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cloning to a larger drive

Guest Jo-Anne Naples

By Guest Jo-Anne Naples
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Guest Jo-Anne Naples

Guest Jo-Anne Naples

Posted
Posted

I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

 

My questions:

 

1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to

clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this

something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over

the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external

drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music on

it.

 

2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external drive

be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do most

cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been thinking

about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted here in

response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should consider

Norton Ghost as well.)

 

3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one and

then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

 

4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my usual

work on the computer using the external drive?

 

As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

 

Thank you for your help!

 

Jo-Anne

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Guest Big Al

Guest Big Al

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

Jo-Anne Naples wrote:

> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>

> My questions:

>

> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to

> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this

> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over

> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external

> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music on

> it.

>

> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external drive

> be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do most

> cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been thinking

> about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted here in

> response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should consider

> Norton Ghost as well.)

>

> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one and

> then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>

> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my usual

> work on the computer using the external drive?

>

> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>

> Thank you for your help!

>

> Jo-Anne

>

>

Clone means to duplicate. You would be taking the 60 gig, and putting

everything on the "larger" external (adjusting for the new size of the

drive) and in the process erasing everything on it.

So no you can't clone it several times. (unless you made several 60 gig

partitions).

 

Imaging means to make a file that contains all the data on the 60 gig

drive that can be later used to re-image back onto another drive. But

its just a file, a bit smaller than the total contents of your data on

the 60 gig. (due to compression). So yes, you might get it down to

40 gig and can put lets say 7 or so on a 320 giger.

 

Backup (normally in this context of these three words) means to copy

files. However backup is truly a generic word. And backup is probably

the least favorable item of these 3 as you can do nothing with it but

get individual files out of the backup.

 

Either of the first two ways, will allow you to recover every bit of

data back onto an internal drive, OS and your data, as of the time you

did the operation. If you did it nightly you would feel no pain when a

HD crashes, (except the blisters from doing the labor of changing the

hardware :-) .

 

HTH.

Guest Nonny

Guest Nonny

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

On Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:14:37 GMT, Big Al <BigAl@nowhere.com> wrote:

>Clone means to duplicate. You would be taking the 60 gig, and putting

>everything on the "larger" external (adjusting for the new size of the

>drive) and in the process erasing everything on it.

>So no you can't clone it several times. (unless you made several 60 gig

>partitions).

 

Cloning goes from disk to disk.

Guest Patrick Keenan

Guest Patrick Keenan

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message

news:uMAIOpDxIHA.5124@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>

> My questions:

>

> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to

> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this

> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over

> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external

> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music

> on it.

>

> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external

> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do

> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been

> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted

> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should

> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

 

You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space. You

will use one or more DVDs instead.

>

> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one

> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>

> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my

> usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>

> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>

> Thank you for your help!

>

> Jo-Anne

 

Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What

you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.

 

Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality, this

is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.

Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features of

the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.

 

In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your hard

disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system and

program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of time

and space.

 

You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a single

backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to one or

more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.

 

It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier

ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the

previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able

to go back to before the damage.

 

As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are

overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.

Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2 cases

start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.

 

HTH

-pk

Guest Bill in Co.

Guest Bill in Co.

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

Patrick Keenan wrote:

> "Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message

> news:uMAIOpDxIHA.5124@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>>

>> My questions:

>>

>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to

>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is

>> this

>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing

>> over

>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external

>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music

>> on it.

>>

>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external

>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not,

>> do

>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been

>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted

>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should

>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

>

> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space. You

> will use one or more DVDs instead.

 

IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at roughly 4G

each.

>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one

>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>>

>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my

>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>>

>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>>

>> Thank you for your help!

>>

>> Jo-Anne

>

> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What

> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.

>

> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality,

> this

> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.

> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features of

> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.

 

OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER have

to keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and which

ones to use, etc).

> In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your

> hard

> disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system and

> program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of time

> and space.

 

15-20 minutes ain't bad - to cover ALL bases (and that includes programs,

system files, and user data - the whole banana. That way you will never be

caught off guard).

> You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a single

> backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to one

> or

> more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.

>

> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier

> ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the

> previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able

> to go back to before the damage.

>

> As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are

> overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.

> Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2

> cases

> start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.

>

> HTH

> -pk

Guest Brian A.

Guest Brian A.

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

news:%2382IDJFxIHA.576@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

> Patrick Keenan wrote:

>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message

>> news:uMAIOpDxIHA.5124@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

>>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

>>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

>>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>>>

>>> My questions:

>>>

>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to

>>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this

>>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over

>>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external

>>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music

>>> on it.

>>>

>>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external

>>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do

>>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been

>>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted

>>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should

>>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

>>

>> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space. You

>> will use one or more DVDs instead.

