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How to backup as cloning alternative?

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Beginner
Posts: 1
Comments: 2

I still don't get how to use the restore media option to copy it later into a new SSD  so it not only has all my data from old hdd but also bootable Windows OS. Do I need a third storage device to make the restore media??? 

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When you make a full disk & partitions backup of your Windows OS drive, then this will include all the OS, applications and user data found on that drive.

The destination for the full disk & partitions backup needs to be on a different disk drive, such as an external USB backup drive.

When you get to the point where you want to recover / restore the content of that full disk & partitions backup file to either the same / original drive or to a different / new / replacement drive, then you need to be able to boot your computer from the Acronis Rescue Media on a USB stick or DVD with your target disk drive installed in the computer, and your external backup drive connected.

How you boot the Acronis Rescue Media is important as this needs to match the way in which your Windows OS boots in the BIOS settings.  If you do not do this, then it is possible to migrate your recovered data to a format that will not allow Windows to boot correctly.

Note: to identify what BIOS mode is used by your Windows 10 OS - issuing msinfo32 in Windows will show this in the output report.  You must boot the Acronis Rescue media using the same BIOS mode in order for the recovery to be successful.

See KB 59877: Acronis True Image: how to distinguish between UEFI and Legacy BIOS boot modes of Acronis Bootable Media - with reference to the above note.

Finally, please take a look at forum topic: [How to] recover an entire disk backup - and in particular the attached PDF document showing this process for recovery.

Beginner
Posts: 1
Comments: 2

Thank you for your answer. It sounds complicated, but I guess it must be the optimal way to do it with Acronis. I just used some freeware competition software, their cloning option worked like a charm.