Editor choice

Acronis True Image 2018 Review: Powerful personal backup utility in the business

The most powerful personal backup utility in the business now with ransomware protection as standard

You can imagine the software architects at Acronis scratching their heads as each annual release rolls around, trying to dream up new features for a backup suite that already contains the kitchen sink. In fact, one of this year’s most significant enhancements isn’t in the software at all: it’s a big boost in the included Acronis Cloud storage, from 50GB to 250GB. The price has gone up too, but only by a fiver. That also includes all product upgrades as they’re released, plus phone support and – bit of a weird one this – integration with Facebook and Instagram, so you can backup those all-important social media posts. You can buy the software outright, with no cloud storage.

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acronis true image 2018 review

Another welcome upgrade is the inclusion of Acronis’ Active Protection feature – previously only available with a costly “Premium” subscription – in the standard client. This monitors your system for ransomware – like activity and blocks any untrusted processes that try to mess with your files. If anything slips through the net, your last backup is automatically restored, so upheaval is kept to a minimum. Acronis claims that it has proved its effectiveness against big-name ransomware threats such as WannaCry and Petya.

True Image 2018 also features improved abilities to convert backups into virtual hard disk (VHD) files. It’s long been possible to convert your backups into VHDs that can be mounted within Windows; now, they can also be booted up in a hypervisor, such as Hyper-V or the free VirtualBox, so you can revisit your entire computer as it was at a given point in time. This isn’t a new idea: consumer rival Paragon Backup & Recovery has had the same capability for over three years. But it’s certainly good to see True Image catching up.

True Image’s cloning capabilities have been souped up too, so it’s now possible to make a complete image of a Windows system while it’s running. With Acronis’ Universal Restore tool, you can even restore that image to another computer with completely different hardware – a great timesaver if you’re moving to a new PC.

One final enhancement is that your standard licence now also covers an unlimited number of Android and iOS devices. Even better, these can now sync directly with your home NAS appliance, without needing a client PC (so long as your NAS box is compatible with the Acronis app).

acronis true image 2018 review

As with previous True Image releases, the user interface isn’t unattractive, but the way the program’s features are split across seven icons feels over-complicated. Still, it’s more transparent than it used to be: a new Backup Activity view lets you review exactly what jobs have been run lately, with details such as total backup size and average transfer speed. A colour-coded indicator lets you see at a glance what proportion of a backup job is taken up by pictures, videos, documents and so forth. And a separate Security Dashboard gives an overview of what the Active Protection module is up to.

ABOVE You can buy the software alone, or with cloud storage

Active Protection monitors your system for ransomware-like activity and blocks any untrusted processes

BELOW True Image 2018 keeps a wary eye out for threats such as ransomware

In all, it’s a chunky update – and let’s not forget that all of this is on top of what was the most feature-packed personal backup utility ever. You can set up any number of backup jobs, each with its own settings, priority and destination; you can configure your own encryption key for complete privacy; you can choose the geographical location of your cloud datacentre; and if need be you can create a bootable USB drive containing the Acronis recovery software, making it easy to bring a completely borked system back to life.

If you’re primarily interested in the cloud backup aspect of things then there are cheaper options: Backblaze, for example, offers unlimited storage for a year (backblaze.com). Or, if you’re just looking for a simple way to manage local backups then there are plenty of free tools that will help you out – or you can use Windows’ own underrated File History feature.

For the more demanding backer- up, however-the small business owner whose work rests on their data, or the creative working on unique, irreplaceable designs – Acronis True Image provides an extra dimension of peace of mind, protecting you against everything from malware to hardware failure and good old human error. That’s why we’ve ended up recommending Acronis True Image time and again – and the addition of more cloud storage and active ransomware protection only sweetens the deal.

DARIENGRAHAM-SMITH

10 Total Score
Editor choice Acronis True Image 2018 Review

Although it costs more than other services, Acronis' full disk backups, fast performance, and useful extras such as active file protection, make it well worth the cost.

PROS
  • Excellent desktop interface
  • Fast upload. Local and cloud backup
  • Full disk image backup and restore
  • File syncing
  • Data verification using blockchain
  • Ransomware Protection
CONS
  • Expensive
  • Limited mobile and web experience
  • Lacks password protection for shared files
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7 Comments
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  1. Reply
    Thecus N4100EVO 2017-09-23 at 6:43 pm

    […] software and the usual file and folder sharing. Additionally, you’ll find a copy of Acronis True Image and a RAID accelerator app, which uses a dedicated RAID chip to speed up the process of RAID array […]

  2. Reply
    Malwarebytes Anti-Ransomware Beta Free Review 2017-09-23 at 6:44 pm

    […] I tested the active ransomware protection built into Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation, it blocked all but one of the simulated attacks. Of course, a full backup, […]

  3. […] it crept further up the results when put through our real-world tests. The drive also comes with Acronis True Image HD 2015, which is a great tool for migrating everything from your old drive to the new one. If […]

  4. Reply
    Acronis True Image 2015 Unlimited Review 2017-11-04 at 3:07 am

    […] Acronis True Image 2015 Unlimited has plenty of useful features, but we’re not fans of the awkward interface. For most users, particularly those who don’t have a fast enough internet connection for large online backups, there are free alternatives that will serve just as well. […]

  5. […] another SSD that comes with a 2.5mm spacer and Acronis True Image HD. Its 449MB/s read speed was the slowest in this test, but only by a whisker, and all its other […]

  6. […] a 2.5″ drive to fit in one made for a 3.5″ desktop disk, two cables and a CD containing Acronis True Image HD data transfer […]

  7. I paid for a 1-yr subscription and only got 1 month of service. Technical people did not listen to my problem well enough to resolve the things
    .
    Will use TO-DO Backup!!!!!

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