How can I know whether Disk 1 or Disk 2 is the one to recover to?

Since your goal is to create a "clone", I would suggest that you clean the target disk of all partitions using Windows Disk Management before attempting the restore. When you are in Acronis and you select the source and target disks, you will then see the partitions on the source (as in your attached image - System, OS, HP Recovery), but if you were to select the target disk, no partitions would be listed. At least you would be able to distinguish between the two drives.

I think Acronis needs to take a look at the issue of having two identical drives in a system (I have an HP Business class machine with a matched pair of drives) and improve the identification process of the drives for the user. (Possibly by including the drive serial number - which should be unique.)

Thanks for your reply, but I'm still confused.

As can be seen from the image, neither Disk 1 nor Disk 2 target disk shows any partitions, so how would cleaning one of the target disks of all partitions change that?

Thank you.

You need to be able to determine which disk Acronis is referencing as disk 1 and disk 2. Having the target as an empty disk will allow you to help make the determination elsewhere in True Image so that you will restore to the correct disk number in the Restore screen.

There are several ways to do this.

A couple of ways are below:

You can open the tools menu to Check the status of your disks. This will show you the disk number Acronis assigns to your disks, as well as the partitions on them.

You can start to create a new disk/partition task and switch between the disks when choosing which one to select as the source (Acronis should display the partitions in disk mode when you select each disk). You will not be actually creating a new task, just using the screens to determine which disk number Acronis assigns to your disks. Once determined, cancel the backup task creation.

Interesting turn of events: The ISO Build 6528 that allegedly "solves the GPT disk problem" can see all my disks EXCEPT the external HDD that contains my valid backup.

Ditto for the second method that you recommend.

However, your first method, using the Tools menu of TIH2013 from within Windows, did allow me to determine that Disk 1 is the correct target disk. :)

So ... according to Acronis, in about 3.5 hours I will have available two identical internal disks plus a valid backup, which will allow me to "compute with confidence" once again after a long hiatus of, per Bon Jovi, "living on a prayer."

Some additional questions for when you have time:

1) Is it not a problem, as I am now, to work while the recovery is taking place in the background, i.e., working will not disturb the recovery process?

2) Once I have a valid backup, can it be copied to another external HDD and still remain valid? What I am envisioning is to have two identical USB3.0 external HDDs, each of which contains multiple full backups, in other words a backup of the backups.

3) Do you agree that full backups are generally the way to go, the reason being that incremental backups, although convenient, are more prone to failure?

Thanks still once again for your expert assistance.

Full disk mode Backup, selecting the checkbox for the entire disk (not just individual partitions), is the best. That ensures that you have everything you need, and you won't need to understand how the disk is laid out with possible hidden partitions. A full disk mode Backup captures everything, and is the simplest, safest backup method.

And yes, I prefer full backups (rather than incremental or differential) because they stand alone and are dependent on no other backups. But, they take longer and require more disk space. Incremental can be okay as long as you don't let the chain become too long and you do regular validations.

Yes, you should be able to copy .tib archives to another drive. But, validate those copies. Some users report issues when copying .tib archives.

If you have two backup drives, I propose a different strategy. Backup to one drive for a period of time, then swap and backup to the other drive. Keep one of the drives off-site for safety. You could swap them on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule. That way if disaster occurs and you lose your PC and backup drive to fire, water damage, theft, etc., you'll still have recent backups off-site.

Thanks for that suggstion, Tuttle.

"Yes, you should be able to copy .tib archives to another drive. But, validate those copies. Some users report issues when copying .tib archives. "

Can I simply drag the .tib file to a second external HDD or should I use Acrois to right-click on the file to create a backup of the backup in a "local folder"?

Thank you.

George,

You can copy the .tib file(s) to a new folder or drive using Windows Explorer (copy/paste, right click drag, send to, etc).

Be sure to Validate the new extra copy afterwards.

Do not backup the .tib file using Acronis to make a new file (backup of a backup file).

"Do not backup the .tib file using Acronis to make a new file (backup of a backup file)."

That is what I assumed, as I would end up with a mirror image of a mirror image, so I simply dragged the file to the second HDD, where it does in fact show up in Windows Explorer.

Problem is, despite browsing for it with TIH and clicking add to backup list, it does not show up in the TIH window, therefore, I would not be able to recover from it if ever I needed to--unless, of course, you have some advice.

George,

Did you try closing 2013 down and then reopening it? Sometimes the addition to the database isn't instantaneous.

If you try and add the additional backup file to the Backup and Recovery tab and it is a copy of one already in the list, it will not add it a second time as it is already in the list, but in a different location on your system.

This has happened to me when trying to add older backup files that I did not know were duplicates.

You do not have to add the backup file to the Backup and Recovery tab to restore from it.

From the boot media, you can browse and select the file.

In Windows, you can either mount the file, or browse to the file with Windows Explorer / File Explorer and double click it to open the file, then copy and paste the file/folders you need. There are also right click context menus available if you have Acronis Windows integration enabled.

"From the boot media, you can browse and select the file."

I was going to reply that I cannot see my GPT disks with rhe boort media, but before I did I tried the Build 6528 that Acronis sent me as an ISO and--Voila!--I can see all my disks.

I haven't yet tried the Try and Decide feature. Before I do , do you recommend this feature over Windows System Restore?

Thank you.

"Did you try closing 2013 down and then reopening it? Sometimes the addition to the database isn't instantaneous."

I did not try that yet as my Build 6528 rescue media appears to be working, but I will try later.

Thank you,