Acronis True Image for Western Digital

1 Introduction

This section provides an overview of Acronis True Image for Western Digital, its system requirements, installation, activation, customer experience program, application preferences, and technical support.

1.1 What is Acronis True Image for Western Digital?

Acronis True Image for Western Digital protects your Mac by enabling you to create a complete backup of your system and create Acronis bootable media. This allows for disaster recovery and restoration of lost data.

• Key features:
• Backup of selected disks or entire Mac contents to local or network storage.
• Backup of selected files and folders to local or network storage.
• Creating Acronis bootable media.
• Mac OS X recovery in the bootable media environment.
• Recovery of specific files and folders under Mac OS X.

1.2 System requirements

Supported operating systems: macOS Catalina 10.15, macOS Mojave 10.14, macOS High Sierra 10.13, macOS Sierra 10.12, OS X El Capitan 10.11.

Supported file systems: APFS, HFS+ (including Core Storage), FAT32, NTFS (including Boot Camp). Note: Data cannot be backed up to an NTFS file system, but can be recovered from it.

Requirements for Acronis bootable media: A removable drive with 4 GB or more of free space, formatted with Mac OS Extended. The version of macOS Recovery must match the installed macOS version. CD and DVD media are not supported.

Supported storage media: Internal drives (HDD, SSD, RAID), USB drives, FireWire drives, Thunderbolt drives, Network shares, NAS, My Cloud devices, WD Cloud for Japan, My Cloud Mirror, My Cloud EX series.

General requirements: Administrator privileges are required. If your Mac has an Apple T2 chip, set Secure Boot to "Medium Security" and "Allow booting from external media".

1.3 Install, update, or remove Acronis True Image for Western Digital

Installation: Download the .dmg file from the Western Digital website, drag the application icon to the Applications folder, and run the program. Accept the license agreement and Customer Experience Program terms. For macOS High Sierra 10.13 or Mojave 10.14, additional steps for full disk access may be required.

Update: Download and install the update over your current version. Backups and settings are preserved. Automatic updates can be enabled in Preferences.

Uninstallation: Open Finder, go to Applications, find Acronis True Image for Western Digital, and drag it to the Trash.

1.4 Activating Acronis True Image for Western Digital

The product is activated automatically when a Western Digital storage device is detected. The license is valid for 5 years. To extend the license, add a new Western Digital storage device.

1.5 Acronis Customer Experience Program

The Acronis Customer Experience Program (CEP) helps improve Acronis products by collecting anonymous data on hardware configuration and feature usage. Participation is voluntary.

1.6 Application preferences

The Preferences window allows configuration of settings such as:

• Do not back up when working on battery power.
• Automatically check for updates at startup.
• Participate in the Acronis Customer Experience Program.
• Show notifications in Notification Center.

1.7 Technical Support

For assistance, refer to Western Digital's official support resources at https://www.westerndigital.com/support.

2 Backup

This section covers the basic concepts of backup and recovery, what can and cannot be backed up, backing up to local or network storage, scheduling, cleanup, connection settings, activity, statistics, laptop power settings, notifications, Parallels Desktop support, and the backup list.

2.1 Basic concepts

Backup and recovery: Creating copies of data for restoration after data loss. Useful for disaster recovery (operating system restoration) and file recovery.

Recovery method: Full recovery can be to the original location (overwriting data) or a new location.

Backup versions: Each backup operation creates a version, representing a point in time. Subsequent versions store only data changes.

Backup file format: Proprietary .tib or .tibx format, using compression. Recoverable only through Acronis True Image for Western Digital.

Schedule

Schedule backups to ensure they are up-to-date. By default, backups are daily. Options include Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and When an external device is connected.

Backup retention rules

Automatically delete obsolete backup versions based on the number of versions or their age.

2.2 What you can and cannot back up

The table outlines backup compatibility for various drive types and data, including internal drives, USB drives, Thunderbolt drives, network shares, specific files, and partitions. Note that separate partitions, RAID, Apple RAID, and APM disks are not supported for backup.

2.3 Backing up to local or network storage

To back up data:

1. Open Acronis True Image for Western Digital.
2. Click Add Backup to create a new backup.
3. Select the backup source (Entire Mac, Disks, Files and folders, NAS device).
4. Select the backup destination (local or network storage).
5. Configure optional settings like schedule and cleanup rules.
6. Click Back Up.

A bootable media is required for recovery.

2.4 Scheduling

Schedule backups to run regularly (Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or when an external device is connected. Power Nap can be used to avoid gaps in backups.

2.5 Cleaning up backups, backup versions, and replicas

Configure retention rules to automatically delete old backup versions based on the number of versions or their age to save storage space.

2.6 Adding an existing backup to the list

Backups created by previous versions or copied from other computers are scanned and added automatically. Manual addition is possible via the File menu.

2.7 Connection settings

For network locations, provide necessary credentials (username, password) in backup settings. A test connection option is available.

2.8 Backup activity and statistics

The Activity tab shows a history of operations, statuses, and statistics for a backup. The Backup tab displays a graphical representation of backup content by file types.

2.9 Laptop power settings

To save battery power, configure Acronis True Image for Western Digital to pause backups when the battery charge is low or the laptop is running on battery power.

