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Question as to which process is best for my situation.

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I have just downloaded ATI2016 to create an exact copy/clone of my system, currently running Win7, on a second identical HDD in preparation to upgrade to Win10.  My first HDD contains two partitions (C: and D:) and the second HDD (K:) is empty.  I want to be able to have both systems (7&10) bootable, just in case (of anything!)  My delema is should I use the "Copy" or "Clone" proceedure!  Any advice and/or tips would be greatly appreciated!

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Waynbow.

Either way is fine - the end result will be the same.  However, you can't just copy the contents of one drive to the other and expect it to boot, it won't work because of the hidden paritions and bootloaders.  You either clone with Acronis, or take a full disk image with Acronis, save the image to a 3rd location (another drive) and then restore that image to the new drive.  I prefer the backup and restore process because you get a backup out of it and can rely on that to restore from any point after that.  A clone leaves no such backup safety net.  It's actually recommended to take a backup before a clone, just in case.

If you clone the original (C/D) to the disk that is currently K, take out the original drive an replace with the one that is K so that K is where the original is/was and the original is where K is.  Then, start the clone process with your offline bootable recovery media (don't start a clone in Windows - even though it will let you, just don't - it will save you trouble and avoid possible issues with corrupting your working drives bootloader).  Clone from the original to K - make sure you clone in the right direction or you'll have 2 blank drives instead of 2 Windows drives!

Once the clone is complete, leave the drive in the the main position (this would be the one that started as K and just received the clone) and disconnect the drive that is in the 2nd position (this would be the C/D drive that used to be in the main, but was moved).  You never want to boot with both drives installed after a clone as the bios will think they are the same drive and spaz out and possibly corrupt the bootloader of both drives).  

Now boot the newly cloned drive and it should boot up just like the original drive. If it does, you now know that you have 2 exact copies of a working, bootalble OS.  At this point, pick the drive you want to upgrade to Windows 10 and move it to the main position (or leave the one that's there if that's the one you want to use) and keep the other disconnected and safely away as a backup in case you want to swap back to Windows 7 later.  Then upgrade to Windows 10 and have at it.  Once the computer is upgraded to Windows 10, it will have a valid windows 10 license for the life of the motherboard.

You can swap back and forth between the drives after this as you see fit, but I would not leave both in the machine and connected when you boot.  You can do this, but risk corrupting the bootloaders since they still have the same hardware ID - personally, it's not worth it.  I would just make the effort to swap them out if/when you need to and be content with knowing you have a solid Windows 7 image backup that you can resort to if the need arises.  

Thank you for your rapid and knowlegeable reply to my post.  I suspect/hope that you realize I am not exactly tech savvy, and with that said, I'd like to ask for your patience and understanding and provide some clarification on a few points.

I have done a "backup" of the 1st 2TB HDD (C&D) to the 2nd 2TB HDD (K).  (fyi: 1st HDD, partitioned - C:=931GB w/69GB used and D:=931GB w/108GB used, 2nd HDD, K:=1.81TB w/0.49TB used).  I don't have a third HDD to use.

The choices you stated, "clone with Acronis, or take a full disk image with Acronis."  The Clone Disk option is listed in the Tools but I'm afraid I don't see what you mean by/with "take a full disk image with Acronis."  

I'm having trouble with your "If you clone the original" paragraph.  I get the switching drives part but what are you refering to with "with your offline bootable recovery media"?  

Waynbow,

Unfortunately, if you only have the two disk drives (C&D and K) then you cannot use the full disk image that you have made and stored on the K disk as this cannot be both the source and target for a backup and restore operation, or target for a clone without wiping out that backup image.

If you don't have a spare external USB disk drive of around 200 - 250GB to store the full disk backup size of your main OS boot drive (69GB + 108GB used for your C and D partitions), then you will need to just do a clone and hope that all goes well without having the safety net of having a full disk backup to fall back upon.

To perform the clone operation, please see KB document: 56634: Acronis True Image 2016: Cloning Disks which will take you through the correct steps that need to be taken, and includes a video tutorial of the process.

As Bobbo advised previously, please do not attempt the clone from within Windows (even though Acronis offers this option) - you should use the Acronis bootable Rescue Media created on CD/DVD or USB stick, and boot from this rescue media to perform the clone.

 

Waynbow, I also provided a detailed answer to your PM - hope that explains things.  The referenced videos should also help explain the offline recovery media a little better so you can see how it works in action.