Need Help Want To Clone My C Drive

[garybear]

I did a search, and found nothing on this. I have a new hard drive, and I want to clone my present C: Drive to new 400GB HDD. I installed Macruim Reflect, but I'm having no luck getting it to work. I'm not the sharpest kid on the block, and sure could use some help. I think I did what it told me, but it won't boot up. My hard drive is old, and I want to have new one ready if it crashes. Need all the help I can get.[garybear]PS I'm also old like my HDD. Live well my friends, love this forum.

[sunny staines]

you need http://www.acronis.co.uk/ or norton ghost.

 

if you have vista ultimate its built into the O/S

 

there is this free one http://www.xxclone.com/idwnload.htm but i have found it unreliable.

[enoskype]

I will second sunny staines,

 

Acronis never failed me for my clones and for several others'.

The recent versions are compatible with nearly all kind of drives.

Specially the hidden section created(if you use) can not be reached by Windows, so there is little possibility for corruption of the files unless physical demage to the disk.

 

If you want reliability (which I belive is a must) in cloning, go for a paid, known and tested one. I am sorry, I am not familiar with Macrium Reflect.

 

Cheers.

[Ted]

Hi there, Gary, still having problems, old fella? These computers certainly keep us elderly blokes out of mischief, don't they?

 

I'll repeat the instructions I sent you privately the other day and as it's a case of the "blind leading the blind" I'd welcome any comments or corrections from anyone with more savvy on this subject as I'd sure hate to put you crook!

 

For a start, you say you've sucessfully created a Macrium Clone Image of your HDD and also a Macrium Image of your C:\ drive which is much smaller and the recommended option. Both of these images are stored on your removable USB drive.

 

Okay, first of all, insert your Macrium Rescue CD and make sure the USB drive is being recognised, then carefully remove your current HDD and refit the new one. Using your Macrium Rescue CD, transfer whichever Image you want from your USB drive to the new drive and all should be ready to roll. If things go wrong, you'll still have your old HDD to refit.

 

If your new HDD is already fitted as well as the current one and an Image has been restored to it, you may be able to choose a bootup option from Bios or Safe Mode.

 

I've never had occasion to do any of this myself, so you can be the Test Pilot. :-)

[sunny staines]

Ted

 

you post looks ok. once booted with the recovery disc its a matter of following on screen instructions.

[Ted]

Hi, enoskype,

 

Acronis were giving away free registered copies of Acronis True Image 8 SE last year and I got one for myself and as I'd bought a new Seagate USB removable HDD that made me eligible for another free copy of Acronis also. (I've forgotten which version I got.) I installed one of them and it worked perfectly, but then I started reading their Help forum and I couldn't get it uninstalled fast enough. It was simply bristling with disgruntled users and negative reports and that really frightened me off.

 

I've heard nothing but positive reports about Macrium reflect and the main limitation with the free version is its inability to do incremental backups which I never worry about, anyway.

[enoskype]

Thank you for the info Ted.

 

Well, it started with Acronis 9 to recognize SATA Hard Disks. Now I think the current version is 11.

The good thing of Acronis is, you don't install it to your drive, it is an independent OS which can be burned to a CD, and when you insert the CD to the PC (Bios has to read CD first), it starts with it's own system and recognizes the HDs and any USB drives, and you can clone amongst them. If you wish it creates a partion in any drive you like and you can keep your master clone copy there. Unless you use Acronis OS CD, Windows do not see this partition. (It is nonexistent for Win). Of course, incremental cloning makes it easier and considerably shorter by time if you are doing a lot of cloning. I agree with you about the master clone that incremental cloning should not be used there.

 

After all this bla bla about Acronis, I will give Macrium Reflect a go after your comments, and then I can compare, otherwise I am biased.

 

Cheers.

 

Note:

sunny, I have used Acronis 9 with success for Vista Ultimate.

