Knowledge Base

EFI based systems are supported only by Acronis Backup & Recovery 11

Description

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 and Acronis True Image Home 2012 support EFI-based systems, including recovery of BIOS-based systems to UEFI-based systems and vice versa.

(!) Other Acronis products do not support systems with Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI). (!) This includes Windows running via Boot Camp.

Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 have a possibility to boot from from a GPT based volume and must use EFI to boot.

(!) Although it is possible to restore a GPT partition with Acronis if Windows is installed on it, the restored system will not be bootable. 

Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 can back up and recover operating systems if they are installed in BIOS/MBR mode, even if they run on EFI-capable servers.

Most servers have BIOS settings that allow booting the installation CD in BIOS/MBR mode instead of EFI mode. The MBR mode ensures that after installation the boot disk is partitioned in MBR standard, not GPT.

The following operating systems are UEFI-aware and can be installed on UEFI systems:

• Windows Vista x64 SP1 and later
• Windows 2008 x64 SP1 and later
• Windows 7 x64
• Windows Server 2008 R2 x64

The following operating systems are always installed in MBR mode, and do not support EFI:

• Any 32-bit Windows or Linux;
• Windows Server 2000, 2003, 2008 (not R2)

To check if Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 64Bit or other 64Bit operating system is installed in MBR mode, do the following:

• Go to Start -> diskmgmt.msc, right-click on system disk and select Properties;
• In Properties window, go to Volumes tab;
• If Partition style is Master Boot Record, then this configuration is supported by Acronis software:

  

  If Partition style is GPT, then this configuration is not supported.

Support of EFI-based systems will be implemented in future versions of Acronis products. This article will be updated when EFI support is implemented.

More information

See also:

• Microsoft MSDN: Windows and GPT FAQ
• Acronis Products Do Not Run on Apple Mac
• Acronis True Image Home 2012: GPT & UEFI Support

For known issues with Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 on EFI systems see:

• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11: Restore Fails If There Is a System Dynamic Disk and a Reboot is Required on UEFI-GPT Systems
• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11: Acronis Disk Director Lite on EFI: Converting Basic GPT Disk to Dynamic Erases the Partition

For more information on EFI see this Microsoft TechNet article: Extensible Firmware Interface.