Disk Clone removes Apps from Windows 10
Once a week I use Disk Clone from Backupper to clone from Disk 0 to Disk 1, both of identical type and size. When I start the Disk Clone process all my Windows 10 Apps disappear from the Start menu and after the cloning finished, I can see that all Apps from the Win10 Store, including the Store App itself, are no longer installed on my Windows 10 system.
Any help to this annoying bug?
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By the way: I would prefer a weekly (incremental) backup instead of a weekly clone: It is faster, takes less space and you build an archive of file history: You can restore an old version of say 4 weeks ago of a specific document. And suppose you are struck by malware which is already 2 weeks present without you knowing it. The clone doesn't help, a 3 weeks old backup would.
I do incremental backups too, the disk clone is intended to be used after a system crash (I had one last year, which destroyed my whole RAID setup) as a fast swap option to continue working as soon as possible.
Any hint why Disk Clone removes Win10 Apps?
Can you upload some screenshots of the problem?
Before starting Disk Clone, there are 8 tiles of Win10 Apps in the Start menu (Mail, Weather,Calender, Contacts, ...).
After I start Disk Clone all tiles of Win10 Apps disappear! Only Desktop applications, like Microsoft Edge and others, are still in the Start menu. After Disk Clone finishes the missing Win10 Apps are no longer installed on the system, i.e. I have to reinstall all from the Windows Store. I have run Disk Clone several times, the problem stays always the same!
Did you install these apps in the default path? Can you upload a screenshot of Disk Management?
When you install Apps from the Windows Store, there is no option to install to a different location/path. The install process is completely automated by the Windows Store and the so called 'App Packages' can be found, on any Win 8/10 system, under the path:
<SystemDrive:>\User\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Packages\
And after using your Disk Clone, with no other usage of the system during the cloning process, all Store App subdirectories in the \Packages\ folder are removed from the source system drive. And of course are also not cloned to the destination drive.
I just made a disk clone with version 4.0.3 from within Win10 Creators Update and I saw no differences in the Apps in the startmenu. The number of files and folders in the path you mentioned are exactly the same in source and destination disk.
So what is different in your approach?
How are you cloning: From within a running OS, Bootable WinPe or Bootable Linux CD?
I guess also from within the running OS. And as you wrote, the \package folder is emptied before/during the cloning process.... that's strange.
What if you clone from bootable media?
But I saw some differences: I unhided the hidden files and folders in the Explorer Options in the source before cloning.
In the clone they were hidden again. I also saw a "Preparing..." message at first start of the clone. But this may be because I used a new Virtual Machine for the clone.
Yes, I'm cloning from running Win10 (no Creators Update installed). The App tiles disappear and the App package subfolders are removed in the first seconds when Disk Clone is started. Unhiding files/folders shouldn't change anything for a cloning software, as these are operations on system level.
Perhaps you used the sector by sector cloning option? Which I didn't.
Thanks for your input.
Perhaps you used the sector by sector cloning option?
No just the regular.
What if you clone from bootable media?
Please, can I get an answer from the AOMEI support team, as the issue is well described above.
Can you try cloning from AOMEI Backupper WinPE?