Disk clone advice please

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Hello David,

Welcome to our Forum, it's nice to have you with us. I entirely understand your concern, and will be glad to address it.

It's important to install the target disk into the laptop directly due to the possible boot failure: if you clone the system onto the drive attached via USB the drive may refuse to boot. Here are the steps we normally advise for successful cloning of the laptop drives: 

1. Plug in the target drive (where you want to move your system) into the laptop directly and the source drive - via USB
2. Boot your machine from the bootable CD (which can be created by means of the product or downloaded from your account as an ISO image and burnt onto the CD)
3. Select Tools & Utilities -> Clone Disk
4. Select the Automatic mode to have your old disk's partitions automatically and proportionally resized to fit the new disk
5. Select your old hard disk, which is connected via USB, as the source disk
6. Select the new hard disk, which is installed in the laptop, as the destination disk
7. Click OK to allow the product to erase all data from the destination disk (required to do the cloning)
8. Review the operation on the Summary window, and click Proceed to start the cloning

You can find the more detailed instructions with the screenshots in this KB article.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns, I will be glad to help you.

Thank you.

And don't try to just copy files -- that process won't get you the Boot strap and other critical system files necessary for the hard disk to boot up -- you need a disk imaging/backup program like ati.

Thanks Scott
I am asuming Acronis disk clone is that disk imaging / backup program?

Well, you could use ATI (Acronis True Image) to clone the entire harddisk or to make a backup onto some storage disk and then restore that backup to the new drive. if you follow Yana's process, that should work for you.

Out of interest what does not get copied/why doesn't it work if you don't install the new HDD in the laptop and put it in the USB instead? And why does installing the new HDD in the laptop before the clone solve this issue?
Do 3.5 internal desktop drives work differently?

For one thing, the copy command won't normally get you any system files (sys) at all nor even hidden (hid) files. It would kind of be like moving the gear-shift lever form one car to another; it wouldn't move the transmission.

RE hard disk placement, it ensures that the disk geometry will be preserved.

The original posted asked a very reasonable question and I'm surprised it was not answered. (Though some good alternate methods were proposed.) He did not say he was going to copy the files using a copy utility. He did say he was going to clone his internal disk to a USB-connected disk, and then put the newly created disk, the one that was originally connected via USB, into the laptop. Why will this not work?

It is not the recommended method for cloning.

Also, there are better solutions that cloning. Almost no one should use Clone. While Clone saves a step and saves a bit of time compared to Backup and Restore, it comes with risks as if you don't do it correctly you can end up with a non-booting system.

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. Use a full disk backup and restore, as it's far safer.

That will probably work with cloning rather than restoring a backup where the drive id might not be correct. Safest method is to install the new drive into place and then restore backup image from the original drive (now mounted external or in a diff drive slot) using the bootcd. The original image is never at risk and you can reattempt the operation should anything go wrong at any point.

I'd go one step farther than Tuttle and say even advanced users should avoid cloning whenever possible in favor of backup/restore. I just assume even advanced users can make simple mistakes and with cloning, the entire disk image is at risk---why risk it if you don't have to?

I know cloning sounds faster but running through the mine field isn't the fastest way to get across. ;)

Vic R wrote:

The original posted asked a very reasonable question and I'm surprised it was not answered. (Though some good alternate methods were proposed.) He did not say he was going to copy the files using a copy utility. He did say he was going to clone his internal disk to a USB-connected disk, and then put the newly created disk, the one that was originally connected via USB, into the laptop. Why will this not work?

Scott Hieber wrote:

I'd go one step farther than Tuttle and say even advanced users should avoid cloning whenever possible in favor of backup/restore. I just assume even advanced users can make simple mistakes and with cloning, the entire disk image is at risk---why risk it if you don't have to?

I agree with you. As an advanced user, I'd still avoid clone in favour of backup/restore. It's safer, and it can be repeated if necessary. Clone is a one shot deal, and a risky shot at that.

