Frequently Asked Questions

What is disk clone?

Disk cloning is the process of copying the entire content of a hard drive to another, in the form of an image. This includes all the information to help you boot to the operating system from the created drive.

With IDrive Disk Clone, backup your entire drive / hard disk as an image file to a secondary location, like an external hard drive or to the cloud. Backup the drives and system image, including operating system and applications, with information structure intact with sector level backup.

How to create a drive / system image Backup?

To create drive / system image backup,

1. Launch the IDrive desktop application.
2. Sign in with Username and Password. If you have set a private encryption key for your account, then provide the private key.
3. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.
   
4. The 'Clone/Computer Backup' screen appears. Click 'Disk Clone'.
   
5. In the 'Drive Image Backup' tab, select the 'Local Backup + Cloud Backup' or 'Local Backup' radio button.

Note: For local backups, you can choose to store the local backup with or without encryption.

6. Select 'Source drive' for backup.
For Drive Image:

For System Image:

7. Choose a local drive from the 'Temporary local backup destination' drop-down.
   

If you have selected 'Local Backup', select a 'Target destination drive'.

8. Click 'Schedule Now'. The 'Schedule Backup' screen appears.
9. Create a schedule for performing regular drive / system image backups and click 'Save Changes'.

Which hardware RAID versions support Disk Clone backup?

The following RAID versions support Disk Clone backup:

1. RAID 1
2. RAID 0
3. RAID 1 + 0
4. RAID 0 + 1
5. RAID 5

I have created a drive / system image file from my PC, using the IDrive application. Can I access it on another OS like Mac, Linux, etc?

Drive / system image file created using the IDrive application is cross-platform compatible, which means you can access the image file created from PC, on Mac or Linux. To access it, mount the drive / system image file on the specific operating system.

At the time of running bootrec command, why am I getting the 'Element not found' message for bootrec.exe /fixboot command execution?

Before running the bootrec command, ensure that the MBR partition is active.

To make MBR partition active,

1. Enter DISKPART in the command line window.
2. Enter the below commands:
   DISKPART> list volume:
   A list of volumes present will appear

   DISKPART> select volume:
   Select the volume where MBR is restored from the MBR.img image

   DISKPART> active:
   Partition is now made active

   DISKPART> exit:
   Exit the disk part

Perform the bootrec /fixBoot again to fix the issue.

Why am I getting 'Not enough memory resources are available to process this command' message after booting to the WinRE command line environment?

This message is displayed because the WinRE Bootable Media is not created using Windows 8.1 ISO. To resolve this issue, extract the Install.wim file from Windows 8.1 ISO and create a WinRE Bootable Media again.

Does IDrive support disk cloning for MAC users?

Currently, the Disk Clone option is only available for Windows users.

How many file versions are supported for drive image and system image backup?

Maximum 10 versions of drive image (IDDriveImage backup folder) and system image (IDHDImage backup folder) files are supported by IDrive.

Can I perform Disk Image Backup and Restore for a virtual machine?

It is recommended to use the Hyper-V / VMware Backup option to backup and restore virtual machines.

How is Disk Clone different from Entire Machine Backup?

While Disk Clone and Entire Machine Backup in IDrive can help to recover the user data along with Operating System and application in case of a system failure, both differ in the creation process and space utilization.

Disk Clone: It is sector-level backup and creates an exact copy of the drive or harddisk. E.g., If the total space on C:\ drive is 25 GB and space utilized is 15 GB, it requires a physical disk with empty space greater than or equal to 25 GB to create a backup image file or clone. The local image backup is then uploaded to the cloud account.

Entire Machine Backup: It is file-level backup and the computer is backed to the cloud without creating a local copy. E.g., If the total space on C:\ drive is 25 GB and space utilized is 15 GB, the entire data (15 GB) is uploaded directly to the cloud account.

How can I perform drive / system image backup to a network mapped drive / NAS Drive?

In order to perform drive / system image backup to a network mapped drive / NAS drive, you have to map your network location to your system.

To perform the backup operation,

1. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.
   
2. The 'Clone/Computer Backup' screen appears. Click 'Disk Clone'.

3. Go to the 'Drive Image Backup'/ 'System Image Backup' tab and select the 'Local Backup + Cloud Backup' or 'Local Backup' radio button.
   

   Note: For local backups, you can choose to store the local backup with or without encryption.

