User's Guide
User's Guide
Table of contents
1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................4
1.1 What is Seagate DiscWizard? ....................................................................................................4
1.2 System requirements and supported media .............................................................................4
1.2.1 Minimum system requirements .................................................................................................................... 4
1.2.2 Supported operating systems ........................................................................................................................ 4
1.2.3 Supported file systems.................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2.4 Supported storage media ............................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Technical Support ......................................................................................................................5
2 Basic concepts .................................................................................................................6
2.1 Seagate DiscWizard basic concepts ...........................................................................................6
2.2 The difference between file backups and disk/partition images ..............................................7
2.3 Full, incremental and differential backups ................................................................................8
2.4 Deciding where to store your backups ....................................................................................10
2.4.1 Authentication settings................................................................................................................................. 11
2.5 Wizards ....................................................................................................................................11
3 Backing up data ............................................................................................................. 13
3.1 Backing up partitions and disks ...............................................................................................13
3.2 Backup options ........................................................................................................................14
3.2.1 Scheduling...................................................................................................................................................... 15
3.2.2 Backup schemes ............................................................................................................................................ 16
3.2.3 Notifications for backup operation .............................................................................................................. 18
3.2.4 Image creation mode .................................................................................................................................... 19
3.2.5 Backup protection ......................................................................................................................................... 19
3.2.6 Pre/Post commands for backup................................................................................................................... 20
3.2.7 Backup splitting ............................................................................................................................................. 21
3.2.8 Backup validation option .............................................................................................................................. 21
3.2.9 Backup reserve copy ..................................................................................................................................... 21
3.2.10 Removable media settings ........................................................................................................................... 22
3.2.11 Backup comment .......................................................................................................................................... 22
3.2.12 Error handling ................................................................................................................................................ 22
3.2.13 File-level security settings for backup .......................................................................................................... 23
3.2.14 Computer shutdown ..................................................................................................................................... 23
3.2.15 Performance of backup operation ............................................................................................................... 24
3.3 Operations with backups .........................................................................................................25
3.3.1 Backup operations menu.............................................................................................................................. 25
3.3.2 Validating backups ........................................................................................................................................ 26
3.3.3 Adding an existing backup to the list ........................................................................................................... 26
4 Recovering data ............................................................................................................. 27
4.1 Recovering disks and partitions ...............................................................................................27
4.1.1 Recovering your system after a crash.......................................................................................................... 27
4.1.2 Recovering partitions and disks ................................................................................................................... 34
4.1.3 About recovery of dynamic/GPT disks and volumes .................................................................................. 35
4.1.4 Arranging boot order in BIOS ....................................................................................................................... 37
4.1.5 Recovering files and folders ......................................................................................................................... 38
4.2 Recovery options .....................................................................................................................39
Seagate DiscWizard provides you with all the essential tools to recover your computer system should
a disaster occur, such as losing data, accidentally deleting critical files or folders, or suffering a
complete hard disk crash.
Windows-style interface and wizards will make your work easier. Just perform a few simple steps and
let Seagate DiscWizard take care of everything else! When a system problem occurs, the software
will get you up and running in no time.
Backups are useful primarily for two purposes. The first is to restore a state following a disaster
(called disaster recovery). The second is to recover small numbers of files after they have been
accidentally deleted or corrupted.
Backup versions
Backup versions are the file or files created during each backup operation. The amount of versions
created is always equal to the amount of times the backup is executed or to the amount of stored
points in time.
So, a version represents a point in time to which the system or data can be restored.
The backup versions are similar to file versions. The file versions concept is familiar to those who use
a Windows Vista and Windows 7 feature called "Previous versions of files". This feature allows you to
restore a file as it existed on a particular date and time. A backup version allows you to recover your
data in a similar way.
Disk cloning
This operation migrates or copies the entire contents of one disk drive to another disk drive. This
may be necessary, for example, when installing a larger capacity disk. The result is two identical
drives with the same file structure. The "Disk Clone" tool effectively copies all of the contents of one
hard disk drive onto another hard disk drive. The operation allows you to transfer all the information
(including the operating system and installed programs) from one hard disk drive to another without
having to reinstall and reconfigure all of your software.
Seagate DiscWizard does not provide for cloning a single partition. You can only clone the entire
drive.
You can also transfer all the information from your hard disk drive to another one by backing up the
entire old hard disk and then recovering the backup to the new disk.
When creating a tib file, the program calculates checksum values for data blocks and adds these
values to the data being backed up. These checksum values allow for the verification of data
integrity.
The data from tib file backups can be recovered only through Seagate products. This may be done in
Windows or in the recovery environment.
Backup validation
The backup validation feature allows you to confirm that your data can be recovered. As mentioned
above, the program adds checksum values to the data blocks being backed up. During backup
validation, Seagate DiscWizard opens the backup file, recalculates the checksum values and
compares those values with the stored ones. If all compared values match, the backup file is not
corrupted and there is a high probability that the backup can be successfully used for data recovery.
Disaster recovery
Recovering from a disaster usually requires a rescue media and a backup of the system partition.
