Acronis True Image for WD will not load

I tried today to start Acronis True Image but it does not start.
Edited
I deleted and reinstalled. But it still will not load.
I think I saw something about a time limit on the software, but I do not see anything about how to extend use.

What version is it? I don’t know what they bundle with WD products these days, but Acronis has transitioned to a subscription model for its True Image products. I mean for those that purchase True Image directly from Acronis. Perpetual license software is a thing of the past. So if what you have is a version of True Image that normally comes with a subscription, rather than a perpetual license, as when purchased from Acronis, then it is possible that your copy was valid only for a few months. If that’s the case, and I don’t know if it is, you would need to start paying a monthly or a yearly fee to keep using the software. You can ask WD support or Acronis support on how to extend the current license or how to upgrade it to a regular version of the software. There may be an upgrade path available at a discount for WD product owners that have the bundled version of the software.

Did you download Acronis from the WD site or the Acronis site?

You need the WD version. You need to have a WD storage device of some kind attached. The WD version gives you a 5 year “license” to use starting from the day you installed it.

This is indeed accurate.

Download of this software provides a 5-year license to use it with your compatible drive. This software is available only under a limited time offer and must be redeemed by download and install within 90 days of purchase or by December 31, 2025, whichever is earlier. This offer may not be combined with other offers and is subject to change. Terms and conditions apply.

It is true that you need to have a qualifying WD hard drive connected to the system. That’s how Acronis verifies that you are entitled to use this special edition of True Image software, without providing a serial number; your WD hard drive is your serial number for the software. I just remembered reading these discussions over at Acronis web forums. Every now and then someone popped in there over the years and asked about it. So I think this activation can be or at least was problematic.

It’s not a bad offer to have a 5 year license on this software. It’s not a perpetual license alright, but it’s as close as you can get to a perpetual license, and without paying anything for it other than the WD hard drive. I have used True Image for many years, for more than 10 years. I have several copies of it. It has saved me more than on one occasion. Most recently, about a month ago, it helped me recover from password manager database corruption that turned out to be caused by a faulty RAM module.

Sadly, in the recent 2 to 3 years, they have taken this product in a different direction, and their business model to subscription licensing, like about 4/5 of the software companies in the world. It went from simple and effective, perpetually licensed backup and disk cloning software to a bloated anti-virus, anti-malware, subscription software, with backup and disk cloning more as a side dish than as a main course. They also discontinued the excellent Disk Director disk management software. Before discontinuing Disk Director, they moved the cloning feature to True Image (it’s backup software), a pattern I have seen their competitors follow as well, such as MiniTool Software from Canada and Macrium Software from UK. Acronis was spun off from a US company some 20 years ago, but they have their global headquarters in Singapore now, and corporate headquarters in Switzerland (they still have one R&D lab in the US).

That’s probably more than you need to know. But there you have it, nonetheless. Having True Image for free for 5 years is not a bad offer. Enjoy it and take benefit from it while it lasts. From the looks of it, this cooperation between Acronis and WD will come to an end by the end of the next year.