copying & replacing hd

[billyo]

i wanted to replace my int. hd, what would be the best way of doing it, without having to re-set my reg. ( i have all the hoster downloads to a back-up cd )

[hwheeler43]

I would do a Disk Clone with Acronis True Image. Someone else could tell you how to do it with Norton Ghost.

[billyo]

Originally Posted by hwheeler43

I would do a Disk Clone with Acronis True Image. Someone else could tell you how to do it with Norton Ghost.

i had a norton ghost for 6 months as a trial, came with the laptop when i bought it but i never really subscribe to it till it expired , my back-up internal hardrive only has 7 gb on it , i'm not really sure if that is enough to clone my other drive..

[hwheeler43]

You could create an image on an external hard drive. Include creating a bootable cd and then put the new internal in your machine and boot from the cd to restore the image to the new hard drive. I know you can do this with Acronis. I have done it before.

[George]

If you would clone it instead of creating an image you would have a fully working back up and not need a bootable cd.

Then you could clone the back up to the new drive.

Norton Ghost does cloning as well as imaging, but I know nothing about Acronis.

.

[billyo]

Originally Posted by George

If you would clone it instead of creating an image you would have a fully working back up and not need a bootable cd.

Then you could clone the back up to the new drive.

Norton Ghost does cloning as well as imaging, but I know nothing about Acronis.

.

i been reading about norton ghost, seems easy enough, but from what i read, i still need to re-install my operating system..and in acronis i dont have to, my problem is they both sounds easy enough to do if you have a pc, but i have a laptop, my question is 1. ) if i wanted to clone my laptop how do i go about doing it, i dont wanna use an ext. drive to clone my laptop drive,i would like to replace my int. drive with a bigger storage space ( reason why i wanted to clone )..( 2. ) and when i got done cloning do i still have to re-set my registration.?

[UPNext]

Originally Posted by hwheeler43

You could create an image on an external hard drive. Include creating a bootable cd and then put the new internal in your machine and boot from the cd to restore the image to the new hard drive. I know you can do this with Acronis. I have done it before.

I think this solution would get you where you need to go. First you create an image of your current C:\ drive on an external USB drive. Then you create a bootable CD (I imagine this function is built into Acronis) which allows you to boot up into the Acronis application. Then you replace your c:\ drive with the new one and boot off of the CD. At that point you restore the image from your USB drive onto your new C:\ drive. For a Notebook PC this would seem to be the steps needed to replace the internal C:\ drive without reloading the operating systems etc.

[billyo]

Originally Posted by UPNext

I think this solution would get you where you need to go. First you create an image of your current C:\ drive on an external USB drive. Then you create a bootable CD (I imagine this function is built into Acronis) which allows you to boot up into the Acronis application. Then you replace your c:\ drive with the new one and boot off of the CD. At that point you restore the image from your USB drive onto your new C:\ drive. For a Notebook PC this would seem to be the steps needed to replace the internal C:\ drive without reloading the operating systems etc.

thanks for your help..i think i'll go with george suggestion,ill do a clone instead of creating an image..but i do appreciate everbodys help and suggestions..

[billyo]

Originally Posted by hwheeler43

You could create an image on an external hard drive. Include creating a bootable cd and then put the new internal in your machine and boot from the cd to restore the image to the new hard drive. I know you can do this with Acronis. I have done it before.

i am new to this.. so please bear with me..( clonning ) i dont really understand or know how to clone a hd.i am trying to picture this on my mind..and i always get the same question, cloning is making an exact copy of a hd right ?, i could understand if i have a pc, where i could install an extra hd on an empty bay and i will have a destination to where the hd clone will be, but i have a laptop and i wanted to clone the hd to an int. drive that will replaced the old drive..how do i do that..

[George]

Originally Posted by billyo

i have a laptop and i wanted to clone the hd to an int. drive that will replaced the old drive..how do i do that..

Yes, cloning makes a fully functional working back up without the need for boot discs....much simpler in my estimation.

With a laptop, you would have to use an external drive.

You would clone your present drive to the external drive, operating system and all, install your new larger drive in the laptop, then clone the external drive back to the new internal drive.

