cloning question

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by JustPlainFred, Aug 6, 2009.

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  1. JustPlainFred

    JustPlainFred Registered Member

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    Hello All,
    My PC is an HP pavilion desktop with two internal hard drives(Sata) the one OS C: and the other D: data. I have a spare hard drive that i want to use as the "clone " of my OS. The problem is that the spare already has a "OS" installed on it. Question : without "hot swapping" the drive after booting, (to my Data drive slot), how can this be accomplished?o_O Regards PlainFred
     
  2. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    Do you really want to clone the drive which means make an identical copy of the OS drive onto the spare? Or do you want to make an image backup of the OS drive that you can restore to the spare for testing or whatever reason?

    I think you feel that you must do this in Windows therefore your original HD has to be operational. The TI bootable rescue CD is also available for use.

    To make a clone of your OS drive onto the other, remove the data drive and place the spare in its place. Then use the TI clone command to create the clone. This can be done using the TI rescue CD which many people recommend or it could be started from the WIndows version. The next step is important: After the clone is created shutdown the machine and place the "spare" drive containing the clone into the machine in place of the OS drive. Do not reconnect the original OS drive since it is likely to confuse Windows because there are 2 identical drives in the machine. Reboot the machine using the clone. After the first successful boot up the orignal OS drive can be placed in the machine if desired. Also, be careful not to select the option that deletes the data on the original/source drive after cloning.

    To make an image of the OS drive, use the TI image command to make an image and store it on the data drive. Remove the OS drive put in the spare and restore the image to the drive. You can make a whole disk image and restore it which will include any hidden partitions of whatever and the MBR on the restore. The restore can be done by booting the machine with the TI rescue CD.

    Note that whatever data exists on the spare drive will be lost.
     
  3. GroverH

    GroverH Registered Member

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    In addition to what SeekForever has already supplied, check this link below.
    https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1299861&postcount=9


    If you want to utilize your existing spare drive, one good way would be to use it as a storage folder to store an image backup of your existing boot drive. This backup file (*.tib) could then be used to restore/overlay your existing boot drive (virus, etc) back to the time/date of the *.tib files. Also, this same backup file could be used to create a new or larger disk. I do not believe it you really want to perform a clone but should consider the creation of a backup image. When inside the backup selection option, be sure and check the disk option--not C only.

    Are you sure you have two disks? Maybe you have one disk with two partitions. Look at your disks from inside Windows Disk Management to confirm.

    My guides on line 2 of my signature below can clarify any questions.
     
  4. JustPlainFred

    JustPlainFred Registered Member

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    seekforever, GroverH,
    Thanks for the replies. Here is the problem.If i install the spare drive in place of my Data D: hard drive it will confuse the PC at boot time, (i think) as it also has an OS on it (dont think you can have two bootable OS's) I have lots of full images, just would like to have a spare drive ready to go, containing all of my partitions, data etc. (not just a .tib image of the OS) Regards PlainFred
     
  5. Gwalk

    Gwalk Registered Member

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    I have PGP 9.91 Build 287 - PGP SDK (3.12.0) installed and have my boot drive encrypted with WDE. I used WDE to prevent disk access if my computer is stolen. I don't keep really sensitive data there - I keep sensitive data on external disks that are turned off when I am online.

    Is there a better way to do all of this?


    I want to (clone?) the drive with Acronis True Image 2009, so I can install a new larger drive on my Dell Inspiron 1520 running Windows Vista Business - Service pack 1.

    Having read your post, I am wondering if cloning is what I want to do. I just want to copy my old drive (60 GB) to my new one (250 GB)


    I understand that earlier versions of Acronis will create an unencrypted image, but that it is not bootable. I read that I need to have WDE decrypted to create a bootable image with acronis.


    Another option seems to be to boot from a CD and Create the image from Acronis on the CD.


    Do you know if Acronis True Image 2009 eliminates the step of decrypting WDE?


    Thanks,
    Gwalk
     
  6. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    Actually, I don't think it will confuse it. Having 2 identical drives in place before the first successful boot after cloning likely will though but after booting it shouldn't be a problem. That is why you leave the original disconnected at first boot after cloning.

    Is your intent to have the drive in the machine "ready to go" or just make a clone and have it on the shelf "ready to go". If the latter, it is even less of a problem, just boot up the TI CD and do the clone. Unplug the original, test the clone, then remove it and reconnect the original.

    My usual question in discussions like this is usually, "Why?". Unless you are running a high-volume, computer-based business, what's the big deal over saving the few minutes to restore an image. I think I have only had to restore 1 image due to an actual HD failure since I started using TI at V9. You also now have a second HD to keep up-to-date by cloning and recloning.
     
  7. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    This question would be better off in its own thread and perhaps a moderator will move it.

    Acronis as a rule does not understand encrypted disks either in Windows or from the boot CD. The reason is that to create a normal image it has to understand the filesystem's structure and when it's encrypted it can't. Doing a sector-by-sector backup is the usual recommendation because TI just dumbly copies all the sectors in the partition. However, I don't know if it will allow you to do the partition resize on the restore to make use of the new drive's extra space - assuming you want to make the existing partitions bigger rather than just add an additional partition. This could be done with partitioning software but that could be a problem with an encrypted drive as well.

    No TI images themselves are bootable, media is provided to boot but then it references the images.

    IIRC, there have been posts where images have been created OK because the information was decrypted on the fly by the encryption program. Doing a restore may or may not work due to some forms of security with the encryption software. You could try searching the forum for "encryption" etc.

    IMO, the easiest way is probably the hardest way, decrypt the whole drive, do whatever necessary to get it onto the new drive and then encrypt it again as you wish. Fortunately, if it doesn't work, you still have the original drive so be careful with it.
     
  8. Gwalk

    Gwalk Registered Member

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    Thanks, I just registered today and it seems I can't start new threads yet.
    Gwalk
     
  9. JustPlainFred

    JustPlainFred Registered Member

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    seekforever,
    The "why" is this.I have 3 partitions on my 500GB "OS" hard drive, and yes i can recover the "OS" with any one of my images. But in the event of a "HD" failure i would lose the other two as well. (big pain in the*** ) If i have a Clone, all the partitions would be somewhat out of date (no big deal) but all there.Then i can easily "update" them without going through the re-partitioning, etc. Regards PlainFred
     
  10. seekforever

    seekforever Registered Member

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    Fair enough but you can also make an image of the whole disk which could capture all 3 partitions and/or you can also make an image of each partition individually whenever you feel that one should be updated. Some recommend making one whole disk image which will setup the partition structure and MBR and then update with more recent individual partition images.

    I imagine you would likely end up doing something similar but with the clone. The clone would be the disk structure that could be updated with later images.
     
  11. JustPlainFred

    JustPlainFred Registered Member

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    seekforever,
    Just wanted to let anyone who is interested. I took your advice and did a full disk backup. I also did the "clone thing" also as i have a spare drive. Here are the Facts
    1. HP desktop (pavilion) Aprox 2years old
    2. Vista home premium SP-2
    3. TI-11 (8101)
    4. swapped out my D: drive (power off)
    5. replaced with old (smaller Hard drive ) 320GB (with old "OS" on it)
    6. Did clone through recovery mgr. Auto mode
    7. auto mode re-sized my partitions
    8. took about 1 hr , power down and put new clone in boot position.
    9. "booted up" all OK!
    Thanks for you help, Regards PlainFred
     
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