Disk cloning and migration software

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is cloning software and how does it work?

  Cloning software, like the Clone Disk utility in Acronis True Image, copies the entire contents of one drive to another, resulting in an identical disk, with the operating system and installed programs copied. It is typically used for one-time operations when migrating to a larger hard drive or a new machine. On the other hand, the backup and recovery method offers greater flexibility.

• What is the best disk cloning software capabilities?

  Acronis True Imager offers Active Cloning. You can clone an active Windows system directly to a new drive without stopping your system and restarting Windows. For more information see here: https://kb.acronis.com/content/61665

• What is the difference between disk cloning and data migration?

  In Acronis True Image, cloning copies the entire contents of one drive to another, resulting in an identical disk, with the operating system and installed programs copied. Migration implies the possibility of converting the partition layout of the target disk while cloning.

• Can I clone my operating system and install applications to a larger hard drive or solid-state drive (SSD)?

  Yes. To clone your drive, follow these procedures for Windows and for Mac. In any case, we strongly recommend to make a backup of your old hard disk before you clone it. It could be your data saver if something goes wrong with your original hard disk during cloning. For example, there were cases when users chose the wrong disk as the target and thus wiped their system disk. In addition, you can make more than one backup to create redundancy and increase security.

• Can I migrate my system to a different hardware configuration using Acronis True Image (formerly Cyber Protect Home Office)?

  Yes, by using Acronis Universal Restore. It allows you to create a bootable system clone on different hardware. Use this utility when recovering your system disk to a computer with a dissimilar processor, different motherboard or a different mass storage device than in the system you originally backed up. This may be useful, for example, after replacing a failed motherboard or when deciding to migrate the system from one computer to another.
  Instructions on using Acronis Universal Restore with a cloned drive can be found here: https://kb.acronis.com/node/61665

• Does Acronis cloning and migration software have size limits for the hard drives and systems to be cloned or migrated?

  It is not necessary that the destination disk is of the same size as the source one, it can be bigger or smaller, but its overall size must be larger than the used space of the source disk plus 10%. For example, you have a 1000 GB hard drive in your Mac, only 200 GB is used. If you want to clone it, the destination drive size must be 200+10%=220 GB, or larger. If your destination drive is too small, try deleting some unnecessary data from the source drive or moving the data to an external drive, USB flash drive. You can also move the data to cloud storage.