[billyo]

thanks for your help/suggestions..didnt mean to caused anything..just trying to find some help..i may have to wait after the holidays, i'm booked till after the holiday, dont wanna risk anything..but again thanks for all your suggestions

[George]

Originally Posted by billyo

..didnt mean to caused anything..just trying to find some help..

No problem...all is cool here. That's the one thing I have against the written word vs eyeball to eyeball... the written word takes on a character all it's own.

[ddouglass]

No problem here either. Sometimes George and I just have different methods.

[billyo]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

No problem here either. Sometimes George and I just have different methods.

nice to hear that, but anyway, since reading all this, now i am comfused, whats the diff. between cloning and creating an image i thought cloning is making and ecxact copy of my hd, and creating an image is making a duplicate copy?

[George]

You're right, cloning is making an exact working copy of your main hd.

Let's say you have cloned your c: to d:

C: takes a dump. You're in the middle of a show. You can switch to D: immediately, and continue on. Later you can clone d: to c: to do a restoration. You must use two drived with cloning...a USB drive for laptops, either type for desktops.

Same scenario with an image file:

Forget switching drives immediatly and carrying on. You must use a bootable disc to open the image file to restore the system.

Imaging create a file with your hard drive info compressed in that file. This image file is not fully operational, and if needed for restoration, must be activated with a bootable disc which you create prior to creating the image file. The image file can reside on either another drive, or the same drive..Personally I think it's playing Russian Roulette to have it reside on the same drive. If the drive fails mechanically, you're up a creek.

Once again it's a matter of choices. I prefer the complete security offered by cloning that imaging just cannot compete with.....IMHO

Only disadvantage I see to cloning is, in that it is an exact copy, it requires the same amount of room as the primary data. No problem if you use two identical size drives, or a larger drive for the backup.

Imaging obviously was the way to go a few years back, when drives were expensive, and USB wasn't around... but now???

From what I've read on the forums, either Acronis or Norton Ghost will do either process.

I hope I haven't skewed any facts in either direction.

[UPNext]

Originally Posted by billyo

nice to hear that, but anyway, since reading all this, now i am comfused, whats the diff. between cloning and creating an image i thought cloning is making and ecxact copy of my hd, and creating an image is making a duplicate copy?

Here is an interesting write up on the Acronis solution. I presently use Norton Ghost but this does sound much more flexible.

Introducing Acronis True Image 8.0: True Disaster Recovery
Recently voted best disk imaging solution by our Readers, some of the features provided by Acronis True Image v8.0 include:

• An Easy to Use Interface: Simply click "create image" and Acronis' built in Backup Wizard will guide you through 8 Simple Steps to begin backing up your entire system.
• Works within Windows: Unlike inferior MS DOS-based disk imagers, Acronis True Image never requires you to restart your computer in order to complete an imaging backup operation.
• Split Image Files: Image files can be stored on permanent media (such as another hard drive), or on removable medium (such as ZIP disks, CD/DVD-R, etc). If the image is too large to fit on the destination medium, True Image can split the image across multiple volumes.
• Store Images Remotely: Image files are typically quite large in size; in addition to storing the backup on a local computer, True Image also provides the option to save the image backups on a remote PC -- perfect for laptops and older PCs that are short on storage space or don't have a CD burner to store the backup!
• Explore Image and Restore Single Files: In addition to restoring an entire volume, users may choose to extract single [or multiple] files by exploring an image file.
• Full and Incremental Backups: True Image is one of the few disk imaging solutions to offer both Full Image backup as well as Incremental Imaging, which only backs up new or changed data from a previous backup set.
  
  Side note: If you choose to save all your image backups to CD or DVD media, incremental backups can save a substantial amount of time, medium, and money in the long run.
• Scheduler: Automate your backups using Acronis' built in scheduling mechanism -- also a great feature for making regular incremental backups!
• Test Backup Medium: Backing up your data is completely pointless if you can't restore it; Acronis True Image uses bit-level verification to ensure 100% data integrity and restorability of your images -- even after you burn them to CD or DVD.
• Built-in CD and DVD Burning: Image files can be archived directly to CD or DVD. Note that DVD burning requires additional packet writing software (which comes standard with many applications such as Nero Burning ROM, Easy CD Creator, etc).
  