[sunny staines]

Ted Garybear

 

Acronis has a good name but i found the seagate version just too limited to use if you have partitions. prior to Vista i used norton ghost it was very reliable but my version would not clone or image a laptop over a home network to my desktop. xxxclone was more disaster than success and the disasters needed a fresh reinstall to recover.

 

now using vista ultimate but not restored an image yet.

 

garybear never heard or used the one you mention.

[Ted]

Hi, enoskype and Sunny,

 

Macrium Reflect has an extremely helpful forum ( similar to this one) http://support.macrium.com/ and I found when I first installed it about nine months ago that questions were answered promptly by their technical staff, even though it's the free version I'm using.

[enoskype]

Ted, that is a great advantage when you have any problem, great!

Cheers.

[garybear]

Many Thanks

 

Many thanks to all forum members. Sorry I am so late posting. I have been really busy.I got a 15 day free trial of Acronis, and I believe I have successfully cloned my C Drive. It said I would have to switch the straps ,if I wanted it to be my primary, which I know how to do, but I haven't done that yet. It looks like a real good program, but will take this old man a while to absorb it all (lol). I probably will never understand every thing , as it looks like it does a lot of things. I feel real good about the clone however. It sure was a lot easier to understand than Macrium. I will be waiting for you experts to try Macrium and post what you think of it and maybe help me . I thought I followed the directions they gave, but never got it to boot up. I made a linux rescue disk, but it didn't work.I never could get the Bart PE to burn to a disk to try. I was really confused and upset, but with Acronis, two clicks ,and two hours later, it said congratulations , you have successfully cloned your drive.I would appreciate any more advice or things I need to do with Acronis, and want to hear more about Macrium. You people are the best, and I LOVE EVERYONE OF YOU. Live well my new friends. [garybear]PS Thanks Mr Ted for all your help and advice, you are much appreciated my friend.

[garybear]

Thanks again

 

Hi Ted. I think I did all that you said but my PC would never boot. I now have a clone with Acronis, and I'm using the 400Gb ,after switching the strap. It is now my primary HDD, and it seems to be working just great so I will probably not be trying Macruim at this time. I might give it ago in the future. I will be looking for your post enoskype, to see how you did with Macrium. Macrium is probably a great program, but not as easy to work with as Acronis. I am very interested to see how you got your PC to boot with with Macrium( enoskype. For now I'm a happy camper, and my new clone seems to be working just perfect. This is how my new 400GB drive looks. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions from any one on the forum. Live well my friends[garybear]

[Ted]

Hi there, Gary,

 

Glad you've got it all sussed out. Good luck.

[wildwillie]

Has anyone EVER made a clone with Macrium Reflect?

 

I think anyone using Macrium-Reflect (at least the free version) has mostly FALSE security.

I don't think you can make a real XP harddrive clone with Macrium.

 

I worked at it for days!.. it backs-up files, and may be usable for that.

(but if your harddrive dies, & you don't have a clone, you get to start all over.)

 

I've used Norton's Ghost to make "clones", but they are not TRUE clones,.. 'cause you still have to enter the Windows keys & register the "clone"...

If it's a true clone image harddrive, it will be identical and have everything the original Harddrive contained.

(..but with Norton there's another problem, I just don't like Norton's stuff)

 

Acronis MAKES TRUE CLONES... You can try it out FREE for 15 days and see for yourself.. It really works..

Actually it ALMOST works too good...!

I've got an XP computer with problems that I've not yet been able to solve.. Using Acronis I cloned it.. Guess what?

The clone is IDENTICAL to the other drive... with the same problems and all..!!! Darn it!! haha

 

Macrium appears to make an image file that can be used to make a clone, but although I made several "clone image files" with Macrium, I was NEVER able to make a harddrive clone...

 

According to the instructions I read, Macrium requires a Rescue CD to actually use the "clone image" file to produce a clone.

 

I was never able to burn a a BartPE Rescue CD,... which is apparently the one Macrium needs to use with XP. But, using Macrium, it's simple to burn the Linux CD... The Problem is that the Linux CD doesn't work with an XP system....