4. Select the 'Source drive' for backup from the 'Drive Image Backup' or 'System Image Backup' tab respectively.
For Drive Image:

For System Image:

5. Select the network mapped drive / NAS drive as the location for creating the drive / system image. Click 'Schedule Now'.

6. Enter your username and password to authenticate network mapped drive / NAS drive.


You can now schedule drive / system image backup to perform the backup operation to a network mapped drive / NAS drive.

How can I perform drive / system image backup to an Express or local device?

To perform drive / system image backup to an Express or local device,

1. Go to the 'Backup' tab and select the 'Backup files to Local, Wi-Fi and Express device' radio button.
2. Click , select a device and click 'OK'.
   
3. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.

4. In the 'Drive Image Backup' / 'System Image Backup' tab, select the 'Local Backup' radio button.
5. Choose 'Encrypt local backup data'.

   Note: It is highly recommended to choose the 'Encrypt local backup data' option and encrypt your data while backing up to an Express device. Choosing the option to not encrypt local backup data will leave your data unprotected.

6. Select a source drive, from the 'Drive Image Backup' or 'System Image Backup' tab to backup to the Express or local device.
   
   
   For Drive Image:
   
   For System Image:
   
7. Select a 'Temporary local backup destination' for local image creation. You can select either a local or network attached drive. Your drive(s) will first be backed up to this local path and then the encrypted backup will be transferred to the Express or local device.
   
8. Click 'Schedule Now'.
9. A popup message will request confirmation for encrypting the local backup data. Click 'Yes'.
   
10. Schedule the drive / system image backup for a future date and time or select 'Start the backup immediately' and click 'Save Changes'.
    

After the backup is complete, click 'View Logs' to view the backup details.

Note:

• You cannot backup drive / system image files to the drive that runs the operating system.
• If you have selected the Express device as the location for both local image and encrypted image creation, after successful completion of the drive / system image backup delete the unencrypted local image (delete the 'IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage' / 'IDDriveImage' / 'IDHDImage' folder) before shipping the Express device to IDrive.

How can I perform drive / system image backup to a Network Computer?

To perform drive / system image backup to a network computer,

1. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.

2. The 'Clone/Computer Backup' screen appears. Click 'Disk Clone'.

3. Go to the 'Drive Image Backup' / 'System Image Backup' tab and select the 'Local Backup + Cloud Backup' or 'Local Backup' radio button.
   
4. Select 'Source drive' from the 'Drive Image Backup' or 'System Image Backup' tab respectively, to create the drive / system image backup.
   
   
   For Drive Image:
   
   For System Image:
   
5. Select the 'Network' as the location for creating the drive / system image.
   
   
   
   The 'Network Computer list' will appear.
   
6. Double-click the desired computer. The 'Network Authentication' popup will appear.
   
7. Enter your username and password to validate the network computer.
8. Select the location to perform the backup.
9. Click 'Schedule Now'. Schedule the backup to perform the backup operation to a network computer location.

How can I perform drive / system image backup to a Network location or Network attached storage location?

To perform the backup operation,

1. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.

2. The 'Clone/Computer Backup' screen appears. Click 'Disk Clone'.

3. In the 'Disk Clone' screen, go to the 'Drive Image Backup' / 'System Image Backup' tab and select the 'Local Backup + Cloud Backup' or 'Local Backup Only' radio button.
   
   
4. Select a source drive from the 'Drive Image Backup' or 'System Image Backup' tab respectively, to create the drive / system image backup.
   
   
   For Drive Image:
   
   For System Image:
   
5. Select the 'Network' as the temporary local backup destination for creating the drive / system image. The 'Network Computer list' will appear.
6. Click 'Verify access to network location for backup'. The 'Network Details' popup will appear.
   
   
7. Enter your NAS/Network UNC path (''\\IP Address or Computer name\dir''), username and password to validate.
8. Click 'Schedule Now'. Schedule the backup to perform the backup operation to a network computer location.

Can I perform incremental backup?

Yes, disk clone supports incremental backup. Once an initial backup is done, later on only changed blocks of the disk will be backed up during incremental backup.

A folder named 'IDDriveImage/IDHDImage' is getting created instead of 'IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage' while backing up the drive image and system image. Why is that?

For IDrive versions 6.7.3.27 and above, the IDDriveImage/IDHDImage folder will be created for backup of drive image and system image to the cloud. If required, the user can delete the old folder data (IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage) from the cloud.

How can I restore an OS Drive / System image file to make the hard disk bootable?

To restore the OS image file to any hard disk and boot,

1. Download and install the IDrive application. Sign in with your username and password.

   Note: If you had set a private encryption key for your account, then provide the same here.

2. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.

3. The 'Clone/Computer Backup' screen appears. Click 'Disk Clone'.

4. Go to the 'OS/System Image Restore' tab.
   
5. Click and select the 'IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage /'IDDriveImage' / 'IDHDImage' folder containing the OS / system image file from your IDrive cloud backup account, local backup or Express backup and hard disk for performing the restore operation.
   

   Note: In case you have performed local backup, where the OS drive / system image backup on the local device is encrypted, you need to restore the encrypted Express or local backup folder to an external device to decrypt and then perform restore operation.

   For OS Image:
   
   
   
   For System Image:
   
6. Choose the desired hard disk for restoring the OS drive / system image.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Click 'Restore Now'.

   Note: Restoring a OS drive / system image overwrites all the existing drive contents with the image file.

How do I decrypt a Disk Clone Express / local backup folder before performing a restore operation?

To decrypt a local backup folder,

1. Sign in to IDrive with your username and password. If you had set a private encryption key for your account, then provide the same here.
2. Go to the 'Restore' tab and select the 'Restore files from Local, Wi-Fi and Express device' radio button.
3. Select the location of your local, Wi-Fi, or Express device.
4. Choose your respective device from the 'Select Device' drop-down list and select 'IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage' / 'IDDriveImage' / 'IDHDImage' folder from the 'My Device' list.
   
5. Click and select the location where you want to restore your encrypted local backup folder.
   

   Note: Make sure you have sufficient storage space on the selected location to perform the restore operation.

6. Click 'Restore Now'.

Can I restore drive / system images to a CD/DVD or to USB hard drive?

Yes, you can directly restore a drive / system image backup file to a USB drive or burn it to a CD/DVD.

Note:

• Restoring a drive / system image overwrites all the existing drive contents with the image file.
• On the same computer you can perform operating system restore as well. Click here to know the recovery details on a different computer (hardware).

Can I restore drive / system image backup on the same computer or on a different computer?

You can restore drive / system image backup on the same or different computer.

Click here to know the recovery details on a different computer (dissimilar hardware).

Note: On a different computer (dissimilar hardware), you can restore the operating system.

Click here to know how IDrive disk clone restore option works on the same computer.

Note: On the same computer you can perform operating system restore as well.

Do I need to format the USB drive to restore a drive / system image backup file?

No. However, it is recommended that you confirm that the data on your USB drive is either copied to another location or no longer needed, as restoring an image file will format all the data on your USB drive.

How do I create a boot disk and recover my drive using a drive / system image backup file?

To create a boot disk to recover your drive using a drive / system image file, the following prerequisites need to be met:

• A USB bootable flash drive to boot your computer. You can download and double-click the WinRE ISO file (for X86 OS architecture and X64 OS architecture) to mount it. Copy the entire content on to a USB bootable flash drive.
• Download the below IDrive Disk Image Utility (IDriveDiskImage.exe) and copy it to the USB drive (WinRE boot disk) that has the boot files.
  • For X86 OS architecture, download IDriveDiskImage.exe
  • For X64 OS architecture, download IDriveDiskImage.exe
• The disk image backup of your operating system drive that you backed up using IDrive.
  
  

How to create a bootable USB flash drive to restore drive image?

To create a bootable USB flash drive,

1. Insert a USB flash drive into a running computer.
2. Run Command Prompt window as an administrator.
3. Enter Diskpart in the command line window.

   DISKPART> list disk

   
   

   DISKPART> select disk x

   where X is the drive number or drive letter of the USB flash drive

   DISKPART> clean

To delete all data from the USB flash drive

DISKPART> create partition primary

DISKPART> select partition 1

To restore MBR disk image partition (legacy)

DISKPART> format fs=ntfs quick

DISKPART> active

To restore GPT disk image partition (UEFI)

DISKPART> format fs=fat32 quick

DISKPART> active

I have a backup (drive / system image file) of a 100 GB partition drive. After restoring it to a 500 GB partition drive, the partition seems to be truncated to 100 GB. Why?

Drive / system image recovery will maintain the information and the structure (including partition) intact, during restore. Hence, it truncates the 500 GB partition down to 100 GB. To avoid such a situation, you should resize the partition before restoring the drive / system image file on it.

How do I restore the OEM disk image to dissimilar hardware?

You can use the OEM recovery disk to make a partition of the disk image (MBR/GPT, OS drive / system image) and restore the MBR/GPT and OS disk image.

