Is it better to use the Backup feature or Clone feature when swaping out your hard drive
I recently purchased True Image Home 2010 and have been reading several different forum postings. In one posting I believe that I read Grover stating that it is less risky to use the backup feature than the cloning feature. If this is true for 2010, does anyone know if this is still the case for 2011 since I expect to be receiveing a free upgrade shortly?
Cloning Risks:
In theory, there should be no risk to the source drive during cloning as the disk is only read. In practice, however, there has been far too many postings of something going wrong during the process. Sometimes it is the operator choosing the wrong disk and cloning the blank onto the master; other times, the power fails during the process; at other times, the computer freezes and the the drive is lost. Simply stated, why take the risk of cloning when it takes on a few minutes longer to do the restore and the master disk is not even connected.
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As you can see, the risks do not all relate to the software in use. Other factors are also in play.
The thing that remains lingering in one's mind is this: Wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that the Backup Software itself should prevent you from taking that option of choosing the wrong disk when destination disk is also the source disk???
I would add just one question of my own, if I may: Would there be any foreseeable issues if the new hard drive is of a different size or an SSD, when using the same computer, or if the destination drive itself is installed in a different computer?
Thanks for all help.
Lots of things can go wrong, and if you do a backup, you have that on hand in case anything does go wonky. Heck, even if I was going to clone, I'd make a backup first to be sure I had one, jsut in case. Depends on how valuable your data is. Backup is safer because you have one more image on hand before and after puttng hte image on the new disk, vis-a-vis cloning.
Thanks, Scott, for your thoughts. It does make sense.
You did not say anything though about the question I left:
"Would there be any foreseeable issues if the new hard drive is of a different size or an SSD, when using the same computer, or if the destination drive itself is installed in a different computer?"
And if you think it would be fine do do (or if it could be done, in the first place) would it make any difference whether or not you had the Plus Pack?
Many thanks.
Going to a diff size drive is not a problem wihen doing a restore.
I do't know if ATI will work with all SSDs -- you'd have to test, imo.
IF you try to restore a system drive on a diff computer, then you have two issues to deal with:
1) The Win OS on many PCs is licensed for and locked to only that particular PC is is not transferable, so it won't work or activate on a diff PC. This is often the case when you buy a new PC with the OS already on it.
2) The new PC has diff hardware and needs diff hardare drivers -- you know, the ones you install when you install the OS.
The first one you can't really get around -- not without some illegal hacking anyhow.
The second one you can work around in diff ways. One is to use the PLus Pack or Universal Restore-- it allows you to strip out the drivers so you can install new ones on the new machine (you have to have the driver files on hand, of course.)
There are other workarounds, but at some very early point, it's easier to just install things over than to keep adding more and more duct tape to the process ;)
Besides, with Windows, getting a fresh install ins like stripping away layers and layers of dead skin, necrotic cysts, and more or less benign software tumors (sstuff you didn't want or didn't know you had and is taking up space, memory, or both.
I have used True Image to replace the drives in several systems over the years and my recommendation is to do a backup and restore. Full backup -> swap drives -> full restore.
It has zero risk as your good drive is now out of the system so no matter what goes wrong you can simply re-attach it. It also provides an end-to-end test of the full functionality of your bare metal restore process.
Once complete, I always keep the old drive in tact for a period of time. Once you have confidence in the new drive it is a simple matter to reformat the old drive or simply let it on the shelf.
Scott Hieber wrote:
IF you try to restore a system drive on a diff computer, then you have two issues to deal with:
1) The Win OS on many PCs is licensed for and locked to only that particular PC is is not transferable, so it won't work or activate on a diff PC. This is often the case when you buy a new PC with the OS already on it.
2) The new PC has diff hardware and needs diff hardare drivers -- you know, the ones you install when you install the OS.
The first one you can't really get around -- not without some illegal hacking anyhow.
The second one you can work around in diff ways. One is to use the PLus Pack or Universal Restore-- it allows you to strip out the drivers so you can install new ones on the new machine (you have to have the driver files on hand, of course.)