It doesn't self boot, and there's no file on the Linux CD for an XP system to use to bootup.

 

Believe me, I tried EVERYTHING... from every angle I could think of.

 

If someone can figure out how to actually make a clone with Macrium-Reflect, (free version) I'd sure like to know how it was done.

I planned to buy the Pro version of Macrium, but have no plan to do so any longer, since I discovered Acronis.. & like I said, IT WORKS!

[sunny staines]

wildwillie

 

never had to reregister anything with norton using XP and found it good for desktops running two hdd's, used for reverting back several times.

 

[not used since i got got vista so latest ver may have changed]

[wildwillie]

Sunny Staines,

 

I found your comments about your experience with Norton very surprising, since it was so different than mine.

 

I only know that I used Norton's Ghost to clone my harddrives 4 (maybe 5) times over a period of several years, and each time, when I booted up the newly cloned drive, I had to re-enter the Windows XP .keys & re-register the drive with Microsoft. :-)

 

I didn't have a stand-alone copy of Ghost. I used Norton's Ghost prg. that came with Norton's System Works. Maybe that was the difference?

[Ted]

I think anyone using Macrium-Reflect (at least the free version) has mostly FALSE security.

 

Hi there, wildwillie,

 

I sincerely hope you're wrong, mate as I'm pinning all my trust on Macrium Reflect and based on the many positive comments I've read in their forum, I feel pretty secure.

 

In all honesty, I've never actually created a clone as my C:\ partition is 25gbs and I'm only using about nine. I only create an image of the used portion which compresses to about 7 gbs. Then again, I've never had occasion to restore an image, so I can't really comment.

 

I also have used Norton Ghost when it was bundled with their System Works, but I would only back up to a chain of CDs. Quite often a backup would burn almost to finish, then pack it in, leaving me with a stack of coasters.

 

Actually, I've made a Macrium Rescue CD and a BartPE Rescue CD and both work okay on my XP SP3 Home PC. The Macrium Rescue CD boots too.

 

I appreciate your comments.

[garybear]

Hi my friend

 

Hi Ted. I really would like to clear this up, and hope I'm not being annoying. When you say you have not used Macrium to restore or make a clone, but you have made a Macrium rescue disk and a BartPE rescue disk, and they both work on your XP3 Home PC, and the Macrium Rescue boots,please explain what you mean by boots. I think what wildwille is saying, he wants a cloned HDD, in case his present HDD bites the dust. I don't mean to speak for him, but that is my understanding. This what I also want. I am very new to this PC business and I'm always trying to learn as much as my small pea brain can handle. I think Macrium probably will restore every thing to your working HDD just fine; how ever, I also like you never tried to do that. To me, that is just a glorified restore point. I'm waiting for enoskype to clear all this up. I like wildwillie, could never get Macrium to copy me a clone of my c:drive. Acronis made me a clone and it also backs up my c:drive. If my HDD dies I can switch the strap and my clone will start up just like nothing ever happened . The only time I'll lose, will be switching the strap. I hope one of the brains in this forum comments on this post, and please corrects all my wrong statements and dumb way of explaining this I f some one has figured out how to get Macrium to do what Acronis does, I am all ears, and will give you A+. Live well my friends.[garybear]PS When you have a clone , you can be a little more brave and dangerous(lol)

[Ted]

Hi there Gary.

 

Hey, you're not being annoying at all.

 

Okay, If I lost my operating system or my HDD was blank, I would plug in my Seagate USB backup drive and insert my Macrium Rescue CD. I would then start my computer.

 

The Macrium Rescue CD attachment shows the GUI I get and as my Backup drive is showing it's just a matter of navigating to my Images and following the prompts. If by chance my Macrium Rescue CD didn't work I would perform the same actions with my BartPE Rescue CD.

 

Sorry for the picture quality as I had to use my camera to get them

[sunny staines]

ted

 

i used norton good for hdd to hdd but had exactly same problem as you going to disc's and getting coasters just prior to completion had forgotten about that till i read your comments.

