Force a scheduled service to launch minimized

[Clocker]

The external disk I bought for my Dad comes with Dantz (EMC) Retrospect 6.5.

It runs a service that automatically backs everything up to the external disk (incrementally) on a schedule set by me. Problem is, every time it runs, it launches in a maximized state disrupting what my Dad is doing. I don't want him to be bothered with what the backup program is doing. Is there any way I can force the program to run in a minimized state or prevent it from interacting with the desktop entirely?

Or, maybe there is some other backup program that's better?

Thanks,
Clocker

 

[Mercutio]

TrueImage is probably a better choice than Retrospect. If nothing else, backups can be handled (and therefore scheduled) via the command line; that might open a CMD.EXE window on your dad's PC, but at least it won't take up the whole screen.

TrueImage does have scheduling capabilities but I'll freely admit I haven't tried them out yet.

As a disk imaging product rather than a traditional backup program, I suspect it's more in line with your expectations anyway.

 

[Bozo]

I haven't used TrueImage's scheduled backup alot, but if I remember correctly, it can only be seen in the tray. I'll have to check.

Bozo :joker:

 

[Clocker]

I'm trying 8.0 right now and you are correct. It is only seen in the tray and can be scheduled to run on start-up or on shut down. Perfect. I'll have to see if the latest version is any better or worth the upgrade..

C

 

[Clocker]

Thanks for your feedback, btw.

 

[Clocker]

Why does Acronis 'recommend' I use compression? Space is not an issue, will not using compression make it work any faster (or slower)?

Thanks,
C

 

[P5-133XL]

Compression in a modern machine can often be done faster thean uncompressed. It is a question of how much data is read/written to the HD. HD's are relatively slow and CPU's are quite fast now days, so if the CPU can compress/uncompress the data faster than the amount of time it would have taken to read/write the extra data then it will be faster. If the data is relatively incompressible, then compression will slow the machine, and if the data is compressible, then it will speedup. The drawback is the amount of CPU time used.

 

[Bozo]

TrueImage version 9 is a big improvement over 8.
It's also fast when using 'Normal' compression. ~40GB of used space in 14 minutes.

Bozo :joker:

 

[Mercutio]

TrueImage 9 is also the first version that will back up directly to DVD.
It really is too bad it's not smart enough to write a backup to a DVD that already has the restore environment on it.