Skip to main content

Which method is best for cloning ?

Thread needs solution

Hi ... I have this version of Acronis . I have a new laptop which I want to clone the hard drive . Whats the best way to go about cloning ? thanks

0 Users found this helpful

Cloning makes a duplicate of your hard drive. To do so in a laptop, the proper procedure is to remove the internal drive and mount it in a USB enclosure, mount your new hard drive into the laptop and then with the original drive in the USB enclosure connected, boot the system up to the Acronis Rescue Media to perform the clone from your original drive to the new drive in your system.

Please tell us why you want to Clone.
I ask, because in most cases it's better to do a Backup than a Clone. If you explain what you want to achieve, rather than jumping to a method, we may be able to propose a better, simpler and safer solution for you.

tuttle wrote:

Please tell us why you want to Clone.
I ask, because in most cases it's better to do a Backup than a Clone. If you explain what you want to achieve, rather than jumping to a method, we may be able to propose a better, simpler and safer solution for you.

I'm going to do both , clone and a back up . Original drive is brand new and so is the clone drive . I just want to clone it so I can have an extra drive if need be .

Question : Is there any difference between having the original drive in the laptop and use the clone drive as my external usb drive , then use the Acronis Rescue disc to make a clone from the original drive unto the external drive ? Or is it best the other way around ? Thanks

905dude wrote:

Question : Is there any difference between having the original drive in the laptop and use the clone drive as my external usb drive , then use the Acronis Rescue disc to make a clone from the original drive unto the external drive ? Or is it best the other way around ? Thanks

First of all, it is best to do clones and disk image restores from the recovery CD, by far.

Second, it is better to have the target disk in place, and the original disk in an external enclosure. That "reverse" cloning approach is recommended for the cases where the disk geometry is not standard (like in the thinkpad lines), and it works in all cases.

When cloning, take extra precaution when you select the source and destination. The recovery CD can show you drive letters different from Windows.