The difference between file backups and disk/partition images

When you back up files and folders, only the files and folder tree are compressed and stored.

Disk/partition backups are different from file and folder backups. Acronis True Image stores an exact snapshot of the disk or partition. This procedure is called "creating a disk image" or "creating a disk backup" and the resulting backup is often called "a disk/partition image" or "a disk/partition backup".

What does a disk/partition backup contain?

A disk/partition backup contains all the data stored on the disk or partition:

  1. Zero track of the hard disk with the master boot record (MBR) (applicable to MBR disk backups only).

  2. One or more partitions, including:

    1. Boot code.
    2. File system meta data, including service files, file allocation table (FAT), and partition boot record.
    3. File system data, including operating system (system files, registry, drivers), user data and software applications.
  3. System Reserved partition, if any.
  4. EFI system partition, if any (applicable to GPT disk backups only).

What is excluded from disk backups?

To reduce image size and speed up image creation, by default Acronis True Image only stores the hard disk sectors that contain data.

Acronis True Image excludes the following files from a disk backup:

  • pagefile.sys
  • hiberfil.sys (a file that keeps RAM contents when the computer goes into hibernation)

You can change this default method by turning on the sector-by-sector mode. In this case, Acronis True Image copies all hard disk sectors, and not only those that contain data.

Additionally, when you back up your system partition or disk to Acronis Cloud, Acronis True Image excludes the following data:

  • The Temp folders, usually located in:

    • C:\Windows\Temp\
    • C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Temp
  • The System Volume Information folder (usually located in C:\System Volume Information\)
  • The Recycle Bin

  • Web browser temporary data:

    • Temporary Internet files
    • Cookies
    • History
    • Cache
  • .tib and .tibx files
  • .tmp files
  • .~ files