is described in an article by Peter Gutmann.
See "Secure Deletion of Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory" at
https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/secure_del.html.

No. Algorithm Passes Record

(writing
method)

1. United States 4 1 pass – randomly selected symbols to each byte of each sector, 2
Department of – complementary to written during the first pass; 3 – random
Defense symbols again; 4 – writing verification.
5220.22-M

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 No. Algorithm Passes Record
(writing
method)

2. United States: 4 1 pass – 0x01 to all sectors, 2 – 0x27FFFFFF, 3 – random symbol

NAVSO P-5239- sequences, 4 – verification.
26 (RLL)

3. United States: 4 1 pass – 0x01 to all sectors, 2 – 0x7FFFFFFF, 3 – random symbol

NAVSO P-5239- sequences, 4 – verification.
26 (MFM)

4. German: VSITR 7 Passes 1 – 6 – alternate sequences of: 0x00 and 0xFF; pass 7 –
0xAA; i.e. 0x00, 0xFF, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xAA.

5. Russian: GOST 1 Logical zeros (0x00 numbers) to each byte of each sector for the
P50739-95 sixth to fourth security level systems.

Randomly selected symbols (numbers) to each byte of each sector

for the third to first security level systems.

6. Peter Gutmann's 35 Peter Gutmann's method is very sophisticated. It's based on his
method theory of hard disk information wiping (see Secure Deletion of
Data from Magnetic and Solid-State Memory).

7. Bruce Schneier's 7 Bruce Schneier offers a seven-pass overwriting method in his

method Applied Cryptography book. 1 pass – 0xFF, 2 – 0x00, and then five
times with a cryptographically secure pseudo-random sequence.

8. Fast 1 Logical zeros (0x00 numbers) to all sectors to wipe.

Creating custom algorithms

Algorithm definition
The Algorithm definition step shows you a template of the future algorithm.

The table has the following legend:

l The first column contains the type of operation (to write a symbol to disk; and to verify written).
l The second column contains the pattern of data to be written to disk.

Each line defines an operation that will be performed during a pass. To create your algorithm, add
as many lines to the table that you think will be enough for secure data destruction.

To add a new pass

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1. Click Add. The Wiping Pass Adjustment window opens.

2. Choose an option:
l Write pattern
Enter a hexadecimal value, for example, a value of this kind: 0x00, 0xAA, or 0xCD, etc. These
values are 1 byte long, but they may be up to 512 bytes long. Except for such values, you may
enter a random hexadecimal value of any length (up to 512 bytes).

Note
If the binary value is represented by the 10001010 (0x8A) sequence, then the complementary
binary value will be represented by the 01110101 (0x75) sequence.

l Write a random number

Specify the length of the random value in bytes.
l Write complementary to previous pass pattern
Acronis True Image for Western Digital adds a complementary value to the one written to disk
during the previous pass.
l Verify
Acronis True Image for Western Digital verifies the values written to disk during the previous
pass.
3. Click OK.

To edit an existing pass

1. Select the corresponding line, and then click Edit.

The Wiping Pass Adjustment window opens.

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 Note
When you select several lines, the new settings will be applied to all of the selected passes.

2. Change the settings, and then click OK.

Saving algorithm to a file

1. On the Saving custom algorithm step, select Save to a file, and then click Next.
2. In the window that opens, specify the file name and location, and then click OK.

Post-wiping actions
In the Post-wiping actions window, you can select actions to be performed on the partitions selected
for data destruction. Acronis DriveCleanser offers you three options:

l No action — just destroy data using the algorithm selected below

l Delete partition — destroy data and delete partition
l Format — destroy data and format partition (default).

System Clean-up
The System Clean-up wizard enables you to securely remove all traces of your PC actions, including
user names, passwords, and other personal information.

It can carry out the following operations:

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l Securely destroy data in the Windows Recycle Bin.
l Remove temporary files from appropriate Windows folders.
l Clean up hard disk free space of any traces of information previously stored on it.
l Remove traces of file and computer searches on connected disks and computers in the local
area network.
l Clean the recently used documents list.
l Clean the Windows Run list.
l Clean the opened/saved files history.
l Clean the list of network places to which the user has connected using network credentials.
l Clean the Windows prefetch directory, where Windows stores information about programs you
have executed and run recently.

