This is a kind of review of Acronis Backup and Security 2010 as well as Acronis True Image Home 2010. I fought with that software for about three days straight. I kept giving it the benefit of the doubt because it has a lot of features that other drive imaging products don't have. However, I finally reached my breaking point. Here is the last post I made on their forum. If you read it you will see, if you are contemplating purchasing that software, you should look elsewhere:
OK, this is definitely the deal breaker for me.
So, I make a backup right? (Doesn't matter whether it is an image or a file backup.) Naturally, I make the backup to an external hard drive because I want to store it separately from the computer being backed up. Now, the next time I fire up ATI2010 and go to the Recovery tab it doesn't list any of my previous backups.
I have done experiments and the only way to get ATI2010 to remember the previous backups is to keep the external hard drive turned on and attached every single time I open ATI2010. Now that is ridiculous! What if I have multiple different external hard drives that I rotate to off-site locations? What if I simply forget to turn on my primary external HDD before I fire up ATI2010?
The only way to get those backups back into the list is to connect the external HDD and [Browse for Backup...]. The "Browse for location" dialog is slower than molasses (the cooking, not just the pouring) and it doesn't remember the last folder you went to, so you gotta dig all the way down every time. Therefore, the only way to search for something within my old backups is to laboriously add each and every one of the previous backups into the list by hand.
Now the real kicker is this: Since there are no previous backups in the list, the next time I go to make an "incremental" backup, ATI2010 thinks there are no previous backups and so just does a full backup again! What good is having an incremental backup feature if I have to manually find and add to a list all the previous backups before it will actually be "incremental"? !!! Oh, and since I am making several different backups, how do I keep track of which backup files to choose to add back into the list so this backup will have all the information it needs to work properly? I guess I will just have to write them all down! You have got to be kidding me!
This product is too mature to be having these kinds of bugs in it. This along with all the other bugs I have read about in these forums make me suspect that the company has been bought by someone who is just trying to milk it for all it can get out of it without investing in quality programmers and adequate design time. I have wasted two days of my life figuring out this software; actually reading the manual (which is not bad, by the way), doing backups and test restores, doing experiments when things go wrong to ensure that it wasn't just user error, etc. What a pain. Heck, it took three hours to download the trial software because Acronis' servers are so darned slow (yes, connections to other web sites ran just fine).
All in all, despite the additional features supposedly available in this software, the bugs just make it not worth the trouble. It is a good thing that I tried the trial version before I paid for the product. I would have been really angry if I had spent good money on this terrible software.
And here is a copy of one of the e-mails I received from them for reference:
Hello Grant,
Thank you for your response.
I assure you that Acronis True Image 2010 Home included in bundle pack of Acronis Backup & Security is a completely full functional software. Further, as you have mentioned that you are interested in the "True Image Home 2010" part of the "Backup and Security 2010" bundle. I appreciate your interest that you have shown in Acronis products and would assure you that if after one year Acronis True Image 2010 Home stop working then I will definetely provide you the free license of Acronis True Image 2010 Home however, I assure you that it will keep in working mode even after completion of a year.
Further, I would request you that if all your questions has been answered to your complete satisfaction, then please reply to this e-mail saying "RESOLVED". If you still have any questions or queries, then please let me know. I will be glad to help you with quick and timely response.
Thank you again for contacting Acronis Customer Central.
Regards,
Kavish Bathla
Support Professional
Acronis Customer Central
www.acronis.com/support
For more answers to your questions, try our knowledge base by using the link: http://kb.acronis.com
Our mission is to create customer success. Our management team welcomes your Comments and suggestions on how we can improve the overall support we provide to you. Please send you comments, suggestions, or concerns to Managers@acronis.com.
--------------- Original Message ---------------
From: grantsr@gmail.com [grantsr@gmail.com]
Sent: 3/12/2010 10:24 AM
To: customerservice@acronis.com
Subject: RE: Backup and Security 2010 vs. True Image Home 20[ ref:00D3Zcb.50058ahtx:ref ]
Kavish, I understand that you are trying to be polite. However, a little less fluff and a little more answer would be appreciated.
