Cloning my entire "C" HDD?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Terence Oliver
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T

Terence Oliver

I'm running Vista Ultimate and I'd like to clone my entire "C" HDD
just in case there is a HDD failure or a Vista crash.

I know there are some programs like Norton Ghost, but I learn that there
are some activation related issues when cloning hard drives with Vista
installed?

I'll appreciate any help regarding this matter, after going to clean install
Vista for
the fourth time I'd like to have a duplicate of my "C" HDD with Vista and
all
my programs installed.

What is the best way to achieve this?

Thanks in advance! And...... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Terence.
 
Since you are using Vista Ultimate, why don't you use the built in program
that comes with Ultimate?
That would be Full Backup, it will image your system.
 
If you clone the hard drive and the destination partition is different you
may have to run the Vista install disk in repair mode to fix the Vista Boot
Manager data store, so you can boot the cloned system. This is not as big a
deal as it seems.

If you change enough hardware then versions of Windows and Office since XP
will require reactivation. This is not a big deal either. If you
intentionally clone hard drives to get around licensing restrictions that is
considered piracy. The kind of cloning you are talking about would not be
piracy.

I use Norton Ghost for this purpose and it works well. I have the 2003
version, which I believe is the last one to run in a DOS environment. It
has the ability to clone a hard disk or partition to an image file with
compression This can be restored to a working disk later. In fact I did so
yesterday. You can also use it to enlarge or shrink partitions. Just make
an image file, and copy it to a different sized partition. This method is
not as slick as some of the other methods available.

Earle
 
Click Start. Click System and Maintenance. Click Backup and Restore Center.
Click Backup Computer. Select your external hard disk formatted as NTFS. You
can also backup to multiple DVD's but an external HD is the way to go. Vista
will make a complete copy of everything on your system. You can restore from
that disk.

Tyro
 
Terence Oliver said:
I'm running Vista Ultimate and I'd like to clone my entire "C" HDD
just in case there is a HDD failure or a Vista crash.

I know there are some programs like Norton Ghost, but I learn that there
are some activation related issues when cloning hard drives with Vista
installed?

I'll appreciate any help regarding this matter, after going to clean
install Vista for
the fourth time I'd like to have a duplicate of my "C" HDD with Vista and
all
my programs installed.

What is the best way to achieve this?

Thanks in advance! And...... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Terence.
Click to expand...

look at Casper
http://www.fssdev.com/
 
The O/P wants to know about cloning a disk. You are talking about a backup.
they are 2 entirely different animals.
 
You need an imaging application to clone a disk. One of the best is
TrueImage HOME from www.acronis.com.

You can make an exact copy of your hard drive and then disconnect the target
drive for removal and storage in a remote location. If the original drive
goes south just swap the drives and you are back in operation within a few
minutes.
 
If you've got a Seagate drive you could download the Seagate Disk Wizard
utility to clone the drive. It's based on Acronis software. I very recently
used it to transfer my Vista install into a new partition after adding a
second harddrive. Found nothing to complain about for a free utility.
Apparently the current MaxBlast software for Maxtor drives (now owned by
Seagate) is very similar in function but I haven't tried it to confirm. If
it is, that would be another option for you.
 
I use Acronis True Image 2009 and haven't had any problems. As I am
re-installing to the same drive rather than a new drive I use the 'image'
option (cloning is used to move the operating system from an old drive to a
brand new one). I image my drive back every month or so (due to testing beta
software etc). I certainly haven't had any activation issues. For that
matter even if you did have an activation problem when cloning to a new
drive a simple 'free' phone call to the Microsoft activation line will solve
the problem.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Richie, I have beta tested many versions of Casper and have always asked for
the inclusion of an 'imaging' option as well as cloning. I've also found
Casper extremely useful but for the fact it will not image the drive, only
clone it. Maybe if I keep making the point about imaging to Casper they will
eventually take it onboard. It would certainly improve the product.

--

--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org
Web: http://www.silversurfer-guide.com

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
"I'm running Vista Ultimate and I'd like to clone my entire "C" HDD
just in case there is a HDD failure or a Vista crash."

Is that not what a backup is for?

Tyro
 
Again, a backup is entirely different from a clone. A clone can be used
immediately without restoring a backup. A clone is kept permanently on
another hard drive - ready for immediate use. A backup must be restored, and
if the hard drive has become defective, is useless. A clone, being an exact
photo of the original hard drive, can be installed in the computer and used
as you would normally.

A backup is NOT a clone!
 