>

> IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at roughly 4G

> each.

>

>>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one

>>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>>>

>>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my

>>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>>>

>>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>>>

>>> Thank you for your help!

>>>

>>> Jo-Anne

>>

>> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What

>> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.

>>

>> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality, this

>> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.

>> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features of

>> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.

>

> OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER have to

> keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and which ones

> to use, etc).

 

As Patrick points out:

<quote>

It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier ones,

as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the previous

good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able to go back to

before the damage.

</quote>

 

Aside from that. Acronis and Ghost both require the drive space to be two

times+ to create a new image that replaces the present image. Both apps first

create an entire new image, and once completed delete the present one. That

requires that the drive space be large enough to contain the present image and

the new image which will replace the present one, once the new image has been

completed the present (previous) image is then, and only then, deleted.

>

>> In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your hard

>> disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system and

>> program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of time

>> and space.

>

> 15-20 minutes ain't bad - to cover ALL bases (and that includes programs,

> system files, and user data - the whole banana. That way you will never be

> caught off guard).

>

>> You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a single

>> backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to one or

>> more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.

 

Personally, I believe CDs and DVDs are old hat. It's much cheaper, less time

consuming and easier to use removable drives.

>>

>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier

>> ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the

>> previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able

>> to go back to before the damage.

>>

>> As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are

>> overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.

>> Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2 cases

>> start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.

>>

>> HTH

>> -pk

>

>

 

 

--

 

 

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

Conflicts start where information lacks.

http://basconotw.mvps.org/

 

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Guest Bill in Co.

Guest Bill in Co.

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

Brian A. wrote:

> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

> news:%2382IDJFxIHA.576@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>> Patrick Keenan wrote:

>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message

>>> news:uMAIOpDxIHA.5124@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

>>>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

>>>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

>>>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>>>>

>>>> My questions:

>>>>

>>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able

>>>> to

>>>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is

>>>> this

>>>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing

>>>> over

>>>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge

>>>> external

>>>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store

>>>> music

>>>> on it.

>>>>

>>>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external

>>>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not,

>>>> do

>>>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been

>>>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions

>>>> posted

>>>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I

>>>> should

>>>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

>>>

>>> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space.

>>> You

>>> will use one or more DVDs instead.

>>

>> IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at roughly

>> 4 GB

>> each.

>>

>>>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another

>>>> one

>>>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>>>>

>>>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my

>>>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>>>>

>>>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>>>>

>>>> Thank you for your help!

>>>>

>>>> Jo-Anne

>>>

>>> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk.

>>> What

>>> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.

>>>

>>> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality,

>>> this

>>> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.

>>> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features

>>> of

>>> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.

>>

>> OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER

>> have

>> to keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and

>> which

>> ones to use, etc).

>

> As Patrick points out:

> <quote>

> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier

> ones,

> as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the

> previous

> good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able to go

> back

> to before the damage.

> </quote>

 

OK. But I think that's a bit of a "long shot" (that that would indeed

occur):

As I pointed out before, either the source or the backup drive might fail,

but both at the same time? - seems pretty unlikely. So you always have one

to fall back on.

 

Just as it seems *quite* unlikely that you would go ahead and start a backup

if your source drive is corrupt. You'd likely know, by then.

> Aside from that. Acronis and Ghost both require the drive space to be two

> times+ to create a new image that replaces the present image. Both apps

> first

> create an entire new image, and once completed delete the present one.

 

Are you so sure? I seem to recall having the backup partition practically

filled, and yet still being able to overwrite an existing image (with the

same file name). So, I don't think that's *necessarily* true. (IOW, when

you write the new image, the old one can be directly overwritten, right then

and there, meaning its first erased, of course).

> That

> requires that the drive space be large enough to contain the present image

> and

> the new image which will replace the present one, once the new image has

> been

> completed the present (previous) image is then, and only then, deleted.

>

>>

>>> In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your

>>> hard

>>> disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system

>>> and

>>> program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of

>>> time

>>> and space.

>>

>> 15-20 minutes ain't bad - to cover ALL bases (and that includes programs,

>> system files, and user data - the whole banana. That way you will never

>> be

>> caught off guard).

>>

>>> You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a

>>> single

>>> backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to one

>>> or

>>> more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.

>

> Personally, I believe CDs and DVDs are old hat. It's much cheaper, less

> time

> consuming and easier to use removable drives.

 

Yeah, me too. MUCH easier to do, too, and you don't have to keep a stack

of DVDs around either. :-)

>>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier

>>> ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces

>>> the

>>> previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be

>>> able

>>> to go back to before the damage.

