Clone Disk hang in "preparing"
I have for some time tried to clone my HDD in my Lenovo W541 to a SSD.
It was allways hanging in "poreparing state".
I was trying to clone while the HDD was mountied in my laptop and the SSD in an external USB cabinet, and also with the SSD mounted in the laptop and the HDD in the external USB cabinet.
Same result for both configurations.
After a lot of trial and error I figured out that if I connected the USB cabinet to an USB3 port I would hang during the preparing phase of the cloning, just after reboot to the Acronis flash image.
If I connected the USB cabinet to an USB2 port it worked perfectly.
Today I successfully cloned my HDD to the SSD in the USB cabinet and it succeeded and was able to boot when I mounted the SSD in my laptop.
Just to let you know, if for some reason someone else has the same problem.
Regards
Leif Arildsen


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I had this issue as well with an old machine (5 years old) with a third-party USB 3 interface so I just chalked it up to the drivers not being loaded. I just bought a brand-new Dell desktop with Intel chipset and I had the same experience. Hang on 3 slick as snot with USB 2. So, it seems that USB 3, five-years-on is still pretty unbaked.
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This issue can most likely be attribbuted to the power requirements of USB 3.0 being more than double that of USB 2.0. Using a self power enclosure or transfer cable will solve this issue.
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Thanks for this post! I was having the exact same issue, until I read the solution here. For some reason, clone disk will only work when the drive is plugged in via USB2, not USB3.
Acronis should really update their software to inform users of this.
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Acronis does update their software but this happens with either new build updates or with new product versions. Support for ATI 2016 ended some long time ago, and support for ATI 2017 ended last October (2017), so you would need to purchase an upgrade to ATI 2018 to get better support for newer devices.
An alternative is to use a powered USB 3.0 hub which can provide the power requirements of such devices when used with older systems.
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I'm using True Image 2015 - I had to downgrade to that older version because the newer ones won't let you do a local backup once the "subscription" expires. I'm not even going to go there, because it makes my blood boil.
At any rate, I AM using a powered USB enclosure and it still hangs on "preparing" when going through USB 3. I didn't try USB 2, as I decided to do a regular backup instead of a clone. But I will try it later.
One of the many reasons I won't be using Acronis anymore.
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I had to downgrade to that older version because the newer ones won't let you do a local backup once the "subscription" expires.
Russell, this is normal operation for any Subscription version of ATI and has been forever - full function is only available while the subscription is active and only recovery is possible after the subscription expires. For continued full operation of ATI then you need to purchase a Perpetual license version of the product.
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Russell Alexander wrote:I'm using True Image 2015 - I had to downgrade to that older version because the newer ones won't let you do a local backup once the "subscription" expires. I'm not even going to go there, because it makes my blood boil.
Hello Russell, just wanted to add that Acronis True Image 2019 has two licensing models, a subscription-based model and a one-time purchase license (not limited in time). The perpetual license is called Acronis True Image 2019 Standard. If you already have a key from Acronis True Image 2015, may be this promo offer would be of interest for you https://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/upgrade-backup/ Should you have any questions about licensing, feel free to contact me in PM or post here.
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Russell Alexander wrote:One of the many reasons I won't be using Acronis anymore.
Same here. I spent LOT of money on ATI and it was a nightmare from day-1. I used it ONCE and had to spend HOURS on the phone with tech to clone just one drive! This time, a year later, I tried to clone the same drive and it failed. Lost 2 days trying every combination I could find online. I'M DONE WITH ACRONIS! Their forum sucks b/c they take forever to respond or don't respond at all. I've never used such a POS app in all my life! The Krauts have no idea how to CODE. Proof of that fact is in their Bosch fuel injection systems. What GARBAGE! Let them stick to Nazi politics, b/c that seems to be the only thing they're good at. Lies + violence = profits.
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Dear Chris,
We are sorry to hear that you had such a negative experience.
If you have some open tickets with unresolved issues, we are happy to help.
Please send us details in direct message or by email daria.sorokina@acronis.com
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