Note
Windows 7 and later operating systems do not store information on file and computer searches.
Furthermore, information on opened/saved files is stored differently in the registry, so the wizard
shows this information in a different way.

Note
Windows stores passwords until the session ends, so cleaning the list of network user credentials
will not take effect until you end the current Windows session by logging out or by rebooting the
computer.

To start the System Clean-up wizard, click the Start button —> Acronis (product folder) —> System
Clean-up.

After you start the wizard, it will search for any traces of user actions stored by Windows. When the
search is finished, its results will be available at the top of the wizard window.

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You can view the search results and manually select the items you wish to remove.

Click the Click here hyperlink text to change the clean-up settings before proceeding.

Click Clean-up to launch removing the found items.

Clean-up settings
In the clean-up settings window you can change the clean-up settings for every system component.
Some of these settings apply to all components.

To change the clean-up settings for a component

l Expand the System Components item in the tree and select the component clean-up settings
which you need to change. You can enable or disable scanning of the component by the Clean-up
wizard. To do this, select or clear the Enable check box.
If required, you can also expand a component and customize the desired data destruction
method, files to clean, clean-up registry search strings you have used for finding computers in the
local network, etc. To do this, click the triangle near the component, select an option from the list
and specify the settings.
l After you set the desired components' properties, click OK to save your settings. These settings
will be used as default next time you launch the Clean-up wizard.

If you have already changed the clean-up settings before, you can always return to the program
defaults by clicking the Restore Defaults button.

System components:

l Recycle Bin
l Temporary files

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l Hard disk free space
l Find Computer list
l Find File list
l Recently Used Documents list
l Windows Run List
l Opened/saved files history
l User Credentials
l Windows Prefetch Directory

Default clean-up options

The default clean-up options are available by clicking the Click to change this setting… link on the
Data Destruction Method option page.

To change the default clean-up options

1. Choose on the tree the component clean-up settings which you need to change.
2. After you change the options, click OK to save your settings.

If you have already changed the clean-up settings before, you can always return to the program
defaults by clicking the Restore Defaults button.

General
By default, the summary dialog window is displayed after each clean-up procedure ends (the Show
summary check box is selected). If you do not need this window to be displayed, uncheck the box.

Clean-up options
System Clean-up utilizes a number of the most popular data destruction methods. Here, you can
select the common data destruction method which will be used by default for all other components.

The data destruction methods are described in detail in Hard Disk Wiping Methods of this guide.

Specific clean-up options

You can customize the following clean-up options:

l Data destruction method

l Default options
l Files
l Drive free space
l Computers
l Commands
l Network places filter

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Data destruction method
System Clean-up utilizes a number of the most popular data destruction methods. Here, you need
to select the desired data destruction method.

l Use common method - if you leave this parameter selected, the program will use the default
method (the initial setting is Fast method).
If you need another destruction method to be set as a default, click on the corresponding link.
l Use custom method for this component - selecting this parameter allows you to choose one of
the preset data destruction methods from the drop-down list.

The data destruction methods are described in detail in Hard Disk Wiping Methods of this guide.

Files
The Files setting defines the names of files to clean with System Clean-up wizard and can be used
with a search string.

Under the Windows operating system, a search string can represent a full or partial filename. A
search string can contain any alphanumeric symbols, including commas and Windows wildcard
symbols, and can have values similar to the following:

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l *.* – to clean all files with any file names and extensions.
l *.doc – to clean all files with a specific extension – Microsoft document files in this case .
l read*.* – to clean all files with any extensions, and names beginning with "read".
l read?.* – to clean all files having five-letter names and any extensions, names beginning with
"read"; the fifth letter is random.
The last search string, for example, will result in the removal of read1.txt, ready.doc files, but
readyness.txt will remain with its longer name (excluding the extension)

You can enter several different search strings separated by semicolons; for example:

*.bak;*.tmp;*.~~~ (without spaces between the search strings)

All files with names corresponding to at least one of the search strings will be cleaned.

Upon entering the Files setting value, you can browse the files matching the search strings. To do
this, click Show Files. You will see a window with the names of the found files. These files will be
cleaned.

