Cloning 1TB HGST hard drive with some bad sectors to a 1TB Crucial SSD
As title says I'm trying to clone my old drive to the new one, I have some questions:
1- So I need to boot from the ATI bootable Rescue Media and then proceed to cloning with one drive internal, one external?(I don't have an adapter to attach both as external)
2- I should select the "ignore bad-sectors" option?
3- It should be better make a system backup with the windows 10 utility and then restore it into the new drive?
Thanks for the support;
Answers to your questions:
1. Yes I can boot windows, but I would prefer operating without using the hard drive, so I could prevent to generate extra bad sectors.
2. The bad sectors starting showing up after 2 year since I bought the pc, so no warranty available; as soon as I found them, I started not using the pc, or using with caution.
3. I posted here 'cause I thought the last version is better, idk which ATI is better to use in this situation.
Question:
A. After doing the full Disks & Partitions backup image, what are the next steps?
B. On the SSD destination I need to create the partitions, or the backup itself will create them?
C. It's better to have the crucial SSD inside, and the old disk external or viceversa?
Antonio, if you don't want to boot into Windows, then you need to create the ATI 2020 Rescue Media and test that you can boot from this without any issue.
See KB 63226: Acronis True Image 2020: how to create bootable media for details of doing the above.
Next, you need to know how your Windows OS boots from the BIOS because the rescue media needs to be booted in the same BIOS mode.
The above document focuses on running a command in Windows to see the BIOS boot mode but if you are not wanting to boot into Windows, then you will need to check this in the BIOS settings instead. In the BIOS, check for the Boot priority / device and see what this shows?
If you see 'Windows Boot Manager' then you have a UEFI boot system.
If you see your 1TB HGST disk drive as the boot device, you have a Legacy boot system.
Once you have the above determined, then make the full backup using the rescue media.
When the full backup is made, you can then shutdown the computer, remove the failing HGST disk drive and replace it by the new Crucial SSD drive.
Now, you can boot again from the rescue media again and then do a Disk recovery of the full backup image to the new Crucial SSD drive. There is no need to prepare the SSD as ATI will wipe the drive as the first step of recovery.
When doing the restore of your backup, this needs to be done as a Disk & Partition restore and at the top Disk selection level.
Please see forum topic: [How to] recover an entire disk backup - and in particular the attached PDF document which shows a step-by-step tutorial for doing this type of recovery / restore.
Regarding the bios thing, I will post a screenshot of what appears to me, if it will not be clear to me.
Meanwhile thanks for the support, I'll post here the news.
Antonio,
I recently had to replace a failing HD with bad sectors with a new SSD. Personally, I decided to reinstalled Windows 10 and all of my programs and then just use an ATI backup to restore my "data". This will definitely be more work and take longer than disk cloning but the result is a nice fresh install of everything. Also in the process, I as able to identify that the bad sectors were not in "data" but elsewhere on the disk.
The Windows media creation tool works great. I have used it with both USB flash drives and high density DVD drives. As already mentioned, make a full Disks & Partitions backup image of the potentially failing HD as soon as possible. Whenever I have had to replace a disk, I always put the new drive in the computer and used an external USB to SATA adapter for the old drive in order to pull "data" off of it.
Good luck!
Hello again, where I can download true image 2020?
The crucial website bringed me here: https://www.acronis.com/en-eu/promotion/CrucialHD-download/
Antonio, if you currently have the Crucial OEM version of ATI, then you would need to purchase an upgrade from that to ATI 2020 which is a paid version.
See KB 1836: Upgrading from Acronis True Image OEM versions to Acronis True Image
Ok got it, I saw that the media builder creates the usb based on the pc I am using.
I can't create it from a different pc and use it on the pc i need to repair?
The rescue media can normally be used on more than the one PC, so the only way to know is to try it.
Ok, sorry for all those questions, but i just want to be cautious.
So is better create it with the simple mode or advanced?
Simple mode uses the Windows Recovery Environment from the PC where it is being created for the Windows PE files needed - this will include device support for the hardware in that PC.
If your 2 PC's are very similar, then this shouldn't be an issue.
Advanced mode then offers two options for the rescue media.
Windows PE using the Windows 10 ADK for the PE files - which will require you to download and install the ADK (which is around 6GB in size).
Linux media (as used in older versions of ATI by default) - which has less support for modern PC devices.
Of the above, I have used both types of Windows PE rescue media but do not use the Linux media.
Ok created the rescue media!
I forgot to ask where to create the image backup file? I can create it into the new hard drive and restore it from the new drive itself?
Antonio, the backup image file should be on a different drive to either your HGST or Crucial SSD, i.e. it should be on an external backup drive.
Hello Steve, when selecting the target drive i should select "recover disk signature" option?
I have a couple of programs with license, and the Windows 10 OS itself.
