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Should I do a back-up or clone before sending laptop for repairs?

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I use Acronis TI 2017 on my laptop but I need to send it in for some repairs that are covered under an extended warranty. The laptop is about 2 1/2 years old but was a higher end Lenovo. They say if they should have the parts but in case they can't repair it they will just replace it with a new similar model. I just ran an Acronis incremental back-up to an external hard drive but is that enough if they end up sending me a brand new machine and I want to reload everything? Would a disk clone be preferable?

Thanks.

 

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I recommend a backup - much safer than cloning. We recommend doing a backup before cloning and only doing it from recovery media

ian

I second a backup - always take a backup - always.  If you have the means to do both, take a backup FIRST, and then clone to another drive as a backup to your backup - if your data is important, having multiple backup types (in this case a backup and then a clone), could give you different recovery options, just in case. 

If you have to recover after the unit comes back, then using clone means there is double the chance of somethig going wrong. Recovering from backup will prove less complex.

Ian

Chris,

I cast my vote for a backup.  However, if you elect to perform a clone, please refer to the link below:

https://forum.acronis.com/forum/128231

 

Thanks for the responses. So far I have never needed to use a backup for restoring, either on my desktop or laptop. I did use the clone feature recently on my desktop when I switched from a failing standard hard drive to an SSD and have had no issues; everything went perfectly and once my computer BIOS was reset to recognize the SSD as the primary it all worked fine.

I actually only use the laptop for travel so any files like documents or jpeg files usually get moved to the desktop once I am in my home/office. In a worst case for the laptop being replaced I could probably just reinstall the other programs I use.

Thanks again!