Seagate DiscWizard provides for recovery from a disaster caused by system data corruption, viruses,
malware, or other causes.
If the operating system fails to boot, Seagate DiscWizard will recover the system partition. You can
create a rescue media by using the Media Builder tool.
Scheduling
For your backups to be really helpful, they must be as "up-to-date" as possible. This means that you
should run backups on a regular basis. Although creating a backup is quite easy, on occasion, you
may forget to do a backup.
With the scheduler, you do not have to remember. You can schedule automatic backups ahead of
time. Your data will be backed up as long as there is sufficient storage space.
Understanding these terms and concepts will be helpful when using the program's features.
Disk/partition backups are different from file and folder backups. Seagate DiscWizard stores an exact
snapshot of the disk or partition. This procedure is called "creating a disk image", or "creating a disk
backup" and the resulting backup is often called "a disk/partition image" or "a disk/partition backup".
A disk/partition backup contains all the data stored on the disk or partition:
1. Zero track of the hard disk with the master boot record (MBR) (applicable to MBR disk backups
only).
2. One or more partitions, including:
1. Boot code.
You can change this default method by turning on the sector-by-sector mode. In this case Seagate
DiscWizard copies all hard disk sectors, and not only those that contain data.
Full method
The result of a full method backup operation (also known as full backup version) contains all of the
data at the moment of the backup creation.
Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the full method.
DiscWizard saves the entire document every time you run backup.
Additional information
A full backup version forms a base for further incremental or differential backups. It can also be used
as a standalone backup. A standalone full backup might be an optimal solution if you often roll back
the system to its initial state or if you do not like to manage multiple backup versions.
Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the incremental
method. DiscWizard saves the new page every time you run backup.
Note: The first backup version you create always uses full method.
1.tib - full backup version.
2.tib, 3.tib, 4.tib - incremental backup versions.
Additional information
Incremental method is the most useful when you need frequent backup versions and the ability to
roll back to a specific point in time. As a rule, incremental backup versions are considerably smaller
than full or differential versions.
On the other hand, incremental versions require more work for the program to provide recovery. In
the example above, to recover the entire work from 4.tib file, DiscWizard reads data from all backup
versions. Therefore, if you lose an incremental backup version or it becomes corrupted, all later
incremental versions are unusable.
Differential method
The result of a differential method backup operation (also known as differential backup version)
contains only those files which have been changed since the LAST FULL BACKUP.
Example: Every day, you write one page of your document and back it up using the differential
method. DiscWizard saves the entire document except the first page stored in the full backup
version.
Note: The first backup version you create always uses full method.
1.tib - full backup version.
Additional information
Differential method is an intermediate between the first two approaches. It takes less time and space
than "Full", but more than "Incremental". To recover data from a differential backup version,
DiscWizard needs only the differential version and the last full version. Therefore, recovery from a
differential version is simpler and more reliable than recovery from an incremental one.
An incremental or differential backup created after a disk is defragmented might be considerably larger than
usual. This is because the defragmentation program changes file locations on the disk and the backups reflect
these changes. Therefore, it is recommended that you re-create a full backup after disk defragmentation.
To choose a desired backup method, you usually need to configure a custom backup scheme. For
more information see Custom schemes (p. 17).
If you plan to use an external USB hard drive with your desktop PC, connecting the drive to a rear
connector using a short cable will usually provide the most reliable operation. This reduces the
chance of data transfer errors during backup/recovery.
To gain access to an NDAS enabled storage device, in many cases you will need to specify the NDAS
device ID (20 characters) and the write key (5 characters). The write key allows you to use an NDAS
enabled device in write mode (for example, for saving your backups). Usually the device ID and write
key are printed on a sticker attached to the bottom of the NDAS device or on the inside of its
enclosure. If there is no sticker, you need to contact your NDAS device vendor to obtain that
information.
Optical discs
Blank optical discs such as DVD-R, DVD+R are very cheap, so they will be the lowest cost solution for
backing up your data, though the slowest one. This is especially true when backing up directly to
DVDs. Furthermore, if your backup consists of several DVDs, data recovery from DVDs will require a
lot of disc swapping. On the other hand, using Blu-ray discs may be a viable option.
Due to the necessity of swapping discs, we strongly recommend to avoid backing up to DVDs if the number of
discs is more than three. When there is no alternative to backing up to DVDs, we recommend to copy all DVDs
to a folder on a hard disk and then to recover from that folder.
If necessary, specify the user name and password, and then click Test connection. When the test is
successfully passed, click Connect.
2.5 Wizards
When you use the available Seagate DiscWizard tools and utilities, the program will in many cases
employ wizards to guide you through the operations.
In this section
Backing up partitions and disks................................................................13
Backup options.........................................................................................14
Operations with backups .........................................................................24
6. Click the Backup destination icon, and then select a destination for backup:
7. [optional step] Click Options to set the options for the backup. For more information see Backup
options (p. 14).
8. Perform one of the following:
To run the backup immediately, click Start backup.
To run the backup later or on a schedule, click the arrow to the right of the Start backup
button, and then click Later.
Note that options of each backup type (disk-level backup, file-level backup, online backup, nonstop
backup) are fully independent and you should configure them separately.