>>>

>>> As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are

>>> overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.

>>> Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2

>>> cases

>>> start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.

>>>

>>> HTH

>>> -pk

>>

>>

>

>

> --

>

>

> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

> Conflicts start where information lacks.

> http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>

> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Guest Brian A.

Guest Brian A.

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

news:u$TfjxFxIHA.4492@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Brian A. wrote:

>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

>> news:%2382IDJFxIHA.576@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>>> Patrick Keenan wrote:

>>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message

>>>> news:uMAIOpDxIHA.5124@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

>>>>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

>>>>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

>>>>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>>>>>

>>>>> My questions:

>>>>>

>>>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to

>>>>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this

>>>>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over

>>>>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external

>>>>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music

>>>>> on it.

>>>>>

>>>>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external

>>>>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do

>>>>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been

>>>>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted

>>>>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should

>>>>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

>>>>

>>>> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space. You

>>>> will use one or more DVDs instead.

>>>

>>> IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at roughly 4

>>> GB

>>> each.

>>>

>>>>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one

>>>>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>>>>>

>>>>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my

>>>>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>>>>>

>>>>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>>>>>

>>>>> Thank you for your help!

>>>>>

>>>>> Jo-Anne

>>>>

>>>> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What

>>>> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.

>>>>

>>>> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality,

>>>> this

>>>> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.

>>>> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features of

>>>> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed files.

>>>

>>> OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER have

>>> to keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and which

>>> ones to use, etc).

>>

>> As Patrick points out:

>> <quote>

>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier

>> ones,

>> as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the previous

>> good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able to go back

>> to before the damage.

>> </quote>

>

> OK. But I think that's a bit of a "long shot" (that that would indeed

> occur):

> As I pointed out before, either the source or the backup drive might fail, but

> both at the same time? - seems pretty unlikely. So you always have one to

> fall back on.

 

Not if the backup (image/clone) is connected or improperly stored. There are

many different ways that a system could get toasted as well as the backup/image.

If you believe that overwriting an existing backup/image/clone is best, go with

it, I won't. I will overwrite images, yet I will always have one that is

previous to an overwritten one amd I will never only have one.

>

> Just as it seems *quite* unlikely that you would go ahead and start a backup

> if your source drive is corrupt. You'd likely know, by then.

 

When an image is created, the app creating it doesn't have a clue if any one

file within the system is corrupt, and it could care less. It's job is to

create the image, not to check the integrity of the system.

>

>> Aside from that. Acronis and Ghost both require the drive space to be two

>> times+ to create a new image that replaces the present image. Both apps

>> first

>> create an entire new image, and once completed delete the present one.

>

> Are you so sure? I seem to recall having the backup partition practically

> filled, and yet still being able to overwrite an existing image (with the same

> file name). So, I don't think that's *necessarily* true. (IOW, when you

> write the new image, the old one can be directly overwritten, right then and

> there, meaning its first erased, of course).

 

I'm 100% positive, RTFM. If your image even completes when there isn't the

available required space, it will complete with errors.

 

 

--

 

 

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

Conflicts start where information lacks.

http://basconotw.mvps.org/

 

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Guest JS

Guest JS

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

Best not to "clone" a drive but to create an Image backup.

A number of people use the two products list below.

 

Norton Ghost

http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/overview.jsp?pcid=br&pvid=ghost14

 

True Image (has a 15 day trial version also)

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

 

I use Ghost but an earlier version (Ver. 10), each new image backup I create

goes into it's own folder on a separate internal drive on my PC and I also

make a DVD

copy of the image file for offline storage.

 

Whichever product you buy make certain that it comes with a 'Recovery CD',

which is a means of booting your PC from the CD and performing a recovery

using the most recent image backup you created.

 

Note: The current version of Ghost (Version 14) talks about a feature named:

"LightsOutRestore - Restores your system with an on-disk software recovery

environment-no bootable CD required."

Also you can download and read a .pdf version of their User's Guide from:

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/products/ghost/14/manuals/

 

Using file compression you should be able to make multiple image backup to

the external drive.

For example if your 60GB drive is two thirds full (40GB used, 20 GB free) I

would expect that

you could create at least 10 image backups (each in it's own folder) on a

300GB external drive.

 

If your internal drive fails you can not use an Image backup which you

have stored on your external drive to boot and run/use Windows.

You must first replace the defective drive with a new drive and

then restore the image located on the external drive to the new drive

using the boot CD I mentioned above.

 

Once you have restored the image to the new drive then you can boot your PC

and use Windows. Note that what you then have is a working version of

Windows

as it was when you created your last and most recent image backup. Which

means

that if the last image backup is a month old then you will have lost

anything you

created after your made the image backup.

