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Clone Disk vs. Universal Restore?

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I have two Win 10 laptops from different manufacturers; one smaller screen for travel and the other one with a larger screen for home use. The content of each laptop is almost identical. The bigger screen laptop functions perfectly but apparently has hard drive errors that prevent or hamper backups. Acronis has yet to resolve. Full disk backups are performed without issues on the smaller screen laptop. I'm considering universal restore from "smaller screen" to  "larger screen" or perhaps cloning disk  of "smaller screen" to use on "larger screen". Is either choice workable for me and if so, what are the merits of both?

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The bigger screen laptop functions perfectly but apparently has hard drive errors that prevent or hamper backups

I would recommend identifying and resolving the hard drive errors before going down the route of migrating your smaller laptop OS to the larger one.

The approach that I would take for this type of issue would be to obtain a replacement drive for the larger laptop and either do a basic Windows 10 clean install on this new drive, to show that there are no other issues besides just the drive errors, or use a Ubuntu Linux live USB or DVD to test the same.

If all looks good, then consider either doing a full clean install of Windows 10, or else boot the laptop using the Acronis Rescue Media, with the original suspect drive connected externally, then attempt to clone from that drive to the new internal drive.

Each of your Windows 10 laptops will be activated based on the hardware signature of the specific machines, so there should be no issue with doing a clean install of Windows 10.

If you opt to try to restore a copy of the Windows 10 OS & Applications from the small laptop, then this needs to be the exact same edition of Windows used for both laptops, i.e. both having Windows 10 Home or both have Pro, otherwise you will face activation issues.

Note: with Windows 10, there is much less need to use Acronis Universal Restore, as the OS has better flexibility in handling hardware differences, so if you do restore the smaller backup to the larger laptop, then try just booting into Windows without using AUR.

Note 2: both laptops should boot into Windows 10 using the same BIOS mode, and the Acronis Rescue Media needs to also use that same BIOS mode, i.e. everything using Legacy boot mode, or everything using UEFI boot mode.

Final comment on drive errors:

Dedicated diagnostic utilities from the disk manufacturers take the longest time to complete the checks, but provide the most accurate methods of checking whether the disk is good or needs replacement:

 - Western Digital drives: Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows

 - Seagate disks: SeaTools for Windows

 - HGST disks: HGST Windows Drive Fitness Test (WinDFT)

 - Intel SSDs: Intel Solid State Drive Toolbox

 - Samsung drives: Samsung Magician

 - ADATA drives: ADATA SSD ToolBox

 - Kingston SSDs: Kingston SSD Toolbox, Kingston SSD Manager

 - Transcend SSDs: Transcend SSD Scope

 - Silicon Power disks: SP ToolBox

 - Toshiba disks: Toshiba PC Diagnostic Tool Utility

From littleneil by private message:

Thank you for your response, however, the issue is a little more complicated. Large screen hard drive failed three days ago and was replaced! Before replacement I attempted backup and it failed. I attempted Universal Restore from small screen (to big screen) and believed I was successful since OS functions and all programs and folders are in place and functioning. The new internal Seagate big screen drive is fully functional without error.  EXCEPT TI 2019 is not capable of completing its full disk backup on the disk. Acronis remote control techs have not been able to solve issue. So now am considering another universal restore from Small Screen ASUS to big screen Dell. BTW I have lost contact with Acronis technical support chat system for 24 hours??

Thanks for the private message but please reply by the forum instead of using such private messages unless there is something that actually needs to be told in private.

First comment: please ignore using Universal Restore at this time - this should not be needed with your Windows 10 and could confuse things rather than helping.

Next comment: if your new internal Seagate drive in the large laptop if fully function without error, then lets work with you from that point instead of starting all over again with another restore from your smaller ASUS laptop.

Final comment (for now): If the core issue outstanding here is that ATI 2019 cannot complete a full disk backup (of the new Seagate drive), then this is where we need to focus.
What symptoms are you seeing, what error messages given etc?
What exactly are you including in the Source data selection for the backup?
How are you performing the backup?  Is this from within Windows or using Acronis Rescue Media?

Please download the MVP Log Viewer tool (link below) as this will help you to access the log file created by the problem ATI 2019 backup task, then you can either post a copy of the log contents, or else zip up the log file and attach it to this forum post using the File > Upload button provided.

Data on the new Seagate hard drive (large screen) is approximately 65GB in size. I  attempt to perform a full disk back up on the drive to a plugged in external hard drive - using Windows 10 ATI 2019.  Smaller sized backups on selected files and folders have also been tried (with similar results).  The back up begins as usual and continues until nearly complete then stops...indicating "Failed to open data stream" producing (eg.) a 62GB or 63GB archive file on the external hard drive. And ….another backup begins then  immediately until it stops prematurely, and produces yet another smaller archive file on the hard drive-- and the process continues again and again. Acronis rep told me during  a remote session that he changed a script file somewhere hoping it would change the out come. It did not. The rep also looked at a lot of "stuff" during the remote session and told be the new drive had some errors? The rep didn't say what.  I will work on the Log file. 

