Many users have complained that their Acronis Clone Disk Wizard stuck. They don't know why Acronis True Image hangs when cloning. This usually happens when cloning is 80%-95% complete, or Acronis gets stuck at "less than 1 minute" for a few hours, etc. Find solutions from this page.
I have been running the cloning process all day. Last night I encountered an error prompting me to wipe the SSD clean and start over. I am using Windows 10 x64 and trying to clone a 1TB SATA to a 1TB SSD with Acronis True Image. After booting up the laptop, I accessed True Image, selected Clone from Tools, and selected "Automatic". However, I've been stuck on "Less than 1 minute" for almost 7 hours. What is causing this delay?"
- Question from Acronis Forum
Acronis True Image is a comprehensive software package that includes backup, archiving, access and recovery functions. One of the features of the Clone Disk Wizard is to facilitate cloning hard drives to SSDs and other storage devices. However, users occasionally encounter an issue where the Acronis Clone Disk Wizard stuck during the cloning process, hampering the hard drive cloning operation.
How long does it take to clone a disk with Acronis? Typically, the duration of a disk cloning operation is affected by factors such as the size of the data on the hard drive and the efficiency of the cloning tool used. For example, if your hard drive has a capacity of 500 GB, the cloning process might take about an hour and a half using Acronis at an average speed of 100MB/s. However, for larger drives (such as 1 TB or larger), the cloning process may take several hours to complete. In this situation, it is crucial to remain patient.
If the cloning process lasts unusually long or is stuck at "less than 1 minute" for an extended period, it is prudent to explore alternative solutions or fix the issue as quickly as possible.
This section provides instant solutions to the problem of Acronis True Image stuck on source disk and hanging during the cloning process. These remedies are explored in detail below.
If you encounter issues with the Acronis Clone Disk Wizard stuck, consider cleaning the disk before starting the cloning process. Although not mandatory, this step can alleviate the problem and promote successful cloning.
Step 1. First, click on the Start button and access Computer Management.
Step 2. Navigate to Control Panel > System and security, then double-click Computer Management.
Step 3. From the left pane, select Disk management under Storage.
Step 4. Right-click the volume you want to format and select Format.
Step 5. Configure volume label, file system, and allocation unit size as needed. Check Perform a quick format and then click OK to confirm.
Step 6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the process.
When you encounter problems cloning a WD SSD using the Acronis True Image WD version, restarting the program and disabling the secure boot option may resolve the issue.
Step 1. After the PC starts, press the Delete key to enter the BIOS. Alternatively, use the F2 or F12 keys to enter the BIOS.
Step 2. Find the Secure Boot option in the BIOS, usually under Startup or Security.
Step 3. Disable Secure Boot and press F10 to save settings and exit BIOS.
If the Acronis True Image hangs when cloning, consider installing a new hard drive to correct the problem. Regardless of the method used, the installation process shares common steps.
Step 1. Turn off the computer and remove the screws on both sides of the disk.
Step 2. Slide the drive bay into the screw holes on each side of the new drive.
Step 3. Remove the desktop computer case, unlock it if it is secured with screws, and slide the new drive in.
Step 4. Connect the new drive to the motherboard using a SATA cable and plug the other end into the power cord.
Step 5. After closing the computer case, restart the computer.
If the previous method fails, access Windows Task Manager to end the Acronis program. Consider using rescue media to start and perform the cloning process.
Step 1. In the TOOLS section, click Rescue Media Builder.
Step 2. Select a media creation method, such as Simple or Advanced.
Step 3. Select a destination for the media, such as CD/DVD, USB flash drive, ISO image file, or WIM image file, and click Proceed.
If you find that the Acronis Clone Disk Wizard stuck, exploring Acronis True Image alternatives like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional may help. This comprehensive partition management tool provides copy disk functionality for seamless disk cloning on Windows 11/10/8/7. With AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, you can easily clone your disk and boot successfully from the cloned disk. Additionally, it helps in creating bootable media ensuring system recovery in unexpected situations. Here are the reasons why AOMEI is the first choice for disk cloning:
◕ Conveniently clone Windows 11/10/8/7 to NVMe SSD without reinstallation. ◕ Support hard disk upgrade to SSD without risk of data loss. ◕ Using hot cloning tech, data can be cloned without interrupting the running program. ◕ Utilize 4k alignment technology to maximize SSD performance. ◕ Support all brands and models of SSDs, including Samsung and Kingston SSDs.
Step 1. Open the installed AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, click "Clone" in the main interface, and select "Clone Disk".
Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk like SSD and click "Next".
Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".
Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to "Sector to Sector clone", and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.
Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to Optimize the performance of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive.
Tip: If you want to clone Windows to a smaller drive, the "Clone without resizing partitions" button will be greyed out. Then, a Note about how to boot OS from the destination disk will pop up. Read and keep it in mind.
Step 5. After returning to the main interface, check the pending operation and click "Apply" and "Proceed" to commit the operation.
In conclusion, Acronis True Image users may encounter issues such as the Acronis Clone Disk Wizard stuck during the cloning process. Many factors contribute to this problem, and finding the right solution can take time and effort. To resolve the issue, we have provided 5 fixes to help resolve the issue.
However, we strongly recommend considering AOMEI Partition Assistant as an Acronis True Image alternative solution. It provides seamless disk cloning across multiple disks without any complexity. Furthermore, as a powerful disk cloning software, it also provides features such as BitLocker protection of USB drives, allocating free space to a C drive, and moving installed programs to another drive. For Windows Server users, the AOMEI Partition Assistant Server is a suitable alternative.
Q1. Why does Acronis drive clone take so long?
Acronis may take a long time due to external drive failure issues. This can happen due to improper, outdated, or damaged disk connections, which can affect Acronis' read operations and UI performance.
Q2. Why does my hard drive cloning process hang with an error message like "Locking drive C:"?
"Locking drive C:" error often occurs during the hard drive cloning process due to issues with file permissions or running background processes. This error may cause the cloning process to become unresponsive.
Q3. What should I do if my hard drive cloning process gets stuck?
It is recommended not to force the process to continue. Instead, try restarting your computer. If the problem persists, consider using an alternative method, such as creating a Windows PE version of rescue media to perform a recovery.
