? For Wiz; Acronis & Win7

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

Wiz,

I just ran the Windows7 Upgrade Advisor, and it recommended uninstalling both TM and Acronis before an upgrade. I'll be doing a clean install, anyway, but my ? is: Just where do I go in Acronis to view and put back certain programs, when the time comes?

I'm figuring that Acronis imaging will contain all the drivers and other goodies necessary to put the Humpty-Dumptys back together again. Right?

Here's a snapshot of the Win7 Advisor.

_________________
Chip
Williams U-12 8X5; Keyless; Natural Blonde Laquer.

Wiz Feinberg · From: Mid-Michigan, USA

Chip;
Both Trend Micro and Acronis now have updated versions that are fully Windows 7 compatible. You can go through my upgrade links to get the upgrade prices on both programs (significantly less than retail prices).

Trend Micro PC-cillin (v2010)

Acronis True Image Home (v2010)

Anybody is free to upgrade those products via my links. The version you currently possess may or may not determine the upgrade price.

I can tell you that I was able to install Acronis True Image 11 onto Windows 7 RC, without any problems. I don't know if it will install properly on the final version now in circulation. Microsoft has made significant changes in the new Windows kernel and security programs must be able to hook into it to protect your new PCs. Older versions may not be able to do that voodoo that they do. Considering that it is fairly cheap to upgrade, you may want to consider going that route.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

Thanks Wiz for the Trend and Acronis Updates.

However, when the time comes, can you point me in the right direction to put stuff back on my PC via Acronis? The Acronis I now have installed?

I just would like to know where in Acronis I will have to go to access all the junk I imaged.

This is the big show. This will either validate or not, Acronis. ie., whether all the imaging I've been doing will actually WORK. I'm not about to update Acronis or any other software; not without, at least seeing, if it does as it says.

Even you admit that Russian technology is behind Acronis; which is why it still is a quirky, yet reliable I guess, software.

This remains to be seen.

And it will, as soon as I wipe out Vista and install Win7.

That's all I'm asking.

Thanks again, Wiz.
_________________
Chip
Williams U-12 8X5; Keyless; Natural Blonde Laquer.

Sonny Jenkins · From: Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx

Yes,,,that's my question,,,how can we be assured that it is copied?,,,,can we access it from the external hard drive at any given time?

Wiz Feinberg · From: Mid-Michigan, USA

Houston, I think we have a problem! Do not adjust your set! We control the horizontal. We control the vertical.

Guys, you are misunderstanding the capabilities of backup programs like Acronis makes. When you save an image of a computer, it is only useful for restoring that computer to the state it was in when the image was saved. A snapshot is taken of the working system and frozen in time. Everything pertaining to that computer is in the image file. All programs, data, settings, licenses, Registry entries and devices and drivers are saved to the image.

If you save an image of a Windows XP operating system, with everything else pertaining to that setup, you can only use it to restore the same operating system, to the same PC, with the same hardware. The only thing that you can safely change is RAM and hard drives. Acronis is usually used to restore good images to replacement hard drives, when existing drives fail, or begin to fail.

If you install Windows 7 onto the same PC, whether it is on the entire hard drive, or in a partition on the same drive that has XP, you will need to reinstall everything from scratch. You cannot use Acronis to transfer files and settings from one OS to another. It is not designed to do that. There are programs made to migrate personal files and settings, and licenses, etc. Windows XP can export your user account files and settings to another XP computer, but not to a Windows 7 computer, unless you install the Windows Easy Transfer Wizard onto the XP machine first. You would then save the exported file externally, containing your personal files and settings and import it into the Windows 7 setup, from Windows 7.

For instance, Windows XP shipped with Outlook Express as the built-in email client. Millions of people use it to send and receive their email. You can use the XP Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to export among other things your email accounts, rules and messages. If the next computer you get had Outlook Express installed you could import those items, via the new machine's Files and Settings Transfer Wizard. The trouble is, since Vista, there ain't no more Outlook Express and the Files and Settings Wizard has been changed completely.

One could transfer/migrate personal files and settings from a Vista machine to a Windows 7 machine, using the Windows 7 easy transfer program.