 

JS

 

"Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message

news:uMAIOpDxIHA.5124@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>

> My questions:

>

> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to

> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this

> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over

> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external

> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music

> on it.

>

> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external

> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do

> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been

> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted

> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should

> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

>

> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one

> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>

> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my

> usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>

> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>

> Thank you for your help!

>

> Jo-Anne

>

Guest Patrick Keenan

Guest Patrick Keenan

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

news:u$TfjxFxIHA.4492@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Brian A. wrote:

>> "Bill in Co." <not_really_here@earthlink.net> wrote in message

>> news:%2382IDJFxIHA.576@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...

>>> Patrick Keenan wrote:

>>>> "Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message

>>>> news:uMAIOpDxIHA.5124@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

>>>>> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

>>>>> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

>>>>> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>>>>>

>>>>> My questions:

>>>>>

>>>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able

>>>>> to

>>>>> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is

>>>>> this

>>>>> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing

>>>>> over

>>>>> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge

>>>>> external

>>>>> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store

>>>>> music

>>>>> on it.

>>>>>

>>>>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external

>>>>> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If

>>>>> not, do

>>>>> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been

>>>>> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions

>>>>> posted

>>>>> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I

>>>>> should

>>>>> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

>>>>

>>>> You will not want to do this with CDs, they don't have enough space.

>>>> You

>>>> will use one or more DVDs instead.

>>>

>>> IF even that. (Takes quite a few DVDs to backup everything), at

>>> roughly 4 GB

>>> each.

>>>

>>>>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another

>>>>> one

>>>>> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>>>>>

>>>>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my

>>>>> usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>>>>>

>>>>> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>>>>>

>>>>> Thank you for your help!

>>>>>

>>>>> Jo-Anne

>>>>

>>>> Cloning is the process of producing a working copy of a hard disk. What

>>>> you're suggesting is creating an image file for backup purposes.

>>>>

>>>> Yes, you can create multiple image files on one drive - but in reality,

>>>> this

>>>> is not efficient. You will very quickly fill the target drive.

>>>> Instead, create one image and then use the incremental-backup features

>>>> of

>>>> the imaging software to create partial images of just the changed

>>>> files.

>>>

>>> OR simpler yet, just rewrite the entire image again and you will NEVER

>>> have

>>> to keep track of partial images, nor rely on them all being there (and

>>> which

>>> ones to use, etc).

>>

>> As Patrick points out:

>> <quote>

>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces earlier

>> ones,

>> as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces the

>> previous

>> good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be able to go

>> back

>> to before the damage.

>> </quote>

>

> OK. But I think that's a bit of a "long shot" (that that would indeed

> occur):

 

Unfortunately, it's not a long shot. It happens. I've personally seen

it happen, and I've read posts recently in one of these groups where a user

had it happen.

 

> As I pointed out before, either the source or the backup drive might fail,

> but both at the same time? - seems pretty unlikely. So you always have

> one to fall back on.

 

Yes, both can fail at the same time, and a copy of a corrupted install is of

limited value.

>

> Just as it seems *quite* unlikely that you would go ahead and start a

> backup if your source drive is corrupt. You'd likely know, by then.

 

Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case. It happens.

>

>> Aside from that. Acronis and Ghost both require the drive space to be

>> two

>> times+ to create a new image that replaces the present image. Both apps

>> first

>> create an entire new image, and once completed delete the present one.

>

> Are you so sure?

 

Yes.

 

HTH

-pk

> I seem to recall having the backup partition practically filled, and yet

> still being able to overwrite an existing image (with the same file name).

> So, I don't think that's *necessarily* true. (IOW, when you write the

> new image, the old one can be directly overwritten, right then and there,

> meaning its first erased, of course).

>

>> That

>> requires that the drive space be large enough to contain the present

>> image and

>> the new image which will replace the present one, once the new image has

>> been

>> completed the present (previous) image is then, and only then, deleted.

>>

>>>

>>>> In addition, aside from creating one bootable, restorable image of your

>>>> hard

>>>> disk and system configuration, there's no point in backing up system

>>>> and

>>>> program and temporary files over and over again. This is a waste of

>>>> time

>>>> and space.

>>>

>>> 15-20 minutes ain't bad - to cover ALL bases (and that includes

>>> programs,

>>> system files, and user data - the whole banana. That way you will never

>>> be

>>> caught off guard).

>>>

>>>> You need to also be aware that it's not good practice to rely on a

>>>> single

>>>> backup set. You should use several. Create an archival image to

>>>> one or

>>>> more DVDs - make more than one copy and store one in another location.

>>

>> Personally, I believe CDs and DVDs are old hat. It's much cheaper, less

>> time

>> consuming and easier to use removable drives.

