Process - Cloning -Switch HD - Sys Backup and Data Backup -Best approach
Currently Cloning, will switch internal 2.5" HD with 2.5" SSD drive. Have a 3.0 USB Shell.
Once that is done and when Computer works with SSD cloned drive:
1. Should I wipe the HD in the USB shell.
3. Do Full System & Files Backup to the USB HD.
2. Do Separate Data Backup (regular on schedule) to the USB HD
OR
Is there some way to use the original HD in its bootable form while in the USB shell?
Which approach would you recommend? Why?
Thank you.

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OK the process identified so far is:
1. Clean up hard disk. Run Checkdisk and repair any sectors/issues.
2. Make an Acronis Bootable Media CD. (or USB?)
3. Make sure you can boot into that Bootable media.
4. Remove the Internal HD and install in a USB Shell
5. Install the new SATA SSD Drive in the Computer.
6. Boot the computer using the Acronis Bootable Media.
7. Clone the USB HD to the Internal unformated SATA SSD Drive
8. Shutdown.
9. Remove the Bootable media and the USB HD. (Very important before rebooting, the internal drive could become unbootable)
10. Then reboot.
11. Test computer to see if it is working properly.
12. After awhile, reformat the USB HD (old HD) and use it for Backup.
--Are there any other details I have missed!!!!!
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Found this suggestion to create a Full Disk Mode Backup and Restore it:
https://forum.acronis.com/forum/44709
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, as it's far safer.
Restore to the new SSD after installing it in the laptop.
Here is another urging to do a Full Disk Mode Backup to replace a single Laptop HD
https://forum.acronis.com/forum/43463
My best advice: Do not Clone! Instead, do one extra step and create a full disk Backup to an external drive. If ever you need to return to that image state, you would do a full disk Restore/Recovery.
There is rarely a need to Clone. Really, Backup is safer and more flexible. Many users encounter problems Cloning which they would not have if they had instead used Backup.
1. Don't use Clone. Do a full disk mode Backup, selecting the entire disk, and a Restore. The end result will be the same as Clone, but with many advantages.
2. Check out the many user guides and tutorials in the left margin of this forum, particularly Getting Started and Grover's True Image Guides which are illustrated with step-by-step screenshots.
29618: Grover's new backup and restore guides http://forum.acronis.com/forum/29618A full disk backup, selecting the disk checkbox rather than individual partitions, includes everything. It includes everything that a clone would include.
The difference is that while a clone immediately writes that information a single time to another drive, a backup is saved as a compressed .tib archive. As such, multiple .tib archives may be saved to a single backup drive, allowing for greater redundancy, security and flexibility.
Once a full disk image .tib archive is restored to a drive, the result is the same as if that drive had been the target of a clone done on the date and time that the backup archive was created.
Clone is riskier because we've seen situations where users mistakenly choose the wrong drive to clone from and to, thus wiping out their system drive.
This is what I want to do, as it will save steps later, not back up to the USB HD later because the entire system is saved as an image.
So, the process now would be similar, but I would use Backup instead. Need to work out the step by step process though.
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29618: Grover's new backup and restore guides http://forum.acronis.com/forum/29618
:If your goal is to create a replacement hard drive (larger, smaller or SSD), this new PDF guide could assist.
The intent of this guide is to illustrate how to restore a disk image backup by restoring each partition as a single restore-but repeated multiple times until all partitions has been restored. The settings about partition 1 does include example of how to set the 1 mb “free space before” which is needed as a partition 1 starting offset for SSD’s and some Windows 7 or Vista partition 1 configurations.
While the guide appears lengthy, its content is really taking the single partition restore theme and repeating it several times based on the number of partitions contained on your disk. Download the PDF file for more detailed information and illustrated examples.
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This guy was doing exactly what I was trying to do.
https://forum.acronis.com/forum/40869#comment-128042
[quoote]
Use the TI bootable CD to perform the clone. If Lenova, you will need to put the blank target disk iinside the computer.
If the system is GPT disks, there could be an issue with the CD. A new fix due soon (?)
