Partition problem
I bought a 1T drive to use for backup, then archived some CDs and other files to it. Now when I try to clone my C drive to the USB drive, Acronis tells me it will create a new partition. I assume that will wipe out all current data on my destination drive. I created a backup folder there but that doesn't seem to help. Is there a way I can get my clone on this drive and save what's already on there?
There is rarely a need to Clone. Really, Backup is safer and more flexible. Many users encounter problems Cloning which they would not have if they has instead used Backup.
1. Don't use Clone. Do a full disk Backup, selecting the entire disk, and a Restore. The end result will be the same as Clone, but with many advantages.
2. Check out the many user guides and tutorials in the left column of this forum, particularly ATIH 2012 - Getting Started and Grover's True Image Guides which are illustrated with step-by-step screenshots.
A full disk backup, selecting the disk checkbox rather than individual partitions, includes everything. It includes everything that a clone would include.
The difference is that while a clone immediately writes that information a single time to another drive, a backup is saved as a compressed .tib archive. As such, multiple .tib archives may be saved to a single backup drive, allowing for greater redundancy, security and flexibility.
Once a full disk image .tib archive is restored to a drive, the result is the same as if that drive had been the target of a clone done on the date and time that the backup archive was created.
Clone is riskier because we've seen situations where users mistakenly choose the wrong drive to clone from and to, thus wiping out their system drive.