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Wrong target disk? Upgrade box!

Hi,

I want to clone my laptop to a WD My Passport external HD 1 TB. Before doing that I formatted the HD (NFTS). The HD shows in my Windows Explorer as E: My Passport. I opened AOMEI Backupper > clone disk and then I see the image as presented in the annexe. Ichose disk 0 to be cloned. The targe disk should be E: My passport but  I cannot click that. The only option is GPT, which has the volue of E: 1 TB. So it coulld be the same. I clicked to continue but then an ugrade box appears and there is no way to get around it.
To be honoust I was very much surprised by that because it was not expected from AOMEI.

Any suggestions for my two problems are very much appreciated.

KR, Leo

Comments

  • Sorry forgot the annexe.
    prsc.png 443.9K
  • edited October 2018
    Why do you want to "clone", what I assume is your C drive, to an external drive? You can't boot from it without great difficulty if at all. If you want to create a disk or system image to be used as a backup and save it to the external that is a completely different procedure.
  • Thanks Flyer for your response.
    I have created a seperate boot drive to boot up my computer if necessary and want to use the clone to crrate the C drive as it was before it crashed. To my knowledge this is the way to do that.

    Can you or anyone else answer the first two questions I still have?

    KR, Leo
  • edited October 2018
    I'm still confused, but that may just be me. I'm still not sure what you're trying to do by cloning your drive. If you're trying to create a way to restore your PC AFTER a C drive crash, you want to make a backup image of the disk and keep that image on your external drive. Then after the crash (failure), you restore the backup image to either a new drive if the failure was a physical one or to the same one if the failure was due to corruption (or virus). The pop up is there because the free version can't do the type of clone you're asking it to do. You need the Pro version. But to make this easy to understand:

    Cloning is used when you want to replace your drive with a NEW drive. Backup imaging is what you do to keep an image of your drive in the event of failure so it can be restored to a new one. 

    You can read about what each function does and how to use it in the help section of Aomei..  https://www.backup-utility.com/help/
  • So imaging is abut making a backup in such a way that all the software etc. in the image functions as it used to do before a crash?
    Since I'm looking for a free service AOMEI should not be my choice, right?
  • edited October 2018
    The free version of Aomei will provide all the necessary functions to make a backup image and restore it in case of a crash. The paid for PRO version will give you more flexibility and some added functions that you may or may not want or need. Read this page to see the differences and what each will provide: https://www.backup-utility.com/free-backup-software.html  Click on all the boxes there and you will see what you can do and how to do it. This should answer most of your questions.
    There are many free and paid for versions of backup software. Generally, the paid versions will always provide more functions but whether you need them is up to you. If you just want to make a disk or system backup when you make major changes to the drive and are willing to delete the older image manually, the free version is fine. You also have the ability to backup selected files or folders with the free version. You can do this on a more regular basis if you are concerned with losing newer files. Again, there are many backup programs available that give you a gazillion functions. Whether you need them is up to you. The free version of Aomei is generally recommended for it's simple interface and ease of use for the casual PC user. 
  • Thanks Flyer,

    Sorry for the late response.

    If I understand well: a clone copies all the content of a drive 'just as it is' and an image=back up copies the content including all the settings so the drive will function as it did?

    I understand and use the file backup and it works okay.

    So I should choose the Disk backup or System back up and remove the former bu manually. In that case I can restore my laptop 'as it was' after a crash. Still not sure about which one to choose. I do need a boot drive in both cases to start up the crashed computer right?


    KR, Leo



  • What you are saying is still not correct. A CLONE is to move your drive to another drive. A BACKUP is to keep an image of your drive in case you need to restore it because of failure, corruption, etc.
    If you only have a C partition on your drive you can use a SYSTEM or DISK backup. If you have other partitions, like D or E on that drive you want a DISK backup to image those partitions as well. File backups only image either folders or files and will not restore a computer but will keep a backup of those items only.
    I don't want to sound condescending but you really need to read or reread the help sections of Aomei. I can only repeat what it says there. It really does a nice job of explaining what each function does and how to use them. I know it can be confusing but the HELP pages really do help answer the questions you've been asking and give you pictures of how to perform each task. But come back here if you can't figure something out. Someone will try to assist you.
  • You're a great help flyer, I really appreciate that. I understand the words used to describe the differences but it appears more difficult to understand what they mean; The English/American language is much more difficult than most Europeans think.

    I think I have to go for a disk backup and continu with my File backups.

    Running into oter problems.... I will be back!!

    KR, Leo.
  • My apologies. I did not realize you were not an English language speaker as a first language. That clears things up a bit as I thought you were not reading the help section. Please feel free to continue post here as needed and I'm sure things will work out for you. I just looked and now realize the help section is only in English, French, German and possibly Chinese. That explains a lot.
  • "I did not realize you were not an English language speaker as a first language'. I assume I may take that as compliment?

    KR, Leo

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