I would normally select to recover the disk signature as this can be used by some activation software. Windows shouldn't need it as it uses the computer hardware signature (CPU, motherboard, BIOS etc).
Steve I managed to create the backup file, but in the end of the process gived me the error "backup is not created"
But I can see it on the drive where I created it, I can restore it just fine or there could be issues?
I looked into the usb with ATI, but there are no log files created unfortunally.
Antonio, how did you create the backup file here?
If this was using the ATI GUI running in Windows, then the log files are there but not obvious from the GUI.
If the backup was made using bootable rescue media, then the log has to be saved while still in the boot application as is lost as soon as you restart the computer.
Whether the backup file will be good for a restore operation really depends on what the error was in creating it. At this time, I would not rely on it.
I was using the bootanle rescue media, but I already shutted down the pc unfortunally, btw there isn't a direct way to shutdown the pc after using the rescue media, even the "shutdown" command on the cmd prompt didn't work.
Antonio, are you able to connect your backup drive with the HGST backup image to another computer where you have the same version of ATI installed? If yes, then try doing a validation for the backup image - this will tell you if it is good or is incomplete.
Yes i can try it, but i don't know how to do it, i couldn't find an option for validate backups.
Edit, I tried validating it, this is the result:
Antonio, the error would suggest the backup image isn't going to be good for recovery.
The next suggestion would be to connect the HGST drive to your second system then try making a full disk backup from within Windows on that system to your backup drive.
Doing this would not need the HGST drive to be booted, so only being used for the backup, plus you will be able to see the log for the backup to check for errors etc.
Please download the MVP Log Viewer tool (link in my signature below) and use this to review the log file for your backup operation.
So i can create a backup from another system but selecting my HGST drive?
And then using a usb drive with Windows 10 media to restore the new backup?
Whats about cloning with acronis, it could be a plan B?
Yes, provided the drive is connected externally along with your backup drive.
Once you have created the backup image, then I would recommend doing the restore using the Acronis boot media on the original computer with the new Crucial SSD installed where the HGST drive was previously.
Ok I connected the HGST to another laptop i have, but from this system windows 10 let me create a backup only for the system i am using and not my HGST.
Am i missing something?
I tried "Backup and Restore", "Create a system image", but it auto selects also the Windows partition of the actual system and his EFI partition.
Antonio, if you are still using an OEM version of ATI, then this is probably a limitation placed on you by that OEM vendor. The full version of ATI 2020 does not impose any such restrictions.
The screen i posted was from the windows backup utility, i didn't used Acronis.
I misunderstood, now i selected the right partitions with ATI and started the backup.
But it didn't let me enable the "ignore bad sectors" option, where is it?
See the backup task Options >> Advanced >> Error handling where there is an option for ignoring bad sectors.
Nothing can't even start the backup this way, i get a "backup error".
This is the log generated and the log opened with the MVP Log Viewer tool:
Antonio, the log shows a read error for the drive followed by a VSS snapshot error (which is probably directly related to the read error).
At this time, I can only suggest that you put the HGST drive back in the original computer as the boot drive then test to see if it will still boot into Windows or whether it has failed completely?
If the drive won't boot then the next question is: Do you have any older backups of this drive that you could recover to your new SSD?
Ok, and if windows will boot, what i can possibly do later?
I can try installing ATI here and try to backup?
No never did a backup before, 'cause i didn't have an extra backup drive.
If Windows will boot, then if you have ATI installed, make a backup from within Windows to your backup drive. If you don't have ATI installed, then you must decide if you want to install ATI or not?
Hello Steve, i booted Windows from the HGST, installed ATI and started creating the backup.
But it's still calculating the amount of time required for it.
I should trust and keep waiting?
Antonio, yes, please wait and give the backup task time to work out what needs to be done etc.
I would try to avoid using the computer for anything else while you are trying to get the backup done.
Steve, I am bringing good news, the backup was succesfully created! I also validated it and it's a working backup.
Now I tried to connect the SSD externally, but the rescue media can't find the drive unfortunally. Is a driver issue??
Is better to put already the SSD inside and restore the backup from external?
Antonio, always good to read good news!
Personally, I would remove the HGDT drive and install your SSD in its place then boot from the Acronis Rescue Media to perform the recovery.
If you don't see the new SSD as an option to recover to, then try using the option to 'Add new disk' to make the SSD ready to be used.
The only other reason why the SSD may not be shown is if you are using an OEM version of ATI from a different disk drive maker than Crucial.
Note: the recovery needs to be performed when booting the rescue media in the same BIOS mode as your Windows OS uses. If Windows uses UEFI then boot the rescue media using UEFI too.
I tried using it as external, and even windows couldn't see it, I opened disk management and the drive was set "Offline", I clicked on Online option and it worked for windows, maybe it will work with the rescue media now.
I created the rescue media with a Seagate drive, I never had a Crucial before.
Yes both my windows and rescue media boot in UEFI mode.