After you have installed the application, all options are set to the initial values. You can change them
for your current backup operation only or for all backups that will be created in future. Select the
Save the settings as default check box to apply the modified settings to all further backup operations
by default.
If you want to reset all the modified options to the values that were set after the product installation
initially, click the Reset to initial settings button. Note that this will reset the settings for the current
backup only. To reset the settings for all further backups, click Reset to initial settings, select the
Save the settings as default check box, and then click OK.
3.2.1 Scheduling
The Schedule tab allows you to specify the backup and validation schedule settings.
You can choose and set up one of the following backup or validation frequencies:
Weekly (p. 16)The operation will be executed once a week or several times a week on the
selected days.
Do not scheduleThe scheduler will be turned off for the current operation. In this case the
backup or validation will run only when you click Back up now or Validate respectively in the
main window.
Advanced settings
Clicking Advanced settings allows you to specify the following additional settings for backup and
validation:
So first of all select one of the backup methods in the appropriate box.
Full (p. 8)
Select this method if you want to create only full backup versions.
Automatic cleanup rules
To delete obsolete backup versions automatically, you can set one of the following cleanup rules:
Delete versions older than [defined period] (available for full method only) - Select this option to
limit the age of backup versions. All versions that are older than the specified period will be
automatically deleted.
Often the first version of any backup is one of the most valuable versions. This is true because it
stores the initial data state (for example, your system partition with recently installed Windows) or
some other stable data state (for example, data after a successful virus check).
Do not delete the first version of the backup - Select this check box to keep the initial data state. The
program will create two initial full backup versions. The first version will be excluded from the
automatic cleanup, and will be stored until you delete it manually.
Note that when the check box is selected, the Store no more than [n] recent versions check box will
change to Store no more than 1+[n] recent versions.
You can also use a custom backup scheme without saving it. In this case, it will be available only for
the backup where it was created and you will be unable to use it for other backups.
If you do not need a custom backup scheme anymore, you can delete it. To delete the scheme, select
it in the backup schemes list, click Delete, and then click Delete scheme in the confirmation window.
The pre-defined backup schemes cannot be deleted.
If the free space becomes less than the specified value while the backup is being run, the program
will display the same message and you will have to make the same decisions.
To protect a backup:
1. Enter the password for the backup into the Password field. We recommend that you use a
password longer than seven symbols and containing both letters (in upper and lower cases
preferably) and numbers to make it more difficult to guess.
A password cannot be retrieved. Please memorize the password that you specify for a backup protection.
For example, you may want to start/stop certain Windows processes, or check your data before
starting backup.
The Abort the operation if the user command fails (enabled by default) parameter will abort the
operation if any errors occur in command execution.
You can test a command you entered by clicking the Test command button.
Large backups can be split into several files that together make up the original backup. A backup can
also be split for burning to removable media.
The default setting - Automatic. With this setting, Seagate DiscWizard will act as follows.
When this option is enabled, the program will check the integrity of the recently created or
supplemented backup version immediately after backup. When setting up a backup of critical data or
a disk/partition backup, we strongly recommend that you enable this option in order to ensure that
the backup can be used to recover the lost data.
Regular validation
You can also schedule validation of your backups to ensure that they remain "healthy". By default
regular validation is turned on with the following settings:
Frequency: once a week
Day: the date when the backup was started
Time: the moment of backup start plus 15 minutes
Advanced settings: the Run the validation only when the computer is idle check box is selected
You can change the default settings and specify your own schedule. For more information see
Scheduling (p. 15).
Also remember that you will pay for the enhanced convenience and increased security of your data
by the time required for performing the backup because normal backup and reserve copying are
performed one at a time and not simultaneously.
If a backup does not have comments, type your comment in the comments area. When a comment
already exists, you can edit it after clicking Edit.
You can specify security settings for backed up files (these settings relate only to file/folder backups):
Preserve file security settings in backups - selecting this option will preserve all the security
properties (permissions assigned to groups or users) of the backup files for further recovery.
By default, files and folders are saved in the backup with their original Windows security settings
(i.e. permissions for read, write, execute and so on for each user or user group, set in file
Properties -> Security). If you recover a secured file/folder on a computer without the user
specified in the permissions, you may not be able to read or modify this file.
To eliminate this kind of problem, you can disable preserving file security settings in backups.
Then the recovered files/folders will always inherit the permissions from the folder to which they
are recovered (parent folder or disk, if recovered to the root).
Or, you can disable file security settings during recovery, even if they are available in the backup.
The result will be the same.
In backups, store encrypted files in a decrypted state (the preset is disabled) - check the option
if there are encrypted files in the backup and you want them to be accessed by any user after
recovery. Otherwise, only the user who encrypted the files/folders will be able to read them.
Decryption may also be useful if you are going to recover encrypted files on another computer.
If you do not use the encryption feature available in Windows XP and later operating systems,
simply ignore this option. (Files/folders encryption is set in Properties -> General -> Advanced
Attributes -> Encrypt contents to secure data).
These options relate only to file/folder backups.
