Product Review: ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE HOME 2009

       PROMOTIONAL



True Image Home 2009 provides two different kinds of backup. One kind is drive-imaging backup, the kind in which a complete hard disk, or one or more hard disk partitions, is copied to a backup location (preferably on a removable disk). The other kind is file-and-folder backup, in which you back up only selected files or folders, not an entire disk. With both types of backup, you can restore individual files or folders at any time, but if you use drive-imaging backup, you can also restore a non-booting system by booting to an emergency-boot CD created by the software and restore your entire system to the working state it waas in at the time of the last backup.

One useful part of True Image's file-backup feature is its ability to back up categories of files that you can choose from a built-in list of that includes documents, pictures, video, music, etc. One can edit each built-in category or create new categories of my own. This category system can make it easy schedule frequent backups of select groups of files while making less-frequent backups of all other files. True Image's built-in feature saves e-mail accounts, messages, and contacts as a separate backup job.

Another useful and unusual feature is True Image's ability to back up a "system state," which lets you restore your Windows system to its condition at an earlier time, while keeping the latest version of your documents. This kind of backup is similar to Windows' "system restore" feature. It's more reliable, because the True Image system backups won't be deleted unpredictably as they sometimes are by Windows. True Image's files are retained on your backup medium until you decide to delete them.

Acronis True Image Standout Features:
Many quick, one-click tools
Can backup to two locations simultaneously
Includes Acronis Startup Recovery Manager
Has Acronis Secure Zone for safely “hiding” images
Supports all common file systems and backup locations, including network drives and FTP sites
Provides a technology called Try & Decide which allows you to test software and browse the Internet with safety

Acronis True Image Home 2009 certainly looks slick, and if you use it in a straightforward way, if you use it on a Vista system, and if you perform only simple tasks, it will probably get your backup jobs done.

Price: $49.99

System Requirements: Windows Vista 32 & 64-bit, Windows XP, Windows XP Pro x64