Replacing a hard drive

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by Broeux, Dec 7, 2006.

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  1. dld

    dld Registered Member

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    You say Dell will be replacing your 160GB HD. Will this new drive include your OS, which I assume is WinXP?

    If Dell is sending you a new drive complete with WinXP, I find it unwise for you to wipe out everything that will be on this new drive when you re-clone. I think it would be better for you to create an image of your present system (the system on your 160GB HD) to your external USB2 HD. I would then restore files\folders which I understand TI10 can do.

    "6.2 Restoring files and folders from file archives
    Here we describe how to restore file/folders from a file backup archive. You can restore the desired files/folders from a disk/partition image as well. To do so, mount the image (see Chapter 12. Exploring archives and mounting images) or start the image restoration and select Restore specified files or folders (see 6.3 Restoring disks/partitions or files from images"

    This as been covered by bVolk.
     
  2. beezer44

    beezer44 Registered Member

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    Dr. Volk, et al:
    Thanks for the valuable advice, cautions and feedback. I did make a recovery disk and (after resetting my BIOS) boot from the disk. I was able to invoke the Validate Image command, and I could see all relevant drives. But I was not able to validate the back-up.

    My failing HD has 3 partitions: a named (C:) drive of 145 GB, an unnamed EISA configuration partition of 71 MB in FAT32 and an unnamed FAT32 partition of 3 GB. Through disk management, I can see that my external backup drive also has 3 partitions of equivalent size and format, one named (F:, in this case) and 2 unnamed. I could see the folders in the named drive on the external HD and all the folders contained therein, but nothing is in *.tib format and nothing can be selected for verification.

    Similarly, when I try to run the Recovery/Restore function, I see all of the files in the named external partition, but cannot select anything.

    The external files were created using the Clone Disk function under manual function, so I could size the unnamed partitions very close to the size of the partitions on the failing drive. Clearly I have done something wrong here, but what?

    Again, I appreciate any expert advice you may have.
    Brian
     
  3. bVolk

    bVolk Registered Member

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    Hello Brian,

    No, you did nothing wrong, I have been unclear I'm afraid.

    When you clone, you create a direct copy of the source drive onto the destination drive. After cloning, the contents of the clone (destination) are the same as the original, with the same partitioning and tree structure and the files therein in their own original format. No .tib files are created. If you hadn't another drive coming, you could take the HD from the external enclosure, install it into the computer in place of the old drive and just continue by using the clone.

    If instead of cloning you create an image of the original, then yes, the image is stored in .tib file(s) that you can validate to verify they are not corrupted and are usable for restore. If you create an image, you have to also restore it to a destination drive (the original drive or a new one) before you get the same result on the destination as you get with cloning in a sigle process.

    Since you cloned, the Validate tool only let you browse through the contents of the external drive and thus confirmed that the external will be accessible from the Rescue CD should you later use the external drive to store image files.

    In your case, when you have the failing drive replaced, you will perform another cloning operation from the external to the new drive.
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2006
  4. beezer44

    beezer44 Registered Member

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    Thank you for this happy and good information. I was hoping this is what I would hear. As best I can tell, the external HD has the same p[artition and file structure as the failing drive. In fact, I believe I should be able to test the integrity of my cloning operation by altering the BIOS on my computer to boot first from an external USB source. I will report back on the results.

    In the meantime, may a relaxed, safe and happy holiday season be yours along with my profound thanks.

    Brian
     
  5. bVolk

    bVolk Registered Member

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    Brian,

    If you are running Windows XP don't get alarmed if the computer will not boot from the external even if you are able to set that option in the BIOS. As far as I know it's Windows XP that will refuse to boot from an external drive.
     
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