Drive free space

Here you can manually specify physical and/or logical drives to clean up free space on. By default,
System Clean-up cleans up free space on all available drives.

If you want to change the settings of this parameter, you can use the Remove button to delete from
the list the drives you don't need to clean free space on.

If you wish to add these drives to the list again, use the Add button.

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Computers
The Computers setting is used for cleaning up the registry search strings you have used for finding
computers in the local network. These strings keep information on what has interested you in the
network. These items should also be deleted to maintain confidentiality.

The Computers setting is similar to the Files setting. It is a string that can contain any number of
full or partial computer names separated by semicolons. The deletion of computer search strings is
based on a comparison with the Computers setting value according to Windows rules.

If you simply need to delete all local network computer search strings (suitable in most cases), just
leave the default value of this setting. To restore the default settings:

l Select the Find Computer List component

l Make sure the Enable check box is selected
l Select the Computers setting; make sure its text box is clear.

As a result, all computer search strings will be deleted from the registry.

After entering the Computers setting value, you can browse the search strings found by the System
Clean-up Wizard in the registry. To do so, click Show Computers. You will see the window with full
and partial computer names searched for in the network. These items will be deleted.

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Setting commands
Here you can select the commands to remove during Windows Run List clean-up.

This template can contain any command names or their parts separated by semicolons, e.g.:

*help; cmd; reg*

This will result in removing commands with names corresponding to or containing any of the names
or parts of names you entered.

Network places filter

Here you can enter (separated by semicolons) any hostnames or IP addresses of network places,
servers, FTP servers, network shares, etc. to which you have made connection by supplying network
credentials (a user name and password). While entering hostnames and IP addresses you can use *
and ? wildcards.

Click Show network places to view the list of network places that you visited using the credentials
you want to delete.

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Preview
When the scanning is finished, its results will be available in the upper part of the wizard window. By
default, all system components are scanned for clean-up. If you want to customize which of the
system components should be scanned and which should not, change the default clean-up settings.

You can view the search results and manually select/unselect the items you wish to clean up/keep.
In order to help you with making the right choice, all the components are provided with brief
descriptions. Just click on the component's name and its description will be displayed in the right
side of the window.

To select/unselect a component

l Expand the System Components item in the System Clean-up tree and make sure that the
component you wish to clean up is selected. If you do not want to clean up a component, simply
clear its check box.
l If required, you can dig deeper by expanding a component and selecting/unselecting its contents.

Having specified the components for clean-up, click the Clean-up button to continue.

Note
Windows 7 and later operating systems do not store information on file and computer searches.
Furthermore, information on opened/saved files is stored in the registry differently, so the wizard
shows this information in a different way.

Clean-up progress
The operation status window reports about the state of the current operation.

The progress bar indicates the level of completion of the selected operation.

In some cases, the operation may take a long time to be completed. If this is the case, select the
Shutdown the computer after completion check box. When the operation finishes, Acronis True
Image for Western Digital will turn the computer off.

Mounting a backup image

Mounting images as virtual drives lets you access them as though they were physical drives. You can
mount local backups that contain partitions or entire disk drives, and then select which partitions to
mount. After mounting:

l A new disk appears in your system for every mounted partition.

l You can view the image contents in File Explorer and other file managers in read-only mode.

Note
The operations described in this section are supported only for the FAT and NTFS file systems.

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Note
You cannot mount a disk backup, if it is stored on an FTP server.

How to mount an image

1. In File Explorer, right-click the image file that you want to mount, and then click Mount.
The Mount wizard opens.
2. Select the backup for mounting by its creation date/time. Thus, you can explore the data state at
a certain moment.

3. [optional step] On the Drive letter step, select a letter to be assigned to the virtual disk from the
Mount letter drop-down list. If you do not want to mount a partition, select Do not mount in
the list or clear the partition's check box.
4. Click Proceed.
5. After the image is connected, the program will run File Explorer, showing its contents.

Unmounting an image
We recommend that you unmount the virtual disk after all necessary operations are finished, as
maintaining virtual disks takes considerable system resources.

