I'd previously cloned my C: drive to my E: drive using Macrium Reflect. Apparently by default, and I don't know if I can change that, it makes E: Active. My first AX image after my recent cloning and AX automatically imaged the E: drive also. I then tried to change and or stop AX from doing that but I couldn't figure out how. It never did that before but maybe the last time I did it I was using v1 AX. I used diskpart to make E: inactive, began to clone again and noticed that Macrium was going to clone it Active. So, can I clone using MR without it making E: active and/or can I stop AX from imaging E:? Literally, the imaging of E: was in rapid succession of the C: image! Thank you!
ratchet, Can I ask why you cloned your C: drive to your E: drive? For backup purposes? For a dual boot? Is E: drive on an internal or external HD?
For backup, as I have as spare internal drive. I just do it about once/month. I realize I could restore from my AX64 or Macrium Reflect images but if something physically happened to C: I'd rather have a clone available for a new drive. I format the destination drive and then clone but never had an issue with AX64 automatically imaging that E: drive even though E: must have always been Active. I immediately attempted to take a snapshot and E: was listed with C: on the Backup dashboard and I could not find a way to change it so I just canceled. I actually haven't searched "Can MR clone making the destination drive inactive?" Thank you! I'm kind of slow today! I just realized that if I can't get AX64 from doing that, I'll just diskpart E: To inactive after the clone!
rachet, Thanks for the info. You should try to boot the OS on your "backup" HD. The current E: drive. I think you will find it doesn't load into Windows as you have broken one of the cloning rules. You have cloned into a partition with a drive letter. Sorry, but it is best you find out prior to the main OS failing. Let us know what happens when you try to boot that OS. I expect it will start loading OK but will eventually freeze on a blank dull blue screen.
Brian, it's currently empty. I'm waiting to see if I can stop AX64 from imaging it. Like I said, it never use to. I really don't want to have it as a boot option anyway. xxclone free does that and it does work but I just want a clone should I need to replace C:. Thank you!
rachet, If you want a clone that boots, delete the E: partition from Disk Management and clone into unallocated free space. The cloning process will probably assign a drive letter to the clone partition. Go into Disk Management and remove the drive letter. When Windows boots that new partition won't be seen as it won't have a drive letter. A plus is AX64 probably won't image a partition without a drive letter. But I'm guessing. Which OS are you using?
Ratchet, Brian has made some really good points... I'll just add the following. I don't believe Macrium can "clone" a drive with one ACTIVE partition without making it ACTIVE also... this is the definition of the cloning process... DUPLICATE the drive and all its attributes. With imaging instead of cloning, there are usually additional options that may be had during the process. If you really wish to clone, you'll need to "de-ACTIVate" the cloned partition using one of many partitioning tools available (I mostly use MiniTiool Partition Wizard HOME... it's free, but there are many others). I think AXTM is also getting caught up in that same cloning process. AXTM is sensitive to the partition ID that it's managing when the partition was originally created... and your cloning process will most probably clone that same ID to the clone itself, that's a hard process to stop without unASSIGNing the partition letter as Brian suggests. Created clones really need to be kept out of the system limelight (hide them, unletter them, disconnect them, whatever) until their service is required, otherwise you begin to see some of the things your are seeing.
The last paragraph is very interesting and makes sense. Thank you (Brian too)! I do wonder though why it wasn't doing it before?
