9 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2012
The backup versions are similar to file versions. The file versions concept is familiar to those who use
a Windows Vista and Windows 7 feature called "Previous versions of files". This feature allows you to
restore a file as it existed on a particular date and time. A backup version allows you to recover your
data in a similar way.
This could be useful when trying to find damaged or deleted files. Simply browse through the backup
versions in the Acronis Backup Explorer until you find the backup version containing the required
files. Additionally, you can recover different saved versions of the found files.
There is one more type of incremental backup version. If you mount a partition in the read-write
mode, the program assumes that the mounted image will be modified and creates an incremental
version to capture the changes. This type of incremental version has somewhat different properties.
For example, it cannot be consolidated.
Disk cloning
This operation migrates or copies the entire contents of one disk drive to another disk drive. This
may be necessary, for example, when installing a larger capacity disk. The result is two identical
drives with the same file structure. The "Disk Clone" tool effectively copies all of the contents of one
hard disk drive onto another hard disk drive. The operation allows you to transfer all the information
(including the operating system and installed programs) from one hard disk drive to another without
having to reinstall and reconfigure all of your software.
True Image 2013 does not provide for cloning a single partition. You can only clone the entire drive.
You can also transfer all the information from your hard disk drive to another one by backing up the
entire old hard disk and then recovering the backup to the new disk.
Backup file format
True Image 2013 usually saves backup data in the proprietary tib format using compression. This
reduces the amount of needed storage space.
When creating a tib file, the program calculates checksum values for data blocks and adds these
values to the data being backed up. These checksum values allow for the verification of data
integrity.
The data from tib file backups can be recovered only through the True Image 2013 program. This
may be done in Windows or in the recovery environment.
However, True Image 2013 is also able to save data in the well-known zip format. This allows you to
retrieve files from backups anywhere without using True Image 2013.
The most widely used operating systems Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, have built-in support for
the zip file format.
Acronis Nonstop Backup uses a special hidden storage for data and metadata. The backed up data is
compressed and split into files of about 1 GB. These files also have a proprietary format and the data
they contain can be recovered only with the help of True Image 2013.
Backup validation
The backup validation feature allows you to confirm that your data can be recovered. As mentioned
above, the program adds checksum values to the data blocks being backed up. During backup
validation, True Image 2013 opens the backup file, recalculates the checksum values and compares
