Review by Reuben Gathright

Let’s face it, the built in Microsoft Windows backup system is just not dependable and can be extremely complicated for the average computer user. Arconis True Image Home 2011 gives you a comprehensive suite of backup and recovery tools for your Windows 7 x32 or x64 computer system.

I tested this software out on an ASUS KGPE-D16 motherboard running Windows 7 Professional x64. Using an old Seagate ST3500630AS SATA hard drive as a secondary, I created a full backup of my OCZ 60Gb Vertex 2 SATA SSD. The backup took just 10 minutes to complete and would have been much faster had I took the time to defragment both drives. Still, I was very impressed with the speed at which it handled the operation.

For the next phase, I simply reinstalled Windows 7 on the ASUS KGPE-D16 and then attempted a recovery of my backup files on the second hard disk. As promised, with no drivers yet installed, the backup restored everything to its previous state for me.

The real strong point to True Home image 2011 has to be its user interface. Simply pick your backup location; ZIP, SATA, IDE, SCSI, SAS or USB 3.0 drive and start storing files. You can drag and drop files for rapid archiving and activate nightly backup features as well. Please note, that this version does not support GUID Partition Tables. You need to visit the Arconis website and download the True Image Home Pack Plus to get this ability for an additional $30.

ConclusionnIf you are looking for a backup solution that your grandmother can use then you should buy her Arconis True Image Home 2011. The software does requires some work to setup the first time and the interface is a little hard to understand but it works well when left unattended and running. For the advanced computer user, please consider purchasing a second hard drive along with this software package. The second hard drive can be used to quickly recover a boot drive failure.