Secure zone on a USB drive

Is it possible to create a secure zone on a USB drive? I don't want it on an internal drive because if the drive fails, then my backup is useless. By storing the backup on the external USB drive, if my internal drive fails, I still have a chance of recovering my system. When I use the "Manage Acronis Secure Zone" wizard, my USB drive is listed but selecting it as the drive for the secure zone is not possible as it is greyed out (disabled). Why is it greyed out and if this is deliberately done by Acronis, why?

 

Why not just save it as a regular Backup Image on the USB drive? You don't have to use the SZ to hold a Backup.

 

Hello Polaris431,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Products

Acronis does not recommend creating the Acronis Secure Zone on a detachable drive. If you activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and then for some reason disconnect the drive Acronis Secure Zone resides on, your computer may boot with a long delay or not boot at all. You will need to either reconnect the drive with the Acronis Secure Zone or fix the master boot record (MBR).

Best regards,
--
Dmitry Nikolaev

 

Some folks make it work but it's much easier to not use a SZ. If you're worried that your backup isn't safe enough not using a SZ, then store the backup dirve in a safe place -- an advantage to using an external dirve. Drives are so inexpensive these days, why not get an extra and store that one offsite.