Acronis Universal Restore for Windows & Its Alternative
Why Do We Need Universal Restore?
Universal Restore technology allows you to instantly restore a system to any new machine, regardless of the platform, and even to a computer with dissimilar hardware. This means you can recover your operating system in case of a hardware failure and deploy the same OS to different computers. It also enables physical-to-virtual or virtual-to-physical migration, making it a versatile tool for various IT needs.
Universal Restore works behind the scenes to disassociate the backup data from hardware dependencies, keeping necessary system data intact, including the operating system, files, configurations, applications, and more.
What Is Acronis Universal Restore?
Acronis Universal Restore is a feature of Acronis True Image that helps boot a physical or virtual machine's operating system by finding and installing necessary drivers, such as storage controllers, chipsets, or motherboards, for OS startup.
Acronis Universal Restore enables users to make an old system bootable on new hardware, restore system images to different hardware environments, and change Windows Hardware Abstraction Layer and install HDD controller and NIC drivers.
Acronis Universal Restore is a handy tool that comes in handy in various scenarios, such as when you need to restore a system or data from a backup, or when you need to migrate a system from one hardware configuration to another, or even when you need to recover data from a failed system.
- Instant recovery of the failed system on different hardware.
- Hardware-independent cloning and the deployment of operating systems.
- Physical-For system recovery, testing, and other purposes, virtual-to-physical or physical-to-virtual computer migration is a valuable process. This involves transferring a computer's operating system, applications, and data from a virtual environment to a physical machine, or vice versa.
How to Restore System Image to Dissimilar Hardware with Acronis Universal Restore
Acronis Universal Restore is a tool that can be used to recover a system to new hardware in Windows, and it can work effectively in this scenario.
Step-by-step Guide: Restore System Image to Dissimilar Hardware
To restore the system image to a new disk using Acronis Universal Restore, first, create a new disk that matches the original disk's size and configuration. Then, boot from the Acronis Universal Restore media, select the original disk as the source and the new disk as the destination, and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the restore process.
Step 1. Validate the backups you want to restore.
Note: To validate a system backup using Acronis True Image in Windows, click on the angle symbol next to the backup you want to validate and then select the "Validate all versions" option. This will check the integrity of the backup.
Step 2. Prepare necessary drivers for new hardware.
Step 3. To create a bootable media with Acronis, first, create a bootable media using the Acronis software, then, enter your computer's BIOS settings and set the boot order to prioritize the created media as the first boot device. This will allow your computer to boot from the media instead of the hard drive.
Note: To proceed, download the Acronis Universal Restore Media Builder in Acronis Universal Restore.
Step 4. Launch the target machine with Acronis bootable media.
Step 5. Boot the bootable media and select Acronis True Image.
Step 6. On the Home screen, just select My disks below Recover.
Step 7. To create a system disk or partition backup for recovery, select the desired backup from the list or manually specify a path to the backup by clicking on 'Browse'.
Step 8. If you have a hidden partition, click on Details on the wizard's toolbar.
Step 9. At the Recovery method step, select Recover whole disks and partitions.
Step 10. To recover specific partitions, select the boxes corresponding to the partitions you want to recover from the "What to recover" section. This allows you to choose which partitions' data you wish to restore.
Step 11. The settings for the hidden partition, also known as Partition 1-1, should be specified on the Settings page.
Step 12. To specify the settings for the second partition on Partition C, you would set the file system type to NTFS, the volume label to "Second Partition", the drive letter to "D", and the mount point to "D:\", and then click "OK" to save the changes.
Step 13. Carefully read the summary of all operations to be performed, and then click on Proceed.
Disadvantages of Acronis Universal Restore
Acronis Universal Restore is a good tool for restoring a system image to a new disk, but it also has some disadvantages.
- Acronis True Image Home doesn't work when the image being recovered is located in the Acronis Secure Zone or when using Acronis Active Restore.
- It doesn't support or install plug-and-play drivers.
Any Better Universal Restore Software Than Acronis?
If you're looking for a more straightforward way to restore your system to new hardware, you can consider using a backup utility called Qiling Backup Home.
Qiling Backup is multi-The purpose of this backup software is to provide an easier-to-use tool for restoring a system image to new hardware compared to Acronis Universal Restore. It supports Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, and Vista, allowing for automatic system backup and recovery. The software also enables the creation of backups for various file types and types of backups, and offers 250GB of free cloud storage, making it a convenient and comprehensive backup solution.
- Store backups in various locations, such as local drives, security zone, NAS devices, and the cloud, to ensure redundancy and accessibility.
- Create full, incremental, and differential backups.
- Easily recover your different backups.
Guide: How to Restore System to a New Hardware with a Backup Tool
The steps for backing up a system to a disk are as follows:
Step 1. Launch Qiling Backup on your computer and click System Backup on the home screen.
Step 2. On the next step, your Windows operating system information and all system related files and partitions will be automatically selected, so you don't need to do any manual selection. Then, you'll need to choose a location to save the system image backup by clicking the illustrated area.
Step 3. The backup location can be another local drive, an external hard drive, network, cloud, or NAS. It's recommended to use an external physical drive or cloud to preserve system backup files.
Step 4. The Windows system backup process can be customized with settings such as enabling an automatic backup schedule in daily, weekly, monthly, or upon an event, and making a differential and incremental backup. This can be accessed through the Options button. Once customized, clicking "Proceed" will initiate the backup process, and the completed task will be displayed on the left side in a card style.
The following are the steps for restoring system image to a new hardware.
To perform system recovery on a non-bootable machine, try to boot the computer through the installation media, such as a CD or USB drive, and follow the on-screen instructions to access the recovery options.Qiling Backup emergency disk.
Step 1. Launch Qiling Backup, click "Browse to Recover".
Step 2. Choose your backup destination and select the system backup file you need, which is typically a .fvd file created by Qiling Backup.
Step 3. Create a recovery disk that matches the partition style of the source disk.
Step 4. You can customize the disk layout according to your needs, then click "Proceed" to start system backup recovery.
Conclusion
Qiling Backup Home is a more versatile tool for migrating a system image to a new disk compared to Acronis Universal Restore, with fewer limitations and more functions, making it a highly recommended option.
Qiling Backup Home provides a straightforward solution for system image recovery and also enables various tasks, including backing up files in safe mode and backing up an SSD to an image.
FAQs
1. What is Acronis Instant Restore?
Acronis Instant Restore allows you to boot a system copy on an existing Microsoft Hyper-V directly from backup storage in just 10-15 seconds, eliminating the need to physically move data.
2. Can Acronis recover deleted files?
When you back up a device with Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office, you can back up all of your data, including multiple file versions, and easily recover deleted files through a simple search and restore process.
3. How do I read Acronis backup files?
To check the recovery points of a backup, select the backup under the Recovery tab in Acronis True Image. The available backup versions will be displayed, corresponding to the number of times the backup job was run.
4. Is Acronis backup bootable?
You can create rescue bootable media, a standalone version of Acronis True Image, to boot a crashed machine or one without an operating system and restore an image of your system.
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