>

> Yeah, me too. MUCH easier to do, too, and you don't have to keep a

> stack of DVDs around either. :-)

>

>>>> It's also not a good idea to have one single image that replaces

>>>> earlier

>>>> ones, as if the source corrupts, and you create an image that replaces

>>>> the

>>>> previous good ones - you're not in a good position. You need to be

>>>> able

>>>> to go back to before the damage.

>>>>

>>>> As to external hard disks: I think pre-assembled external drives are

>>>> overpriced and you can't tell what really matters - the drive inside.

>>>> Where I am, bare 500 gig drives are around $90, and good-quality USB2

>>>> cases

>>>> start around $30. It takes about five minutes to assemble them.

>>>>

>>>> HTH

>>>> -pk

>>>

>>>

>>

>>

>> --

>>

>>

>> Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Windows Desktop User Experience }

>> Conflicts start where information lacks.

>> http://basconotw.mvps.org/

>>

>> Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://dts-l.com/goodpost.htm

>> How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

>

>

Guest Timothy Daniels

Guest Timothy Daniels

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Big Al" wrote:

> Clone means to duplicate. You would be taking the 60 gig, and

> putting everything on the "larger" external (adjusting for the new

> size of the drive) and in the process erasing everything on it.

> So no you can't clone it several times. (unless you made several

> 60 gig partitions).

>

> Imaging means to make a file that contains all the data on the 60

> gig drive that can be later used to re-image back onto another

> drive. But its just a file, a bit smaller than the total contents of

> your data on the 60 gig. (due to compression). So yes, you

> might get it down to 40 gig and can put lets say 7 or so on a 320

> giger.

 

Several (if not many) cloning utilities allow "cloning" from a larger

partition to a smaller partition. Casper 4.0 (paid) and Clonezilla

(shareware) come to mind. They do this by transferring only sectors

which contain data, ignoring unused sectors. This delights me because

I typically keep several iterations of an OS at any one time on a large

archival hard drive (each clone directly bootable), and I usually can't

match the sizes of the source and target partitions exactly. Squooshing

a large partition into one that is a little smaller helps a *lot*.

 

*TimDaniels*

Guest Timothy Daniels

Guest Timothy Daniels

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Jo-Anne Naples" wrote:

> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal

> hard drive in my 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and

> am planning to buy a couple USB external hard drives

> (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal drive, in case of a crash or

> other disaster of that sort.

 

First, definitions: The the purposes of this NG, "to clone"

means to make an exact sector-by-sector copy of a partition

(or at least a copy of the non-empty sectors), and the

resulting copy will be directly bootable if the original partition

was bootable. That means that the boot sector as well as

the entire file structure and formatting have been copied.

"To image" means that the entire contents of the entire file

structure have been copied, perhaps the boot sector as well,

and stored on archival media as the contents of a file - the

"image file". To save archival space, this file is frequently,

if not usually, compressed. This file, since it's only a file,

must be "restored" to an uncompressed file structure on

a bootable medium before it can be booted or otherwise

used again. The usuall archival medium for an image file is

a stack of CDs or DVDs, although a hard drive (internal,

external, or USB/Firewire) will do as well. Be aware, though,

that various backup utilities - and their dedicated forums -

don't adhere to this terminology and may use "clone" and

"image" interchangeably.

 

> My questions:

>

> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be

> able to clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is

> filled, or is this something one can do only once--with

> subsequent backup/clones writing over the earlier one?

> [.....]

 

For both clones and images, multiple copies can be stored

on the same hard drive and overwritten just like any other

information. In the case of clones, multiple clones may exist

on the same hard drive, and it the one marked "active" has

the proper boot.ini entries, any one of them may be booted

from where they sit.

 

> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the

> external drive be used to boot the computer if the internal

> drive fails?

 

If the external HD is a PATA (IDE) or a SATA hard drive,

yes, it can contain a bootable OS just as if they were internal

HDs. If the external HD is USB or Firewire, mythology prevails,

but you can use "No" as a serviceable answer. If the external HD

is eSATA, the answer is "Yes" if the BIOS can handle booting an

eSATA HD - this varies from model to model of a manufacturer's

desktop line. In the case of laptops, the current answer is "No" -

if by bootable one means that the BIOS can pass control to the

MBR on the external eSATA HD. This is because the external

eSATA implementation on a laptop is currently is via an Express-

Card adapter, and for some reason, ExpressCards don't accommo-

date booting. But if you mean can an OS *reside* on a laptop's

external ExressCard-connected eSATA HD and be *loaded* by

a loader that resides on the internal HD, the answer is "maybe"

(I'll know more in subsequent weeks).

> If not, do most cloning programs create a bootable CD?