Can someone please explain how cloning is a risk? The source disk is left untouched, just as it is when you do a full backup. There is therefore no risk to the source disk. If the software works, the full contents of the source disk, including the boot sectors, will be transferred to the destination disk. How can this go wrong? This method requires one disk swap and one data transfer, while the backup/restore requires one disk swap and two data transfers. This process seems less risky, but the risk for either is very low.

I have been using laptops for 20 years, and each time I needed to move to a larger drive I transferred the full contents of the old drive, which was in my laptop, to a new drive, connected to the laptop via PCMCIA in the old days and USB more recently, and then swapped drives. There was never a problem.

I understand you may prefer backup/restore over cloning, and that's OK, but I don't see any more risk with cloning. What am I missing? How can cloning go wrong in ways that backup/restore cannot?

You'd have to tell that to those that lost the original image. It's easier than you think to mistakenly clone a new drive onto an old drive and then there are no do-overs. Probability is is low but the potential harm is high, which makes for risk.

Thank you. Now I understand the risk you are concerned about.

My copy of Acronis True Image Home 2011 apparently has a problem. I have reinstalled it twice with same results, the thinh will not make a clone copy of my "C" drive to a USB connevted external drive. The software goes thru all the instructions, clone source drive and copy to external drive 1 (H). Process is begun which takes about an hour to complete. Following shut down I reboot computer then go to MY COMPUTER then click on the USB drive to view it's contents. All I get is a file called "CUPCAKES" which is totally empty. I try the same procedure by right clicking on MY COMPUTER/MANAGE/STORAGE/DISK MANAGEMENT. What comes up is my USB external drive shows it as having 2 partitions (G & H) with H not being allocated or formatted. The problem is before I mounted the Acronis clone software I repeated the previous procedure to insure that external drive G & H were usable and formatted and they were. After waiting for an hour for cloning process using Win 7, prof 2/64 bit processor, the cloning process was completed. After remounting Windows and right clicking on MY COMPUTER/MANAGEMENT/STORAGE/DISK MANAGEMENT what I am shown in external drive G & H with G containing only one file called CUPCAKES with no content, zero and drive H or partition H as being unallocated or formatted.. What the devil gives with this evil woman software as I am really sick and tired of wasting any more time on it and about ready to replace it with Norton's Ghost. I previously downloaded this version again (2011) JUST TO INSURE THERE WERE NO ERRORS CONTAINED WITHIN IT BUT AFTER DOING THIS PROCEDURE (REWRITING PROGRAM AND GOING THRU CLONING PROCESS NOW 3 TIMES i HAVE ABOUT HAD IT WITH ACRONIS. Any solutions to this problem as I am dead in the water? Aditionally, as I can't make this softyware function as it was intended to can I simply make a total backup of my "C" drive as an emergency backup retaining all drive content and being able to use a rescue CD for boot from my external drive in event of system failure?

Thanks, Ken

My gosh, yet another impenetrable post.

Kenneth Phillips:

If you want help, please think about the folks who must read your post. Use short, clear sentences or bullet points, and break thoughts into proper paragraphs. One solid block of text with long sentences, some of which contain descriptions of what happened while some are your thoughts on the matter, is not readily readable nor understandable.

To obtain help in user forums, you need to write clear, informative posts. This article may help:

How to ask for help in on-line forums and news groups
http://www.webhostingbuzz.com/blog/2010/09/30/how-to-ask-for-help-in-on…

Also, as you decided to insert your issue into this existing thread, at least read the thread to discover why we recommend against cloning.

Often, when cloning doesn't work, a user error is in play--a key reason to avoid cloning, which is a very limited and unforgiving "backup" method. Creating a backup is much better--you can fit more thsn one backup on the target drive (if a backup goes bad, all is not lost).

Best way to clone, if you insist is to put the target in the machine and the source in external drive case, then clone.

cupcakes have nothing to do with ati. suggest you run an anti-virus/anti-malware scan before using machine any further.

also, be sure to have at least one copy of ati boocd and use that for cloning (if you insist on cloning). Read the above thread and consider tuttle's pointers.

Also, you might need to go into BIOS and change the hdisk setting fro UEFI to standard (or Legacy)--then change it back when yo are all done--this varies from one machine model to the next.