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Jimco Software Reviews - Acronis Utilities (continued)
Acronis True Image 8
If you're like me, you reinstall Windows on your computer from time to time just to get rid of leftover settings and files from application installs and uninstalls and to get things running quickly again. Reinstalling the OS on most machines is a labor-intensive exercise. It can often take almost an entire day to get back to a good baseline. That's where Acronis True Image 8 (figure 1) can really help!
Figure 1 - Acronis True Image 8
Acronis True Image 8 can create an image of your hard drive that you can restore at any time. What I do is install Windows, install all of the drivers, etc., that I need and install all of the applications that I need. After I do that, I image the drive with Acronis True Image 8. If I ever want to reinstall Windows, I can do it by just restoring the image.
Acronis True Image 8 can also create what Acronis calls a Secure Zone. A Secure Zone is a hidden partition on your drive where images can be stored, but it's a bit more than that. Acronis True Image 8 can easily restore a partition stored in the Secure Zone using the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager.
The Acronis Startup Recovery Manager is a feature in Acronis True Image 8 that makes it easy to recover an image quickly. After activating Acronis Startup Recovery Manager, you will see a message each time you boot that will allow you to activate it by pressing F11. Pressing F11 takes you to a special version of Acronis True Image that enables you to restore your computer using an image stored in a Secure Zone.
 I ran through a significant number of tests creating and restoring partitions and never encountered a single glitch.
Acronis True Image 8 can transfer one disk to another disk if you ever purchase a new hard drive and want to transfer your data and it allows you to schedule periodic incremental updates to partitions that are stored in the Secure Zone.
During my review of Acronis True Image 8, I ran through a significant number of tests creating and restoring partitions and never encountered a single glitch. I found it to be simple to use, powerful, and extremely reliable.
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