Using Clone function

I just purchased Acronis True 9.0. I want to clone my existing hard drive to a new hard drive. Why do the instuctions say I must "remove" my old hard drive when the operation is completed? Does this mean my old hard drive is no longer usable? I thought "Cloning" was simply a backup for a future use ie:my old hard drive crashes. I could use some simple clarification of what removing my old hard drive means.

 

If you boot the system with both drives attached, Windows may throw a fit finding 2 identical drives.
If you are cloning to replace the current drive -
Shut down and remove the old drive right after the clone process – before booting. Put the new drive in its place. Then boot the PC and let Windows find the new drive. You should then be able to reattach the old drive.
If you are cloning to create a backup of the current drive -
Remove the newly cloned drive after the clone process – before booting, then boot as usual.

 

Weaz Thanks for the response. Ok I am cloning to an external drive simply for backup purposes and if I understand you correctly after the cloning operation is complete i simply turn off the external drive? I do not use the external for booting only use it for backup.

 

AFAIK, that would be fine, but I would turn it off and unplug it.

 

Hello bnwrx,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are very sorry for the delay with the response.

Please be aware that, as TheWeaz has already mentioned above, keeping two hard drives having identical digital signatures connected is "unpleasant" for Windows as it might cause boot or drive letter assignment problems. We therefore recommend that you unplug one of the hard drives prior to booting into Windows for the first time. Then you can connect both hard drives and continue to use them as usual.

Please also note that if the disk cloning process is started from under Windows a reboot is required to complete the operation. When the disk cloning process is finished Acronis True Image suggests you to turn off the computer and unplug one of the drives. That's exactly what you should do to avoid problems.

Generally, there are two approaches available:

Clone Disk - transfers the entire contents of one disk drive to another;

Backup - creates a special archive file for backup and disaster recovery purposes;

Please take a look at this FAQ article explaining the difference between Clone Disk and Backup approaches in more details.

The 'Clone Disk' approach is usually used to upgrade the hard drive (e.g. install a larger disk), while the 'Backup' approach is basically dedicated for the complete data backup and disaster recovery purposes. As you are interested in backing up your hard drive for the disaster recovery purposes, we recommend that you follow the 'Backup' approach.

Moreover, there are several advantages of creating an image over the disk cloning procedure such as: you can create images without rebooting your PC, image creation can be scheduled for the particular point in time, Acronis True Image allows you to create incremental and differential images, image archive contains only the actual data and so has a smaller size, images are ordinary files and can be stored on any type of the supported media (e.g. any internal, external or networked drives, CD, DVD, ZIP, etc.), etc. However, the final choice is always up to your needs.

You can find more information on how to use Acronis True Image 9.0 Home in the respective User's Guide.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
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Alexey Popov