 

Not a bootable CD. Either a bootable clone on a hard drive,

or an unbootable image file that resides on multiple CDs or DVDs

or on another internal hard drive, or on an external hard drive, and

such an image file must be "restored" to a bootable hard drive

before it can be booted.

 

> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another

> one and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

 

Usually, yes. But you can continue to use a clone that exists

on an external PATA or SATA hard drive or on an external

eSATA hard drive in the case of an eSATA-enabled desktop.

Also, remember that an "internal" hard drive can include a hard

drive that sits in a removable tray as part of what some makers

call a "mobile rack".

 

> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do

> all my usual work on the computer using the external drive?

 

Yes, if the external hard drive is bootable.

 

*TimDaniels*

Guest Nonny

Guest Nonny

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

On Sun, 1 Jun 2008 23:54:36 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"

<NoSpam@SpamMeNot.com> wrote:

>"Jo-Anne Naples" wrote:

>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal

>> hard drive in my 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and

>> am planning to buy a couple USB external hard drives

>> (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal drive, in case of a crash or

>> other disaster of that sort.

>

> First, definitions: The the purposes of this NG, "to clone"

>means to make an exact sector-by-sector copy of a partition

>(or at least a copy of the non-empty sectors), and the

>resulting copy will be directly bootable if the original partition

>was bootable. That means that the boot sector as well as

>the entire file structure and formatting have been copied.

>"To image" means that the entire contents of the entire file

>structure have been copied, perhaps the boot sector as well,

>and stored on archival media as the contents of a file - the

>"image file". To save archival space, this file is frequently,

>if not usually, compressed. This file, since it's only a file,

>must be "restored" to an uncompressed file structure on

>a bootable medium before it can be booted or otherwise

>used again. The usuall archival medium for an image file is

>a stack of CDs or DVDs, although a hard drive (internal,

>external, or USB/Firewire) will do as well. Be aware, though,

>that various backup utilities - and their dedicated forums -

>don't adhere to this terminology and may use "clone" and

>"image" interchangeably.

>

>

>> My questions:

>>

>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be

>> able to clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is

>> filled, or is this something one can do only once--with

>> subsequent backup/clones writing over the earlier one?

>> [.....]

>

> For both clones and images, multiple copies can be stored

>on the same hard drive and overwritten just like any other

>information. In the case of clones, multiple clones may exist

>on the same hard drive, and it the one marked "active" has

>the proper boot.ini entries, any one of them may be booted

>from where they sit.

 

With Acronis True Image, only ONE clone at a time because it clones

disk to DISK - using the entire second disk.

 

One can store as many images as the second disk can hold.

>

>

>> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the

>> external drive be used to boot the computer if the internal

>> drive fails?

>

> If the external HD is a PATA (IDE) or a SATA hard drive,

>yes, it can contain a bootable OS just as if they were internal

>HDs. If the external HD is USB or Firewire, mythology prevails,

>but you can use "No" as a serviceable answer. If the external HD

>is eSATA, the answer is "Yes" if the BIOS can handle booting an

>eSATA HD - this varies from model to model of a manufacturer's

>desktop line. In the case of laptops, the current answer is "No" -

>if by bootable one means that the BIOS can pass control to the

>MBR on the external eSATA HD. This is because the external

>eSATA implementation on a laptop is currently is via an Express-

>Card adapter, and for some reason, ExpressCards don't accommo-

>date booting. But if you mean can an OS *reside* on a laptop's

>external ExressCard-connected eSATA HD and be *loaded* by

>a loader that resides on the internal HD, the answer is "maybe"

>(I'll know more in subsequent weeks).

>

>> If not, do most cloning programs create a bootable CD?

>

> Not a bootable CD. Either a bootable clone on a hard drive,

>or an unbootable image file that resides on multiple CDs or DVDs

>or on another internal hard drive, or on an external hard drive, and

>such an image file must be "restored" to a bootable hard drive

>before it can be booted.

>

>

>> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another

>> one and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>

> Usually, yes. But you can continue to use a clone that exists

>on an external PATA or SATA hard drive or on an external

>eSATA hard drive in the case of an eSATA-enabled desktop.

>Also, remember that an "internal" hard drive can include a hard

>drive that sits in a removable tray as part of what some makers

>call a "mobile rack".

>

>

>> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do

>> all my usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>

> Yes, if the external hard drive is bootable.

