Restoring full backup from Acronis

[Grumbles]

In January this year, I bought Acronis v10 and a USB external drive for my Desktop running XP.
Did a full backup there and then and another one in June 08. Due to some issues that I have been experiencing with software and internet connection failures, anti-virus programmes failing on me, sound and autoplay etc etc (you name it, it is in the list ) I have already done a system restore so as to get to this point.
I would like to do a system restore using Acronis - restoring my January 08 back up to the present day and see if I can 'start again'.

Has anyone done this on any Acronis version lately and give me any information on what to expect?
G

[akhilles]

1st off, back up your OS to a file using Acronis boot CD. Restore your Jan backup to the same OS partition. If you don't like it, you can go back to your most recent backup.

It's very easy. The wizard will walk you through the process of backup & restore.

[Grumbles]

Should i create an Acronis Boot CD first then?

G

[plodr]

Should i create an Acronis Boot CD first then?

YES! YES! YES! That's your safety net. If the hd won't boot into windows, you just boot from the Acronis rescue CD, it loads the program into RAM and then you just feed it the CDs or DVDs that you've burned with your backup.

I always run my create and restore outside of windows using the boot CD. I feel there is less chance of error when done outside of windows.

[bigbazza]

I always "Validate" my backups using Acronis TI v10. It takes less than half the time it takes to do a backup, and well worth the time, IMO. There is nothing worse than a corrupt backup, for whatever reason, when you really need it. The Validate function is part of the dropdown menus. Bazza

[Appzalien]

When you first install Acronis it usually asks if you want to make a boot cd but you can open the program and make one at any time, it doesn't matter. Its necessary for backing up your active partition since you can't back up from the partition itself while its active. Once you boot to the recovery cd you will see the familar gui of acronis and can then point it to your images on dvd, other drives, or even another partition on the same drive (when drive1 is partitoned as C and D drives, you can put an image of C on D and use it to recover C).

I still use Version 6 and will only upgrade when 6 no longer serves my purpose. I have one machine now (since two days ago) where C is not an IDE drive but a Sata drive, I guess when it comes time to back it up I'll lay down the bucks.

[akhilles]

Validation is nice, but I schedule it to back up my C every night.