[wildwillie]

Ahmen

 

As a guy that's owned a number of computers and have had my harddrive work perfectly one day and never again the next day... on at least 4 occasions over a number of years, (and most recently just 3 weeks ago)... all I can really add to your post is: Ahmen.

[wildwillie]

OOPS.... I screwed up. My post was directed to Garybear

 

Hey Garybear...

 

As a guy that's owned a number of computers and have had my harddrive work perfectly one day and never again the next day... on at least 4 occasions over a number of years, (and most recently just 3 weeks ago)... all I can really add to your post is: Ahmen.

[garybear]

Hope it works.

 

Hi Ted. Looks like you went to a lot of work.There isn't anyone that wants this to work for you more than I do. I could never get a BartPE disk to burn for me . I did get Macrium rescue disk, and a liniox disk to burn, but they were of no use to me. If your dead in the water, you have to have some way to get your PC to boot up. I have two HDD in my PC, the original 40GB, which has my OS on it.I also have a new 400GB. I have been afraid that my 40GB might bite the dust, as it is old like me. What I wanted to do is copy my OS to the new 400GB. I guess the big boys call this a clone. A backup only works if your PC is up and running, and it your HDD goes down, you have to have a way to boot up. I played like my HDD bit the dust, so I made my 400GB HDD my primary, by changing the strap, or in other words , unplugging the drives, and then plugging my new drive back in; only this time it was in last position on the strap( where my old HDD was).I tried every thing I could to get my PC to boot on the new drive. It would not boot, so there was no way I could get to my USB to tell it to install my OS, even if it was on my USB, which I doubt Macrium ever put it there, like it said it did. I'm hoping some one on the forum try's to use Macrium to boot up a cold HDD and explains what they did to make it work. I'm waiting to hear if it works and how they did it. Acronis did what I wanted, and I'm very happy with every thing. I'm now operating on my new HDD ,and my old HDD is now my back up when my new drive bites the dust. Its time for one of you big dogs to come on this thread and help me out explaining this. I think this is good information, even though I don't do a good job explaining it.Live well my friends.PS Thanks for all your hard work Ted,you are greatly appreciated my friend.[garybear]

[Ted]

I tried every thing I could to get my PC to boot on the new drive. It would not boot, so there was no way I could get to my USB

 

Hi, Gary,

 

No, It wouldn't boot on the new drive if it was blank. First of all you must plug in your USB drive, then insert your Macrium Rescue CD. The Macrium Rescue CD then boots up to give you the GUI that I posted. The image showing on your monitor is being generated by the Macrium Rescue CD not your HDD. Please correct me if I'm wrong, anyone?

 

there was no way I could get to my USB to tell it to install my OS, even if it was on my USB, which I doubt Macrium ever put it there, like it said it did.

 

With your PC up and running you should have been able to locate the image by clicking the Seagate Icon in "My Computer" and navigating to where you chose to store it.

[garybear]

Thanks one more time

 

Hi, Gary,

 

No, It wouldn't boot on the new drive if it was blank. First of all you must plug in your USB drive, then insert your Macrium Rescue CD. The Macrium Rescue CD then boots up to give you the GUI that I posted. The image showing on your monitor is being generated by the Macrium Rescue CD not your HDD. Please correct me if I'm wrong, anyone?

 

 

 

With your PC up and running you should have been able to locate the image by clicking the Seagate Icon in "My Computer" and navigating to where you chose to store it.

 

Hi Ted. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. I can not say for sure I did this step. I thought I did , but can't say that for sure. Do you think the Macrium Rescue disk will boot up PC, and then allow you to find your USB, and put this info on the new HDD. If this is true, that would be great.I'm still waiting on the big dogs to post and confirm or deny if Macrium works like this. I'm sure you would feel better if some one posted a nay or yea also.Live well my friend and many thanks for your info and your patience , you are greatly appreciated .[garybear]