For perhaps the last ten years I have been using Acronis True Image software to make emergency repair images of my system. I also use Windows Home Server 2011 as a file server and system backup service. With Windows 10 soon to be released I wanted to clone my current system, so that if something goes wrong with the W10 installation I could go on as if nothing had happened. I really cannot afford to have my Autodesk and Adobe system down for more than about an hour if I can help it, so I made an image of my primary boot drive and attempted a restore to a new disk. For the first time in a long time the operation failed, and probably it is because I am now using a UEFI configuration. Acronis just does not seem to be able to handle it cleanly. Even cloning directly to the new drive fails. Everything is there, but the BCD data store is filled with bad data and needs to be rebuilt by hand. The Windows tool included with the install disk (Windows Repair) refuses to work. Something about the way Acronis handles the BCD Store is apparently messing up the imaging process. I eventually got it working and booting just like the original, but the process was nasty and not something I would pass along to casual users.
So, I went looking for a fix on the Acronis site where I found a lot of confusion and no clear answer. However, I also found a piece of software that does work and is as fast as True Image used to be (plus there is a free version).
http://www.macrium.com/Reflect version 6 is the name of the software. It is fast, efficient, and easy to use. It is a little more expensive, but I got four copies of the software for $140 and I have nothing but good things to say about it. It works with every brand of Windows from XP to 7/8, including Server 2003-2012 and will no doubt be updated when W10 is released. I am using it now for archiving and imaging with scheduled backups and the whole shebang! I was able to clone 700GB of a 1.81TB UEFI disk in one hour and it booted the first time right off! I must admit though that I did not trust it and I did make an emergency recovery boot cd (part of the Reflect system), but I did not need it. I did test the recovery system and noticed that it uses the Windows PE (preinstallation environment) and makes use of the system drivers I have in place, so no need for the claustrophobic resolution of a safe boot. Supposedly, if there were a problem with the boot process you would just use the "Fix Windows Boot" option and you would be back up and running.
Anyway, I dumped Acronis and went with this and everything is peachy again. Happy, happy!