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/41161#comment-129651
Comments from MVP Tuttle on why clone should not be used.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/40869#comment-128042
[/quote]
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OK, so I am going to use
http://forum.acronis.com/sites/default/files/mvp/user285/guides/tih2012…
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Gleason,
You can absolutely clone from your main internal drive to a UsB one. Acronis recommends you not do this because they are anticipating most users will be attempting to boot from such a clone and Windows cannot boot from a UsB enclosure though.
Main things when cloning:
1) Make sure the total used space (to include hidden paritions like the boot partion and recovery partitions) would fit on the new drive (if smaller) and that it's not too close (you need a little wiggle room to be successful - anticipate at least 10% free space left over on the new drive after cloning and you "should" be OK.
2) Never boot your machine after a clone process while both disks are attached during boot. The will have the same hardware ID in the bios after a clone and having 2 of the same during boot will confuse the bios and cause problems. If you want to disconnect the cloned drive made to your USB external enclosure, boot your main drive again and then plug in the external drive to the UsB once windows has booted, that's OK. Remember to disconnect it before you reboot again though.
3) Yes, if the clone is successful to your USB drive, you "should" be able to power off your system, remove the original drive and physically insert the drive that was cloned to the USB enclosure and it should boot after that. You should test this to make sure it is successful though before using this as your backup method down the road. Assuming all goes well, you can then remove it, put back in the original and the original "should" boot just fine too.
Personally, I don't clone. I see the usefulness of it, but feel safer with an actual backup to an additional drive and restoring that backup to any hard drive I want. Cloning does have limitations - it should always be started from the offline bootable media and not from within Windows (even though it's supported / allowed). Basically, when you start in Wiindows, it boots to a Linux recovery partition that Acronis creates, but if something goes wrong, that could cause issues for booting back into Windows later. Just use your offline bootable media to start the process and as long as that boots up, you're good to go. if it doesn't boot up, we'll, at least you're not modifying the Windows bootloader and Windows has no chance of being modified.
For me, if I need a true "clone" I generally stick to using cheap hardware clone drives that are less than $40 on Amazon. I have only used Acronis cloning when there were no other available drives to store a backup image to and/or no hard drive clone dock was available. However, in those instances, Acroonis cloning DID WORK AS EXPECTED, to there is no fault in it or its usability. I just don't see the need to take any extra risks with the software clone process unless there are no other options. Even the Acronis cloning tutorials state that you should take an image before cloning... that way, if things do go south, you should still be able to restore from that image.
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Gleason,
You have posted links to a number of posts that relate to older versions of True Image and although the processes for backup/resore and/or clone are much the same there are some changes along the way in the different versions.
You have the basic fundamentals of each process reading your posts. Either backup/restore or clone can be used to achieve your result. My recommendation is to first create bootable recovery media using the Media Creation tool, then, make certain you can boot your machine using that media. Next, create a complete disk backup of the existing drive. In doing this I recommend creating a Custom scheme, Full backup and using the Backup Options Exclusions tab and removing all exclusions except Recycle bin, Hiberfil.sys, Swapfile, and Pagefile.
Once this backup is created use Windows Explorer to open the backup and attempt to copy a few files from the backup to another location on your computer. This simple test is a very good indicator as to if your backup will restore properly or not.
Once you have done this successfully then the choice is yours on whether you wish to restore the backup you have created to the new drive or clone one to the other.
In any case I encourage you to review the True Image 2016 user guide on both backup/restore and cloning so that you have an understanding of each process using that version of the application.
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Bobbo and Enchantech Thankyou for the guidance. Very helpful. At least I was heading in that direction. Will look at the 2016 documentation, but our version is 2015 OEM, however I am very interested in 2016 for 5 computers, but probably not the Cloud version.
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Bobbo and Enchantech Thankyou for the guidance. Very helpful. At least I was heading in that direction. Will look at the 2016 documentation, but our version is 2015 OEM, however I am very interested in 2016 for 5 computers, but probably not the Cloud version.
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