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Clone to SSD

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I have a Win10 laptop (HP Envy 17t) with an SSD system disk.  I was planning to use an external SSD via USB to periodically make cloned copies of the system so that if the system SSD ever died I could just replace the system disk with the cloned external SSD.

Acronis knowledgebase notes "If you clone a disk with Windows to external USB hard drive, you will not be able to boot from it. Windows does not support booting from external USB hard drives. Please clone to internal SATA SSD or HDD instead"

I wasn't sure if Acronis is saying once I clone my system SSD to a USB-connected SSD I can't boot from the cloned disk even if I place that cloned disk in the laptop?  I'm hoping the Acronis comment is just saying I can't boot from a USB-connected drive but I can boot from the cloned disk if I move that cloned disk internally.  Would appreciate clarification from anyone who has done this. 

Thanks!

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Carl, welcome to these user forums.

You could potentially do what you are asking about, i.e. clone to an external SSD via USB, but in doing so you are likely to cause yourself problems that could lead to your system being unbootable, because you would then have two identical drives connected to your system, both using the same disk signature.

Cloning has to be performed offline from Windows, and is recommended that this be done using the Acronis Rescue Media and not started from within Windows.  This is even more important with modern systems using EFI and Secure Boot, as Acronis has to modify the bootloader configuration when starting from within Windows can render your system unbootable if the configuration changes do not get reset.

The advice about external USB SSD drives not being able to boot into Windows is a Microsoft restriction, not an Acronis one.  You would need a Windows Enterprise license and to use the Microsoft Window to Go application to get this type of bootable drive.

If you create a cloned SSD on your system, assuming you do this using the Rescue Media, and the clone is connected via USB, then provided that this is disconnected and used to replace the internal SSD drive, this should boot without problem.  What you must not do is boot with the two drives connected at the same time.

I am not a fan of cloning. Cloning is an "all or nothing" process. If something goes wrong, the user may end up with two unbootable drives and loss of data. Backup and recovery is a far safer method, and allows for multiple tries if the user is unfamiliar. Cloning has no advantage over full backup and restore, except a slight time saving at the expense of considerably more risk and complexity.

If you do want to clone, it should be performed only after booting from the ATI bootable Rescue Media. Do not allow the PC to boot to Windows with both drives still connected. But, better and safer would be to create a full disk mode backup and restore it to the new drive. Plus, you can save many full system images to a single external drive, versus only one clone.

Clone should be used only by advanced users who know what they are doing. It is riskier and can result in a loss of data and a failed system. Create a full disk mode backup and restore it, using the bootable Rescue Media, to the target disk, as it's far safer and simpler.

Steve

Thanks much for clarifying (and highlighting the need to avoid both disks connected after reboot)!

Carl

Tuttle,

Appreciate you pointing out the risk with cloning.  I had always viewed it as a safe, convenient option but see your point.

So your recommendation is just do an Acronis backup of the "entire PC" to the external SSD.  Then, if the system disk fails, do a restore from that backup image.  I believe doing a backup of the entire PC in Acronis also copies all of the system info.  Therefore seems after restoring from an image I should be able to simply boot that disk and all system/application data is intact? 

Thanks

Carl

Create a full disk mode backup, where you select the checkbox to backup the entire disk rather than individual partitions. If your system drive were to fail, you would replace it with a new drive, boot from the ATI bootable Rescue Media and restore the backup image to the new drive. You could then boot from that new drive.

Carl, just be aware that 'entire PC' can include any & all drives connected to your system, whereas as Tuttle has advised, selecting a single disk & its partitions is the way to go.  Make sure you are looking at the 'Full partition list' when selecting the source - if you see a link with this text at the bottom of the source panel, then you are only looking at the 'Short partition list', so click on the link and it will toggle the view and show any further hidden partitions that may be present.

Steve & Tuttle,

Thanks much for the clarification and recommendations!

Cheers

Carl