Connecting both internal HDs after cloning.

If a user is working with two internal HDs and has cloned the working drive to the destination drive that he/she uses as backup, after verifying that the clone was successful, should the cloned drive be disconnected so that only the working drive is connected during day-to-day operations? Or is it OK to have both drives connected?

 

The only thing with leaving the backup drive connected is if you get a surge on the line it might do damage to the backup. Or worse, if you're online and pick up a virus the backup might get infected. So it is better to disconnect it even if you want to physically leave it in the computer.

 

Thanks for your comment. I raise this issue because it is Symantec's position, relative to using Norton Ghost, that the cloned drive should be disconnected from the system because of the possibility of file corruption and booting problems that may arise when both drives are connected. (Set aside electrical surges/virus attacks).

I really would like to know Acronis's position on this.

 

Hello artisan,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We do recommend that you disconnect the old drive after cloning under Windows and we strongly recommend that you do it if you cloned using Acronis Bootable CD.

Thank you.
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Ilya Toytman

 

Thank you for your response. It's interesting that you "strongly recommend" disconnecting the cloned drive after it has been cloned. Two questions...

1. Can you tell me why it is desirable to disconnect the cloned drive following the cloning operation (setting aside possible virus infections affecting both drives, electrical surges, etc.)? Is there a possibility of file corruption or booting problems that can (will?) arise should both drives be connected?

2. And why is it even *more* important that the drives be disconnected following cloning with the Acronis bootable CD?

Thank you for your assistance.

 

Hello artisan,

It is desirable to disconnect one of the drives after cloning because Windows may work improperly when it finds two identical drives. It is even more important when you clone using Acronis Bootable CD because Windows hadn't assigned the identificator for new hard drive and it is more likely that you will get problems during subsequent bootup.

Thank you.
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Ilya Toytman

 

Ilya Toytman

I may be roung but i never disconect my cloned drive,windows sees it as a nother drive letter and will only boot from the master drive, not the cloned one.

but the way i do it is after cloneing i go into bios and boot from cloned drive disabaling master drive. there by checking cloned drive then reboot disabaling cloned drive and booting from master, then i disable the cloned drive in windows then there is no sighn of it cant write to it. so if i havent got access to it nether has a virus.

a power surge sood be stoped by the right conection from your mains..

 

Ilya:
Again, thanks for your prompt response. Please forgive me if I seem to belabor this issue but I really want to fully understand what's involved here.

When you say it's "desirable to disconnect one of the drives" after the cloning operation "because Windows may work improperly when it finds two identical drives", what precisely do you mean when you indicate that Windows may not work properly? Would you be good enough to detail in what way or ways will it not work properly?

And why is it "more important" to disconnect one of the drives following the cloning operation when one uses the Acronis bootable CD to undertake that operation? You mention the fact that Windows hasn't assigned an "identificator" to the cloned drive? Wouldn't this lack of "identificator" for the "new hard drive" be similarly present after cloning through the Acronis Window's interface just as well as cloning with the bootable CD? Perhaps you can detail exactly what this "identificator" is and how it relates to a disk that's cloned with the Acronis bootable CD.

Please assume in all this that it's the Windows XP environment that we're working with. Thank you for your assistance.
artisan

 

I agree with artisan leaving identiacal drive connected has caused me problems in the past. The second drive did not boot.

I generally disconnect

 

To make the removal of the cloned drive really easy I make use of those removalbe hd racks. In fact both my C drive and my backup drive are in removable racks. So in case I need to boot from the backup it takes about five seconds to swap out the drives.

 

I fitted a new hard drive F:20GB for backup purposes. My other main drive is C:40GB. I cloned C to F and left both connected but I found if I booted from F:the computer appeared to recogonise C because when I checked the size of F it had become 40GB. and C had become 20GB. When I rebooted from C everything was back to normal. I formatted F and just created a full image instead. Both drives are still connected without any problems.
John

 

Hello artisan,

The problem is connected with the fact that when you clone the disk its identificator is cloned as well. Windows cannot work properly when two identificator are present in the system. It results in the improper functioning of some applications and Windows as well. For the detailed information why Windows cannot work with two identical drives you may contact Microsoft Support Team.

Thank you.
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Ilya Toytman