  Side note: If you don't own Packet Writing software, you can save your image files to another location and then burn to DVD using any CD Mastering application.
• Bootable Rescue Media: In case Windows is inoperable or your hard drive is no longer startable, True Image offers bootable Rescue Media that allows you to revert a previous image backup in a stable environment.
• Great for Seamless Hard Drive Upgrades: Transfer Windows and all installed programs from an old (smaller) hard drive, to a new (larger) hard drive: a perfect solution if you're looking to upgrade your hard drive and don't want to reinstall Windows and all your applications on the new drive.

Acronis True Image 8.0: Using it on My Machine
Installation went relatively smooth, except for the fact that True Image gave me an error message when I tried to create a bootable CD Rescue Disc.
I later found out it was because my particular brand of DVD burner [Sony DW-D56A] uses a "non-standard driver," which conflicts with the CD creation process.
But not to worry --
After searching the official Acronis True Image web forums, I found a simple workaround which involved booting Windows XP into Safe Mode, launching True Image, and then choosing to create the rescue disc from the main menu.
With my Rescue Media now burned to a CD-Rewriteable, I decided to test the boot disc by rebooting my computer. Sure enough, the disc started and the Rescue Media screen appeared.
Satisfied that the bootable Rescue Media was working as it should, I rebooted my system once more and created my first image backup. There were 8 steps in creating my image:

1. Choose Hard Drive to Backup
2. Choose Save Location
3. Choose Full or Incremental Backup
4. Choose Automatic or Fixed Image File size
5. Choose Compression Level
6. Password Protect your Backup
7. Enter optional user Comments
8. Proceed with Backup

The interface was very straight-forward and easy to use. In all, True Image took roughly 25 minutes to image my 10 gigabyte C drive [Windows] partition, write it to DVD Recordable, and test the integrity of the backup.
Acronis True Image 8.0: Compatibility
Acronis True Image 8.0 recognizes all hard disks connected to the PC, along with a wide variety of removable media drives with P-ATA (IDE), S-ATA, SCSI, USB, IEEE1394 (Firewire) and PCMCIA interfaces including: CD-ROM / DVD-ROM and CD-R/W recorders and burners, magneto-optical drives, Zip and Jazz devices, and many others.
True Image 8.0 works with Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation Service Pack 6, Windows 98, and supports FAT16/32, NTFS, Linux Ext2, Ext3, ReiserFS, and Linux SWAP file systems.
Conclusion
If we lived in a perfect world: Windows would never crash, Spyware wouldn't be nearly impossible to remove, and there wouldn't be any need to worry if a recent download has caused irreversible damage to the integrity of our systems.
With a 5-star rating from the editor's at download.com, and an overwhelming percentage of Gazette Readers in favor of the program, Acronis True Image offers premium PC protection that absolutely no computer user should be without.
Acronis TrueImage: 8.0 Download

[ddouglass]

George this will not work for a laptop.

C: takes a dump. You're in the middle of a show. You can switch to D: immediately, and continue on. Later you can clone d: to c: to do a restoration. You must use two drived with cloning...a USB drive for laptops, either type for desktops.

You cannot boot from a USB drive plugged into a laptop nor can you hook up a laptop drive (one that fits with the correct connector) as an external.
That is what I was trying to say before. The only way I can see him doing this is to setup a second cloned laptop drive before the problem occurs and keep it with his equipment. That way he could stop and swap out the drives. This would require creating a clone on an external, then clone that to the second laptop drive every time you make any changes.

[George]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

[color=black]You cannot boot from a USB drive plugged into a laptop .That is what I was trying to say before.

Would have saved a lot of hassle if you had just said that before Couldn't figure out where on earth you were coming from.

I just learned something new, so all this wasn't a total waste.

Was considering a laptop for using Hoster for our private Karaoke club. That's out for sure. Thanks.

[George]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

George this will not work for a laptop.

You cannot boot from a USB drive plugged into a laptop nor can you hook up a laptop drive (one that fits with the correct connector) as an external.

How about this? Industry is changing daily.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1676

Bear in mind I'm making no suggestions that these guys mess with the bios, but it appears a tech could do it easily, motherboard permitting.

Now I'm back to thinking of a laptop and Hoster for our private Karaoke club meetings. May be some light at the end of the tunnel after all.

[billyo]

i downloaded the trial version of acronis mirror image 11 ( 15 day full function trial ) and it wont let me clone destinaton drive
" has to be empty "..