This option is also useful when you schedule your backups. For example, you may want to perform
backups every weekday in the evening to save all your work. Schedule the backup and select the
check box. After that you may leave your computer when you finish your work knowing that the
critical data will be backed up and the computer will be turned off.
Compression level
You can choose the compression level for a backup:
None - the data will be copied without any compression, which may significantly increase the
backup file size.
Normal - the recommended data compression level (set by default).
High - higher backup file compression level, takes more time to create a backup.
Maximum - maximum backup compression, but takes a long time to create a backup.
The optimal data compression level depends on the type of files stored in the backup. For example, even
maximum compression will not significantly reduce the backup size, if the backup contains essentially
compressed files, like .jpg, .pdf or .mp3.
Operation priority
Changing the priority of a backup or recovery process can make it run faster or slower (depending on
whether you raise or lower the priority), but it can also adversely affect the performance of other
running programs. The priority of any process running in a system, determines the amount of CPU
usage and system resources allocated to that process. Decreasing the operation priority will free
more resources for other CPU tasks. Increasing backup or recovery priority may speed up the process
by taking resources from the other currently running processes. The effect will depend on total CPU
usage and other factors.
If you have backups that are not shown in the list, you can add them manually.
Assign unique names (labels) to all partitions on your hard drives. This will make finding the disk
containing your backups easier.
When you use the Seagate DiscWizard rescue media, it creates disk drive letters that might differ
from the way Windows identifies drives. For example, the D: disk identified in the standalone
Seagate DiscWizard might correspond to the E: disk in Windows.
7. Select the system partition (usually C) on the What to recover screen. If the system partition has
a different letter, select the partition using the Flags column. It must have the Pri, Act flags.
8. At the "Settings of partition C" (or the letter of the system partition, if it is different) step check
the default settings and click Next if they are correct. Otherwise, change the settings as required
before clicking Next. Changing the settings will be needed when recovering to the new hard disk
of a different capacity.
9. Carefully read the summary of operations at the Finish step. If you have not resized the partition,
the sizes in the Deleting partition and Recovering partition items must match. Having checked
the summary click Proceed.
8. Select Recover whole disks and partitions at the Recovery method step.
Selecting partitions leads to appearance of the relevant steps "Settings of partition ...". Note that
these steps start with partitions which do not have an assigned disk letter (as usually is the case
with hidden partitions). The partitions then take an ascending order of partition disk letters. This
order cannot be changed. The order may differ from the physical order of the partitions on the
hard disk.
10. On the Settings of the hidden partition step (usually named Settings of Partition 1-1), specify the
following settings:
Location. Click New location, select your new disk by either its assigned name or capacity,
and then click Accept.
11. On the Settings of Partition C step, specify the settings for the second partition, which in this
case is your system partition.
Click New location, and then select unallocated space on the destination disk that will
receive the partition.
Change the partition type, if necessary. The system partition must be primary.
12. Carefully read the summary of operations to be performed and then click Proceed.
If your original disk contains a hidden partition created by the PC manufacturer, please proceed to
MBR recovery. You need to recover the MBR because the PC manufacturer could change the generic
Windows MBR or a sector on track 0 to provide access to the hidden partition.
1. Select the same backup again. Right-click and select Recover in the shortcut menu. Choose
Recover whole disks and partitions at the Recovery method step and then select the MBR and
Track 0 box.
2. At the next step, select the destination disk as the target for MBR recovery, click Next and then
Proceed. After MBR recovery is complete, exit the standalone version of Seagate DiscWizard.
When the recovery is complete
Before you boot the computer, please disconnect the old drive (if any). If Windows "sees" both the
new and old drive during the boot, this will result in problems booting Windows. If you upgrade the
old drive to a larger capacity new one, disconnect the old drive before the first boot.
Remove the rescue media and boot the computer to Windows. It may report that new hardware
(hard drive) is found and Windows needs to reboot. After making sure that the system operates
normally, restore the original boot order.
6. [optional step] To set up additional parameters for the disk recovery process, click Options.
7. After you finish with your selections, click Recover now to start recovery.
Do I need to recover MBR?
We recommend that you recover the Master Boot Record (MBR) when Windows does not boot after
recovery. To recover the MBR, click Show MBR and then select the MBR check box.
The operation will not affect neither After operation completion, the
My source disk is MBR partition layout nor bootability of partition style will be converted to
and my OS does not the disk: partition style will remain GPT style, but the operating system
support UEFI MBR, the destination disk will be will fail booting from UEFI, since your
bootable in BIOS. operating system does not support it.
The operation will not affect neither The destination partition will be
partition layout nor bootability of converted to GPT style that will make
My source disk is MBR
and my OS supports UEFI the disk: partition style will remain the destination disk bootable in UEFI.
MBR, the destination disk will be See Example of recovery to UEFI
bootable in BIOS. system (p. 36).
After the recovery, please ensure that you boot your computer in UEFI mode. You may need to
change the boot mode of your system disk in the user interface of the UEFI boot manager.
6. Exit BIOS and save the changes that you made. The computer will boot from Seagate bootable
media.
If the computer fails to boot from the first device, it tries to boot from the second device in the list, and so on.
