Re: OT - Win 2000 and new HD question

bill horne wrote:
To add to my other response, I'm using Ghost 2003, and in it and
previous Ghost versions, cloning and imaging are two distinctly
different things. However, the link you provided seems to discuss
cloning and imaging as the same thing. We used to set up new machines
across the network using an "image" file on the master computer - not
by cloning. The file was exactly that - a file - and was named
whatever.gho. That file placed on a HD would certainly not boot.
So does Norton now consider "imaging" and "cloning" the same thing?

I haven't used Ghost in many years -- since long before the Norton name
was on it.

By your description, here's my understanding of the difference between
the two terms:
Cloning: Complete copy from one drive _directly_ to the other.
Imaging: Make a file which can then be used to duplicate a drive on
another.

For probably ten years, maybe longer, I've used Linux for duplicating
hard drives. It's easier, if you're already comfortable with Linux (but
would not be if you're not).

From a Linux command prompt, cloning and imaging as described above
differ only in the destination. Either one would be done with the "dd"
command, which reads file systems directly from a drive (or other
things from other devices).

And if this sysprep stuff is taken care of, and the disk is "imaged"
through a USB port on the same machine containing the imaging drive,
will that "imaged" drive boot and act just like the original if
placed in that machine?

It should be pretty simple. You need the following conditions met
before a drive will begin to boot:
1. Low level format -- done at the factory. You don't do it.
2. Partition -- using fdisk, or in 2000 and XP, I think it's called
"disk management".
2a. MBR. You generally don't need to worry about it, as it will
generally get taken care of automatically while partitioning.
2b. Partition must be set "active".
3. Format -- Filesystem must be in place. If you're cloning or imaging,
the filesystem should be copied whole.
3a. Boot sector. Similar in practice to MBR.
4. Boot files -- must be not only on drive in proper directory, but
must be assigned to the boot sector. In DOS, "format /s" did this. In
windows, checking "bootable" in the format dialog did this.

As an aside, I tried "imaging" with the older Ghosts, and while that
worked fine as a backup which could be used to make a new bootable
drive - or restore the old one - it relieved me of the abilty to just
stick that backup drive in the computer and be back in business.

An image file is the most complete backup you can have. A cloned drive
saves one step in getting the computer running, because the image has
already been written to it.

I used to do data transfers using xcopy, but I think modern versions of
windows are too aggressive in locking files now for it to work. After
format /s, I'd xcopy /e /v /h /k /y /c /r c:\* d: (and depending on
windows version, maybe a few more switches). Worked great all through
winME, and while I think I've done it with 2k/XP systems, I don't
recall what complications are involved.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Re: Re: Problem Finding Hard Drive Involving Cloning
    ... I have two 120GB hard drives as Primary Master & Slave. ... I remembered to follow the cloning IMMEDIATELY with a boot-up from ... boot from the slave drive. ... from either HDD following the disk cloning operation. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: Re: Re: Re: Problem Finding Hard Drive Involving Cloning
    ... I have two 120GB hard drives as Primary Master & Slave. ... I remembered to follow the cloning IMMEDIATELY with a boot-up from ... boot from the slave drive. ... from either HDD following the disk cloning operation. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: OT - Win 2000 and new HD question
    ... cloning and imaging as the same thing. ... I haven't used Ghost in many years -- since long before the Norton name ... Until I got this new machine, I had 3 drives - the main drive, a 2nd one in the machine, but unplugged except when ghosting it, and a 3rd which was ghosted and kept elsewhere in case the house fell into a damsinkhole. ...
    (rec.outdoors.rv-travel)
  • Re: New System Hard Drive.
    ... the cloning operation. ... looking for a boot disk in one place at a time, ... HDs - no optical drives or any other storage devices are connected. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Norton Ghost 2003 Cloning
    ... I have tried cloning my boot HD and it does not load up on my other ... The disk to disk cloning process seem to go OK (though I had to ... any hardware options in Ghost before I started to disk to disk cloning. ... how do you clone 2 slave drives? ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)