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I selected this software based on a thread here on RO from a year or two ago related to virus scans, and backups. pcrecord said this was what he personally uses, and i trust his ears, and knowledge in the computing area. I snagged 2018's version (3 machine license) on sale for 50% off (newegg), and it included a 1 machine license for malwarebytes as well. After taking a quick look at the manual the software is a little deeper than i expected, although it seems fairly straightforward, there seems like a fair amount of options, and some things that could be very technical.

Anyway, i figured id ask for any tips or advice, or workflows/techniques/backup type and scheduling, anyone using this software has used successfully, and anything i should look out for mistakes wise. i will probably use the first license for this test laptop, which contains general office stuff, all sorts of daws and programs, pretty much everything i own, which i use for day to day emails, browsing, shopping, and my office based stuff, as well as testing various programs for CPU load, and general evaluation. its always connected to the internet.

then i will use the next one on an offline intel i5 desktop computer, which will be used to test a master slave configuration recover, organize, and archive all my files, (music, office, photos) and well as scanning, and ripping all my media to digital. it will go online when i build the main DAW/NLE pc.

third license will be for my main new DAW PC which will be streamlined and mainly for new projects files.

any thoughts and advice is greatly appreciated.

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pcrecord Fri, 07/13/2018 - 18:58

Hey K,
Sorry I'm late, just came back from vacations..
I have a somewhat narrow use of Acronis True Image. . . I use it when preparing a computer and/or new OS installation.
I always try to keep an image of the OS with installed drivers but nothing else.
then I do one with my DAW installed with everything ready to work... with more motivation I would have one prior vsti.. but I'm a bit lasy...
Those images all go on a big enough HDD. But It is also good to have a cloned drive ready to swap if your main one fails.
I get that this is an investment, having 2 HDD or SDD for OS backup (also time to prepare) ..
but it all depends how aggravated it would be for you if your OS Fails.. or if your DAW starts to be erratic..
With a good setup, you can be ready to record after a 5-10 min pause after an OS hdd fail.. Better then sending the customer home no ?

As for recorded data, I use free Unstoppable copier to make a live copy to another drive (live meaning it's not encripted, just a file copy can do it too)

kmetal Fri, 07/13/2018 - 21:17

pcrecord, post: 458188, member: 46460 wrote: have a somewhat narrow use of Acronis True Image. . . I use it when preparing a computer and/or new OS installation.
I always try to keep an image of the OS with installed drivers but nothing else.
then I do one with my DAW installed with everything ready to work... with more motivation I would have one prior vsti.. but I'm a bit lasy...
Those images all go on a big enough HDD. But It is also good to have a cloned drive ready to swap if your main one fails.
I get that this is an investment, having 2 HDD or SDD for OS backup (also time to prepare) ..
but it all depends how aggravated it would be for you if your OS Fails.. or if your DAW starts to be erratic..
With a good setup, you can be ready to record after a 5-10 min pause after an OS hdd fail.. Better then sending the customer home no ?

welcome back Marco, hope you had fun on your vaca! thanks for your advice, im going to use your method, including the backup OS drive. i just experienced an OS drive issue, so i totally get having one 'on the shelf' and ready to go.

pcrecord, post: 458188, member: 46460 wrote: As for recorded data, I use free Unstoppable copier to make a live copy to another drive (live meaning it's not encripted, just a file copy can do it too)

this is great! im gonna look into it. i plan on running raid 0 for fast performance on my data drives, and ancronis doesnt support raid drives. so you've answered my question before i asked. i also acquired cyberlink Power backup, and 3 other cyberlink titles, included in my new LG blue ray drive. power backup can copy/print directly to blue ray disc in realtime, so im going to experiment with that for important projects, streams, recorded phone calls ect. eventually ill be using a 4 drive raid array for data to get both performance increase, and redundancy.

thanks again man!

pcrecord Sun, 07/15/2018 - 07:15

kmetal, post: 458190, member: 37533 wrote: eventually ill be using a 4 drive raid array for data to get both performance increase, and redundancy.
thanks again man!

Then you will want to use Raid 5. With that configuration (3drives min), you can loose a drive and still continue working until you replace the drive. I know some thinks making a raid 0 of 2 raid 1 is faster but it's a pain to restore if it crashes..
Raid 5 is what we use on servers for decades.. ;)

kmetal Sun, 07/15/2018 - 21:25

pcrecord, post: 458208, member: 46460 wrote: Then you will want to use Raid 5. With that configuration (3drives min), you can loose a drive and still continue working until you replace the drive. I know some thinks making a raid 0 of 2 raid 1 is faster but it's a pain to restore if it crashes..
Raid 5 is what we use on servers for decades.. ;)

dude, your advice always saves me headaches and time. you da man! i really need to start thinking like an IT specialist, and server style for computing.

is the 'unstoppable copier' you use from the company 'roadkill'? thats what came up first on my google search.

pcrecord Mon, 07/16/2018 - 07:12

kmetal, post: 458215, member: 37533 wrote: is the 'unstoppable copier' you use from the company 'roadkill'? thats what came up first on my google search.

Yeah ! That's the one.. Clean and free... take the stand alone version.. no installation !
http://www.roadkil.net/program.php?ProgramID=29&Action=NewOSID&DownloadVersion=12&Installer=NO

You can set it to copy only new or modified files, it saves time.