7. Select a destination on your computer to where you want to recover selected files/folders. You
can recover data to its original location or choose a new one, if necessary. To choose a new
location, click the Browse button.
When you choose a new location, the selected items will be recovered by default without
recovering the original, absolute path. You may also wish to recover the items with their entire
folder hierarchy. In this case select the Keep the original folder structure check box.
8. When needed, set the options for the recovery process (recovery process priority, file-level
security settings, etc.). To set the options, click Options. The options you set here will be applied
only to the current recovery operation.
9. To start the recovery process, click the Recover now button.
You can stop the recovery by clicking Cancel. Please keep in mind that the aborted recovery may
still cause changes in the destination folder.
Recovering files in Windows Explorer
To recover files and folders directly from Windows Explorer:
1. Double-click the corresponding .tib file, and then browse to the file or folder that you want to
recover.
2. Copy the file or folder to a hard disk.
Note: The copied files lose the "Compressed" and "Encrypted" attribute. If you need to keep these attributes, it
is recommended to recover the backup.
Note, that disk recovery options and file recovery options are fully independent, and you should
configure them separately.
In this section
Disk recovery mode .................................................................................40
Pre/Post commands for recovery ............................................................40
Validation option......................................................................................41
Computer restart .....................................................................................41
File recovery options ................................................................................41
Overwrite file options ..............................................................................41
Performance of recovery operation ........................................................42
Notifications for recovery operation .......................................................42
For example, you may want to start/stop certain Windows processes, or check your data for viruses
before recovery.
The Abort the operation if the user command fails (enabled by default) parameter will abort the
operation if any errors occur in command execution.
Selecting the Overwrite existing files check box will give the files from the backup unconditional
priority over the files on the hard disk, though, by default, the more recent files and folders are
protected against overwriting. If you want to overwrite those files and folders too, clear the
appropriate check box.
Operation priority
Changing the priority of a backup or recovery process can make it run faster or slower (depending on
whether you raise or lower the priority), but it can also adversely affect the performance of other
running programs. The priority of any process running in a system, determines the amount of CPU
usage and system resources allocated to that process. Decreasing the operation priority will free
more resources for other CPU tasks. Increasing backup or recovery priority may speed up the process
by taking resources from the other currently running processes. The effect will depend on total CPU
usage and other factors.
If the free space becomes less than the specified value while the backup is being run, the program
will display the same message and you will have to make the same decisions.
In this section
General information.................................................................................44
Migrating your system from an HDD to an SSD .......................................49
To transfer the system, you must first install the new disk in the computer. If your computer doesn't
have a bay for another hard disk, you can temporarily install it in place of your CD drive. If that is not
possible, you can clone a hard disk by creating a disk image and recovering it to a new hard disk with
larger partitions.
Warning! If you clone a disk with Windows to an external USB hard drive, you will not be able to boot from
it. Windows does not support booting from external USB hard drives. Please clone to internal SSD or HDD
instead.
For best results, install the target (new) drive where you plan to use it and the source drive in
another location, e.g. in an external USB enclosure. This recommendation is especially important for
laptops.
On program screens, damaged partitions are marked with a red circle and a white cross inside in the upper left
corner. Before you start cloning, you should check such disks for errors and correct the errors using the
appropriate operating system tools.
We strongly recommend that you create a backup of the entire original disk as a safety precaution. It could be
your data saver if something goes wrong with your original hard disk during cloning. For information on how to
create such a backup see see Backing up partitions and disks. After creating the backup, make sure that you
validate it.
To clone a disk:
Click Clone disk on the Tools and utilities tab of the Home screen.
Follow the Disk Clone Wizard steps.
To clone a disk:
1. On the sidebar, click Tools, and then click Clone disk.
2. On the Clone Mode step, choose a transfer mode.
3. On the Source Disk step, select the disk that you want to clone.
4. On the Destination Disk step, select the destination disk for the cloned data.
If the selected destination disk contains partitions, you will need to confirm deletion of the
partitions. Note that the real data destruction will be performed only when you click Proceed on
the last step of the wizard.
If any disk is unpartitioned, the program will automatically recognize it as the destination and bypass this
step.
5. [This step is only available in the manual cloning mode]. On the Move method step, choose a
data move method.
As isa new partition will be created for every old one with the same size and type, file
system and label. The unused space will become unallocated.
Proportionalthe new disk space will be proportionally distributed between cloned
partitions.
Manualyou will specify a new size and other parameters yourself.
6. [This step is only available in the manual cloning mode]. On the Change disk layout step, you can
edit settings of the partitions that will be created on the destination disk. Refer to Manual
partitioning (p. 47) for details.
7. [Optional step] On the What to exclude step, you can specify files and folders that you do not
want to clone. Refer to Excluding items from cloning (p. 48) for details.
If the cloning operation is stopped for some reason, you will have to configure and start the
procedure again. You will not lose your data, because DiscWizard does not alter the original disk and
data stored on it during cloning.
Cloning a disk containing the currently active operating system will require a reboot. In that case,
after clicking Proceed, you will be asked to confirm the reboot. Canceling the reboot will cancel the
entire procedure. By default, Seagate DiscWizard shuts down the computer after the clone process
finishes. This enables you to change the position of master/subordinate jumpers and remove one of
the hard drives.
