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cloning

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This question is about CLONING. 
When I clone, all partitions are created 
and sized perfectly.  The finished hard 
drive goes into the machine and works 
fine. 
HOWEVER, the data in the TARGET is 
smaller than in the SOURCE, and the 
difference is represented by the items 
shown in the settings: "exclusions," 
namely, System Volume Information  
(which contains restore points, among 
other things).
         see  attachments 
QUESTION:    
WHY are these items excluded by default 
in the settings, in particular, the "System 
Volume Information?"     
After all, isn't a CLONE, by definition, a 
carbon-copy of the original?
If we are assuming an exact duplicate is 
being produced, how do we know if excluded 
items will or will not be needed in when 
the clone is put into operation? 
What is represented as a "CLONE" seems to 
be a "FUNCTIONAL COPY" and clone is 
therefore a misnomer unless all elements 
of the original are represented in the copy.
If I made a clone of my HDD on Monday, and 
Tuesday the PC's internal HDD failed, 
wouldn't I expect to pop in the 1 day old 
"clone" and be able to pick up exactly where  
I left off?    
Could you please elaborate on my concern 
in thinking that the default exclusions would 
not be totally unnecessary in the copy? 

Attachment Size
acronis backup options.JPG 47.05 KB
CLONE 61919a.JPG 205.07 KB
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Frank, welcome to these public User Forums.

How exactly are you performing the clone operation here?
Are you starting this from within Windows or are you booting from the Acronis Rescue Media?

What version and build of Acronis True Image are you using here?
The ATI GUI > Account page will show this information.

I am starting from within Windows, not booting from rescue media. 

Using AcronisTrueImage 2017-5038 1user perpetual license. 

Have also downloaded and tried 30d  trial of AcronisTrueImage 2019, starting from within Windows.

Frank, thank you for confirming the versions you have being using.

I have to confess that I was under the same opinion as you that any clone should be a duplicate copy of the source drive to the target drive without any data being excluded unless the user selects to do so!

I only use cloning very rarely and had not noticed that the System Volume Information folders or any other items from the default exclusions list were being left out of the cloned drive!  I do not use Windows System Protection or Restore Points, so this would not have been of any impact to me.

If your 30-day trial of ATI 2019 is still running, then I would suggest opening a Support ticket direct with Acronis to question this behaviour with them, as I cannot find anything documented to say that this is how cloning should work?

(Sorry that I am not in a position at present to test this out myself - am currently fighting with one of my own drives giving me CRC errors that I need to resolve before it gets any worse!)

Steve-     

 Thanks for your reply.     Will try the support ticket.   

 The 47KB attachment above shows the Acronis TI2019 default exclusions. 

Do you anticipate different results if booting externally from the Acronis rescue USB?  

BTW, same excluded data observed using Samsung Data Migration in a previous instance, that is, a 

"FUNCTIONAL COPY,"  but not a true CLONE.     

 

Frank, if you want a 100% identical (forensic quality) clone, then you would need to consider investing in a hardware cloning solution.

I have the following dual-dock cloning box:

ORICO Aluminium USB 3.0 to SATA Dual Bay Hard Drive Docking Station with Offline Clone Backup Function for 2.5 Inch & 3.5 Inch HDD SSD SATA I/ II/ III Supports UASP and 2 x 8 TB (SATA III 6Gb/s), Tool-free

This particular dock is no longer available on Amazon but other equivalent products are linked from this page.