How can I verify that a backup is valid, on a laptop or all-in-one PC?

[Skyzoomer]

How can I verify that a Windows backup is valid, on a laptop or all-in-one PC without disassembling the PC?

A friend bought an Asus All-in-one (AIO) PC running Win10 and I'm setting up a backup system for her. The problem is that it is a major task to disassemble an AIO PC to access the internal HDD. So I want to try verifying that a clone backup can work by installing the cloned HDD in a USB3 docking station and then booting windows from that USB3 docking station.

QUESTIONS:
1. Has anyone ever done this successfully?

2. Win10 in the AIO is currently working with the internal HDD that is on a SATA port. So a cloned drive will be configured identically. Do you think it's possible to install the cloned HDD in a USB3 docking station and boot and run Win10 from it, without disconnecting the internal HDD?

I'm hoping that Win10 is smart enough to reconfigure itself to run from a USB port instead of from a SATA port. Think this will work?

3. Any ideas on how to test a backup on an AIO PC without disassembling the PC, will be very welcome. This dilemma would also apply to laptops.

Thanks.

 

[Ketchup]

Since it's Windows 10, you might just try the drive booting a computer Windows 8 or newer. It should give you a good enough idea as to everything being there.

 

[Skyzoomer]

Since it's Windows 10, you might just try the drive booting a computer Windows 8 or newer. It should give you a good enough idea as to everything being there.

Thanks for your suggestion. I'm hoping that someone already tried it and can say whether it works, or if doing that can screw up the internal HDD in the AIO. I wonder how folks verified that their backups of laptops worked all these years, without having to disassemble their laptop?

As for me, I actually disassembled my old Dell laptop after I purchased it, to test my backup/restore after I did my first backup. ..... With the laptop that I just bought recently, I disassembled it to install a SSD so was able to test the backup/restore then.

I'm reluctant to disassemble my friend's new Asus AIO PC to do the testing. Yet I'm wondering if booting a clone drive via USB can cause Windows to get confused between the internal drive and the cloned drive and screw up the internal drive, since the cloned drive will be for a SATA connected drive.

Thanks again.

 

[deustroop]

I know Windows To Go allows a system boot from the prepared drive in a USB enclosure. I have not seen any other way to boot an enclosed drive .One may clone to an enclosed drive but boot from the clone ( or any drive) in the enclosure ? I'll listen to ketchup tell me one can do it.
Assuming so, then just bring up the boot menu (often F8). If the usb drive is listed, you should be good to go.If not,there may be a helpful item in the advanced boot options for windows to boot from an enclosed drive.

 

[deustroop]

There are options in the alternative. Do you need a bootable clone ? One can back up just the personal data to the usb enclosed drive and be prepared to suffer the loss of the OS and reinstall if the disk goes completely down but will still have the personal data to copy over to the new OS. In this case, a bootable clone is not required.
If the OS is just a little corrupted but still serviceable here is another option.
Macrium Reflect is a good cloner. Try this. Clone the HDD to the usb drive. That saves the data if you want option #1. Then open Macrium again and see whether the usb drive is selectable as the source disk. If so , try to clone it to the HDD as the target. The issue would be, can Macrium clone drive D to the OS drive ? I have selected the C drive here and drive D as the source but never actually tried it.

 

[Skyzoomer]

I know Windows To Go allows a system boot from the prepared drive in a USB enclosure. I have not seen any other way to boot an enclosed drive .One may clone to an enclosed drive but boot from the clone ( or any drive) in the enclosure ? I'll listen to ketchup tell me one can do it.
Assuming so, then just bring up the boot menu (often F8). If the usb drive is listed, you should be good to go.If not,there may be a helpful item in the advanced boot options for windows to boot from an enclosed drive.

Thanks for the "Windows to go" info. In my friend's case, I need to end up with a backup that is exactly like her current Win10 system. If her internal HDD dies, I can replace the HDD, do a backup/restore and have her running as if nothing happened. (less any data loss since her last backup).

Thanks.

 

[Ketchup]

If you are that concerned, just have them get a drive (same physical size as the other one) and clone it with Macrium Reflect. If you don't want to open the unit (which I would suggest you do not if it is under warranty), you want want to use a dock, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Docking-Station-DS-UBLK/dp/B00IKAQ538

 

[Skyzoomer]

There are options in the alternative. Do you need a bootable clone ?