To edit a partition:
1. Select the partition, and then click Edit. This will open the Partition Settings window.
First of all, make sure that Seagate DiscWizard detects your new SSD both in Windows and under the
Seagate rescue media. If there is a problem, see What to do if Seagate DiscWizard does not recognize
your SSD (p. 50).
SSD size
Because SSDs are still somewhat expensive, the size of your new SSD will usually be less than that of
your old hard disk. This may cause a problem if your hard disk contains the operating system,
programs and data.
We presuppose that before purchasing the SSD you estimated the approximate space occupied by
your operating system and applications and that you selected an SSD that has a reasonable reserve
capacity.
If the occupied space on your old hard disk exceeds the size of your SSD, you will need to free up
space on the system disk to make migration possible. See What to do if your SSD does not have
enough space for all HDD content.
SSD alignment
Another question concerns the alignment of SSDs. To get the optimum performance from an SSD and
to prolong its life, the partition offset must meet certain criteria. In most cases you do not need to
check or manually fix the alignment, the program will do it automatically.
However, we recommend to use the backup and recovery method in most cases. This method
provides more flexibility and control over migration. See Migrating to an SSD using the backup and
recovery method (p. 51).
If the BIOS of your computer does not show the SSD, verify that the power and data cables are
properly connected. You may also try to update the BIOS and SATA drivers. If these suggestions do
not help, contact the Support of your SSD manufacturer.
If the BIOS of your computer does show the SSD, you can try the following procedure:
For Windows Vista/Windows 7 type cmd in the Search field and press Enter.
For Windows XP, type cmd in the Run field and press Enter.
diskpart
list disk The screen will show the disks connected to your computer. Find out the disk number for
your SSD. Use its size as the reference.
clean This operation removes all information from the SSD and overwrites the MBR with the default
one.
exit
exit
Start Seagate DiscWizard and check whether it detects the SSD. If it detects the SSD, use the Add new
disk tool to create a single partition on the disk occupying the entire disk space. When creating a
partition, check that the free space before partition is 1 MB. For more information, see Adding a new
hard disk (p. 53).
The next step is to check whether your Seagate bootable rescue media recognizes the SSD.
1. Boot from the rescue media.
2. Select Tools & Utilities -> Add New Disk in the main menu and the Disk selection screen will
show the information about all hard disks in your system. Use this for checking whether the SSD
is detected in the recovery environment.
3. If the screen shows your SSD, just click Cancel.
If the rescue media does not recognize the SSD and the SSD controller mode is ACHI, you can try to
change the mode to IDE (or ATA in some BIOS brands) and see whether this solves the problem.
If after changing the mode the rescue media detects the SSD, you may use the following procedure
for recovery or cloning under rescue media:
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Boot to BIOS, change the mode from AHCI to IDE (or ATA in some BIOS brands).
3. Boot from Seagate rescue media.
4. Recover or clone the disk.
5. Boot to BIOS and change IDE back to AHCI.
6. Start Windows.
What to do if the above suggestions do not help
You can request a custom rescue media from Seagate Support. For more information, see Creating a
custom rescue CD.
Please be aware that finding the appropriate drivers and making the custom rescue media may take time.
Furthermore, finding the appropriate drivers may not be possible in some cases.
We recommend that you migrate your system to an empty SSD that does not contain partitions (the
disk space is unallocated). Note that if your SSD is new and has never been used before, it does not
contain partitions.
Protection tools
Rescue Media Builder
Allows you to create a bootable rescue media with Seagate products (or their specified
components) installed on your computer.
Clone disk
Use Clone disk wizard if you need to clone your hard disk drive by copying the partitions to another
hard disk.
File System
You can either leave the partition unformatted, or choose between the following file system types:
NTFS is a Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 native file
system. Choose it if you use these operating systems. Note, that Windows 95/98/Me and DOS
cannot access NTFS partitions.
FAT 32 is an improved 32-bit version of the FAT file system that supports volumes up to 2 TB.
FAT 16 is a DOS native file system. Most operating systems recognize it. However, if your disk
drive is more than 4 GB, it is not possible to format it in FAT16.
Ext2 is a Linux native file system. It is fast enough, but it is not a journaling file system.
Ext3 officially introduced with Red hat Linux version 7.2, Ext3 is a Linux journaling file system. It
is forwards and backwards compatible with Linux Ext2. It has multiple journaling modes, as well
as broad, cross platform compatibility in both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
Partition label
Partition label is a name, assigned to a partition so that you can easily recognize it. For example, a
partition with an operating system could be called System, a data partition Data, etc. Partition
label is an optional attribute.
Partition type (these settings are available only for MBR disks)
You can define the new partition as primary or logical.
Primary - choose this parameter if you are planning to boot from this partition. Otherwise, it is
better to create a new partition as a logical drive. You can have only four primary partitions per
drive, or three primary partitions and one extended partition.
Note: If you have several primary partitions, only one will be active at a time, the other primary
partitions will be hidden and wont be seen by the OS.
