Dual Boot System Imaging
Folks,
I am sure this topic has appeared already, but I cannot seem to find it anywhere, so here goes:
I have a Windows 7 Pro (64-bit) and a Linux MINT 18.1 dual boot system (one hard drive). Can Acronis Backup 12 perform the imaging of BOTH partitions and the MBR that has information for both the Windows installation and the GRUB2 bootloader info from the Linux MINT installation?
I have been told that a number of imaging products, e.g., Macrium Reflect and others can "see" the imaged partitions one creates during a backup/imaging operation, but when it comes to restore a hard drive that died (assume same type, just new and clean for this discussion), that the Windows partitions will restore properly, but even though the Linux ext4 partitions are seen (along with the Linux swap partition), the tools might not restore them correctly and no one will guarantee anything on the Linux partitons other than the partitions will be restored, but are they usable?
Acronis has the ability as many tools do to restore the MBR at the time of the imaging, so I would assume (perhaps foolishly, I do not know) the data in the MBR sector of the hard drive should have the GRUB2 bootloader and Windows 7 information completely and perfectly intact for restoration.
Am I correct about AB12's capability or am I fooling myself that no one imaging tool can do both Windows and Linux partitions reliably and also get the MBR restored correctly without having to jump through a ton of coding hoops to get your dual system machine back online?
Chris

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