I'm getting an error message - 'Disk structure is corrupted and unreadable' after executing the rebuildbcd command while restoring the drive image to a new hard disk. What should I do?

This error message appears for Windows users when their computer tries to access a partition of its hard drive that has a corrupted or unreadable disk structure, thus resulting in a failed attempt to access it.

You need to restore the MBR/GPT partition to correct the disk structure and run the rebuildbcd command again.

After restore, I am getting the following error message - 'Disk is not accessible or is corrupted'. What should I do?

To fix the issue, run the chkdsk with flags /f/r/x.

1. Open command prompt with admin privilege.
2. Enter chkdsk E: /f/r/x. Replace E with your drive letter which has issues.

I have taken the drive / system image from a system with higher configuration motherboard and am trying to restore to a system with lower configuration motherboard. Why am I not able to boot after the restore operation?

To boot, we recommend that the motherboard and hardware configuration of the system to which the restore is to be performed should be equal to or greater than the system configuration from where the user has taken the backup of the image.

Windows operating system is not booting after I tried to perform drive / system image restore to dissimilar hardware/similar hardware. What should I do?

To fix the issue, we recommend that you 'repair' the operating system from Windows OS bootable disk.

Which operating system supports booting after OS image restore to an external hard drive?

Booting of external hard drives after OS image restore depends on the motherboard and other hardware components. From the Windows 8.1 operating system, IDrive OS image restore supports the booting of drive. External hard drives should be booted from a different computer after the OS image restore.

Does IDrive disk clone backup support backup / restore of RAID images?

Yes, IDrive disk clone backup supports RAID 10 level backup and restore.

How can I restore a drive / system image from a NAS / mapped drive to get my operating system working?

You can restore an entire drive with the content exactly as it is on the original storage device, which includes both data and structure information.

To perform drive / system image restore from a NAS / mapped drive,

1. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.

2. The 'Clone/Computer Backup' screen appears. Click 'Disk Clone'.

3. Go to the 'OS/System Image Restore' tab, browse 'IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage' / 'IDDriveImage' / 'IDHDImage' backup from the NAS / mapped drive containing the OS drive image backup file (download the 'IDriveDiskimage' / 'IDriveSystemImage' folder from your IDrive account to a network computer).
   
   
4. Enter your username and password for network drive authentication.
   
   
5. Select a hard disk to restore the drive / system image.
   
   
6. Click 'Restore Now'.

Once the restore is completed, select your hard disk in BIOS and boot your computer, to get your system ready.

How can I restore a drive / system image from a Network Location?

To perform drive / system image restore from a Network Computer,

1. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.

2. The 'Clone/Computer Backup' screen appears. Click 'Disk Clone'.

3. Go to the 'OS/System Image Restore' tab, browse the 'IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage' / 'IDDriveImage'/ 'IDHDImage' backup folder from the network computer containing the OS drive image backup file (download the 'IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage' folder from your IDrive account to a network computer).
   
   
4. Click . The 'Browse My Computer' popup will appear.
5. Click 'Network' and select a computer.
6. Enter your username and password for network authentication.
   
   
7. Select the 'OS / System Disk Image File' from the network location.
8. Select a hard disk to restore the drive / system image.
9. Click 'Restore Now'.

Once the restore is completed, select your hard disk in BIOS and boot your computer, to get your system ready.

To perform drive / system image restore from a Network/NAS Location,

1. Click the 'Clone/Computer Backup' button on the LHS.

2. The 'Clone/Computer Backup' screen appears. Click 'Disk Clone'.
3. Go to the 'OS/System Image Restore' tab, for selecting the OS drive image backup file (download the 'IDriveDiskImage' / 'IDriveSystemImage' / 'IDDriveImage'/ 'IDHDImage' folder from your IDrive account to a Network/NAS location).
4. Click 'Verify access to network location for restore'. The 'Network Details' popup will appear.
   
   
5. Click . The 'Browse My Computer' popup will appear.
6. Click 'Network' and select 'Verify access to network location for restore'. The 'Network Details' popup will appear.
7. Enter the UNC path ("\\IP Address or Computer name\dir") of Network\NAS location, your username and password for network authentication.
8. Select the 'OS / System Disk Image File' from the network location.
9. Select a hard disk to restore the drive / system image.
10. Click 'Restore Now'.

Once the restore is completed, select your hard disk in BIOS and boot your computer, to get your system ready.

When restoring OS to a dissimilar hardware, how do I launch the disk image restore wizard from the bootable WinRE?