2.10 Notifications

Notifications can be shown in the OS X Notification Center and the Acronis Tray Notification Center for important operation statuses.

2.11 Parallels Desktop support

Acronis True Image for Western Digital supports virtual machines created with Parallels Desktop 14 or higher. Virtual machines are backed up as part of the Mac backup. A script is available for recovering older Parallels Desktop virtual machines.

2.12 Backup list

The backup list displays icons indicating backup type and state (completed, queued, in progress, paused, failed, completed with warnings). Backups can be sorted by name, date created, date updated, size, source type, and destination type.

3 Creating bootable media

This section details the process of creating Acronis bootable media, which is essential for recovering your Mac when it cannot start up.

3.1 Creating Acronis bootable media

Acronis bootable media is a removable drive containing boot files necessary to access the Acronis recovery environment. Fusion Drive is not supported as a target for bootable media.

To create Acronis bootable media:

1. Connect a removable drive (at least 4 GB free space) to your Mac.
2. Open Acronis True Image for Western Digital and click Create Acronis Bootable Media.
3. In the Acronis Media Builder window, select the drive and click Create Media.
4. The application creates a partition and writes boot files. The drive may be reformatted.
5. Disconnect and store the media safely. It is recommended to create new bootable media after upgrading macOS.

4 Recovery

This section explains when to recover your Mac, how to perform Mac recovery, file recovery, and how to search backup content.

4.1 When do I recover my Mac?

Recover your Mac when it does not start up or when OS X or applications are not working correctly. Hardware failures should be handled by a service center. For software or data corruption, use the backup.

To determine the source of the problem: Check cables, restart your Mac, use Disk Utility to check the disk. If errors persist or Disk Utility reports disk failure, recover from backup.

4.2 Recovering your Mac

To recover your Mac:

1. Ensure you have a backup and Acronis bootable media.
2. Plug in the bootable media and start/restart your Mac, holding the Option key.
3. Choose Acronis Bootable Media to boot from.
4. Select "Recover from Acronis True Image for Western Digital Backup".
5. Choose the backup location (Acronis Survival Kit, Local Storage, Network).
6. Select the backup version and partitions to recover.
7. Choose the destination for each partition.
8. Click Recover and confirm.
9. Restart your Mac after recovery.

4.2.1 FAQ about Boot Camp partition

Details on backing up, recovering, and resizing Boot Camp partitions, including limitations and recommended recovery destinations.

4.3 Recovering your files

To recover files and folders:

1. Open Acronis True Image for Western Digital and select the backup.
2. Open the Recovery tab and select the backup version.
3. Select the files or folders to recover.
4. Choose a recovery location (original or custom).
5. Click Recover.

4.4 Searching backup content

When recovering data from local backups, use the Search field to find specific files or folders within the backup. Wildcard characters (*, ?) can be used. You can search the entire backup or a specific folder.

5 Disk cloning

This section covers the Clone disk utility, the process of cloning disks, and connecting two Macs for cloning.

5.1 Clone disk utility

The Clone disk utility creates an exact, bootable copy of your hard drive, essential for transferring data to a new Mac or creating a portable clone. It is available only for Western Digital brand storage devices.

When you need it: Transferring data to a new Mac, creating a portable clone of your Mac's hard drive.

What drives you can use: Internal system drive, internal non-system drive, internal drive of another Mac, external drive, USB flash drive. The destination drive can be larger or smaller than the source, but must be at least 10% larger than the used space of the source disk.

5.2 Cloning disks

To clone a disk:

1. Ensure any running Parallels Desktop virtual machines are turned off.
2. Connect the source and destination drives. If cloning another Mac, connect it in target disk mode.
3. Open Acronis True Image for Western Digital and select Disk Cloning.
4. Select the cloning source drive.
5. Select the cloning destination drive. Note: The destination drive will be formatted and all data erased.
6. Click Clone.

Cloning a Fusion Drive: Acronis True Image for Western Digital allows cloning a Fusion Drive to another Fusion Drive or any other target drive.

5.3 Connecting two Macs

To clone a hard drive to another Mac, connect them using a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable. On the destination Mac, enable Target Disk Mode via System Preferences > Startup Disk.

6 Acronis Active Protection

This section explains what ransomware is and how Acronis True Image for Western Digital protects your data using Acronis Active Protection technology.

What is ransomware?

Ransomware is malicious software that blocks access to files or the entire system, demanding a ransom for unblocking. It can target entire computers, specific files (documents, photos, videos), or applications.

How Acronis True Image for Western Digital protects your data from ransomware

Acronis Active Protection uses a heuristic approach to monitor processes in real-time. It detects and alerts you to third-party processes attempting to encrypt files or inject malicious code, allowing you to trust or block them. Machine Learning is used to improve detection accuracy.

6.1 Protecting your data from ransomware

When a process is detected as potentially malicious:

1. Select the process from the list.
2. Choose to "Trust" or "Block" the process.
3. Optionally, select "Remember my choice for this process".
4. Automatic file recovery can be configured after blocking a process.

6.2 Acronis Active Protection settings

The Acronis Active Protection dashboard allows you to turn the service on/off, manage permission lists (trust/block applications), manage exclusions (specify files/folders not to protect), and view summary information.

A status icon on the macOS menu bar provides quick access to the dashboard and service controls.