One cannot use Acronis True Image to restore files and settings from one PC to another, unless it contains the exact same hardware as the original. If it does, then the saved OS will be restored to the boot disk, wiping out the operating system that was on that computer. This is known as "Imaging a PC" and it is used by computer builders to roll out bulk machines with identical OS's and applications.

If you run a restore operation on a new PC, which has a different operating system than the imaged computer, the restore will over-write the new system with the old one. If the restored drivers are incorrect for the new PC - that computer will not boot into Windows after the restoration has completed. It will become a toaster. You will need to restore the new OS from a licensed Windows disk, or restoration DVD from the manufacturer and you will need to reactivate Windows.

I will put some time into writing up some pages about programs I am affiliated with that do move/migrate programs and settings between different PCs and OS's. I'll let you know when it is online and provide a link, or links. Or, you can contact me directly through the Forum for more information about these programs.

In the interim, here are links to Microsoft articles dealing with transferring files and settings to a Windows 7 computer, from a different computer running an older OS.

Windows 7 Step by Step Upgrade and Migration

Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7

Explore Windows Easy Transfer

Google search results for Windows 7 easy transfer wizard

We now return control of your television set to you.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog

Sonny Jenkins · From: Texas Masonic Retirement Center,,,Arlington Tx

Hey Wiz,,your patience with us "dummies" is VERY much appreciated,,,,trying to function in this world of technology is tough on people like me,,,but you make it a little easier! Thank you for your explanations!!!

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

Wiz,

That Windows Transfer/Migration deal seems geared towards only one PC to another PC.

What about a copy of the OLD PC (Vista) [C Drive] from an external HDD to the OLD PC with Windows 7 on it?

That link seems only to address UPGRADE and not CLEAN INSTALL.

I only read the 1st link, so far.
_________________
Chip
Williams U-12 8X5; Keyless; Natural Blonde Laquer.

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

Here's a 50 minute video explaining the Wizard Transfer.

I don't have time this morning to watch the whole deal.

Three main MS Wizard desiginers are in the video.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/NicFill/The-Complete-Guide-to-Windows-Easy-Transfer/
_________________
Chip
Williams U-12 8X5; Keyless; Natural Blonde Laquer.

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

I'm watching more and more of this Transfer Video, now, and I'm getting more and more confused; as expected.

These guys talk too fast for me.

So Acronis is out. And, as I recall from past discussions of saving things, simply saving something to an external HDD is no gaurantee that everything will be actually saved.

So it looks to me, now, that investing in Acronis and external HDDs, to save my junk, is still all for naught; because you still have to use, yet, a new gizmo, Windows Transfer; or simply do everything manually (actually, probably still the best way to go).

God, my head is just spinning.
_________________
Chip
Williams U-12 8X5; Keyless; Natural Blonde Laquer.

John Cipriano · From: San Francisco

Acronis is great for snapshots but I think the easiest thing to do would be to create a "traditional" backup (that is, just back up the files and settings you want to keep) onto a DVD or thumb drive and then after you install Windows 7, restore your files and reinstall the software that you want. Tedious yes, but as Wiz was saying, a drive snapshot won't help you after an OS upgrade since it's got the old OS on it. You could probably use it as a backup but that's not what it's designed for.

Make a list of everything on the computer you want to keep. Photos, emails, music, videos, documents, and so on. Some of the stuff will be simple to backup (photos) and some might require a specific backup procedure (emails). Also make note of all of your programs and open them up to see if there's any settings you might want to write down. For instance, it's easy to forget about bookmarks and passwords stored in a web browser until it's too late. So make a detailed list and go about crossing off everything on it.

If some of the things on the list turn out to be a problem, post them here and we'll help you through it. Acronis is set and forget but a traditional backup requires that you enumerate everything that's worth backing up. So just make sure to leave no stone unturned.

Also, I cannot stress this enough, but make sure you can restore from the backup *before* you format. If it's a disc, make sure you can read the disc. If it's a drive, make sure you can mount the drive. After the fact is the wrong time to find out you burned a coaster.

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