To launch the disk image restore wizard from the bootable WinRE,

1. Go to 'Troubleshoot'
2. Click 'Command Prompt'.
3. Enter the path 'X:\Sources\recovery\OneClickRestore.exe'.

I don't want to restore the drive / system image. Can I still be able to access the contents from the drive / system image?

Yes, you can easily access your entire OS and its contents on a different computer, in case your hardware crashed. Learn more on how to recover the OS Drive on a different computer.

To access your data on a different computer, mount the drive / system image backup file on the new computer and restore files/folders accordingly.

To mount drive / system image backup file on Windows,

• Download and install the OSFmount Build from the below link http://www.osforensics.com/tools/mount-disk-images.html
• Browse the image file which has to be mounted in the OSFMount wizard.
• Mounted drive / system image will be shown as a different drive (with new letter) in the new computer.
• Save the required data from the new mounted drive.

I performed a drive / system image restore operation (on dissimilar hardware) for Windows 7/Windows server 2008 R2 successfully, but am still unable to boot the operating system. Why?

To boot Windows 7/Windows server 2008 R2, you must have the same motherboard configuration as the original backed up operating system drive.

Why am I being prompted to activate my Windows license after a disk image restore?

Your Windows license links your product key, which stores your activation codes, to your machine's hardware configurations. Therefore, in case of a hardware change, Windows may prompt you to re-activate your license.

To resolve this issue in the case of a retail license, enter the product key on the new machine and reactivate the Windows license.

Note: Retail licenses can only be installed on one machine at any particular time. Avoid activating Windows on multiple computers with the same product key.

In the case of an OEM license, however, your product key is linked to your machine's motherboard and is non-transferrable. To secure OEM license activation for a restored machine, you will need to contact your OEM-license provider. IDrive cannot assist you with third-party licensing issues.

How can I convert a system disk image to Oracle Virtual Box VDI format to create a virtual machine in Windows?

To convert a system image to Oracle Virtual Box VDI format,

1. Download and install the 'Oracle Virtual Box' for Windows host.
2. Download the 'System Disk Image Converter' and install.
3. Run the 'System Disk Image Converter' from the desktop as administrator.
4. Select the 'System Disk image (.img)' from 'IDriveSystemImage folder' which is downloaded from your IDrive online account.
5. Select the location for converting the disk image to Oracle Virtual Box VDI file.
6. Click 'Convert Disk Image to VDI'.

Once the conversion is complete, a virtual machine is created with the converted VDI file. Start the virtual machine to use your system from Oracle Virtual Box.

Note:

• System image of operating system from Windows 10 and above is supported for converting into VDI file.
• If Oracle Virtual Box is not installed, only conversion from system image (.img) to vdi will be done.

Can I convert a system disk image to Oracle Virtual Box VDI file in a Mac or Linux machine?

Yes, you can convert a system disk image (.img) to Oracle Virtual Box VDI format in a Mac or Linux machine using the command line.

In Mac:

1. Install Oracle Virtual Box in the Mac system.
2. Run the following command from the command terminal:
vboxmanage convertfromraw <Path to System image> <Conversion folder Path for VDI> --format VDI

In Linux:

1. Install Oracle Virtual Box in the Linux machine.
2. Run the following command from the command terminal:
vboxmanage convertfromraw <Path to System image> <Conversion folder Path for VDI> --format VDI

3. Once the conversion is complete, create the virtual machine in Oracle Virtual Box and attach the VDI to the VM. Apply the following settings:
   
   • If the system disk image is in 'GPT' format, select 'Enable EFI (special OSes only)'.
   
   • Select the 'Use Host I/O cache '.
   
4. Start the virtual machine.

Your converted system image file will now boot in the virtual environment (may take multiple restarts to boot to OS).

While creating a virtual machine, the Oracle Virtual Box does not show the 64-bit Windows operating system. Why?

To display the 64-bit Windows operating system while creating virtual machines, ensure that the Intel® Virtualization Technology and Intel® VT-d features are enabled in the BIOS.

How do I run the Oracle Virtual Box on a Windows system, where Hyper-V is already installed?

To run the Oracle Virtual Box on a Windows system where Hyper-V is already installed, you need to disable the Hyper-V feature.

To disable Hyper-V,

1. Execute the following command:
dism.exe /Online /Disable-Feature:Microsoft-Hyper-V bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off


2. Restart the Windows system (twice) to run the Oracle Virtual Box.