Need help upgrading to a larger drive? This pdf guide may fill that need!

[GroverH]

Some True Image users may want to replace their existing hard drive with a new or larger drive but not quite sure how to proceed.
With that in mind, I felt there was a need for this guide:

• Partition Restore with Resizing - PDF (2.8mb download) - Revised 11-17-2008

This guide illustrates how to restore a full disk backup archive to a larger disk while expanding each partition to a larger or custom size. A 3 partition restore is illustrated but includes sample settings for a 1 or 2 partition restore. Once you understand the concepts, you can adjust the partition sizes to those of your own choosing.

When upgrading to a larger drive, True Image offers both cloning and image restoration. This guide addresses image restoration only as I felt this was the safer procedure for those having a need for this guide. This guide addresses some of the more common situations and uses version 10, (build 4942) as the basis for sample illustrations.

Should you use this restore guide, be sure and restore each partition in the same physical order as displayed in your Windows Disk Management display which is specific to your own situation. Physical partition order may differ from drive letter sequences. Your restore sequence may need to differ from the sample image G-5 shown in the guide. In those computers which have diagnostic or recovery partitions, this special partition may be listed either first or last. Whichever partition is displayed first in your Windows Disk Management display should be the first restored when restoring to a new/larger disk.

If your computer is a Dell with Media Direct, the guide also includes some special checks and suggestions by Brian K to help you determine whether you need to implement special procedures.

I hope you will find my guide useful and will recommend it to others!
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Special thanks goes to MudCrab (Paul Purviance) & to Brian K for their willingness to help me properly present this guide. Their help involved a lot of their own personal time and was invaluable. My guide is much improved due to their diligence and back & forth assistance.
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[GroverH]

Terminology--cloning versus imaging:

From Acronis's standpoint, cloning means you will end up with two identical disks (disk capacity may vary). Either one can be used to replace the other. Whereas disk imaging means you will end up with a one (or multiple) backup file which will be about 30-35% smaller in size than your used space. This backup file (image archive) can be stored in another internal or external drive in a normal folder as a normal file. This image archive {backup file} can be used to restore a single partition(s) or create a replacement disk.

Cloning puts your original disk at risk of either a user error or a program or hardware malfunction. There continues to be postings by users who have wiped their original without a resulting satisfactory clone. To overcome this risk, it is recommended that user take the time to perform a precautionary full disk image backup (all partitions) prior to any cloning operation.

[MudCrab]

Grover,

I'm sure your guide will be helpful and I want to also thank you for the time and effort you put into it.