There are other workarounds, but at some very early point, it's easier to just install things over than to keep adding more and more duct tape to the process ;)
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Great. However, it seems to me something may be amiss here. I must confess that I have the ATI 2010 and PP 2010 (which I got for free when buying TI 2010) but never tried to test the real capabilities of PP. The immediate reason I am taking a second look into it is the fact that Acronis is currently soliciting all current users of ATI to upgrade to the 2011 version.
When you read the offer, it becomes obvious that PP is now being sold as a separate piece of software for (I believe) $29.99, meaning that if you're paying for it, you need to know IF it is good for you and, if so, HOW you are going to use it and WHAT are you going to use it for...
Somehow, I always got the idea that Acronis was promoting the PP as something you could use for a number of things, INCLUDING to "restore your current system to completely different hardware, such as when you buy a brand new PC". Of course, I could have tested it and find out if the claims were true, but it was a free product, and I had no reason or motive to question what the company's claims for the product. But now, when Acronis is trying to sell it to you, as a matter of principle, if not for the price itself, it matters...
This is why, after reading your post, I got a little confused about the real capabilities (and the real advantages for the average ATI user) of something as seemingly confusing as ATI Plus Pack. At this point in time and for the time being, as an averagely literate computer user, I remain highly skeptical about the usefulness of the PP for user like myself.
Which leads me to reinforce my worst suspicions that Acronis may have entered the down slope of the curve, and if this is true, I hereby offer my most deeply felt profound regrets. I still do hope, however, that someone proves me wrong by showing me my fears are vastly unfounded.
Bottom line: Should I still proceed and upgrade to ATI 2011 and forget about any (real or imagined) troubles with Plus Pack 2011?
I wish to hope so.
Cheers.
John,
Thank you for your help. It's sound advice. But I gather you never actually tried to do the restore to a drive in a different PC, did you?
Cheers.
That's like asking if you should get married. Will it be a bed of roses? Few are. Do all of them have some problems? You bet.; all of them. IS this the best fit for you? Only you can know that.
Bottom line: Should I still proceed and upgrade to ATI 2011 and forget about any (real or imagined) troubles with Plus Pack 2011?
I wish to hope so.
Cheers.
Thanks John,
Great simple to understand instructions. The only problem I have is that Dell wants my old hard drive back within 7 days! I also wanted to Thank Grover. You Da' Man!
That's like asking if you should get married. Will it be a bed of roses? Few are. Do all of them have some problems? You bet.; all of them. IS this the best fit for you? Only you can know that.
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Oh, sorry, Scott... lol
I was looking out for opinions from the forum, not necessarily for binding, wedding advice... But that's fine. My apologies!
P.S. -- Hope you're not working for Acronis... lol
Cheers
The folks working for Acronis are well identified on their posts.-; none of the MVPs who are all here gratis. ;)
If this was apple, it'd be diff -- a pretty much locked up clsoed hardware system. But all other PCs are an open architechture and there's amillion and one diff kinds of hardware setups. The only way to know if you want to go steady with a product is to date it a few times ;)
John,
Thank you for your help. It's sound advice. But I gather you never actually tried to do the restore to a drive in a different PC, did you?
Cheers.
I apologize if I mis-read the original post. I thought the OP was trying to replace the disk in the same PC as the original. But, I have done what you describe. An image restore is an image restore. Acronis doesn't care where the disk came from. If you boot from the Recovery CD you can restore the backup to any disk you install within the PC. So yes, I have attached a laptop drive to my desktop via a USB adapter and then did a bare metal restore from an external USB drive to the laptop drive. When complete I reinstalled the drive in the laptop and was all set. The only real requirement here is that the original drive and it's backup came from the same system that you intend to install the new drive.
John,
The description of what you did, I'm afraid, may not correspond exactly to what I meant to find out. In a attempt to clarify things, please bear with me just one more time while I try to ascertain if I understood it all correctly. I will be as detailed as I can. What leaves me somewhat in doubt is when you say: "If you boot from the Recovery CD you can restore the backup to any disk you install within the PC"...
Could you please explain it a bit more?
A little confusing to me is also this: "The only requirement is that the original drive and its backup came from the same system that you intended to install the new drive."
Anyway, taking the example you provided, you had a desktop and a laptop. Let's call the desktop's hard drive HD-1 and the laptop's drive, HD-2. You wanted to create an image of drive HD-1 in drive HD-2.