Thanks for the update - the log file should be interesting to see and will give us more information on the error being reported by ATI.

What type of external drive are you using and how is this connected?
Eg.  Is this a USB 2.0 or USB 3.x drive, and if the latter, what type of USB port is it connected to?
USB 3.x drives should be connected to a USB 3 port as they require approx 50% more power than is supplied by a USB 2 port unless the drive has its own separate power supply.

It is recommended to connect such drives to the rear ports on a desktop system as these are directly soldered to the computer motherboard unlike ports on the front or top of the case which use internal cables to the motherboard.

You should also check your Power Options settings to ensure that USB Selective Suspend is not enabled for the backup drive, as this can come into effect during times when Acronis is packaging data before writing to the drive.

External hard drive is 1TB 3.0 Toshiba plugged into a 3.0 USB port on the  large screen. Selective Suspend has been disabled.   6 plus archive files have been created on the external hard drive and that process is presently continuing. I created a Log Viewer but I don't know what to do with it has scrollable data on top in a smaller box and more data in a smaller box below. Looking at it on the large screen now?!

When you have the MVP Log Viewer open, click on File >> Save As Log File (as shown below) then zip the log file and attach to this forum topic using the File > Upload option.

Note: You may want to save 2 or 3 of the most recent ti_demon_ log files shown in the default view of the viewer and zip these all together, as this will show what error keeps occurring to cause the backup to keep repeating itself.

The other suggestion here, is to edit your Backup task >> Options >> Advanced >> Error Handling settings, as these will be why the backup keeps retrying over and again!  I use the settings shown below to avoid this type of repeat retries, i.e. all options deselected!

Hope this is successful. Doing this kind of thing is not one of my regular activities on a PC.

Attachment Size
494821-166248.log 5.52 KB

Sorry, there seems to be a problem with file attachments in the forum today, yours is the second topic where log data is showing a '403 Forbidden' error when I try to view or open it!

2 choices here, either wait for the forum file attachments issue to be fixed, or else copy & paste the text from the log messages (lower panel in the MVP Viewer tool) into the thread as you do with normal posts.