Again, a backup is entirely different from a clone. A clone can be used
immediately without restoring a backup. A clone is kept permanently on
another hard drive - ready for immediate use. A backup must be restored,
and if the hard drive has become defective, is useless. A clone, being
an exact photo of the original hard drive, can be installed in the
computer and used as you would normally.

A backup is NOT a clone!
Click to expand...

However, the OP really wanted backup, if you read his question, even if he
did use the wrong term. Making a cloned partition on the same system would
just lead to confusion/problems for him.

ss.
 
Vista Ultimate has the ability to clone your drive.
However, I use Acrois True Image Echo Workstation to
clone my drive, plus make incremental clones.

The Echo Workstation version of True Image will allow
you to restore your computer to totally different
hardware, the add on is called Universal Restore and
works perfectly. If your motherboard dies along with
your drive you have had it, unless you have something
like Universal Restore. If you want to have the ability
to move your OS with all your software to a new
motherboard you should consider this.
 
Thanks to Bender, Earle Horton, Tyro, Richard Urban, John Barnett, Richie,
RalfG, Olfart, John, and to you all in this thread for helping me.

I'm going to try 2 approaches: cloning and doing a complete Backup with the
Vista tool (as not always I'll have HDD failure or irreversible crashes)

My PC has an Asus P5K Premium Black Pearl Edition mother board with an Intel
Core Extreme Q6850/3GHz and 4.00GB of RAM.

I have no problem to reinstall Vista itself as I have the Vista Ultimate
original DVD (not OEM), but it is time consuming to re install all suites
and programs. I believe that the best way will be to have my entire "C"
drive cloned so I can switch HDDs without need to reinstall everything
again.

I have just 55GB of used space on my "C" volume and I'd like to use my 2
SATA Drive Cartridge System (http://tinyurl.com/a6jya2) so I can swap HDD
easily. My doubt is that my "C" drive consists of 2 "Western Digital
Raptor 150GB/10.000RPM" configured as RAID-0 .

My doubt is: can I copy it to a single Seagate SATA 750GB, even when they
are different sizes and when one is RAID and the other single drive?

I already have a couple of Seagate 750 GB and I don't want to buy 2 WD
Raptors unless it's absolutely necessary.

My idea is to always have and exact copy of my "C" on the Seagate 750 just
to keep all my programs and settings duplicate. If the Raptors crash, I'd
copy all programs/files from the Seaate to the Raptor's RAID-0 (after having
them reformatted and checked) as they are faster drives.

If it's not a fatal crash, I will try performing a Full Backup with the
Vista built-in program as Bender suggest me. Honestly, I have not try it
lately as in the past I've been unsuccessful when trying to recover from
backup images performed with Norton and others.

I'll take a look at Casper (thanks Olfart) and to Norton Ghost as Earle
suggests, but probably the Acronis True Image would be the easiest for me as
Richard says that it can make an exact copy of you my hard drive and then
disconnect the target.

Question = will the Acronis cloned volume drive letter be "C" or it must be
fixed later?
This and the HDDs size difference are the only issues left for me then.

Thanks again.
Terence
 
Why clone your Hard drive all you need to do is back the entire disk up. I
personally use Acronyms Home 2009 and it works great with no problems and
restores my 48GB of programs and data in 16 minutes and if you're hard drive
quits all you have to do is replace it and restore you backup. You can do
what ever you want but it would be easier that way than cloning your hard
drive. And on you question you should have no problem and it should work out
all it will show is you have more space than the original drive. Hope this
will help you out and have a good upcoming year
 
Synapse Syndrome said:
Richard Urban wrote:



However, the OP really wanted backup, if you read his question, even if he did use the wrong term. Making a cloned
partition on the same system would just lead to confusion/problems for him.

ss.
Click to expand...

Richard is right, a clone is not a backup. And so as not to
confuse future Groups.Google searchers, the procedure to make
a clone should have been described. But to answer the question
that the OP perhaps should have asked, the procedure for making
a backup should have either been described or a link to it provided.
Clarity in reply is important to reduce the volume of "noise" in the
NGs and to make Google searches more productive.

*TimDaniels*
 
Keeping the terminology straight, you need a *cloning* utility to clone
a disk. A good cloning utility is Casper:
http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/

Acronis True Image (the last time I checked) can make both image files
and true clones, but it can only make a clone of an entire HD, not just
of a single partition as Casper can. Both are good products for what
they do. Since I use relatively small partitions to contain my OSes, I
prefer Casper to make and keep multiple clones in reserve on a single
spare HD. By flipping a toggle switch before startup, I can bring the
spare HD online and then boot into any one of the clones. Each clone
represents an "epoch", and I can select files and run installed apps from
any "epoch".

*TimDaniels*
 
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