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WinPE 4.0 and WinPE 5.0
Acronis Media Builder can create bootable media based on these versions of Windows Preinstallation
Environment (WinPE).
These bootable media support new features of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 (see later in
this section). They can boot on machines that use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).
To create bootable media based on these versions of WinPE, you need Windows Assessment and
Deployment Kit (ADK). For more details, see the “WinPE-based bootable media” (p. 173) section.
UEFI Secure Boot
On a machine that runs Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 and uses UEFI, the Secure Boot feature
of UEFI may be turned on. Secure Boot ensures that only trusted boot loaders can boot the machine.
By using Acronis Media Builder, you can create a bootable media that has a trusted boot loader. To
do this, choose to create a 64-bit Linux-based media or a 64-bit media based on WinPE 4 or later.
Resilient file system (ReFS)
In Windows Server 2012, you can format a volume by using the ReFS file system. This file system
provides a more reliable way of storing data on the volume as compared with the NTFS file system.
In Windows Server 2012 and under a bootable media based on WinPE 4 or later, you can back up
and recover a ReFS volume. Resizing a ReFS volume during recovery is not supported.
Linux-based bootable media and bootable media based on WinPE version earlier than 4.0 cannot
write files to a ReFS volume. Therefore, you cannot recover files to a ReFS volume by using these
media; and you cannot select a ReFS volume as a backup destination.
Storage spaces
In Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, you can combine several physical disks into a storage pool.
In this storage pool, you can create one or more logical disks, called storage spaces. As with ordinary
disks, storage spaces can have volumes.
In Windows 8, in Windows Server 2012, and under a bootable media based on WinPE 4 or later,
you can back up and recover storage spaces. In Windows Server 2012 and under a bootable media
based on WinPE 4 or later, you also can recover a storage space to an ordinary disk or vice versa.
Linux-based bootable media does not recognize storage spaces. It backs up the underlying disks
sector-by-sector. If you recover all of the underlying disks to the original disks, the storage spaces will
be recreated.
Data Deduplication
In Windows Server 2012, you can enable the Data Deduplication feature for an NTFS volume. Data
Deduplication reduces the used space on the volume by storing duplicate fragments of the volume's
files only once.
You can back up and recover a data deduplication–enabled volume at a disk level, without limitations.
File-level backup is supported, except when using Acronis VSS Provider. To recover files from a disk
backup, mount the backup (p. 161) on a machine running Windows Server 2012, and then copy the
files from the mounted volume.