To unmount an image

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1. In File Explorer, right-click the disk icon and click Unmount.
2. Restart or shut down your computer.

Working with .vhd(x) files

Acronis backups (.tib files) of disks or partitions can be converted to virtual hard disks (.vhd(x) files).

How to use .vhd(x) files

l You can boot your computer from the converted .vhd(x) file to test whether the backup is valid
and can be recovered to a bootable operating system.
l You can keep a converted .vhd(x) file for emergency situations. For example, if your computer
cannot start and you need to run it right away, you can boot from the .vhd(x) file.
l In Windows 7, you can mount a .vhd(x) file as an additional drive. The .vhd(x) file may contain any
partitions – system or non-system.
l You can run a converted .vhd(x) file as a virtual machine.

Limitations and additional information

l A file backup cannot be converted to a .vhd(x) file.
l To boot from a converted .vhd(x) file, it must contain:
o System partition of the same computer. You cannot boot other computers using the same .vhd
(x) file.
o Windows 7 or later operating system.
l Any changes you make to a booted or mounted .vhd(x) file are saved to it. If you boot from a .vhd
(x) file and make changes to the data that was not backed up, these changes will affect your live
system.
l The standalone versions of Acronis True Image for Western Digital that start when booting from
the bootable media do not support conversion operations.
l Acronis True Image for Western Digital cannot convert .tib files that contain dynamic volumes
which were originally located on more than one disk drive (for example, spanned or striped
dynamic volumes).

Converting Acronis backup

Users of the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows 7 and later Windows versions can convert
a .tib image of the system partition into the .vhd(x) format if they want to use the converted .vhd(x)
file for booting the operating system. Or, they may want to get the ability to mount images without
using Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

To convert an Acronis disk image (.tib file) to a Windows backup (.vhd(x) file)

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. Go to the Backup section.

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3. In the backup list, click the down arrow icon next to the backup that you want to convert, and
then click Convert to VHD.
4. Select the backup version that you want to convert.
Converting an incremental backup requires all the previous incremental backups and the original
full backup. Converting a differential backup requires the original full backup. The result of
conversion is always a full backup.
5. Specify the path to the file to be created.
The file can be directed to any local storage supported by Acronis True Image for Western Digital
(except the Acronis Secure Zone and CD/DVD). In addition, it can be directed to an SMB share.
6. [Optional step] While the backup is being converted, you can select the Start virtual machine
after completion check box. If it is selected, Acronis True Image for Western Digital will restart
your computer and run Hyper-V virtual machine by using the created .vhd(x) file.

When a .tib image selected for conversion contains partitions, for example, from two physical hard
disk drives, the program will create two .vhd(x) files corresponding to those physical drives.

Importing and exporting backup settings

Acronis True Image for Western Digital allows you to import and export the settings of your
backups. This may be desirable if you need to transfer the settings to a new PC after installing
Acronis True Image for Western Digital on that computer. Saving the settings may also be useful if
you later decide to upgrade to the next Acronis True Image for Western Digital version.

Such transfer will make configuring backups on the new PC much easier. You only need to export
the settings and then import them to the other PC. The settings are exported in the form of script
files.

The settings content can be different depending on a backup type. In case of "classic" disk and file
type backups the settings consist of the following items:

l list of items for backup

l backup options
l backup location
l schedule
l backup scheme
l automatic clean-up rules
l backup version naming rules

The settings of nonstop backup are as follows:

l list of items for nonstop protection

l Nonstop Backup data storage location (a list of locations, if there are several)

Note
You cannot import online backup settings from one computer to another.

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To export the backup settings

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

2. On the sidebar, click Settings > Backup settings transfer, click Save settings to file, and then
browse for the destination to save the script files with the settings.

To import the backup settings

1. Start Acronis True Image for Western Digital on another computer.

2. On the sidebar, click Settings > Backup settings transfer, click Import settings from file, and
then show the path to the script files with the settings.

After importing the settings you may need to change some of them to suit the new environment.
For example, it may be necessary to change the list of items for backup, backup destination, etc.

If you want to copy some of your backups to another computer, it is recommended to export the
settings of those backups too. Thus you will not lose some of the copied backup's functionality.

