Windows 10: Questions Concerning Entire Disk Drive Cloning Practices For Back Up.

Hello. I have a couple of questions to ask you! I hope everyone is safe during these unusual times!

I just recently purchased a Western Digital (WD) 2TB (NTFS) My Passport backup storage device to back up my newer replaced HHD to SSD (on Disk 0 or 1 depending on the disk management software you are using) a Basic MBR 500 GB total (allocated used 465.8 GB) containing partitions for my Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Version 1909) system partition, 1 System Reserved partition, 2 different Recovery Partitions installed on my legacy and well running Lenovo ThinkPad T510 Laptop. My filesystem is entirely NTFS (everything) and I am also using MBR on everything too. FYI, now, my old T510 lacks UEFI and only has Basic BIOS if that is any consequence with these questions, I am about to pose to you.

Now, I have Acronis Disk Director 12.5 and I am using it only for cloning and not for traditional backup purposes. Acronis software only allows for entire disk drive cloning (all partitions on the disk) and not specific “partition” cloning. Now, if I go ahead a clone as required by Acronis the entire disk to save my Windows 10 and the other partitions to the WD 2 TB backup disk drive:

Q1. Is there a true need to back up the system reserved AND recovery partitions along with my Windows 10 system partition EACH AND EVERY TIME I DO A DISK DRIVE BACKUP? (I was thinking, if cloning only, the first and only instance, clone the entire disk drive 0 (or 1 depending on the partition management software) onto the WD backup disk drive and then subsequent backups, why not just clone my Windows 10 system partition ONLY (using a “partition cloning” software afterward for Windows 10 system partition only) to the WD 2 TB My Passport Windows 10 system partition as that is what counts? Is it necessary to clone the entire disk drive each and every time for backup purposes? Do I really need those System Reserved and Recovery Partitions backed up every time as well? If so, why?)

Q2. Using Acronis software that only performs a complete disk drive clone backup onto the WD 2 TB My Passport of my Windows 10 system partition and the other partitions I have mentioned on the same disk drive above, it only backs up the 465.8 GB on disk 0 (or 1 depending on the partition management software). If I plan to use the remaining say 1.3 TB on the WD 2 TB My Passport to create a different partition space for separate personal data backup, is there a way when I use the Acronis to only re-clone the disk drive (or overwrite the previous clone backup in the future) of disk 0 (or 1) on the same reserved area (the 465.GB of space on the WD 2TB My Passport and STILL NO HARM MY DATA BACKUP on the remaining 1.3 TB partition? What I am wondering, is if Acronis only clones the ENTIRE disk drive TO ANOTHER ENTIRE DISK DRIVE (in this case to my WD 2 TB My Passport), and only uses approximately a quarter of that space (500 GB) from disk 0 (or 1), then will the remaining three-quarters of the space on the WD 2 TB My Passport WILL ALWAYS BE ERASED, WIPED OUT OR AFFECTED from the disk drive re-cloning process when I am updating my disk 0 (or 1)? In other words, when disk drive cloning from a smaller total space on a disk drive to a larger total space on a disk drive, does that remainder of that larger total space also effected from the disk drive cloning or it does not have to be? How could I perform periodic disk drive clone updates of disk 0 (or 1) and STILL KEEP the personal data backup on another partition NOT AFFECTED on the WD 2 TB My Passport? If not, then the remaining 1.3 TB on the WD 2 B My Passport is a total waste to save other data if I periodically disk drive cloning disk 0 (or 1) to the WD 2 TB My Passport? Please explain.

Please reply. THANK YOU!

:)

 

cloneing a drive in windows 10

Hi,I have this question last year,but my os is windows 8.there are my steps of

How to clone drive in winodws

,you can check.hope that helps

First,I download a free tool of MiniTool partition wizard and launch it.

Step 1. Connect SSD to Windows 8. Install and launch MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition, select the source hard drive and then choose “Copy”

Step 2. Select a disk to copy the source disk. Here you are expected to choose the SSD (we choose disk 3).

Note: All the data on SSD will be destroyed, so make sure you have done backup in advance. You are allowed to clone a hard drive to a smaller SSD, as long as it can hold all data in the source disk. You can also clone SSD to larger SSD by using MiniTool
Partition Wizard Free Edition.

Step 3. Review the changes you are going to make and also change the copy options if necessary.

Step 4. MiniTool Partition Wizard will tell you how to boot from the destination hard drive. So if you are cloning boot drive to SSD, you need to pay attention.

Step 5. When you are lead to the main interface again, you can preview the changes you are going to make from the middle pane. (Here disk 3 has the same disk layout with disk 1.) If you confirm these
changes, you should click “Apply” to make the changes effective. Hope that helps

 

Cloning a Hard Disk

Hi Dav,

Cloning a hard drive is way of transferring data from one hard disk to another drive to make the destination disk contain exactly the same data. You may also find additional information in this
article.

For an in-depth assistance on how to proceed with the process, we suggest that you post your query/concern on the
TechNet forum. This forum is a
community that is mainly composed of IT professionals who can cater to the complexity of your concern.

Regards.

 

Bootable Hard drive cloning disk recommendations.

Hey guys,
I'm looking for a bootable software I can burn on a disk to fully clone a hard drive. I have a 500 GB drive with two partitions and I want to clone both to a 160 GB drive so I can use the 500 in a different computer. I need the 160 to be bootable as it would become the new boot drive in the computer.