2019-04-06T13:40:21:790-04:00 8572 I00000000: -----
2019-04-06T13:40:21:790-04:00 8572 I00000000: ATI Demon started. Version: 23.5.1.17750.
2019-04-06T13:40:22:238-04:00 8572 I00640000: Backup reserve copy attributes: format tib; need_reserve_backup_copy false; 
2019-04-06T13:40:22:238-04:00 8572 I00640002: Operation MELANIEDELL started by schedule.
2019-04-06T13:40:23:799-04:00 8572 I00640000: Backup reserve copy attributes: format tib; need_reserve_backup_copy false; 
2019-04-06T13:40:23:804-04:00 8572 I013C0000: Operation: Backup
2019-04-06T13:40:23:804-04:00 8572 I0064000B: Priority changed to Low.
2019-04-06T13:40:24:116-04:00 8572 I000B03F0: <bold>Create Backup Archive</bold><endl/><tabpoint value=30><indent value=4>From:    <indent value=10><textcolor value="navyblue"></textcolor></indent><indent value=4><endl/>To file:    <indent value=10><textcolor value="navyblue">"D:\MELANIEDELL.tib"</textcolor></indent><indent value=4><endl/>Compression:    <indent value=10><textcolor value="navyblue">Normal</textcolor></indent><indent value=4><endl/>Exclude:    <indent value=10><textcolor value="navyblue">Files matching mask</textcolor></indent><indent value=4><endl/>Match criterion:    <indent value=10><textcolor value="navyblue">hiberfil.sys, pagefile.sys, $Recycle.Bin, swapfile.sys, System Volume Information, *.tib, *.tib.metadata, *.~, *.tmp, C:\Users\littl\AppData\Local\Temp, C:\Users\littl\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache, C:\Users\littl\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*\cache2, C:\Users\littl\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*\OfflineCache, C:\Users\littl\AppData\Local\Opera Software\Opera Stable\Cache, C:\Users\littl\AppData\Local\Opera Software\Opera Stable\Media Cache, C:\Users\littl\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Cache, C:\WINDOWS\CSC</textcolor></indent><indent value=4><endl/></indent><endl/>
2019-04-06T13:40:24:351-04:00 8572 I000101F8: Pending operation 173 started: 'Creating partition image'.
2019-04-06T13:40:24:866-04:00 8572 I000101F8: Pending operation 173 started: 'Creating partition image'.
2019-04-06T13:40:25:321-04:00 8572 I000101F8: Pending operation 173 started: 'Creating partition image'.
2019-04-06T13:45:59:792-04:00 1652 I00640000: Writing incremental version to file: MELANIEDELL_inc_b1_s4_v1.tib
2019-04-06T13:46:24:133-04:00 8572 I000101F8: Pending operation 173 started: 'Creating partition image'.
2019-04-06T13:46:24:403-04:00 8572 I000101F8: Pending operation 173 started: 'Creating partition image'.
2019-04-06T13:47:09:571-04:00 8572 I000101F8: Pending operation 173 started: 'Creating partition image'.
2019-04-06T13:47:12:401-04:00 8572 I000101F8: Pending operation 173 started: 'Creating partition image'.
2019-04-06T13:47:12:792-04:00 8572 I00100000: Volume '\\?\Volume{fefe22d5-3ee8-499c-9112-94a2eabc4b8e}\' has been backed up using the Express Backup method.
2019-04-06T13:47:12:792-04:00 8572 I00100000: Volume '\\?\Volume{71b9efcc-0552-4155-ab13-dae0779fec63}\' has been backed up using the Express Backup method.
2019-04-06T13:47:12:792-04:00 8572 I00100000: Volume 'C:' has been backed up using the Express Backup method.
2019-04-06T13:47:12:792-04:00 8572 I00100000: Volume '\\?\Volume{6523608e-8017-4b9b-88b5-241576c81d61}\' has been backed up using the Express Backup method.
2019-04-06T13:47:12:792-04:00 8572 I00100000: Volume '\\?\Volume{49879e64-2953-46fa-8733-ffe6d6c4f366}\' has been backed up using the Express Backup method.
2019-04-06T13:47:12:808-04:00 8572 I00640000: The following backups have been successfully created:<endl/>"D:\MELANIEDELL_inc_b1_s4_v1.tib"
2019-04-06T13:47:13:151-04:00 8572 E01E5000E: Error 0x1e5000e: Failed to open data stream. Try to remove the backup from the list, add it again by clicking 'Add existing backup' and recreate the backup settings.
| trace level: error
| line: 0x6d5b4dcc0ba14535
| file: c:\bs_hudson\workspace\790\products\imager\archive\impl\operations\archive_operation_clone.cpp:1847
| function: TrueImage::Archive::CloneArchiveOperationImpl::DoPrepare
| line: 0x6d5b4dcc0ba14535, c:\bs_hudson\workspace\790\products\imager\archive\impl\operations\archive_operation_clone.cpp:1847, TrueImage::Archive::CloneArchiveOperationImpl::DoPrepare
| $module: ti_demon_vs_17750
|
| error 0xb03e9: Failed to open data stream. Try to remove the backup from the list, add it again by clicking 'Add existing backup' and recreate the backup settings.
| line: 0x6d5b4dcc0ba14535
| file: c:\bs_hudson\workspace\790\products\imager\archive\impl\operations\archive_operation_clone.cpp:1847
| function: TrueImage::Archive::CloneArchiveOperationImpl::DoPrepare
| line: 0x6d5b4dcc0ba14535, c:\bs_hudson\workspace\790\products\imager\archive\impl\operations\archive_operation_clone.cpp:1847, TrueImage::Archive::CloneArchiveOperationImpl::DoPrepare
| $module: ti_demon_vs_17750
|
| error 0x1e5000d
| line: 0x6d5b4dcc0ba1447a
| file: c:\bs_hudson\workspace\790\products\imager\archive\impl\operations\archive_operation_clone.cpp:1660
| function: TrueImage::Archive::CloneArchiveOperationImpl::InsertArchiveInfo
| line: 0x6d5b4dcc0ba1447a, c:\bs_hudson\workspace\790\products\imager\archive\impl\operations\archive_operation_clone.cpp:1660, TrueImage::Archive::CloneArchiveOperationImpl::InsertArchiveInfo
| $module: ti_demon_vs_17750
2019-04-06T13:47:13:557-04:00 8572 E013C0005: Error 0x13c0005: Operation has completed with errors.
| trace level: error
| line: 0x9f2c53c72e8bcec0
| file: c:\bs_hudson\workspace\790\products\imager\demon\main.cpp:714
| function: main
| line: 0x9f2c53c72e8bcec0, c:\bs_hudson\workspace\790\products\imager\demon\main.cpp:714, main
| $module: ti_demon_vs_17750
 

Thank you for the log file information, this shows the following key lines:

2019-04-06T13:47:12:808-04:00 8572 I00640000: The following backups have been successfully created:<endl/>"D:\MELANIEDELL_inc_b1_s4_v1.tib"
2019-04-06T13:47:13:151-04:00 8572 E01E5000E: Error 0x1e5000e: Failed to open data stream. Try to remove the backup from the list, add it again by clicking 'Add existing backup' and recreate the backup settings.

 The above shows that the actual Incremental backup task has completed successfully and that the error that follows is for a further action being performed.

The first check point now is to see if you have set the Options >> Advanced >> Validation settings to perform a validation action as part of the backup task?

If you do have validation set, try disabling this for the task.  If you do not have validation set, then the other area to check is on the Backup scheme page for your Automatic cleanup settings, if set?
Automatic cleanup would normally show as Consolidation in the log file messages, but could be worth trying with this turned off to see if this is involved here?

Big Screen seems to be working OK now. No more recurring backup after backup. One reason may be due to changing the backup schedule to (don't schedule) and the scheme to "full". One anomaly I am noticing with the Big screen backups is : I'm not given an option to "validate" (using the down arrow)  like our two other machines? Checking " Validate backup when it is created" gets the task done however. Thnks for all the help.