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Troubleshooting

Resolving the most frequent issues

Here is the list of the most frequent issues that users encounter in Acronis True Image for Western
Digital. You can read the corresponding solutions in the Acronis Knowledge Base.

Files and folders are not shown when browsing backups in File Explorer

Error "Plug in external drive"

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) after recovery to new hardware and error "Stop 0x0000007B"
due to missing drivers

See the full list of popular solutions at https://kb.acronis.com/true-image-known-solutions.

See also troubleshooting information about recovery fails at https://kb.acronis.com/content/46340.

Acronis System Report

The Generate system report tool creates a system report that contains all the necessary technical
information and allows you to save the information to a file. When it’s necessary, you can attach the
created file to your problem description and send it to the Support team. This will simplify and
speed up the search for a solution.

To generate a system report, perform one of the following

l On the sidebar, click Help, and then click Generate system report.
l Press CTRL+F7. Note that you can use this key combination even when Acronis True Image for
Western Digital is performing any other operation.
l If you use Windows 11, click All apps > Acronis > Acronis System Report.
l If you use Windows 10, in the Start menu, click Acronis > Acronis System Report.
l If you use Windows 7 or 8, click Start > All Programs > Acronis > Acronis System Report.

After the report is generated

l To save the generated system report, click Save and in the opened window specify a location for
the created file.
l To exit to the main program window without saving the report, click Cancel.

You can place the tool on your bootable media as a separate component to generate a system
report when your computer cannot boot. After you boot from the media, you can generate the
report without running Acronis True Image for Western Digital. Simply plug in a USB flash drive and
click the Acronis System Report icon. The generated report will be saved on the USB flash drive.

To place the Acronis System Report tool on a bootable media

1. Select the Acronis System Report check box on the Rescue Media Content Selection page of
the Acronis Media Builder wizard.

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2. Click Next to continue.

Creating a system report from the command line prompt

1. Run Windows Command Processor (cmd.exe) as an administrator.

2. Change the current directory to the Acronis True Image for Western Digital installation folder. To
do so, enter:

cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Acronis\TrueImageHome

3. To create the system report file, enter:

SystemReport

The file SystemReport.zip will be created in the current folder.

If you want to assign a custom name to the report file, type the new name instead of <file
name>:

SystemReport.exe /filename:<file name>

To generate a system report under bootable media

1. Create Acronis bootable media, if you do not have it. Refer to Acronis Media Builder for details.
2. Arrange the boot order in BIOS so that your bootable media device (CD, DVDs or USB drive) is
the first boot device. Refer to Arranging boot order in BIOS for details.
3. Boot from the Acronis bootable media and select Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

Note
Instead of clicking Acronis True Image for Western Digital, you can plug in a USB flash drive
and click Acronis System Report. In this case, the program generates a report and
automatically saves it to the flash drive.

4. Click the arrow next to the Help icon ( ), and then select Generate system report.
5. After the report is generated, click Save and in the opened window specify a location for the
created file.
The program will archive the report into a zip file.

Acronis Smart Error Reporting

When an issue is caused by an error in the program's operation, Acronis True Image for Western
Digital displays an appropriate error message. The error message contains an event code and a
short description of the error.

When you have an Internet connection

To view the Acronis Knowledge Base article suggesting a solution(s) for correcting the error, click the
Knowledge Base button.

142 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

This will open a confirmation window that lists the information to be sent via Internet to the Acronis
Knowledge Base. Click OK to permit sending the information.

If in future you would like to send such information without confirmation, select the Always send
without confirmation check box.

When you do not have an Internet connection

1. In the error message window, click More details and write down the event code. The code may
look like this:
0x000101F6 - example of an ordinary event code.
0x00970007+0x00970016+0x00970002 - example of a composite event code. A code of this kind
may appear when an error occurred in a low-level program module and then propagated to
higher-level modules, resulting in errors in those modules as well.
2. When you establish Internet connection or if you can use another computer where Internet
connection is available, enter the vent code at: https://kb.acronis.com/errorcode/.

If the event code is not recognized in the Knowledge Base, the base does not yet contain an article
to resolve the issue. In such cases, open a trouble ticket with Acronis Customer Central.

