Editors Note: This original review covers version 11 released in 2007. You can find a review of the Acronis True Image 2009 (home version) here, and if you are interested in a business solution, a review of Acronis True Image for Microsoft Small Business Server.
Are you like many people who store huge amounts of personal data on your home computer or your laptop's hard drive and who think performing backups to DVDs is all you need do to be safe? Think again. Hard drives can't be trusted and DVDs are even less reliable. Are you surprised? Then continue to read. If not, read on anyway because this review covers some cool software that will impress your friends when you recommend it to them.
How many times have you heard of people having hard drive (HD) issues, returning their computer to the repair shop to get something fixed? It happens a lot more frequently as more people have access to computers and as hardware becomes cheaper.
How about DVDs? Did you know that recordable DVDs have major issues two or three years after burning them? I learned that the hard way. As an amateur photographer I take a lot of digital pictures and save them to my hard drive, then backup them on DVD. Recently, I had to access a DVD that I had burned about two years ago and I had a really hard time being able to read it on my laptop. I had to use an external DVD burner that is better able to read errors. Still, I lost access to some files. Not nice! Then I remembered I had a backup on my external USB 2.0 hard drive. A lot of people don’t get this lucky.
This is where a tool like Acronis True Image 11 Home can save the day.
Acronis is quickly becoming the main reference for disk management tools. Their suite of products caters to everyone from the casual home user to the IT professionals. Acronis True Image 11 Home is obviously designed to be a product for the home user. However, the name and the price tag are not by any means an indication that it's a lesser product than any of the professional versions. Acronis True Image 11 Home is a great tool with some impressive features. The friendly user interface makes it a pleasure to use and very easy to learn.