Using an external gadget, you backed up your HD-1 into HD-2. Then, you just inserted HD-2 into your laptop and -- Bingo! It worked seamlessly! Is this what you meant to say? Did I get it right?
Also, can you confirm that the "original drive" was drive HD-1, as I named it, and "its backup" was drive HD-2 ? And what did you exactly mean when you wrote: "the original drive and its backup came from the same system that you intend to install the new drive" ?
Please be patient with me and sincere thanks for your kind reply.
Cheers
No, I think we're talking apples and oranges. :-) But... I think I can help. Please confirm if I understand your objective. You want to replace the existing boot drive in your PC with a new drive. Your decision is whether to simply clone your existing drive or do a backup and restore. Is that correct?
Yea, I also think we may be talking oranges and apples... :-)
Anyways, no, what you are now asking may have been the original poster's intention, but at one point the question popped up about whether Acronis software could clone or backup your OLD laptop's hard drive, for example, into a different hard drive and then install this second hard drive in your NEW laptop.
And this was because Acronis purportedly advertised the Plus Pack as having the ability to do exactly what I said above, in other words, "to backup or clone your current hard drive into different hardware, even into a completely different system, such as when you buy a new computer"...
This is what I was talking about: Is that possible, at all, or not? With or without the Plus Pack?
What can you say about it?
Thanks.
Yea, I also think we may be talking oranges and apples... :-)
Anyways, no, what you are now asking may have been the original poster's intention, but at one point the question popped up about whether Acronis software could clone or backup your OLD laptop's hard drive, for example, into a different hard drive and then install this second hard drive in your NEW laptop.
Oh ok. Thank you for clarifying. I must have missed where the topic changed which is what was causing me confusion. No - I never tried restoring a backup onto dissimilar hardware. One way or another, regardless of which method I used to clone/restore a drive, it went back into the same machine that it came from.
Yea, I also think we may be talking oranges and apples... :-)
Anyways, no, what you are now asking may have been the original poster's intention, but at one point the question popped up about whether Acronis software could clone or backup your OLD laptop's hard drive, for example, into a different hard drive and then install this second hard drive in your NEW laptop.
And this was because Acronis purportedly advertised the Plus Pack as having the ability to do exactly what I said above, in other words, "to backup or clone your current hard drive into different hardware, even into a completely different system, such as when you buy a new computer"...
This is what I was talking about: Is that possible, at all, or not? With or without the Plus Pack?
What can you say about it?
Thanks.
And this was because Acronis purportedly advertised the Plus Pack as having the ability to do exactly what I said above, in other words, "to backup or clone your current hard drive into different hardware, even into a completely different system, such as when you buy a new computer"...
Hi,
I may say, from my own experience, that the Plus Pack works pretty well......most of the time.
I tried it 3 times and succeeded 2 times.
Was never capable of finding the cause and source of the problem and neither was Acronis.
Babac,
Can you describe what exactly you used the Plus Pack for? Did it involve just two different drives in the same computer OR two separate computers?
It would also be useful if you would elaborate a bit further about the results you achieved on the three times you used it.
Cheers
This thread seems to be going in circles. You can use the Plus Plack or Universal Restore to copy an image to a new machine provided you have the drivers on hand to install on the new machine. Or you can do a sysprep first but that gets more complicated and doesn't sound like the original poster is ready for more complicated. In any event one should have a backup on hand just in case anyting goes wrong -- things can go wrong, even with cloning.
And what Grover said re ATI2010 still stands for ATI2011, as his comments were regarding the procedure, not the particular version.
Babac,
Can you describe what exactly you used the Plus Pack for? Did it involve just two different drives in the same computer OR two separate computers?
It would also be useful if you would elaborate a bit further about the results you achieved on the three times you used it.
Cheers
Babac,
Can you describe what exactly you used the Plus Pack for? Did it involve just two different drives in the same computer OR two separate computers?
It would also be useful if you would elaborate a bit further about the results you achieved on the three times you used it.
Cheers
Hi,
I used the Pack Plus in order to transfer an OS from one computer to another with dissimilar material.
I did it following the instructions on this tutorial.
http://kb.acronis.com/content/5410