ATI 2013 cloning to larger HDD
I have 2 questions. The first is about minimum disk space requirements for cloning and the other is about the actual method for cloning.
1. I'm wondering if there is a free disk space requirement for cloning when using ATI 2013. I have a SATA 80GB HDD (primary system) that I'd like to clone to a SATA 500GB drive and then use that as my primary drive. I have 73GB used on the 80GB drive with only 1.45GB free space. Will this minimal amount of free space on the 80GB drive prevent me from cloning it to the 500GB drive?
2. The manual states: "To transfer the system, you must first install the new disk in the computer. If your computer doesn't have a bay for another hard disk, you can temporarily install it in place of your CD drive."
Since I only have 2 SATA ports on the motherboard, I plan to remove my SATA DVD drive, replace it with the 500GB drive and clone from my primary 80GB drive to the 500GB drive. I'll then remove the 80GB drive, replace it with the 500GB drive, and add a jumper to the 500GB drive to configure as my primary drive. Is there a better (easier) way for the novice ATI user to clone a primary drive?
I'm running Windows XP Pro SP3, 2GB RAM, 2.21GHz
Thanks.
I only have 1 partition on the 80GB drive. Do I need to use DVDs for the rescue media? That's a lot of DVDs isn't it?
I don't have a flash drive large enough.
The ATI bootable Rescue Media is the non-Windows True Image environment. It is small enough to write to a CD-R or to a 1 GB USB flash drive. You would backup your image to an external HD.
I do appreciate the advice that you have provided. After reading my original post again I suddenly realized that easier != better. I think the method you suggest may be "better" but it is in no way "easier" especially for the novice. I'm searching for an easy way to clone my system drive which is why I purchased ATI 2013 in the first place.
So I need to ask again, do you feel that the cloning method stated in the ATI 2013 manual (please see my original post) does not work or has issues? If so, why won't this method work and/or what are the issues?
I think once I understand the issues with cloning, I'll be better informed to make a decision as to whether to clone or "perform the full disk mode Backup to an external drive" method that you suggest.
Thanks.
We MVPs often respond to users who made a user error when cloning and ended up with their source drive wiped out and unrecoverable.
Cloning works, but the nature of it means that you cannot undo and if you wipe the wrong drive you can not do it over. Backup and restore is a safer method, as it does not risk wiping the source drive and if something goes wrong you can try again, unlike cloning.
I know electricians who often install fixtures or change wiring without turning off the power. Sure, that works, and if they are careful they can do it without injury. But, I would never advise someone to do that because a slip or a careless mistake can lead to serious injury or death. So, it's easier to leave the power on, but it sure isn't better.
Again, thanks for your support and advice. It's interesting that Acronis advertises fixing one's wiring with the power turned ON! If so many users are blowing away their source drives, I think Acronis needs to provide better documentation or rewrite their software IMHO.
That said, if I choose the full disk mode Backup approach to cloning that you recommend, would I create an "ATI bootable Rescue Media" using the Create Bootable Media tab in ATI 2013 and would there be any "gotchas"? Should I use the program defaults for the bootable media startup parameters?
If I create a bootable disk ISO image, can I simply copy that image file to other media and then boot from that media?
What in your opinion is the most reliable bootable media for use with ATI: USB flash drive or CD-R?
To restore the disk ISO image, should I use the Universal Restore and just go with the program defaults for drivers, etc.?
Thanks for your help and I apologize for asking so many questions.
if I choose the full disk mode Backup approach to cloning that you recommend, would I create an "ATI bootable Rescue Media" using the Create Bootable Media tab in ATI 2013 and would there be any "gotchas"? Should I use the program defaults for the bootable media startup parameters?
Yes, create the Rescue Media. It's pretty straightforward. One default I change is the default option that will be automatically selected: the default is Windows boot, I change it to True Image as it's what you want to run (otherwise, why would you boot from the Rescue Media?).
If I create a bootable disk ISO image, can I simply copy that image file to other media and then boot from that media?
No. Use the Media Builder to create a bootable CD-R or bootable USB flash drive. An ISO on its own is not bootable. The point of the ISO is so you can store a copy ready for burning, or to place on a multi-boot USB flash drive.
What in your opinion is the most reliable bootable media for use with ATI: USB flash drive or CD-R?
Both work. I like USB beause it's faster, and I don't use up a physical disk that is ultimately landfill.
To restore the disk ISO image, should I use the Universal Restore and just go with the program defaults for drivers, etc.?
You don't need Universal Restore to restore to the same PC.
Thanks for your help and I apologize for asking so many questions.
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.
In particular, 29618: Grover's new backup and restore guides http://forum.acronis.com/forum/29618
I wonder why the Acronis rep told me that I needed the Plus pack. I explained that I wanted to clone from a smaller to a larger drive and that was her recommendation. Also according to the manual: "Using Acronis Universal Restore (provided by separately purchased Acronis True Image 2013 Plus Pack) will help you create a bootable system clone on different hardware. For more information see Acronis Universal Restore (p. 101). Choose this option when recovering your system disk to a computer with a dissimilar processor, different motherboard or a different mass storage device than in the system you originally backed up." The storage device is different in size and manufacturer. Would this necessitate using Universal Restore?
