Examples of custom schemes

1. File backup “Daily incremental version + weekly full version”

Case: You have files and/or folders you work with every day. You need to save your daily work results and want to be able to recover data state to any date for the last three weeks. Let’s see how you can do this using a custom backup scheme.

  1. On the main screen, click File backup.
  2. In the File Backup window select files and/or folders you want to back up, and specify the backup destination. For more information see Backing up files and folders.
  3. Click Turn on for the Schedule item. In the Scheduler window click Daily, and specify a start time for the backup operation. For example, if you finish your everyday work at 8 PM, specify this time or a little later (8.05 PM) as the start time.
  4. Click Version chain near the Backup scheme item (Version chain is the default backup scheme).
  5. In the File Backup Options window, make sure that the Backup scheme tab is selected.
  6. Choose Custom scheme instead of Version chain scheme.
  7. In the Backup method box, select Incremental from the drop down list.
  8. Click Create a full version after every [n] incremental versions, and type or select “6″.

    In that case, the program will first create the initial full backup version (no matter how you set up a backup process, the first backup version will always be the full one), and then 6 incremental versions day by day. Then, it will create 1 full version and 6 incremental versions again and so on. So every new full version will be created in exactly a week’s time.

  9. To limit the storage time for the versions, click Turn on automatic cleanup.
  10. Click Delete version chains older than [n] days, type or select “21″, and click OK.
  11. In the File Backup window, check that all settings are correct and click Back up now. If you want your first backup to run only at the time you specified in the Scheduler, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up now button and select Later in the drop down list.

2. Disk backup “Full version every 2 months + differential version twice a month”

Case: You need to back up your system partition twice a month and create a new full backup version every two months. In addition, you want to use no more than 100 GB of disk space to store the backup versions. Let’s see how you can do it using a custom backup scheme.

  1. On the main screen, click Disk and partition backup.
  2. In the Disk Backup window, select your system partition (usually C:), and specify the backup destination. For more information see Backing up partitions and disks.
  3. Click Turn on for the Schedule item. In the Scheduler window click Monthly, and specify, for example, the 1st and 15th days of the month. This will result in a backup version in about every 2 weeks. Then specify a start time for the backup operation.
  4. Click Version chain near the Backup scheme item (Version chain is the default backup scheme).
  5. In the Disk Backup Options window, make sure that the Backup scheme tab is selected.
  6. Choose Custom scheme instead of Version chain scheme.
  7. In the Backup method box, select Differential from the drop down list.
  8. Click Create a full version after every [n] differential versions, and type or select “3″.

    In that case the program will first create the initial full backup version (no matter how you set up a backup process, the first backup version will always be the full one), and then 3 differential versions, each one in about two weeks. Then again a full version and 3 differential versions and so on. So every new full version will be created in two months.

  9. To limit storage space for the versions, click Turn on automatic cleanup.
  10. Click Keep size of the backup no more than [defined size], type or select “100″ “GB”, and click OK.

    When the total backup size exceeds 100 GB, Acronis True Image Home 2011 will clean up the existing backup versions to make the remaining versions satisfy the size limit. The program will delete the oldest backup chain consisting of a full backup version and 3 differential backup versions.

  11. In the Disk Backup window, check that all settings are correct and click Back up now. If you want your first backup to be run only at the time you specified in the Scheduler, click the down arrow to the right of the Back up now button and select Later in the drop down list.

3. Disk or file backup “Initial full version + a sequence of incremental versions”

Case: You like the default backup settings of Acronis True Image Home 2010 and want to replicate them in Acronis True Image Home 2011. Let’s consider the file backup settings. You can configure disk or e-mail backup settings in a similar way.

  1. On the main screen, click File backup.
  2. In the File Backup window, select files and/or folders you want to back up, and specify the backup destination.
  3. Click Turn on and schedule your backup if needed.
  4. Click Version chain near the Backup scheme item (Version chain is the default backup scheme).
  5. In the File Backup Options window, make sure that the Backup scheme tab is selected.
  6. Choose Custom scheme instead of Version chain scheme.
  7. In the Backup method box, select Incremental from the drop down list.
  8. Make sure that Create only incremental versions after the initial full version is selected.

    In that case the program will first create the initial full backup version (no matter how you set up a backup process, the first backup version will always be the full one), and then a sequence of incremental versions. The versions will be created by schedule (if the scheduler is turned on) and when you manually click Back up now on the appropriate backup box.

  9. Turn on and configure automatic consolidation if needed. Click OK.
  10. In the File Backup window, check that all settings are correct and click Back up now.

Examples of custom schemes