>

>*TimDaniels*

>

Guest Timothy Daniels

Guest Timothy Daniels

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Timothy Daniels" wrote:

> But if you mean can an OS *reside* on a laptop's

> external ExressCard-connected eSATA HD and be

> *loaded* by a loader that resides on the internal HD,

> the answer is "maybe"

 

In thinking about this some more, the more I think that it

probably can't be done. The problem involves the BIOS

and the fact that the laptop BIOS is set up to see only a single

hard drive, and it doesn't make a list of attached hard drives

that could be used to define the "rdisk(x)" parameter in the

boot.ini file where "x" would be other than 0. That means

that the loader, ntldr, wouldn't know how to find the

ExpressCard-connected hard drive and thus couldn't load

any OS residing on it. It seems that there must be some

feature of an already loaded OS, maybe the ExpressCard's

driver, which makes the attached hard drive visible to the OS.

I know that Casper 4.0 live CD loads up with the ExpressCard-

connected hard drive visible, but it appears also to have a

minimal OS (possibly MSDOS or WinPE) to load those drivers.

If one understood the BIOS/ntldr interface, there might be some

way to make MSDOS or WinPE that was loaded from a live CD

or a live USB stick tell ntldr how to find the ExpressCard-

connected hard drive and its WINDOWS folder so that ntldr

could then load the final OS, but *I* certainly don't.

 

*TimDaniels*

Guest Big Al

Guest Big Al

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

Timothy Daniels wrote:

> "Big Al" wrote:

>> Clone means to duplicate. You would be taking the 60 gig, and

>> putting everything on the "larger" external (adjusting for the new

>> size of the drive) and in the process erasing everything on it.

>> So no you can't clone it several times. (unless you made several

>> 60 gig partitions).

>>

>> Imaging means to make a file that contains all the data on the 60

>> gig drive that can be later used to re-image back onto another

>> drive. But its just a file, a bit smaller than the total contents of

>> your data on the 60 gig. (due to compression). So yes, you

>> might get it down to 40 gig and can put lets say 7 or so on a 320

>> giger.

>

> Several (if not many) cloning utilities allow "cloning" from a larger

> partition to a smaller partition. Casper 4.0 (paid) and Clonezilla

> (shareware) come to mind. They do this by transferring only sectors

> which contain data, ignoring unused sectors. This delights me because

> I typically keep several iterations of an OS at any one time on a large

> archival hard drive (each clone directly bootable), and I usually can't

> match the sizes of the source and target partitions exactly. Squooshing

> a large partition into one that is a little smaller helps a *lot*.

>

> *TimDaniels*

>

>

Yes, Acronis that I use took my 6 gig SP3 install and imaged it down to

4.3 gig. So not only did it take just the data on the 80 gig drive

but it compressed it a bit. Even with some data a 10 gig dataset

could be image a lot on a 160 or 320 gig backup drive. A bunch.

Guest Timothy Daniels

Guest Timothy Daniels

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Big Al" wrote:

> Timothy Daniels wrote:

>> "Big Al" wrote:

>>> Clone means to duplicate. You would be taking the 60 gig, and

>>> putting everything on the "larger" external (adjusting for the new

>>> size of the drive) and in the process erasing everything on it.

>>> So no you can't clone it several times. (unless you made several

>>> 60 gig partitions).

>>>

>>> Imaging means to make a file that contains all the data on the 60

>>> gig drive that can be later used to re-image back onto another

>>> drive. But its just a file, a bit smaller than the total contents of

>>> your data on the 60 gig. (due to compression). So yes, you

>>> might get it down to 40 gig and can put lets say 7 or so on a 320

>>> giger.

>>

>> Several (if not many) cloning utilities allow "cloning" from a larger

>> partition to a smaller partition. Casper 4.0 (paid) and Clonezilla

>> (shareware) come to mind. They do this by transferring only sectors

>> which contain data, ignoring unused sectors. This delights me because

>> I typically keep several iterations of an OS at any one time on a large

>> archival hard drive (each clone directly bootable), and I usually can't

>> match the sizes of the source and target partitions exactly. Squooshing

>> a large partition into one that is a little smaller helps a *lot*.

>>

>> *TimDaniels*

>>

>>

> Yes, Acronis that I use took my 6 gig SP3 install and imaged it down to 4.3

> gig. So not only did it take just the data on the 80 gig drive but it

> compressed it a bit. Even with some data a 10 gig dataset could be image a

> lot on a 160 or 320 gig backup drive. A bunch.

 

Yes, that is usual and easy in *imaging* in which the result that is

archived is a *file*. But it isn't as common for *cloners* to transfer

just the sectors which contain data and which the archived result is

bootable as it sits there in the archive medium.

 

*TimDaniels*

Guest Timothy Daniels

Guest Timothy Daniels

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

"Nonny" wrote:

> "Timothy Daniels" wrote:

>

>>"Jo-Anne Naples" wrote:

>>> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal

>>> hard drive in my 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and

>>> am planning to buy a couple USB external hard drives

>>> (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal drive, in case of a crash

>>> or

>>> other disaster of that sort.

