replace SSD with Intel Optane
I would like to replace the SSD on my laptop to an SSD with a higher storage capacity. However, I was told that Acronis True Image will not work on systems with Intel Optane. Is this true, and if so, do I simply need to disable the Intel Optane before doing a sector-by-sector backup and replacing the SSD? Any other suggestions on how to replace an SSD with Intel Optane are appreciated.
My understanding is that Intel Optane works similar to Microsoft Windows ReadyBoost. I would also like to replace the HDD on my desktop computer with an SSD. I probably won't need ReadyBoost any more if I replace the HDD with an SSD, but ReadyBoost might still help with accessing external HDDs. Should I also disable Windows ReadyBoost before doing a sector-by-sector backup of the HDD to replace it with an SSD of the same or larger storage capacity?
Are there any problems with Windows drivers if doing a sector-by-sector backup of an SSD or HDD before replacing the drive with a new one (either SSD to SSD or HDD to SSD)?


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The laptop is using Windows 10 Home right now. I plan to upgrade it from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Education before upgrading it to Windows 11 Education before replacing the SSD. That way I can test it with Windows 11 before making any hardware changes. I only have one license for Windows 10 Education/Enterprise, so I actually have to downgrade the (older) desktop from Windows 10 Education to Windows 10 Home, before upgrading the (newer) laptop from Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Education, before activating the Windows 11 Education upgrade on the laptop (otherwise I only get a license for Windows 11 Home). Windows 10 Education is the same as Windows 10 Enterprise but licensed for academic use. However, there is the same problem there that if I want to recover the the previous Windows version, it might be easier to use Acronis True Image than a Windows utility.
I always do sector-by-sector backups including unallocated space. I have been told before it is unnecessary but there are sometimes hidden or encrypted partitions that could be missed and I want an exact copy of the entire drive. The C drive on the laptop is also encrypted with Microsoft BitLocker, but I think Acronis True Image 2021 is fine with that as long as the drive is unlocked when doing the backup. A sector-by-sector backup should also work I think even if it is encrypted.
I currently have Acronis True Image 2021 with a perpetual license but I don't think I need to upgrade to Acronis Cyber Protect for use with Windows 11?
My understanding is that Intel Optane and Windows ReadyBoost work essentially as swap space to accelerate read/write performance of the drives. So little bits of data are written and rewritten there, but I don't know if there is anything critical there that could cause a failure in Windows if the system drive is cloned and replaced. I am not sure if Acronis True Image can clone the Intel Optane storage, or even if it should if it could.
But if having Optane or ReadyBoost enabled will cause a drive recovery to fail, then that will make automated backups impossible. There is no way to disable Optane or ReadyBoost before an automated/scheduled backup. So maybe I am worrying about nothing?
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Nicola, you may want to browse the following topics raised in the forums ref optane issues!
Topic: acronis doesn't see my drive
Topic: Intel Optane and ATI 2020
Topic: Restore to Dissimilar Hardware
Topic: Trouble using bootable media on a laptop with Intel Optane+954GBSSD drive
I always do sector-by-sector backups including unallocated space. I have been told before it is unnecessary but there are sometimes hidden or encrypted partitions that could be missed and I want an exact copy of the entire drive. The C drive on the laptop is also encrypted with Microsoft BitLocker, but I think Acronis True Image 2021 is fine with that as long as the drive is unlocked when doing the backup. A sector-by-sector backup should also work I think even if it is encrypted.
When you are creating a backup with Acronis from within Windows then BitLocker is unlocked and Acronis does not see the drive as being encrypted at all thus the backup itself does not contain encryption either.
If you have hidden or encrypted partitions, then Acronis would normally switch to using sector-by-sector mode if it cannot identify the file system being used, but before this, such partitions would have to be recognised and selected in the backup source selection for the task.
Acronis will not perform any backup of BitLocker if encrypted as will post a message to say so!
See KB 56619: Acronis True Image: compatibility with BitLocker
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