Creating a bootable clone
I am using True Image 2014.
I am trying to make a bootable clone of the internal harddrive (source) from newer laptop (which boots via UEFI), There is no easy way to attach a second drive (destination) to the laptop's motherboard.
Therefore, I am using a desktop computer as a cloning workstation. The desktop usually boots via BIOS in its everyday service, but for this purpose its harddrives are removed and only the following are attached:
--source disk (from laptop)
--destination disk (which should become a bootable clone)
--bootable USB drive (created with True Image Media Creator)
SEE the attached simple diagram.
I have already tried this, and the resulting destination disk was not bootable.
Here is my question: Does the desktop MOTHERBOARD also have to be UEFI for this cloning configuration to result in a clone that will then boot on the UEFI laptop?
Shadowsport....
Are you saying I should use my configuration (see my illustration called "bootable_backup.jpg" attached to the first message in this thread) and make an image file on the target disk?
IOW, I use the same setup -- source and target both attached to the desktop motherboard, booting off the USB drive -- only instead of cloning to the target disk I instead create an image file on the target disk.?
Then, after the image is created, I re-install the target drive (with the image) in the laptop, boot the laptop from the USB drive, then restore the image file back to the target disk? IOW, I use the same disk to both hold the image AND be the destination for the restoration of the image?
Thanks for the help.
Mike,
It is obvious from your illustration that you have removed the hard drive from your machine and attached it and a target drive to a stripped down desktop. I'm afraid cloning in this configuration will not achieve your desired results. I suspect you have done this because you have no way to connect the target drive to the machine. If that is the situation then a full Disk Mode backup image of the source drive restored to the target disk is your best option.
If you can attach the target drive to your machine via USB for example then you have the option to clone. Cloning a laptop however requires that the original (source) drive be removed from the machine, the target drive installed in the machine where the original source disk was installed, then the original source disk is attached to the machine via USB, machine is then booted using the boot media disk which you need to create with the installed application and run the clone procedure.
It is strongly recommended that you create a full Disk Mode backup image of your machine prior to any clone attempt so that restoration of the machine can be done if necessary.
"If you can attach the target drive to your machine via USB for example then you have the option to clone. Cloning a laptop however requires that the original (source) drive be removed from the machine, the target drive installed in the machine where the original source disk was installed, then the original source disk is attached to the machine via USB, machine is then booted using the boot media disk which you need to create with the installed application and run the clone procedure. "
Oh, I see. The cloning process can READ from a source drive attached via USB (and then WRITE a bootable clone on the target drive attached to the SATA bus).
The cloning process just won't work in the opposite way (with the target drive attached via USB and the source drive attached to the bus). If you do it that way the resulting clone will not be bootable.
Correct?
Thanks.
Yes. In some instances that may work but usually not.
Mike.
I'll give you my Cloning history, however I'm not recommending anything contrary to what Enchantech has posted here.
My PC info:
Win 7x64 custom-built Desktop - Asus MoBo w/Intel i5-650 CPU
Win 7x64 Toshiba Laptop L655 i5-480 CPU
My Mom's PC: Win XP HP Pavillion Slimline Desktop (CPU ancient :) )
I'm using identical-sized Source and Target HDD's with all 3 PC's although I've Cloned once from a 500Gb to a 1 Tb HDD in my Desktop PC when I upgraded HDD size with successful results.
I've been Cloning my 2 PC's for about 3 years and my Mom's for about 1 year. During that time, including about 85 Cloning's, I've had 1 (with my Desktop PC) Cloning failure (both HDD's didn't boot into Windows; I repaired both using "Bootrec" from the Win Repair media). That's about a 1% failure rate over the 3-year time period.
These are all "MBR" HDD's with Legacy BIOS boot's (not UEFI) and no GPT HDD's involved so Win 8 (and/or GPT HDD users) experiences may differ from what I've observed with Acronis (and 2 other software tools) Cloning observations.
My primary Cloning tool is Acronis TI 2011. I've Cloned with "Macrium Reflect" (free ver) just to verify the operation with an alternate tool. I've also Cloned with "Clonezilla" (free Linux-based ISO download). In both cases using alternate tools, my Clones have been successful.
Desktop PC:
I have 2 SATA Hot-Swap Racks installed in my Desktop tower so I can Clone (or Image) without using a USB Enclosure or Adapter Cable. However, I've Cloned and Imaged using my USB Enclosure with the same successful results, with Source and Target HDD's oriented both ways (Source in the tower and in the USB Enclosure).
Laptop PC:
Since my Laptop has only 1 SATA-install capacity, I use my USB Enclosure for all Cloning and Imaging processes. I started out Cloning with the recommended method, installing the Target HDD in the SATA slot and the Source HDD in my USB Enclosure.
I was curious about what I've read here and elsewhere on the 'net about the requirement (for Laptop's) to install the Target HDD inside the Laptop (SATA port) but have read conflicting information about the topic over the past couple of years. I tried Cloning with the Source HDD remaining installed in the SATA port and the Target HDD in the Enclosure and all of my Laptop Cloning process have been successful. I've Cloned with the HDD's oriented both ways, all with successful results. To verify the Cloning process, I've installed the newly-Cloned Target HDD in the Laptop after the process completed and it always boots into Windows without issue.
To summarize, I've Cloned with 3 PC's using both Source/Target location's without issue so I've not understood the recommendation, particularly regarding Laptop's, to Clone with the Target HDD always installed inside the Laptop (SATA port).
Perhaps this recommendation is based on earlier experiences in past years, or maybe it's related to particular Laptop manufacturer's recommendations. For example, I've read elsewhere where Lenovo Laptops may require the recommended HDD orientation's to achieve successful Cloning results. I'm not sure about this, just an idea since apparently I've either had unusual luck (not my guess :)) with 3 years of Cloning with 3 different PC's, or there's something unique with certain Laptop Mfg's that require the recommended method as mentioned in this forum.
