[Solved] Booting from a disk clone

[jamesbrown]

Dear all,

 

Recently I've considered for the sake of data security and peace of mind to clone my C drive onto a freshly installed 1TB internal hardrive and then boot the pc from the new clone. I used the software called 'Reflect' to make an identical copy of the main local disk C which contains my applications and operating system (vista ultimate 64bit).

 

Before I performed the clonning operation I formatted my new internal hardrive in NTFS and assigned it to the next available drive letter. After the cloning was done, I shut down the PC, unplugged the SATA cable from my old disk C, switched on and hoped that the BIOS would recognise the boot sector on the new disk and all would boot normally. First time around I was correct, somehow windows managed to boot from the new disk, everything was exactly as it should be. Windows had automatically changed the new disk's identity to (local disk C). Fine and dandy...until I next did a reboot. When I next booted, the computer would restart after the windows loading screen (with the green bar moving from left to right) had showed for a short period. Now this behaviour could be attributed towards the fact that I was tweaking things in msconfig under the 'boot' section, trying to speed up my boot time (i'm not a complete twit however, I was very careful to only disable third party software that I had installed myself in the past that was not required for a boot. I did not disable any vital operating system services).

 

Basically, what i would most like to know is what is the best way (or procedure) for successfully cloning a hardrive that might be nearing the end of it's life (i have not experienced any strange noises or adverse effects but I still feel it's time). Another thing that I did which may have confused things is I expanded the new partition in disk manager because my new hardrive is 1TB and the old one is 500GB. The 'Reflect' cloning software only created a partition as big as the old drive so I had nearly 500GB of unallocated space once the new drive was successfully booted. I expanded the partition so I could make full use of the disk. Would this move have screwed up the system files? It shouldn't have done.

 

I have now reconnected my old disk and booted from that fine. I'm in the process of creating a complete PC backup using window's own utility (backup and restore) with my new drive as the destination. Am I doing the right thing? What caused my original clone attempt to go horribly wrong? What is the best way to introduce a new drive to your system with the intention of making it the new primary slave disk © ?

 

Many thanks in advance for any tips or advice you might have on this topic.

Best regards, James.

[DSTM]

Hi James. I made the partitions and formatted those partitions before cloning my OS to the Hard Drive nominated partition with Macrium reflect. Mine boots perfectly from the cloned Hard Drive. Maybe altering partitions after the clone in some way screwed it up.

I would partition the drive and format each partition. Then clone again and see if it boots OK.

[jamesbrown]

Ok. In the name of science I'm going to try both i.e., do a complete PC backup using the windows utility (on the new hardrive) and then try restoring/booting from that. I will also attempt to re-clone and make sure all the partitions are how I want them before proceeding. Thanks :)

[RandyL]

Windows Backup and Restore does not clone the drive. It makes an image instead. You won't be able to boot into Windows with the image. But it does have its uses.

 

With an image you can restore your computer from the image or you can use the image to recreate Windows on a new drive. If you can't boot into Windows or if you want to use the image to recreate Windows on a new drive should your old drive fail you may also need to create a system repair disk (especially if it's a new drive) from Windows backup and restore.

 

If you boot from the repair disk you navigate to the option to restore from the image. You select the image on the backup drive and then you restore Windows to the original drive or a new drive.

 

Plastic Nev wrote a great article on how to use Macrium.

 

Making a cloned hard drive using Macrium Reflect

[Plastic Nev]

I only did the clone article, it was KenB who wrote the one about making a full image. In both cases though both myself and Ken worked together on it and we both used the Macrium reflect, rather than the Windows own image or backup maker.

 

However, as already discussed, altering an active partition while that partition is in use is risky, so it could well be the reason for the later problem.

As DSTM suggested, much better to pre organise partitions before making a clone.

 

Nev.

[jamesbrown]

 

However, as already discussed, altering an active partition while that partition is in use is risky, so it could well be the reason for the later problem.

As DSTM suggested, much better to pre organise partitions before making a clone.

 

Nev.