How to collect crash dumps

Because a crash of Acronis True Image for Western Digital or Windows can be caused by different
reasons, each crash case must be investigated separately. Acronis Customer Central would
appreciate if you could provide the following information:

If Acronis True Image for Western Digital crashes, please provide the following information

1. A description of the exact sequence of steps performed before you encountered the issue.
2. A crash dump. For information on how to collect such a dump, see the Acronis Support
Knowledge Base (KB) article at https://kb.acronis.com/content/27931.

If Acronis True Image for Western Digital causes a Windows crash

1. A description of the exact sequence of steps performed before you encountered the issue.
2. A Windows dump file. For information on how to collect such a dump see the Acronis Support KB
article at https://kb.acronis.com/content/17639.

If Acronis True Image for Western Digital hangs

1. A description of the exact sequence of steps performed before you encountered the issue.
2. A userdump of the process. See the Acronis Support KB article at
https://kb.acronis.com/content/6265.
3. The Procmon log. See the Acronis Support KB article at https://kb.acronis.com/content/2295.

If you cannot access the information, contact Acronis Customer Central for an FTP link for uploading
files.

This information will speed up the process of finding a solution.

143 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

Acronis Customer Experience Program
Acronis Customer Experience Program (CEP) is a new way to allow Acronis customers to contribute
to the features, design and development of Acronis products. This program enables our customers
to provide us with various information, including information about the hardware configuration of
your host computer and/or virtual machines, the features you use most (and least), and the nature
of the problems you face. Based on this information, we will be able to improve the Acronis
products and the features you use most often.

To join or leave Acronis Customer Experience Program

1. On the sidebar, click Settings.

2. To leave the program, clear the Participate in the Acronis Customer Experience Program
check box.

If you choose to participate, the technical information will be automatically collected every 90 days.
We will not collect any personal data, like your name, address, phone number, or keyboard input.
Participation in the CEP is voluntary, but the end results are intended to provide software
improvements and enhanced functionality to better meet the needs of our customers.

144 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023

Index
Advanced settings 44
1
Algorithm definition 126
1. Entire PC backup “Two full versions” 51
Algorithm selection 124

2 Anti-ransomware protection 93

Arranging boot order in BIOS or UEFI BIOS 83

2. File backup “Daily incremental version +
weekly full version” 51 Authentication settings 31

3 B

3. Disk backup “Full version every 2 months + Backing up all data on your PC 17
differential version twice a month” 52
Backing up data 39
32-bit or 64-bit components 57
Backing up disks and partitions 39

A Backing up files and folders 41

Backing up your computer 14

About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks and
volumes 80 Backing up your files 18

Acronis bootable media startup Backup activity and statistics 62

parameters 110
Backup file naming 34
Acronis Customer Experience Program 144
Backup operations menu 61
Acronis DriveCleanser 123
Backup options 42
Acronis Media Builder 107
Backup schemes 7, 46
Acronis Nonstop Backup 32
Backup splitting 54
Acronis Nonstop Backup data storage 33
Backup to various places 65
Acronis patented technologies 6
Backup validation option 55
Acronis Smart Error Reporting 142
Backups created in Acronis True Image for
Acronis System Report 141 Western Digital (2020 and later) 7

Activating Acronis True Image for Western Basic concepts 24

Digital 12
Before you start 19
Active protection 93

Adding a new hard disk 118 C

Adding an existing backup to the list 66 Changed Block Tracker (CBT) 29

Adding drivers to an existing .wim image 111 Clean-up options 131

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Clean-up progress 136 Differential method 28

Clean-up settings 130 Disk cloning and migration 97

Cleaning up backup versions automatically 66 Disk cloning utility 97

Cleaning up backup versions manually 67 Disk recovery mode 87

Cleaning up backups and backup versions 66 Drive free space 133

Cleaning up local backups manually has the

following scheme 8 E

Cleaning up TIBX format backups 7 Edit user command for recovery 88

Clone Disk wizard 98 Email notification 53, 91

Cloning a disk 20 Error handling 57

Cloning your hard drive 19 Example of recovery to a UEFI system 82

Compression level 58 Examples of custom schemes 51

Computer restart 88 Excluding items from cloning 101

Computer shutdown 58
F
Computers 134
FAQ about backup, recovery and cloning 37
Configuring Active Protection 94
File recovery options 88
Configuring Protection exclusions 96
File System 121
Converting Acronis backup 138
Files 132
Copyright statement 6
Free disk space threshold 53, 90
Creating Acronis bootable media 16, 108
Full method 26
Creating an .iso file from a .wim file 112
Full, incremental and differential backups 26
Creating custom algorithms 126

