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Format before Cloning?

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Hi,

My current hard drive has one bad sector on it so I'm moving to a new drive.

However, before I start to clone the current drive (has Windows OS, software etc on it) to the new one, do I need to format it first? Will True Image just format the new drive for me when cloning the current drive?

Thanks,

James

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Thanks.

Going to clone using the Bootable CD.

Is this best when cloning a Windows OS?

Also should I put the new SATA drive in the same place as the current one i.e. using the same SATA port?

I don't know if Sata makes a difference (I'm still in the IDE world) but my preference is to use the bootable CD for Backups - I don't do clones.
And many users suggest doing what is known as a "reverse clone". This is where you put the new drive in the position where it will boot from and connect the original to any other location.

Hello James and DwnNDrty,

Let me clarify this situation for you.

Actually, cloning is more faster and convenient for cases of single entire drive transfer. However, we have faced some issues with cloning, when cloned OS does not boot etc. So more safer method it to just perform drive backup and then recover it to new drive from bootable CD, as DwnNDrty suggested. The difference between clone and restore is described in this article.

Also should I put the new SATA drive in the same place as the current one i.e. using the same SATA port?

No, it's not necessary. Your system will be able to operate correctly even if the same drive is plugged to different controller.

Let me describe the major steps during clone \ recovery:

Using the Clone Disk tool

Windows

  1. Run Acronis True Image;
  2. In the main window of the program select the Clone Disk wizard;
  3. Proceed with all the steps of the wizard.

Acronis Bootable Media

  1. Boot from Acronis Bootable Media (see Standalone Version of Acronis Backup Software);
  2. When booted, select Acronis True Image (full version);
  3. Select the Clone Disk wizard;
  4. Proceed with all the steps of the wizard.

See also:

Using the Back Up and Restore method

Windows, Acronis Bootable Media

  1. Run Acronis True Image (in Windows, or boot from Acronis Bootable Media);
  2. In the main window of the program select the Backup wizard;
  3. Back up the whole hard disk drive or a separate partition;
  4. Once the backup is done, restore the backup to the new drive.

If you're going to transfer the system to the PC with dissimilar hardware, please check this article.

Additionally to this, you are welcome to ask me any other questions concerning Acronis, and I will assist you further.

Regards,

What if the new drive is of a different file system (example fat32) to the source drive that is being cloned (NTFS). Do you need to format it first or will automatically change it?

If you clone a FAT to another drive, the new drive will be FAT (it will have to be small enough to be able to use FAT.

If you restore a file backup and the source was FAT but the target is NTFS, then the target will remain NTFS when the files are restored/copied onto it.
If you a full disk restore from a backu made from a FAT drive, the target drive will be FAT, assuming it's small enough to use FAT.

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

Hi DwnNDirty I am using Acronis 2009 bought to clone my system disk. Now some years later I want to do the same, clone the system disk its 1T drive to a new 2T drive. The clone operation fails with a message the HD does not have enough free space and it could contain errors and the new HD is much smaller!  I had previously tried to format it and that had failed.

 I am using XP Pro service pack 3. The new drive is connected via USB using a Bipra kit. The new drive is a Seagate SV35. Local Disk G: Properties lists the disk as RAW and has no used space and no free space! doesn't this call for the need to format the disk first? (I did try and it failed and disappeared from Disk Management) 

 

Geoffrey, I suspect that the new drive is either too large for XP to support or recognise correctly, as 2TB is the upper limit for such drives, or it may have been preformatted as GPT which requires a later OS for support.

I would suggest trying to do a simple clean install of XP to this new drive (after using it to replace your working 1TB drive) and see if that would recognise the drive and allow it to be used for the install.

See webpage: Windows support for hard disks that are larger than 2 TB

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

Hi Steve. Thanks. I did check that Windows XP Pro service pack 3 can format drives up to 2T.  The disk is now being formatted. I connected it up to an internal SATA socket. The trouble is it has been formatting for over 36 hours and I am wondering whether it has got stuck/hung.

Geoffrey, I am surprised that the 2TB drive is taking over 36 hours to format, that does sound to be very long!  The problem with stopping the format is that you will probably need to start over again if it has been left as incomplete!

Out of interest, do you have another computer running a later version of Windows, i.e. 7, 8 or 10 where you could connect the drive and do the format (but without converting it from MBR to GPT)?

If not, then grab a copy of the free MiniTool Partition Wizard software and try using that to do the format of the drive - it will also show you how it is formatted currently.  MiniTool is still compatible with Windows XP SP3 and supports both MBR and GPT drive formats.

In reply to by truwrikodrorow…

Thanks for the advice Steve. I stopped the formatting after 72 hours! which it did, so it wasn't hung.

To cut a long story short. I connected up another new 2T drive and used Acronis only. It got so far then came up with the RPC server error #1722. I checked with Services.msc and reset the Acronis Scheduler2 Service to Automatic and started it. The Clone operation then proceeded well and completed.

Geoffrey, thanks for the update / solution for how you overcame this issue - not the most obvious action to reset the Scheduler2 Service to fix a format & cloning issue!