Windows 7 - 2 different Hard Drives???

HI, I have win 7 64 bit.. I cloned my Seagate Hard drive to a Western Digital portable drive, using Acronis. It all went fine. Not even 4 weeks later, I had a registry failure. I was not even upset knowing I had a full and total backup. When I went to put all the info back onto my internal hard drive, it asked for a " Tib" file. I could not locate it. After many calls and emails to both Seagate and Western Digital, which was no help at all, I found out that I could not put the cloned drive info back onto my internal drive.. why?? cause they are "dis similar"! Meaning I could not put the info taken off the Seagate, onto the Western Digital back! I had to do a total fresh reinstall of Win 7.

My question is this.. I want to use the program that comes with Win 7 to do the back up. I will be taking the information again off the Seagate Internal drive and putting it onto a Western Digital external drive. If.. anything happens, will I be able to transfer the info from the Western Digital external back onto the Segate internal with the Win 7 program? Thanks for the help.. I am so frustrated over all this!

Hello JoAnna, welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Sorry to hear of your problem, but the answer to your question is yes, you can.

Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

Thanks for such a quick reply! To be sure I understand you.. the YES means that I CAN use the Windows 7 internal program ( on my Seagate Drive )... send the data all to my external Western Digital External Dive, and if.. I ever need it, it will transfer back.. no problem with being different brand (per se) hard drives? Thanks so much.. will wiat to be sure that what I read is what you meant..

Welcome to Seven Forums.
Just follow the provided links to the tutorials and you will be good to go.
Fabe

I just read every word of all those posts.. not one relates to my problem in any way.

You might find an imaging program such as Macrium to be more easily understood and user-friendly. Windows built-in imaging works, but is a bit cranky.

I can't recall ever hearing of the brand of hard drive having anything to do with an image restoration failure. I suspect Seagate and Western Digital support personnel were just trying to pass the buck.

I suspect you had a TIB file somewhere on your hard drive after using Acronis, even though you could not find it. TIB files are part of any image made with the Acronis imaging program.

I'd give Macrium a try if you are finding the Windows 7 imaging function to be troublesome. The hard drive brand should not matter in the least.

ignatzatsonic

Thanks for the tip on Macrium... I just watched all the videos made by a man named Joe.. the tutorials are done so well. I downloaded them all, and the program and will try it. I so appreciate your taking the time to help me. I do have a question.. on the WD external drive, I can access all programs and open and use them. Can I copy the PROGRAM FILES (x86) that are on the WD external back to the Seagate internal drive? And will those programs then work? Thanks again. Jo-Anna

I'm not sure I understand your question, but..................

Installed programs cannot generally be copied from one drive to another and be expected to work. They have to be reinstalled rather than merely copied from one location to another.

However, installed programs that are part of an image will run properly if the entire image file is restored. That's the primary advantage of using an image---you don't have to reinstall all of your programs. Few people would bother with imaging if all it did was make it easier to restore Windows itself. Rather, imaging is most often used precisely because it saves the time of having to reinstall all applications.

As noted, you can't simply navigate to your image file and copy certain portions of it (such as an installed program) and expect the programs to work.

However, you CAN copy personal data from within the image, from one drive to another. But I personally would not recommend imaging as my only backup for personal data. Why?? Because imaging is another layer of complexity and is not foolproof---as you have already found. I'd back up my data with a file-by-file backup program that does NOT use imaging.

Just a few points of clarification ....

There is a difference between Clone and Image, a clone may be used to transfer an image from a working system to a dissimilar drive, creating a working system on the new drive.

For backup purposes you will have much more success with a straightforward image which is a non operational system in special format for recovering this can be stored onto a USB external drive for later use.

Unfortunately Windows does have issues with running a system drive on a USB external drive so this is not the best location to clone a system to, as it is unlikely to be able to clone this back when required.

Thanks Barman.. I do understand.. I have also burned to a cd my personal files, as well as saved them on a flash drive. Your point is well taken.. with losing important data. Jo-Anna