 

Yes that does make sense. The reason why that happened was due to the fact that I am cloning a 500GB HD onto a 1TB HD. Reflect created a partition on the 1TB drive that was only 500GB in size. As I wanted to make use of the entire HD I expanded the partition but in doing so created an unbootable system. How can i prevent this? I've tried telling reflect to make use of the 1TB by copying the files over directly but it prefers to clone the partition size as well.

 

Thanks for all the advice so far guys!

[KenB]

Hi James

 

Do you have an option to connect the 1TB drive to another system ?

If so - you could partition it there into 2 x 500GB partitions C: and D:

 

or

 

Let Macrium partition the drive and instead of expanding the partition - leave it as it is for the time being.

Install the drive.

Boot up - if this is OK then we can create a second partition on the rest of the drive to use for storage etc.

 

Either way - it looks as if you are going to have to settle for 2 or more partitions.

[Plastic Nev]

Edited, as KenB posted seconds before me, this is as a follow on from Kens advice.

 

Hi, to go back to what DSTM said, firstly reformat the hard drive, then create a 500GB partition to install the clone onto, then activate the unallocated space as a second active partition.

 

To do that I would recommend a third party partition making program rather than the all too basic Windows own program, which may be the reason why you had trouble.

I have used the EasUS Partition master free version with good success from here :-

 

http://www.partition-tool.com/landing/home-download.htm

 

Unless you fancy all the bells and whistles of the paid for version, you do only need the free one.

There are of course quite a few other good partitioning programs, entirely up to you which you use.

 

Whichever program you download and use, please watch out for unwanted bundled junk wares, wherever you see an option for "Custom" download or install, use it, as the automatic systems is where they hide the junk, some of which can be difficult to remove later, and in some cases the junk has proven to be downloaders for full on malwares.

 

Once you have created the respective partitions onto the hard drive, install the clone onto the first 500GB partition, because the other 500GB is also an active partition, you first shrink that second partition leaving space in between the two partitions, then expand or resize the clone partition into the space.

 

I expanded a 250GB (C: ) drive into the other 250GB (D: ) Data drive on a 500GB drive doing it that way with no trouble using the EasUS partition master. You can shrink the second partition down to a couple of KB or more for storing stuff that you wish to be sure you still have a copy in case of an inadvertent deletion. I shrank mine to 50 GB as I wanted the space for important stuff. Or completely shrink it to virtually nothing if you wish.

 

Nev.

[DSTM]

Yes that does make sense. The reason why that happened was due to the fact that I am cloning a 500GB HD onto a 1TB HD. Reflect created a partition on the 1TB drive that was only 500GB in size. As I wanted to make use of the entire HD I expanded the partition but in doing so created an unbootable system. How can i prevent this? I've tried telling reflect to make use of the 1TB by copying the files over directly but it prefers to clone the partition size as well.

 

Thanks for all the advice so far guys!

 

Hi James. Further to KenB's and Nev's good advice, I take it you want the clone to take up the whole of the 1TB Hard Drive so you have no unused space on the 1TB Drive. This is possible and quite easy to do.

Read this from Macrium and it explains clearly how this is achieved without partitions.

 

EDIT. Sorry Nev we were posting at the same time.

 

http://kb.macrium.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50081.aspx

 

 

Edited May 10, 2014 by DSTM

[Plastic Nev]

Ah, thanks DSTM, the ability to enlarge or create full sized partitions may be a fairly recent addition to Macrium Reflect. It certainly wasn't available on the earlier free versions of it when I was first doing clones.

 

Nev.

[DSTM]

Ah, thanks DSTM, the ability to enlarge or create full sized partitions may be a fairly recent addition to Macrium Reflect. It certainly wasn't available on the earlier free versions of it when I was first doing clones.

 

Nev.

Yes Nev it has to be recent as I wasn't aware of this either. I am due for an OS clone update so this is good to know.

[Plastic Nev]

Thanks once again DSTM, and now having read through that page you linked to, plus knowing already that Macrium automatically formats the drive before installing the clone, Macrium Reflect should be all that you need James, there should be no need to format the drive again first, as Macrium will do that for you.