Actually I'm setting my friend up to do image backups. To verify that her image backups can be restored successfully, I plan to use two USB3 docking stations. Put the backup HDD in one docking station and a new 2TB HDD in the other. Then do a restore of the backup to the new 2TB HDD. ..... Then to verify that the restore worked correctly, I want to boot it from the USB3 docking station and run Win10.

My post referred to booting a cloned HDD to make the explanation simpler. The end result of being able to boot and run Windows via USB would be the same.

One can back up just the personal data to the usb enclosed drive and be prepared to suffer the loss of the OS and reinstall if the disk goes completely down but will still have the personal data to copy over to the new OS. In this case, a bootable clone is not required.

No problem with recovering the personal data. I can do that from the full image backup.

If the OS is just a little corrupted but still serviceable here is another option.
Macrium Reflect is a good cloner. Try this. Clone the HDD to the usb drive. That saves the data if you want option #1. Then open Macrium again and see whether the usb drive is selectable as the source disk. If so , try to clone it to the HDD as the target. The issue would be, can Macrium clone drive D to the OS drive ? I have selected the C drive here and drive D as the source but never actually tried it.

This is a possible approach. Thanks for the idea. I do want to verify that her backup/restore is 100% though. I probably won't be able to do that without disassembling her AIO PC and connecting the restored drive directly to the motherboard via the SATA cable. Was just hoping there is a way to test a backup/restore via USB.

 

[Skyzoomer]

How can I verify that a Windows backup is valid, on a laptop or all-in-one PC without disassembling the PC?

I've come to the conclusion that it's not possible to test a backup/restored hard drive via USB. But to disassemble my friend's new All-in-one PC to verify a restored HDD is too much work and would probably void her warranty.

So I've decided to use a different approach. I'm going to do two backups using two different backup programs, Macrium and Aomei. These two backups will only be of her new Asus AIO PC as it is now and will be called her "Master" backups. My friend will do ongoing backups using Aomei since it's simpler for her to use.

If/when the internal HDD in her AIO PC dies, I'll restore her last Aomei backup to a new HDD. If that's not successful, then I can restore her "Master" Macrium backup and update her data from her last Aomei backup. Surely the restore of at least one of the two different backup programs will work.

Skyzoomer

 

[Skyzoomer]

If you are that concerned, just have them get a drive (same physical size as the other one) and clone it with Macrium Reflect. If you don't want to open the unit (which I would suggest you do not if it is under warranty), you want want to use a dock, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-External-Docking-Station-DS-UBLK/dp/B00IKAQ538

Guess I was typing my previous conclusion reply when you posted the above.

I already bought a docking station and two hard drives for my friend. One 500GB HDD to do her "Master" backups on. (One master backup for her new Asus AIO and one master backup for her old HP laptop.) This 500GB HDD will be stored in a safe place and she won't use it anymore.

The other HDD is a 2TB drive and I will have her do ongoing image backups to it. If she screws up the backups on the 2TB HDD or if that HDD dies, I'll have the master backups on the 500GB HDD to fall back on.

Thanks for your suggestions,
Skyzoomer

 

[deustroop]

If/when the internal HDD in her AIO PC dies, I'll restore her last Aomei backup to a new HDD. If that's not successful, then I can restore her "Master" Macrium backup and update her data from her last Aomei backup. Surely, at least one of the two different backup programs will work.

No problemo, what makes that work is that once both drives are connected to the main board,they are recognized by the software and are bootable. You just have to boot a clone and clone it to the new drive.

 

[deustroop]

There is one wrinkle which is that some software will make an identical drive including the drive ID so that one cannot boot the clone when the original drive is attached to the system. Samsung cloning has this issue as the software is intended to create a drive replacing the old drive. I don't know about Aomei but Macrium Reflect gives the clone a new ID and you can boot the target disk on the same system after cloning.

 

[Skyzoomer]

There is one wrinkle which is that some software will make an identical drive including the drive ID so that one cannot boot the clone when the original drive is attached to the system. Samsung cloning has this issue as the software is intended to create a drive replacing the old drive. I don't know about Aomei but Macrium Reflect gives the clone a new ID and you can boot the target disk on the same system after cloning.

Wow, that's the first I've heard of that wrinkle. Thanks much for sharing that important to know info.

Skyzoomer