Cannot select source disk to clone
Hi
I am trying to upgrade to a 440GB SSD from a 500GB HDD.
Sony Vaio SVS1511C5E
Windows 7 64-bit
I got as far as booting from CD into acronis, with system HDD in an enclosure connect via USB 2.0 and the new SSD connected internally.
When I choose Clone Disk > Automatic I get to the source disk screen, where the system disk is seen but greyed out, with 'no items' in the selection field. The disk is listed as 'Dynamic' (image: source disk.jpg)
I read that acronis does not support dynamic drives, but having checked disk management the HDD and all volumes on it are listed as basic (image: disk management.jpg).
I can get to the destination disk screen, where both drives are seen but the HDD is listed as 'not supported' (image: destination disk.jpg).
Can anyone shed any light for me?
Thanks for reading
Hugo
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Thanks Pat
Will the backup create an exact image? The HDD is my boot disk - so I need the new SSD to be bootable.
After booting into acronis, when I choose Backup > Disk and Partition Backup, I assume I should choose all the partitions on the disk? (image: partitions_to_back_up.jpg)
Also thinking I should tick 'Back up by sector' and 'Back up unallocated space'?
If this is the way to go I need another 500GB or higher HDD to back up to. I'm not averse - it does seem safer this way.
Still can't see why cloning didn't work though.
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Hi
I have purchased a 1TB HDD to back up to. It seems acronis doesn't like this either.
When I try to perform a backup, I can choose all the volumes on the system HDD to back up, but when I go to choose the disk to back up to, the new 1TB HDD isn't there. It is connected via USB 2.0.
I tried to use acronis to 'Add new disk'. I chose MBR in the set-up. This made the disk available to choose in the field for volumes to back up, but again it did not appear in the field to choose where to back up to.
So far I am losing patience with acronis. Can anyone help?
Thanks for reading.
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Hugo,
The add disk routine should not have been used on the target disk which was intended to hold your backups.
Look at the 1tb disk in Windows Explorer and see if it is formtted. It will not show at all if not formatted.
Now, you will probably need to format the 1tb disk.
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Thanks Grover
I tried the add disk routine only after finding that the (formatted) disk was not appearing as an option for target disk.
Having done this, I indeed had to reformat the disk in Windows (to NTFS) after assigning a drive letter to it in disk management.
I went back through the process and same result - the disk does not appear as an option in acronis when choosing the target disk.
The acronis version I am using is the OEM that came with a kit specially designed for upgrading from a HDD to SSD (Kingston SSDnow). It is Acronis True Image HD - would the boxed version (Acronis True Image 2015) be any different?
I am also told that Windows licensing may be a problem if I manage to get passed this hurdle - is this likely? Windows came pre-installed on my laptop so I have no discs for it. I may have to admit defeat..
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To do the restore, you absolutely need the Acronis Recovery Medium to see the disk on which the backup is stored AND the destination disk, obviously. You could do the backup from within Windows, but for the restore, you need the above.
Is the USB disk seen normally in Windows? So only the Acronis recovery medium doesn't see it? If this is the case, you would need to create a WinPE based recovery medium.
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Hugo Frazer, I'm having exactly the same issue when trying to select the source disc to clone!
Did you find a solution for that? My HDD is a Hitachi HTS545050A7E380. Was your's similar?
And what about Pat L suggestion? Did you try it?
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Hi Paulo. 2 year old thread so may not get a response. Can you tell us more about the original hard drive, the new drive your trying to clone to, the version of Acronis you have and whether it's a full version or OEM provided version? Are you doing this from rescue media as well? The more background you can provide, the more likely your chances of finding some forum user support.
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Hi Bobbo_3COX1!
The original hard drive is a Hitachi HTS545050A7E380.
My laptop is an ASUS K55V, with Windows 10.
The new (destination) drive is a Kingston V300 SSD (240GB).
I don't know the version of Acronis. I'm using the CD with the software provided in the Kingston kit I that came with the SSD.
I believe that I'm following the correct steps, because I tried the exactly the same process with a another laptop's hard-drive (it's also a Hitachi, but the model is a HTS543232A7A384), and the software recognizes this an OK source Hard drive. I wouldn't mind having to use this as the source for the clone, but my laptop is an Asus K55V and the other one is an HP Pavillion...so I would have a lot of compatibility issues for using an HP source for my ASUS (because the Windows there has all the specific drivers for that model), right?
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P.S. The attachments "source_disk.jpg" and "destination_disk.jpg" provided by Hugo Frazer illustrate perfectly the error I'm getting.
P.P.S. What do you mean with "Are you doing this from rescue media as well?" ? So far, I only tried with the standard instructions from Acronis (in the CD).
P.P.P.S. I don't care at all about the files I have in the original hard drive, because I made a backup in an external drive... I'm more worried about being able to install the new SSD disk keeping the operating system from the original hard drive.
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I got this answer from Kingston technical support:
"Dear Paulo
thank you for your query.
Please note that the supplied Acronis Cloning DVD does not support Dynamic and GPT Disks, this is a feature only supported by and through payable upgrades of the application.
If the original HDD in GPT rather MBR, the cloning Software won't be able to clone it.
In such case, we would recommend to perform a fresh install or your may try backup restore function of Acronis.
Alternative you may try a alternative cloning software.
Also note that Encrypted, ATA Password protected or if the used Space of the Disk is higher than the SSD, it would be able to clone the HDD neither.
Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
Best regards
Bala"
So, what do I do? :s
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Paulo. the response you received from Kingston is only partially correct.
Cloning dynamic disks is not supported in any version of Acronis True Image - this is clearly stated in the various KB documents on the subject of cloning. See KB document: 48386: Acronis True Image 2015: Cloning Disks where it states:
Only basic disks can be cloned with Acronis True Image 2015. You cannot clone dynamic disks.
Your version of ATI is an OEM one which in turn is likely to be an older build and may be limited to being used with only specific manufacturers hardware.
What you can do is to use Backup and Restore (instead of doing cloning) to achieve the migration of your OS from your old HDD to your new SSD drive.
See KB document: 1540: Difference between Backup and Disk Clone
Backup and Restore is also more flexible and a lot safer than doing cloning - you obviously need to create a full disk & partitions backup of your source drive - this should be stored on an external backup drive, and can be used to recover from any mistakes that may happen now or in the future.
Once you have the backup, then you can remove the original (source) drive, replace it with the new SSD drive, then boot from your Acronis CD with your backup drive connected.
Assuming that when booted from the Acronis CD you can see both the new SSD and the backup drive, then you can proceed with restoring the backup of the HDD to the new SSD drive safe in the knowledge that your original drive is set aside in a safe place and cannot be affected by any issues that you may encounter.
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