>>

>> First, definitions: The the purposes of this NG, "to clone"

>>means to make an exact sector-by-sector copy of a partition

>>(or at least a copy of the non-empty sectors), and the

>>resulting copy will be directly bootable if the original partition

>>was bootable. That means that the boot sector as well as

>>the entire file structure and formatting have been copied.

>>"To image" means that the entire contents of the entire file

>>structure have been copied, perhaps the boot sector as well,

>>and stored on archival media as the contents of a file - the

>>"image file". To save archival space, this file is frequently,

>>if not usually, compressed. This file, since it's only a file,

>>must be "restored" to an uncompressed file structure on

>>a bootable medium before it can be booted or otherwise

>>used again. The usuall archival medium for an image file is

>>a stack of CDs or DVDs, although a hard drive (internal,

>>external, or USB/Firewire) will do as well. Be aware, though,

>>that various backup utilities - and their dedicated forums -

>>don't adhere to this terminology and may use "clone" and

>>"image" interchangeably.

>>

>>

>>> My questions:

>>>

>>> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be

>>> able to clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is

>>> filled, or is this something one can do only once--with

>>> subsequent backup/clones writing over the earlier one?

>>> [.....]

>>

>> For both clones and images, multiple copies can be stored

>>on the same hard drive and overwritten just like any other

>>information. In the case of clones, multiple clones may exist

>>on the same hard drive, and it the one marked "active" has

>>the proper boot.ini entries, any one of them may be booted

>>from where they sit.

>

> With Acronis True Image, only ONE clone at a time because it clones

> disk to DISK - using the entire second disk.

>

> One can store as many images as the second disk can hold.

 

 

For Acronis's True Image, yes - because it can't clone just

a partition. But for Acronis's Disk Director Suite 10, individual

partitions can be cloned, and multiple clones of the same

partition, made at different times, can be put on the target

hard drive, and each one can be booted from where it sits.

 

*TimDaniels*

Guest Nonny

Guest Nonny

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

On Mon, 2 Jun 2008 12:05:59 -0700, "Timothy Daniels"

<NoSpam@SpamMeNot.com> wrote:

>>>on the same hard drive and overwritten just like any other

>>>information. In the case of clones, multiple clones may exist

>>>on the same hard drive, and it the one marked "active" has

>>>the proper boot.ini entries, any one of them may be booted

>>>from where they sit.

>>

>> With Acronis True Image, only ONE clone at a time because it clones

>> disk to DISK - using the entire second disk.

>>

>> One can store as many images as the second disk can hold.

>

>

> For Acronis's True Image, yes - because it can't clone just

>a partition. But for Acronis's Disk Director Suite 10, individual

>partitions can be cloned, and multiple clones of the same

>partition, made at different times, can be put on the target

>hard drive, and each one can be booted from where it sits.

 

I recently bought Disk Director 10 but haven't checked it out any

deeper than what I originally needed it for.

 

That and True Image make a hard-to-beat combination.

Guest Jo-Anne Naples

Guest Jo-Anne Naples

Posted
Posted

Re: cloning to a larger drive

 

Thanks, everyone! I have a somewhat better idea now of what can and should

be done.

 

Jo-Anne

 

"Jo-Anne Naples" <naples@tbcnet.com> wrote in message

news:uMAIOpDxIHA.5124@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> I'm using Windows XP with SP3. I have a 60GB internal hard drive in my

> 5-year-old Dell desktop computer and am planning to buy a couple USB

> external hard drives (I have USB2) to be used for cloning the internal

> drive, in case of a crash or other disaster of that sort.

>

> My questions:

>

> 1. If I buy a substantially larger external hard drive, will I be able to

> clone my internal drive multiple times til the space is filled, or is this

> something one can do only once--with subsequent backup/clones writing over

> the earlier one? If only once, I'm guessing I wouldn't need huge external

> drives. I don't have many photos on my computer, and I don't store music

> on it.

>

> 2. If I clone the internal drive to the external one, can the external

> drive be used to boot the computer if the internal drive fails? If not, do

> most cloning programs create a bootable CD? (The programs I've been

> thinking about are Acronis True Image and Casper--both suggestions posted

> here in response to an earlier query of mine--although I suppose I should

> consider Norton Ghost as well.)

>

> 3. If the internal drive fails, I assume I'd have to acquire another one

> and then clone the external drive to the internal one--right?

>

> 4. Before acquiring a new internal drive, would I be able to do all my

> usual work on the computer using the external drive?

>

> As you can see, I'm a novice at this kind of thing...

>

> Thank you for your help!

>

> Jo-Anne

>

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