Mark the partition as active - select this check box if you are planning to install an operating
system on this partition.
Logical - choose this parameter if you dont intend to install and start an operating system from
the partition. A logical drive is part of a physical disk drive that has been partitioned and
allocated as an independent unit, but functions as a separate drive.
You can create bootable media using the Bootable Media Builder. For this, you will need a blank
CD-R/RW, a blank DVD+R/RW or any other media from which your computer can boot, such as a USB
flash drive.
Seagate DiscWizard also provides the ability to create an ISO image of a bootable disc on the hard
disk.
Notes
If you have chosen not to install the Bootable Media Builder during Seagate DiscWizard
installation, you will not be able to use this feature.
When booting from the Rescue Media, you cannot perform backups to disks or partitions with
Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, ReiserFS, and Linux SWAP file systems.
Please keep in mind that the backups created by the later program version may be incompatible
with the previous program versions. Due to this reason, we strongly recommend that you create
a new bootable media after each Seagate DiscWizard upgrade.
When booting from the rescue media and using a standalone version of Seagate DiscWizard you
cannot recover files and folders encrypted with use of the encryption available in Windows XP
and later operating systems.
Description
The following parameters can be used to load Linux kernel in a special mode:
acpi=off
Disables ACPI and may help with a particular hardware configuration.
noapic
Disables APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller) and may help with a particular
hardware configuration.
nousb
Disables loading of USB modules.
nousb2
Disables USB 2.0 support. USB 1.1 devices still work with this option. This option allows using some
USB drives in USB 1.1 mode, if they do not work in USB 2.0 mode.
quiet
This parameter is enabled by default and the startup messages are not displayed. Deleting it will
result in the startup messages being displayed as the Linux kernel is loaded and the command shell
being offered prior to running the Seagate program.
nodma
Disables DMA for all IDE disk drives. Prevents kernel from freezing on some hardware.
nofw
Disables FireWire (IEEE1394) support.
nopcmcia
Disables PCMCIA hardware detection.
nomouse
Disables mouse support.
[module name]=off
6.2.2 Making sure that your rescue media can be used when
needed
To maximize the chances of your computer's recovery, you must test that your computer can boot
from the rescue media. In addition, you must check that the rescue media recognizes all your
computer's devices, such as the hard drives, the mouse, the keyboard and network adapter.
If you purchased a boxed version of the product that has a bootable CD, please test this CD.
1. Configure your computer to enable booting from the rescue media. Then, make your rescue
media device (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive or USB stick) the first boot device. See Arranging boot
order in BIOS.
2. If you have a rescue CD, press any key to start booting from the CD, when you see the prompt
"Press any key to boot from CD". If you do not press a key within five seconds, you will need to
restart the computer.
3. After the boot menu appears, choose True Image.
If your wireless mouse does not work, try to replace it with a wired one. The same recommendation applies
to the keyboard.
4. When the program starts, we recommend you try recovering some files from your backup. A test
recovery allows you to make sure that your rescue CD can be used for recovery. In addition, you
will check that the program detects all the hard drives you have in your system.
If you have a spare hard drive, we strongly recommend you to try a test recovery of your system partition to
this hard drive.
How to test recovery, as well as check the drives and network adapter
1. If you have file backups, start Recovery Wizard by clicking Recovery -> File Recovery on the
toolbar.
If you have only disk and partition backup, Recovery Wizard also starts and the recovery procedure is
similar. In such a case, you need to select Recover chosen files and folders at the Recovery Method step.
3. When recovering files with the rescue CD you are able to select only a new location for the files
to be recovered. Therefore just click Next at the Location selection step.
4. After the Destination window opens, check that all your drives are shown under My Computer.
If you store your backups on the network, you should also check that you can access the network.
If no computers are visible on the network, but the Computers Near Me icon is found under My Computer,
specify network settings manually. To do this, open the window available at Tools & Utilities Options
Network adapters.
If the Computers Near Me icon is not available under My Computer, there may be problems either with
your network card or with the card driver provided with Seagate DiscWizard.
6.2.2.1 Selecting video mode when booting from the rescue media
When booting from the rescue media the optimal video mode is selected automatically depending
on the specifications of your video card and monitor. However, sometimes the program can select
the wrong video mode, which is unsuitable for your hardware. In such case you can select a suitable
video mode as follows:
1. Start booting from the rescue media. When the boot menu appears, hover the mouse over True
Image item and press the F11 key.
3. Select True Image in the boot menu to continue booting from the rescue media. To see the
available video modes, press the Enter key when the appropriate message appears.
4. Choose a video mode you think best suitable for your monitor and type its number in the
command line. For instance, typing 338 selects video mode 1600x1200x16 (see the below figure).
5. Wait until Seagate DiscWizard starts and make sure that the quality of the Welcome screen
display on your monitor suits you.
To test another video mode, close Seagate DiscWizard and repeat the above procedure.
After you find the optimal video mode for your hardware, you can create a new bootable rescue
media that will automatically select that video mode.