Good morning Steve!
I wanted to send you some screenshots from my bootable rescue media, but the language is setted to italian and I can't find a way to change it.
This is what i get booting the rescue media:
Antonio, if you are still not seeing the new Crucial SSD when booting from the ATI 2019 rescue media (as shown in your screen image), then you need to click on 'Tools & Utilities' from the menu shown, then on 'Add New Disk' and look for the Crucial SSD in the panels offered there.
I installed the SSD on my computer, and I was ready to restore the backup, but there are some things that aren't clear to me.
1- As you can see from a screenshot, there is an option called Sector-by-sector, I should click it considering my personal story with the old drive with some bad sectors?
2- Recover disk signature appears along with other options only after excluding and reincluding a partition
3- As you can see from the video and the screenshots I don't know which disk I should pick when it says Select target disk for Track 0 recovery (Disk 1 is the new installed SSD, Disk 3 is where I took the backup from)
I uploaded a video showing both issues #2 and #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3JUK5X5nHs&feature=youtu.be
4- I uploaded four screenshots showing each partition's settings screen, can you check if the default settings generated by ATI are correct?
5- On the last menu called Options there is the option Recover files with their original security settings; again, as the issue #1, I should select it considering my old drive condition?
Solved those issues, I think I will be able to restore the backup and hopefully to close this topic and thank you for the continuous support!
I installed the SSD on my computer, and I was ready to restore the backup, but there are some things that aren't clear to me.
1- As you can see from a screenshot, there is an option called Sector-by-sector, I should click it considering my personal story with the old drive with some bad sectors?
2- Recover disk signature appears along with other options only after excluding and reincluding a partition
3- As you can see from the video and the screenshots I don't know which disk I should pick when it says Select target disk for Track 0 recovery (Disk 1 is the new installed SSD, Disk 3 is where I took the backup from)
I uploaded a video showing both issues #2 and #3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3JUK5X5nHs&feature=youtu.be
4- I uploaded four screenshots showing each partition's settings screen, can you check if the default settings generated by ATI are correct?
5- On the last menu called Options there is the option Recover files with their original security settings; again, as the issue #1, I should select it considering my old drive condition?
Solved those issues, I think I will be able to restore the backup and hopefully to close this topic and thank you for the continuous support!
Antonio, if you do the restore as a Disk level recovery, then you shouldn't need to have to select the settings for each partition from your backup.
When doing the restore of your backup, this needs to be done as a Disk & Partition restore and at the top Disk selection level.
Please see forum topic: [How to] recover an entire disk backup - and in particular the attached PDF document which shows a step-by-step tutorial for doing this type of recovery / restore.
Next, there should be no need to use Sector-by-Sector as any bad sectors encountered during the backup would not be included.
The disk signature should be restored if the option is given, this can help with any software that uses this for activation.
When doing a disk restore, you shouldn't need to get into file recovery options as these will be recovered with the permissions they had when backed up in the disk image.
Ok I get it, but as you can see from the video excluding and including again a partition will unlock the other options including recover disk signature, otherwise I can't pick this option, maybe because it's included if I do a Disk & Partition restore.
I want to be sure that I'll keep software activations even if there will not be the recover disk signature option.
Antonio, if you follow the steps as shown in KB 61621: Acronis True Image 2019: How to restore your computer with WinPE-based or WinRE-based media - you will see in Step 8 the same advice of selecting only the top Disk entry to avoid needing to configure each partition individually, then in Step 9 you will see that there is still an option to 'Recover disk signature' shown lower down in the screen image.
Thanks for the link Steve!
I followed the steps, but at step 9 i can only choose the disk.
There is no disk signature option unfortunally
Antonio, I would suggest continuing the restore and testing afterwards that all is OK, you will still have the original HGST drive and the backup image you made of it, to fall back on if you find that the signature hasn't been recovered by default.
I finished restoring the hard drive, I also wrote on paper the disk signature of the old HGST using diskpart commands, I'll do the same with the new SSD and I will compare them.
If they will be different I found a command for changing the disk signature: uniqueid disk ID=[NEW SIGNATURE], so I should be able to have the same signature on the new drive, then I'll try booting windows.
Edit: They're indeed different, so if I change the new one to the old one, I should solve?
If the original disk signature is required then changing it back using diskpart should solve any issues it may cause by having a different signature.
Steve!
It's all done, I changed the disk signature, tried to boot, but i get error 0xC000000e.
But I solved rebuilding the boot partition following this old guide that helped me in the past: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/fix-bootrec-fixboot-access-is-denied-error-on-windows-10
Now the pc boots fine and I love how fast it loads!
Now I'll mark one of your answer as solution and close the topic, but first I wanted to thank you for all the patience and the continuous support you gave me during this adventure; you deserve to be called the best helper in this forum ahahah, I hope to see you and shake your hand someday, 'till then goodbye and take care!