Cloning my hard drive

Thanks for your response. I have tried using the Acronis Bootable Media however when I do so it will not work without purchasing the program (I am using the full-featured trial version at present). I do not think cloning the OS will infringe on Microsoft's copywright requirements as it is a single computer for personal use. As far as updates go I expect they will be provided depending on the drive I am using. My primary goals are to have a backup of the OS (this was an upgrade from Vista and I do not have the OS install disk) that will allow me to boot from either drive. Also, I will be putting my extensive media files (photos,videos, music etc.) and some applications on the second drive to free up space on the primary drive. Backups will be kept on an external hard drive (partitioned for each internal drive)set for continuous backup using the Acronis continuous backup feature. It was not my intention to keep the two drives syncronized. Your thoughts?

I'll defer the Windows licensing issue to others here but I suspect that, even though the justification is that you can boot from one disk at a time, it's not OK with MS to install two instances of Windows on the same hardware using the same product ID key so as to be able to switch between them. Keeping an "off line" clone (that is, on a shelf somewhere) to be used in case of disk failure isn't going to violate the licensing anymore than is making a copy of the installation DVD. But, in that you plan to use available space on the second drive for storage, the two would not remain identical such that you'd necessarily be able to move to the other seamlessly if the primary disk failed. You'd still be well off to be able to restore that installation of Windows and all the software. I do use Acronis as part of my backup scheme but I do so by making regular complete images of the drive I use and store these images in at least 2 places. Restoring an image only takes a few minutes and you have your drive back. As well, that image can be used to restore an infected drive or corrupt drive. Keeping a running cloned drive just makes it also vulnerable to attack or corruption rendering it not suitable for emergency use. I see no reason that cloning is better or more efficient than just maintaining compressed images of a hard drive. Just my thoughts but you need to go with what you feel is best.

This will be a copy/paste from the EULA found in my own copy of Win 7 Pro. Do this by going to help / view help and type in EULA. Here's an extract from that reading with pertinent items underlined.

"If you comply with these license terms, you have the rights below for each license you acquire.


1. OVERVIEW.

a. Software. The software includes desktop operating system software. This software does not include Windows Live services. Windows Live is a service available from Microsoft under a separate agreement.

b. License Model. The software is licensed on a per copy per computer basis. A computer is a physical hardware system with an internal storage device capable of running the software. A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate computer.

2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.

a. One Copy per Computer. You may install one copy of the software on one computer. That computer is the ?licensed computer.?

b. Licensed Computer. You may use the software on up to two processors on the licensed computer at one time. Unless otherwise provided in these license terms, you may not use the software on any other computer.

c. Number of Users. Unless otherwise provided in these license terms, only one user may use the software at a time."

Looks like MS doesn't buy the idea of multiple partitions with the same copy of Windows installed as it considers partitions as separate computers. I'd be reluctant to apply my own interpretation of their EULA these days as such can come back to haunt. Haunting is something we don't need. Hope this helps with your decision. Good luck.