> Grant, I wish to inform you that Acronis Backup & Security
> 2010 is a complete package under which you will get Acronis True Image
> 2010 Home, Acronis Internet Security and Acronis Antivirus. Under this
> package Acronis True Image 2010 Home works normally without any
> problem.
But does the "True Image Home 2010" which is included with the "Backup and Security 2010" bundle have absolutely every feature that is included in the "True Image Home 2010" when bought separately?
> Further, I would like to bring into your notice that after completion
> of one year Acronis True Image 2010 Home keep on working without any
> problem
Do you absolutely guarantee that this is true. You see, I am primarily interested in the "True Image Home 2010" part of the "Backup and Security 2010" bundle. Purchasing the bundle is far less expensive than purchasing three copies of "True Image Home 2010" separately. I would only be purchasing the "Backup and Security 2010" bundle in order to get the "True Image Home 2010" part at a deeply discounted price. In fact, I would likely not even use the antivirus or web backup parts of the "Backup and Security 2010" bundle.
So, can you guarantee me that after one year, the "True Image Home 2010"
part of the "Backup and Security 2010" bundle will not stop working. If it does stop working, would you be willing to provide free licenses of "True Image Home 2010" in order to honor your promise? Please keep in mind: If the "True Image Home 2010" part of the "Backup and Security 2010" bundle does stop working after one year, despite your promise, then I will be very angry and will make sure everyone in the internet community knows that Acronis makes false promises. However, if the "True Image Home 2010" part of the "Backup and Security 2010" bundle does continue to work after one year, in accordance with your promise, then I will be very happy and will - with equal fervor - make sure that everyone in the internet community knows that Acronis is a company that keeps its promises.
Thank you,
Grant Robertson
> however, you need to renew your
> Acronis Internet Security and Acronis Antivirus otherwise they will
> not work. For any more information about Acronis Backup & Security
> 2010, I would request you to please download the PDF User Guide of it
> by following the link given below:
>
> http://download.acronis.com/pdf/ABS2010_userguides_en-US.zip
>
> Please feel free to contact us if you need further assistance. I will
> leave your case open, until you confirm this resolves your issue. I
> look forward to your response.
>
> Regards,
> Kavish Bathla
> Support Professional
> Acronis Customer Central
> www.acronis.com/support
>
> For more answers to your questions, try our knowledge base by using
> the link: http://kb.acronis.com
>
> Our mission is to create customer success. Our management team
> welcomes your Comments and suggestions on how we can improve the
> overall support we provide to you. Please send you comments,
> suggestions, or concerns to Managers@acronis.com.
>
>
>
> --------------- Original Message ---------------
> From: Grant Robertson [grantsr@gmail.com]
> Sent: 3/11/2010 9:43 AM
> To: sf+customerservice@support.acronis.com
> Subject: "Backup and Security 2010" vs. "True Image Home 2010"
>
> Does "Backup and Security 2010" contain all the features of "True
> Image Home 2010" or just a subset?
>
> In regards to "Backup and Security 2010": At the end of the one-year
> subscription does the "True Image Home 2010" part of the product stop
> functioning? Or is it only the antivirus updates and the online backup
> parts of the product that stop functioning?
>
>
> ref:00D3Zcb.50058ahtx:ref
However, one of the other tech support persons in the forum made it clear, and in no uncertain terms, that the True Image Home 2010 part of the bundle would cease to make backups after the end of the subscription period, even after I posted a copy of the above e-mail in the forum. Here is a copy of that post which can be found at http://forum.acronis.com/forum/8840#comment-24065:
Hello all,
Let me clarify the situation: restore function of Acronis Backup and Security Suite 2010 will work even after the subscription expires, but all other functions (backup, firewall, parental control, etc.) will stop working.
When/If you renew the subscription all components will be available again.
Please let me know if you have any further questions
Thank you.
__________________Ilya Rasovsky
So, what it boils down to is that the software is buggy and some of their tech support people will stretch the truth in an attempt to make a sale. This is certainly not the kind of company that I want to trust my disaster recovery to. Would you?
I know this has been a long and rambling post. I also know that almost no one will actually read it. I am just putting it out there in case someone is searching for information about Acronis products and their reputation.
The contents of this post (other than the quoted e-mails) is Copyright © 2010 by Grant Sheridan Robertson.
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