cloning to a USB external drive

Have true Image 11 Home.

1. cloning is same as imaging- yes?
2. I tried to clone my C drive (XP SP3) - but True Image msg said need hard drive, so I connected my external USB. No luck.
3. How do I clone my C to a USB drive?
4. If I have to partition my USB drive - will I lose the existing data - Mp3, word docs, photos, etc??
5. My PC's hard drive is 80, I am using 26 GB and the External I have is 120GB.
I also have a 2 GB thumb drive. So, how big is a cloned/image file? would it fit on a 2 GB thumb drive?

 

Cloning is for a DIFFERENT physical disk. Imaging is for your current one .

Hook up your Ext. HD FIRST & THEN bring up Acronis . It should work after that-good luck!

 

"4. If I have to partition my USB drive - will I lose the existing data - Mp3, word docs, photos, etc??
5. My PC's hard drive is 80, I am using 26 GB and the External I have is 120GB.
I also have a 2 GB thumb drive. So, how big is a cloned/image file? would it fit on a 2 GB thumb drive

I'm not sure about #4 but I doubt if you can put 26G onto 2 G even compressing it.

 

a clone will destroy everything on the destination drive. If you have valuable data on the usb external drive, don't do a clone.

A backup image is a compressed backup and can easily fit on the destination hard drive without destroying any data. It will be backup.TIB file and it will be about the size of the "use" data on the partition you backup. On your 80gb /26 gb in use it should compress down to at least 20gb maybe lower depending what kind of files you have.

On my hard drive, I backup my c: partiton (20gb / 6gb use data), it compresses down to a 4gb TIB file.

How I remember the different type of backups.
clone = dangerous procedure
image backup = safe procedure

You can restore an image backup onto a new hard drive and it will be bootable. A clone isn't required in most cases.

 

A backup image will be about 60-65% of your used space.

Attempting to clone to a usb drive has very little chance of success.

First, let's start with terminology.

From Acronis's standpoint, cloning means you will end up with two identical disks (disk capacity may vary). Whereas 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 on another internal or external drive in a normal folder as a normal file.

Cloning puts your original hard drive 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 satisfactory clone. To overcome this risk,the user should take the time to perform a full disk image precautionary backup prior to any cloning operation.

If you have then spent whatever time is necessary to perform a safety backup, then why risk your master drive through cloning when a "Partition Restore with Resize" will produce the same result but with a safer atmosphere. Yes, cloning is quicker but is the risk work taking. It's a decision you must make based on your personal situation. My recommendation is bypass cloning and perform a "Partition Restore with Resize" when moving to a larger drive.

Whether cloning or performing a "Partition Restore with Resize", your best chances of success will be if you

1. When performing a backup, the drive being imaged be installed in its original boot position.
2. When a new blank drive is being cloned or restored:, the old original drive should be removed and the target drive installed in its place prior to any cloning or restoring.
3a. If restoring: backup archive stored on another internal or external or network drive.
3b. if cloning: it is best that the original drive be relocated to another internal/external/network location prior to the intended cloning procedure. If relocation is not possible, then I suggest you should not do the cloning procedure but use the "Partition Restore with Resize" procedure to move to a new or larger blank drive.
4. Boot from the TI Rescue CD (or alternate TI Bootable Removable device). Perform the desired procedure and then shutdown after the "successful completion" window appear.
5. Upon completion, remove any duplicate source drives before first bootup after so Windows does not see two identical drives.
6. Yes, there are other methods but these steps have a better chance of success with many hardware combinations.

These are the steps I practice. The only time I clone is for testing purposes for my guides.

A help guide for restoring a backup image to a larger drive is listed in line 3 of my signature below.
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 Disk Management display should be the first restored when restoring to a new/larger disk (image G-5).

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Should you decide to clone, a (work in progress) help guide on cloning can be found at this link:
http://grover.tabinc.com/gh-temp/gh_acronis_manual_cloning.pdf

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Don't forget, you can practice or simulate your intended procedure. Begin the procedure and select your options all the way until your reach the screen where you must select either the Cancel or Proceed button. Pressing the Cancel button will prevent the process from proceeding; whereas, pressing the Proceed button will initiate whatever process you have been selecting. Be careful in your selection choice!

 

Oh - so Image is the same as Back Up?-
So go to Back Up & Restore, Chose Back Up, then next & then My Computer?
I thought that was just a back up- where as a Image program I used years ago "Image" was different than "Back Up".

 

More or less. Backup copies what you want to save on HD-Restore is when you restore it back to that time. Like taping a show & then you watch it later.

 

I noticed the word "Image" when in the Back Up portion of the Acronis program.

Under My Computer I saw 2 choices: Disk & Partitions and System State - If I have to replace my hard drive, do I need both of these back ups to start anew?

 

I'm not sure but I would back up everything FIRST but you should wait 'till someone else on here who knows tells you for sure. Good luck with it!!

 

An Entire Disk Image backup (check the Disk # box) will backup everything on the disk. This is what you want. If you have multiple partitions, you can select just the partitions you want to backup (your Windows partition, for example), but it's a good idea to have a backup of the entire disk.

A System State backup only backs up certain files and settings (kind of like the System Restore feature of Windows). It will not restore your drive if your drive fails. You also don't need it if you have an image backup as all that data is included.

 

Thanks - so Disk & Partitions it is .