TI 2014 needs new HDD
Am I dreaming?
Need a new HDD in desktop sometime this year, as old HDD turning 4 years old in Nov.
Was told it was easy, just perform a complete disk/partition backup to ext. HD USB
Then swap out desktop HDD to new blank one
Insert Acronis Boot CD previously created
Then restore HDD from ext HD USB
When rebooting to new desktop HDD, everything is same as when old HDD was in use ...
Microsoft happy, no phone calls, permissions, log-ins, codes needed fro them or any other piece of high priced software.
+ all devices, et al. work flawlessly
I think I'm dreaming and all this will be another nightmare, like when trading to a new computer, data lost, et al.,
so thinking to svoid this nightmare, should go to computer pros shop (NOT Geek Squad again) and have them TRY to clone a new system w/o having to reinstall everything.
Thoughts?


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VERY helpful but some seems over my head, which is selling me on the idea of going to a Pro running a computer shop ... that said, small college town with loads of blue collars running things who always get forgiven (not sued) when everything falls apart, all still in business & never in debt due to bartering services among selves. So back to my concerns, now quite a bit fewer, as I did this once upon a time when young & eager, not so much to lose.
Attachments a) partitions as per win8.1-64 (win 10 NO THANKS = more things that don't work, esp. 3rd party competitiors) b) acronis full backup required if going to a new HDD? - (ext HD not connected thus does not show up nor would be selected)
This Rescue Media should be started in the same way as your Windows OS uses, i.e. UEFI or Legacy. = HUH????
"Callback_BootEnvironmentDetect: Detected boot environment: EFI"
No UEFI???
However, MSInfo32 -> System Summary -> BOIS Mode -> UEIF
Should be started in - as if I know how to start anything beyond pushing a button, turning a key, pulling a motor's rope?
Tha't my case, even with an advanced degree, don't you now vote for a Pro in charge of new HDD this summer when business isn't so crazy & before this unknown-make HDD in this ASUS G10AC (w/zero tech support) turns 4 years old this Nov?
Was reading recent studies 20% HDD in general can fail within 4 years. I have too much business & medical data to lose ... but over reacting as Acronis backups work well, even if cloning disk was a one trick pony for me looooong ago.
Your vote matters! Always a help, thanks, Steve!
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tgiv, from the images you have posted, you have a EFI / UEFI boot system, so when wanting to use the Acronis bootable Rescue Media (necessary to Restore your System backup image to a new drive) then you should look for a UEFI Boot Menu option for the USB or CD/DVD media that the Rescue Media is stored on.
The alternative approach that you could take is to do most of the Restore actions from within your working Windows 8.1 system using the installed version of Acronis True Image.
The steps would be very similar to what you had but with some subtle differences:
- Make a full disk & partitions backup of your 1TB Disk 0 HDD drive and store this on an external backup storage drive.
This is something you should be doing regularly anyway, and is essential if you are to recover from any unexpected hardware failures, malware infections etc. - Connect a new HDD drive of similar or greater capacity to your computer via a USB caddy or USB to SATA cable etc.
You can purchase USB Docking stations that you can plug in any 2.5" or 3.5" disk drives. - Restore your backup image created in step 1. to the new HDD (or SSD) drive connected in step 2.
- Disconnect all external disk drives (backup storage and new drive)
- Remove original HDD drive and replace with the Restored new drive from step 3.
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Steve,
Still digesting most of this and reading no pro is your vote.
That said, may I bounce one last idea off you?
Buy a new hot-shot computer
boot it from my Acronis CD
restore from my Acronis ext HD
which wipes out new HDD win10, et al. (good!)
so next time I boot new computer up, everything appears same as the old computer ...
which still operates in case all this fails or I need someday to go back & find/operate something?
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That is genius and easier than what I did looong ago! Kudos!
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Steve,
After you send opinion on new system option
please allow me to try & compensate you with any/all residential architecture or home building/repair needs you may have.
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tgiv, unfortunately there a a lot of problems with trying to do what you suggested with a new system.
If your old computer is now 4 years old, then the hardware it contains will be significantly different than that which you will find in a brand new computer which means that you then will need to use the Acronis Universal Restore utility to try to prepare the restored OS (from the old computer) to try to get this to work on the new computer.
This may be possible but there are a number of hurdles to overcome in doing so.
Windows OS licensing is one issue - unless you have a full Retail Microsoft OS license for Windows 8.1 then your current license will not activate on the new hardware and you would need to purchase a new license key.
Many new computers have their internal disk drive set to work in RAID mode but older computers do not.
No need for any compensation but please edit your post and remove your email address you posted as this may get you lots of unwanted spam mail as this is a public forum. I would also suspect that we are many miles apart in terms of geography as I am located in the UK, but thank you for the gesture.
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Humbly I thank you
but keep that email just in case ???
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