 

Nev

[jamesbrown]

Hi guys,

Many thanks to you all (RandyL, Nev, KenB and DSTM) for all your help and advice so far. Here's where I'm at: I've re-formatted and cloned onto the new drive using Macrium and I can now boot from the new drive and everything is exactly as it should be. Unfortunately I did this before I read all of your helpful advice, including the useful Marcrium article that shows you how to enlarge the new drive's partition size before you start the cloning process. I am now where I was to start off with, i.e. I am now booted with the new drive. The partition containing the OS and apps is 500GB and there is 500GB aprox of unallocated space remaining.

 

It would seem that these are my two options:

Create a second parition using the unallocated space and treat that as another 500GB drive

or

Reclone all over again, except this time tell Macrium to make the new partition on the new drive 1TB in size.

 

I've had a look through Macrium and can't seem to find a way of enlarging the partition after the cloning process. I take heed of Nev's advice regarding third party software that can enlarge partitions but I think I will only explore that avenue as a last resort (i'm terrified of accidentally downloading malware).

[KenB]

hi James

 

1TB is a huge drive.

If it were me - I would be inclined to create a second 500GB partition and use this to store photos / videos etc.

 

I have had a quick scan through the thread and I am unsure as to the Operating System you have cloned ....is it Vista ?

 

Have you installed an Anti-Virus? Was there one on the original system ?

If not - you should.

Avast or Avira are two good ones - pick one and only have one AV on your system.

 

If you are not happy with 2 partitions then you will need to re-image using the Macrium method to allow the larger partition.

[jamesbrown]

 

1TB is a huge drive.

If it were me - I would be inclined to create a second 500GB partition and use this to store photos / videos etc.

 

I have had a quick scan through the thread and I am unsure as to the Operating System you have cloned ....is it Vista ?

 

Have you installed an Anti-Virus? Was there one on the original system ?

If not - you should.

Avast or Avira are two good ones - pick one and only have one AV on your system.

 

If you are not happy with 2 partitions then you will need to re-image using the Macrium method to allow the larger partition.

 

Hi Ken,

I am using Avira and Malwarebytes at the moment. My operating system is Vista Ultimate 64-bit. I've successfully managed to clone my old drive onto the new 1TB drive in a way that allows me to make use of the entire 1TB. I know it's alot for just the OS and Apps but I thought I would try to prepare for the future. I have other drives installed in the same machine that take care of personal files etc. The operating system is now stable and everything is working as it should :)

 

The next job on my list is upgrading 4GB of RAM to 8GB. Low and behold I've already run into problems but I'll leave that possibly for another thread in a different section. I'm sure the subject has been covered copiously by others so I will read up on the topic as much as possible and self-diagnose from there.

 

Thanks for your help!

[KenB]

Hi James

 

Good to hear that you have a working system now - and the way you want it :)

 

If it helps ..... Crucial have scanning software that will tell you exactly what RAM will be suitable for your machine.

( no need to buy from them - although their RAM is good )

click here

[jamesbrown]

Hi James

 

Good to hear that you have a working system now - and the way you want it :)

 

If it helps ..... Crucial have scanning software that will tell you exactly what RAM will be suitable for your machine.

( no need to buy from them - although their RAM is good )

click here

 

Hi Ken,

I have already bought the ram i wish to use from Crucial (through their scanning and selection process). After sorting my drives out I inserted the new sticks into the two unused slots on my motherboard, with the intention of running those sticks along side the 4GB I have already installed.

 

BIOS has acknowledged the arrival of more memory but windows completely locked up after a few minutes following login. Didn't want to bleat about the problem here in-case it's against forum rules. I've removed the new sticks for the time being and the system has returned to normal. I'm still sorting out my hardrives at the moment so won't address the problem until that's all sorted.

[KenB]

Hi James ...just post in a new thread when you are ready :)

[Plastic Nev]

Hi James, just to add, if you do need to start a new thread about your RAM, please tell us as much as you can find out about the existing RAM that you have, plus all details of the new RAM, add to that as well the make of motherboard or at least full details of the computer if not a custom build.

 

Nev.