These directions pertain to version 10, as far as the screen shots are concerned, but is pretty much the same for older versions.  We are only going to concentrate to doing a disk image, rather than just files or program settings.  Click here for information on mounting an image to retrieve individual files.  BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE INSTRUCTIONS AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE TO SEE HOW TO MANUALLY RUN A TASK.

Before we setup the backup task, let's change a couple of program default settings:

To to Tools, options, then click on the + next to Default Backup Options.  Now click on Archive Splitting, click on the Fixed Size radio button, then click on the drop down arrow, and select the last item.  We want to do this so that the image files are the right size to be copied to DVD disks for backup.  REMEMBER!!  External hard drives fail also, and what if you have a fire and the house burns down, or someone breaks in and steals your computer and external hard drive?  You don't have any backups now do you?  Every so often, copy your image files to DVD disks and keep them some place else, in case you need them.

Also:  Make sure to go to Create Bootable Rescue Media (in the lower right hand corner) and make an emergency boor CD.  This will allow you to boot up on the CD, run the True Image program, and access the files on the external hard drive in order to restore your hard drive.

In order to setup a task in True Image to run automatically, start True Image, then click on Tasks.

Now, click on Create.

On the next screen, click on the Next button to start the wizard.  Now, make sure the My Computer radio button is selected, then click Next.

 

Now, make sure the C Drive is selected, and on your computer, if there is a D partition, and/or any other partitions on the C drive, make sure they are selected also.

Drill down the list under My Computer to your external hard drive's drive letter, select the directory you want to use, then give the image a file name which makes sense to you.  In this example, I'm calling mine 700XL_Weekly and I'm saving the files in the (external hard drive), H:\Gateway\700XL\Weekly directory.  Your's will be whatever directory you create on the drive to do your backups into.

Click on Create a New Full Backup Archive.  The reason we don't want to create an incremental backup, is because each time you do an image, it will create one new file.  Since we setup the program options to create files which will fit on DVD disks, it will make one new file each time it does and image, thus eventually filling up your external drive with additional files which aren't needed when you do a full archive.  Now click Next.

On the next screen we want it to use the default options, so just click Next.

On the next screen, you can type in comments if you want, but usually we just bypass it and click Next.  Now, on this screen, you can select the schedule you want.

And then on the next screen you can set the day, time, etc.  Now, in the password screen, you only need to put in a password if you use a password to start up your computer.  If you don't use a password to log onto windows, leave this blank, then click Next.

On the last screen, you can just click Finish.  This is all there is to setting up the task.  On my computer I do a weekly and also a monthly.  You can setup your images however you want, just make a separate directory on the external hard drive for each one.  You don't really have to have separate directories, it just makes it easier to check on the files later and keep them organized.  Make sure to leave your computer and external hard drive turned on at the day and time the task is set for.  If you don't, it won't do the image.

For a handy way to check every so often to make sure your backups are going OK, start up Windows Explorer and click on the middle button (top right corner) so that it is in a window.  You need to be able to see your desktop around the edges of the window.  Now, in the left pane, drill down to the external hard drive, the directory where your files are, then right click on the directory, hold the mouse button down, drag over to the desktop, then let go of the mouse button.  Now, click on Create Shortcut here.  That will put a shortcut to the directory, so when you click on it, the files which are in the directory will show up.  Make sure to create a shortcut for each directory, then make sure the file dates are dated when the last image was supposed to be made.

Now, anytime you want to check on your imaging tasks, just open the folder and check the file dates.

If you are going to install some software, updates, etc., and want the security of being able to return to where the computer is at now, manually run one of your tasks so that you have an up to date backup before you make your changes.

Just click on one of your tasks, then click on the Run icon.  This will cause the task to run immediately.

To only change the schedule of the task, click on the schedule icon, then follow these instructions.