The one constant, with how I Clone, is that I Clone with the Acronis (and my other Cloning/Imaging tool) bootable media so I'm Cloning (and Imaging) from the RAM and outside of Windows.
I have Cloned (years earlier) with Acronis by using the installed software (starting the Cloning process, then Acronis requires the Restart) but based on the recommendation at this forum, I've been booting into the Acronis CD since my early Cloning days.
I also prefer that method since it tests the complete "worse-case" HDD recovery procedure, booting without an OS and Cloning (or restoring a full-HDD Image) onto an unallocated Target HDD. That way, the complete recovery path is verified to work properly.
Since posts can often be misconstrued on the 'net :), and I'm looking in a mirror here as well :), my info here is not intended to contradict any forum recommendation. It's just meant to share my Cloning experiences over a 3-year time period with 3 PC's.
"These are all "MBR" HDD's with Legacy BIOS boot's (not UEFI) and no GPT HDD's involved so Win 8 (and/or GPT HDD users) experiences may differ from what I've observed with Acronis (and 2 other software tools) Cloning observations."
Scoop, thanks for the history. Mine is similar. I have been using True Image since about 2005....I forget the version number back then. I've owned maybe 4 versions of TI over the years. I've cloned hundreds of times. I have had a few PCs myself, and my children have had many among them....desktops, laptops, Win2000, XP, Vista, Win7. Over a dozen PCs all told.
All of them were plain old BIOS and MBR. I likewise rarely had a failure (and if I did, the source disk was OK and I just had to re-clone to the target disk a 2nd time and all was well).
What is different this time is I'm trying to clone drives from a Windows 8 laptop where new-fangled GPT and UEFI are involved. That has complicated matters greatly. I am hoping there is a way to just CLONE a Win8 laptop boot drive.
(If I have no choice, I will make an image and then restore that image to a drive and the result, I'm told, should be a bootable drive. That is not my preference. A straight-up clone is my preference.)
Why?.....one reason is the .tib files that are created with True Image are sometimes version-dependent. A .tib created with an older version of TI cannot be read by newer versions, and vica versa. I don't want to deal with all that...tracking old versions.....I just want a CLONE.....an exact copy. If the source drive is "cloned" then the target drive should also boot (it's a bit of a misnomer to call the target drive a "clone" if, in practice, it does not behave identically to the source drive.)
Mike,
I'm basically the same way, I generally prefer Cloning although I'm doing Imaging occasionally to provide redundant full-HDD recovery options.
I'm mainly using another tool for my Imaging although I have a couple of Acronis Images stored as well.
Regarding Cloning with GPT HDD's and Win 8, I think I read somewhere here that the 2015 Acronis TI version is GPT compatible.
I haven't entered the Win 8 / GPT world yet but I'll eventually have to get a UEFI / GPT PC since Win 10 will use it. Sometimes it seems that, when adding security (secure boot/UEFI) it makes other things more difficult. One example is that it's sometimes necessary to revert to Legacy BIOS mode to get some bootable media to work on UEFI PC's.
I guess that's the nature of the "make things more secure" world.
It's interesting, since with my Win 7 PC's, they're cruising along with their original OS install's without OS security/malware issues. I've not had a reason yet to go to Win 8[.1] and will most likely wait for Win 10 coming soon.
It's good to hear feedback from another Cloner. This is just my take on this, but there's a lot of negative things posted around the 'net about Cloning (ie, risks involved, Target HDD's not booting) but I've not seen these issues with 3 different PC's and with your history which includes many more cloning's than myself, it's been almost all problem-free.
I have read some things about the Windows Update Agent not working on the Target HDD after Cloning but from what I've read about that issue, it's related to cloning with different-sized HDD's. Something with the Update Agent flags some dissimilar-sized Cloned HDD's regarding partition sizes, if I recall the article I read recently about it.
It's also worth noting that Imaging is not without risks. I recently read elsewhere where a user's Imaging chains weren't recoverable. That's one reason I prefer standalone full-HDD Imaging vs chains.
Bottom line to me is that there's no substitute for positively verifying one's full-HDD backup operations. That's the reason I'll occasionally test-restore one of my full-HDD Images onto a spare HDD just to verify a redundant recovery path in the unlikely event that I encounter a rare Cloning issue. I have 2 spare Clones on the shelf so I may never need a 2nd Clone to recover although that 2nd one came in handy recently when I encountered my 1 Cloning failure. It provided a fast way to verify the problem was confined to my 1st Cloned HDD. Image recovery was an option but not as fast as plugging in that Cloned HDD.
"Bottom line to me is that there's no substitute for positively verifying one's full-HDD backup operations. That's the reason I'll occasionally test-restore one of my full-HDD Images onto a spare HDD just to verify a redundant recovery path in the unlikely event that I encounter a rare Cloning issue. I have 2 spare Clones on the shelf so I may never need a 2nd Clone to recover although that 2nd one came in handy recently when I encountered my 1 Cloning failure. It provided a fast way to verify the problem was confined to my 1st Cloned HDD. Image recovery was an option but not as fast as plugging in that Cloned HDD."
Yes yes yes and yes. Cloning definitely has great advantage. My protocol is to boot off the newly created clone immediately, then put it on the shelf knowing I then have a fully functioniong backup, not an image that will most likely work, once I use it to create a bootable drive. I don't want any of that; I want a clone.
I will try the setup where the source disk is attached to the laptop via USB and the target disk is attached via SATA, and we'll see if the resulting clone boots or not.
(If a clone won't boot, it just ain't a clone.....that's not a quibble, that's Acronis misrepresenting their functionality.)