To do this, start Seagate Media Builder, select the required media components, and type the mode
number with the "0x" prefix (0x338 in our instance) in the command line at the "Bootable media
startup parameters" step, then create the media as usual.
When it is needed
If you have hard disks larger than 2 TB and your OS does not see the entire disk space, you can
resolve this issue through one of the following options:
Use Extended Capacity Manager. You can use this tool for all cases, because it doesn't delete any
data on a large disk. Therefore, we recommend that you use this tool if your large disk contains
an operating system or useful data. See details below.
Convert the MBR disk to GPT disk. The easiest way to do this is by using Windows built-in Disk
Management utility. Note that this utility erases all data on the disk while converting it to GPT.
The following table helps you to find out which option to choose. It relates only to disks larger than 2
TB.
How it works
Seagate Extended Capacity Manager wizard displays all hard disks larger than 2 TB (unallocated or
with MBR partition style). You can see the disk space which Windows recognizes and allocates. This
space is called Windows Native Capacity in the wizard.
The space beyond 2 TB is displayed as Extended Capacity. You can enable Extended Capacity Disks,
and once it is done, this space becomes visible to the operating system and ready for disk
management operations.
How to use it
1. To start Seagate Extended Capacity Manager, select the Tools tab, then click More tools, and
then click Seagate Extended Capacity Manager.
If the program does not find any MBR disks with a capacity of more than 2 TB, it displays a message that
the entire disk space is accessible and you do not need to use Seagate Extended Capacity Manager.
3. Click Allocate space to see the possible disk space allocation in the next step.
After clicking the Apply button, an Extended Capacity Disk will be emulated on your physical disk.
If your physical disk's capacity is more than 4 TB and your operating system does not support the
GPT partition style, the program creates several MBR Extended Capacity Disks.
Note that Extended Capacity Disks are not bootable, though most of their properties are the same as that
of physical disks.
To remove the Extended Capacity Disks, click Remove Extended Capacity Disks and then click the
Apply button in the next step. These disks will be removed from your system, and the disk space
beyond 2 TB will become inaccessible. To allocate this space later, you need to start the Extended
Capacity Manager again and then repeat the wizard's steps.
Seagate DriveCleanser cannot wipe partitions on dynamic and GPT disks, so they will not be shown.
Leakage mechanism
Data is stored on a hard disk as a binary sequence of 1 and 0 (ones and zeros), represented by
differently magnetized parts of a disk.
Generally speaking, a 1 written to a hard disk is read as 1 by its controller, and 0 is read as 0.
However, if you write 1 over 0, the result is conditionally 0.95 and vice versa if 1 is written over 1
the result is 1.05. These differences are irrelevant for the controller. However, using special
equipment, one can easily read the underlying sequence of 1's and 0's.
2. Choose an option:
Write pattern
Enter a hexadecimal value, for example, a value of this kind: 0x00, 0xAA, or 0xCD, etc. These
values are 1 byte long, but they may be up to 512 bytes long. Except for such values, you may
enter a random hexadecimal value of any length (up to 512 bytes).
If the binary value is represented by the 10001010 (0x8A) sequence, then the complementary binary
value will be represented by the 01110101 (0x75) sequence.
This is what the window control elements mean: You may enter any hexadecimal value into the field
under the Write pattern switch to write it to a hard disk during any pass (during the first pass in this
case).
By setting the switch to Write a random number position, you will first select to write a random
value to disk, and specify the length of the random value in bytes in the field below.
The U.S. standard provides the writing of random values to each byte of each disk sector during the
first pass, so set the switch to Write a random number position and enter 1 into the field.
You will be taken to the algorithm definition window again and will see that the former record (write
00) was replaced by write random, 1 byte.
You will see the already-familiar window, but this time there will be more switch positions available:
two additional positions will be available for selection:
Write complementary to previous pass pattern: As during the second pass of the U.S. standard,
each disk sector is filled with hexadecimal values that are complementary to those written during
the previous pass. Therefore you should set the switch to the Write complementary to previous
pass pattern position and click the OK button.
You will be taken to the algorithm definition window again. In this window, the second record
looks like this: write complementary to previous step pattern.
Verify
Following the U.S. data destruction standard specification, define third and fourth data overwriting
passes.
In the same way, you can create any data destruction algorithm to match your security
requirements.
In order to save your algorithm, you need to give it a filename and define the path in the Select file
field or locate an existing file on the disk.
Note that after you click the Proceed button, the selected partitions will be wiped permanently. So
the button is disabled until you select the Wipe the selected partitions irreversibly check box.
Click the Cancel button to exit the wizard without performing any operations.
3. [optional step] On the Drive letter step, select a letter to be assigned to the virtual disk from the
Mount letter drop-down list. If you do not want to mount a partition, select Do not mount in the
list or clear the partition's check box.
4. Click Proceed.
5. After the image is connected, the program will run Windows Explorer, showing its contents.
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with the Software and/or Service at http://kb.acronis.com/content/7696
Backup operation D
An operation that creates a copy of the data
that exists on a machine's hard disk for the Differential backup
purpose of recovering or reverting the data to Note: Differential backups are not available in this
a specified date and time. product edition. To access this feature, please
upgrade to full version.