Creating new partitions 120 G

Custom schemes 49 General 131

Getting started 14
D

Daily backup parameters 45 H

Data destruction method 132 Hard Disk Wiping methods 125

Deciding where to store your backups 30 How it works 32
Default clean-up options 131 How to collect crash dumps 143
Deleting an entire backup 66 How to mount an image 137

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How to use .vhd(x) files 138

How to use Acronis DriveCleanser 123 N

Naming convention for backup files created by

I Acronis True Image for Western
Digital 34
Image creation mode 54
Network places filter 135
Importing and exporting backup settings 139
Nonstop Backup - Frequently asked
Incremental method 27
questions 33
Installing and uninstalling Acronis True Image
Nonstop Backup limitations 32
for Western Digital 10
Notifications for backup operation 52
Integration with Windows 35
Notifications for recovery operation 90
Introduction 7

O
L
Operation priority 59, 90
Laptop power settings 60
Operations with backups 61
Limitations and additional information 138
Other requirements 8
Limitations on operations with dynamic
disks 10 Overwrite file options 89

M P

Making sure that your bootable media can be Partition label 122
used when needed 113
Partition letter 122
Managing custom backup schemes 50
Partition properties 79
Managing files in Quarantine 95
Partition settings 121
Manual partitioning 99
Partition style after recovery 81
Migrating to SSD using the backup and
Partition type (these settings are available only
recovery method 105
for MBR disks) 122
Migrating your system from an HDD to an
Performance of backup operation 58
SSD 103
Performance of recovery operation 89
Minimum system requirements 8
Post-wiping actions 128
Monthly backup parameters 45
Pre/Post commands for recovery 87
Mounting a backup image 136
Preparing a new disk for backup 31

Preparing for recovery 68

Preview 136

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Protecting your system 14 Snapshot for backup 59

Protection 93 Sorting backups in the list 64

Source selection 124

R
Specific clean-up options 131
Recovering data 68
Splitting backups on the fly 65
Recovering disks and partitions 68
SSD size 103
Recovering files and folders 84
Supported file systems 9
Recovering partitions and disks 78
Supported operating systems 9
Recovering your computer 21
Supported storage media 10
Recovering your system after a crash 68
System Clean-up 128
Recovering your system to a new disk under
System requirements and supported media 8
bootable media 72

Recovering your system to the same disk 69 T

Recovery of basic volumes and disks 81
Technical Support 13
Recovery of dynamic volumes 80
The Activity tab 62
Recovery options 87
The Backup tab 63
Removable media settings 56
The difference between file backups and
Resolving the most frequent issues 141 disk/partition images 25

Retention rules 32 The Protection dashboard 93

Tools 107
S
Troubleshooting 31, 141
Saving algorithm to a file 128
Trying to determine the crash cause 68
Scheduling 43

Searching backup content 86 U

Security and Privacy Tools 123 Unmounting an image 137

Selecting a hard disk 119 Upgrading Acronis True Image for Western
Digital 12
Selecting initialization method 119
Upon event execution parameters 46
Selecting video mode when booting from the
bootable media 117 User interface language 14

Setting commands 135

V
Single version scheme 47
Validating backups 64
Size 121

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Validation option 88

Version chain scheme 48

Weekly backup parameters 45

What is Acronis True Image for Western

Digital? 7

What to do if Acronis True Image for Western

Digital does not recognize your SSD 103

What to do if the above suggestions do not

help 105

When the recovery is complete 78

When you do not have an Internet

connection 143

When you have an Internet connection 142

Which backups retain TIB format 8

Which migration method to choose 103

Why do I need it? 19, 123

Wizards 36

Working with .vhd(x) files 138

149 © Acronis International GmbH, 2003-2023