Will the limited amount free space on my source drive (<2GB out of 80GB) have any affect on the backup/restore operation?
Since I only have 1 partition, during recovery, should I select the MBR and Track 0 box to recover the entire disk?
Thanks.
clone from a smaller to a larger drive ... The storage device is different in size and manufacturer. Would this necessitate using Universal Restore?
A simple change of disk would not normally need Universal Restore. If you were moving to RAID or to an SSD, maybe - someone else can comment on that.
Will the limited amount free space on my source drive (<2GB out of 80GB) have any affect on the backup/restore operation?
That's a risky situation to have so little free space on a system drive. Windows needs some free space, usually recommended at at least 15%. I don't know if it would affect backup/restore, but it's risky. You might movve some data to an external HD.
Since I only have 1 partition, during recovery, should I select the MBR and Track 0 box to recover the entire disk?
As I said in my first post, create a full disk mode Backup, where you select a single checkbox for the entire disk. Do the same when restoring.
I went through all the steps to do a full disk backup as you suggested and my new 500GB drive has successfully replaced the old 80GB drive! The only problem is the new drive shows only 80GB of disk capacity with 3.7GB of free space which is identical to the old drive. This was not the intended result. I wanted to copy (clone) the old drive to a larger drive so that I would have more disk space.
Perhaps you can tell me where I went wrong, if I tell you the steps I took to arrive at this undesired state? The steps are outlined as follows:
Created bootable ATI media on flash drive.
Backed up disk in Disk Mode to external USB HDD. (backup named Hitachi HDS721680PLA380_full_b1_s1_v1.tib)
Swapped the 80GB drive with the 500GB drive.
Booted from ATI bootable media.
It took 2 attempts to recover so I'll outline each attempt.
Attempt 1.
For Recovery Method, I chose "Recover whole disks and partitions"
For What to Recover, I selected:
Disk 1 (selected)
NTFS (Local Disk) C: (selected)
MBR and Track 0 (not sure if selected)
I pretty sure that I did NOT specify any recovery settings for the partition.
When I clicked Proceed, the recover process ran but stopped with an error: "Failed to read from sector 6,479,848 of hard disk 2. Try to repeat the operation. If the error persists check the disk using Check Disk Utility and create a backup of the disk. R/W operation on MD device has failed (0x590001)"
I clicked Ignore All and the process stopped with the message "Recover operation failed".
Powered down manually.
Attempt 2.
Same settings as before but I selected "Validate Backup Archive". After validation I received the message "Recover operation succeeded".
I exited program, the screen went blank and just hung with a blinking cursor. I shut off manually.
I removed USB bootable media and powered on PC. It booted into Windows XP but it only got as far as the desktop.
I powered down manually and rebooted. This time it booted normally and I could access all files and folders, HOWEVER, the new primary 500GB drive only showed 80GB capacity.
Maybe I should have selected some Partition settings? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
NOTE:
What is also interesting is that the PC won't boot if the external HDD (that contained the backup) is connected but it can access this external drive if I power on the external drive AFTER the PC is booted. I'm wondering if, in the backup process, there were some files on the external drive needed for accessing the external drive that couldn't get backed up.
It sounds as if you may hve disk errors.
Check the 80G for disk errors
CHKDSK C: /R
May need to be scheduled. Could take a few hours.
Aferwards, look at the error report. if errors corrected, a new backup is needed.
You might also try a new backup using the "ignore errors" which is an option I believe may exist .
As for the method to use in restoring, look at link #3 below and follow the instruction listed in item #2 Disk option restore.
Be sure to include the "Recover disk signature option.
After completion, shut down and disconnect any other disks.
First boot after restore must be with only the 500 attached.
The new restore should boot as the only disk attached.
The unallocated space problem is easily fixable but you need to be able to boot with only the one 500 attached.
I had checked the disk prior to performing the backup and had no errors. After chatting with Acronis support twice, I re-read 3. Create replacement disks. -- Grover's guides.. and realized that the critical step is in re-partitioning the target drive during restore.
I now have a 500GB HDD with a copy of my old 80GB HDD data, programs and OS. Thank you!
I thought that I might be missing some QuickBooks data but that could just be that I'm not remembering correctly.
Two points that may be interesting:
1. I opened an Excel spreadsheet and could not use it until I re-activated MS Office.
2. My wireless connection looked as though it had never been established so I had to configure it.
I just thought these were a bit odd. I don't believe that I used the "recover disk signature option" so that may be why these minor issues arose.
Thanks again for your guidance.
Thank you for posting. Glad all working now on you new larger disk.
well, things are not so good right now. Windows XP is hanging. It boots to the start screen and then hangs. It won't even boot in Safe Mode. Of course this could be due to any number of things and totally unrelated to this post but since the only changes I made to my system within the last month were to install Acronis TI and perform the backup and restore, I feel that this could be related.
Any suggestions? Should I try to boot from the " Last Known Good Configuration"? I have foolishly not made any backups since the ATI backup and restore process.
Any advice is welcome. Thanks.
Certainly you can try the Last known confg setting.
Are you doing the restore when booted from the TI Recovery CD? This is the recommended method.
Review link #3 below and review item 2, item 3 and item 1. These could ge of asist ance.