Windows 10: Does disk imaging, cloning, backup or any similar activities wear down a drive?

Discus and support Does disk imaging, cloning, backup or any similar activities wear down a drive? in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade to solve the problem; My systems are all windows 10, with Macrium Reflect as my main backup software. I was doing some of these tasks to make sure my data won't be lost... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade' started by kn1000a, Aug 22, 2020.

  1. kn1000a Win User

    Does disk imaging, cloning, backup or any similar activities wear down a drive?


    My systems are all windows 10, with Macrium Reflect as my main backup software.


    I was doing some of these tasks to make sure my data won't be lost from drive failures when it hit me. Won't these tasks themselves decrease the life of a drive since it has to do with read and write? A lot in some cases.


    My older PC has an HDD drive only 1TB and disk imaging it took a long time. 10 hrs to be specific. During this time, the PC has to be on all day + my target drive a new HDD has to keep writing, all during those hours. Makes me wonder: Won't this actually kill my drives even faster?


    Asking because I'm still a novice when it comes to hardware. Should I be aware of anything else when doing a backup/disk image?

    :)
     
    kn1000a, Aug 22, 2020
    #1
  2. Nickylee1 Win User

    Do window 10 offer a clone image feature for backup system?

    Hi, oemSoft

    I am sorry to tell you that there is no built-in clone feature in Windows 10. If you just create a system image backup, you can follow the steps below to create a system image in Windows 10.

    Step 1. Open Control Panel, go to System and Security > File History, then click System Image Backup at the lower-left corner. Or you can directly type backup and restore in the search box and select it from the search result list.

    Step 2. Connect the USB drive to your computer and select it as the destination path, then click Next.

    Step 3. Confirm your backup settings and click Start Backup.

    However, if you want to clone your system directly, you can choose a third-party software like AOMEI Backupper. This is a professional clone software that allows you to

    clone system
    to different places such as external hard drive, USB drive or Network, etc. without booting problems. With it, you also can clone the entire disk to HDD or SSD.
     
    Nickylee1, Aug 22, 2020
    #2
  3. topgundcp Win User
    Cloning to SSD then swapping drive letters


    @SamHobbs
    What you want done is very simple and can be done in short period of time. Here's my suggestion:
    There's 2 modes that Windows can be installed: UEFI and the old legacy MBR. Open Disk Management, look at the disk where your C drive is, if there's a
    1. EFI System Partition, your Windows was installed using UEFI.
    2. System Reserved partition, your Windows was installed using MBR
    Next, Connect your SSD to an available Sata port (no need to format or do anything). Download: Macrium Reflect Free . Install and run. Follow the steps below:
    1. From Macrium, click on image this disk under your C drive and save it to either an Internal or External Drive. This will create a single backup image of the whole disk containing your C drive.
    2. Again, from Macrium, click on Restore tab and select the image created from step 1, Select your SSD as the destination drive, click Next->Finish
    3. Exit Macrium. If your Windows was installed using MBR, Open disk management and make sure the SSD is marked "Active" else go to next step.
    4. Shutdown your PC. Disconnect the HD containing Windows C drive then connect your SSD to it.
    5. Reboot. Your PC should boot and the Windows should have C as the drive letter.

    NOTE: The procedure above is to backup your Windows to an image file then copy it back to the SSD. This ensures proper cluster size aligment for the SSD. In addition, Macrium also perform Trimming for the SSD. This is more preferable than cloning.
     
    topgundcp, Aug 22, 2020
    #3
  4. Does disk imaging, cloning, backup or any similar activities wear down a drive?

    Acronis true image cloning problem

    Good luck. Report back. If you want to do lots of cloning, or have a compressed backup of an install image, then True Image is the way to go.

    But if all you want to do is upgrade one HDD, there is a better and quicker solution. Use Acronis Disk Director. (EXCELLENT). Copy the IDE partitions to the new SATA drive. Then use director again to change the partition size to fill the new disk. Dead easy.

    Some years ago I tried TI and gave up. Too fussy. I use Director for everything. HDD upgrades, cloning, swapping, backups.
     
    lemonadesoda, Aug 22, 2020
    #4
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Does disk imaging, cloning, backup or any similar activities wear down a drive?

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