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Re: Drive Image--OT

This is something I've done several times, but I'm not going to pretend I get it right first time every time. In principle the steps are:

- copy a partition to another disk (either file by file using a normal "copy" command or using a partition copier (one free one is Ranish but there are others))

- restoring it is the inverse - but of course if you want to use the "file copy" option you have to have an OS running - which implies you've booted from a disk other than the one which is now the target of the copy (Harry's cd below)

- fix the boot code - boot from a floppy of the (MS) OS concerned and do some combination of "sys x:" and "fdisk /mbr"

Of course there are gotchas. A big one being OS's locking of files in use, especially anti-virus ones. One way round that is to have a further (3rd) bootable partition, so that the stuff one wants to copy is mere data (not a running OS).

It's not for the faint of heart. I usually write out the various steps to take beforehand - and the first draft invariably needs altering along the way. And this is doing it using the simplest possible media - good old IDE hard disks. Using stuff like firewire adds to the complexity - as you imply.

To help make multiple disks and partitions manageable, I use a proper boot manager (xosl), capable of hiding partitions (not a simple partition chooser like the ones win 98 & nt supply).

Never having put one to the test, I don't know if partition managers do this job all on their own ..


John



Harry Binswanger wrote:
Re backing up: I may have misinterpreted something Robert said a few
weeks ago:

Another thing: if you think that, by thoroughly backing up your data
to an
image or to another machine, you'll be able to reinstall a Windows
operating
system on a replacement drive or another machine, think again. It
won't work

What about using the drive image of the drive in my laptop (C:) to
restore itself? That is, if I make a drive image on an external
(different) firewire drive, then totally re-format C:, boot from the
factory CD, can I (somehow) copy the old image back onto C: and be ready
to go? I think there are two issues here: 1) can I read the external
firewire drive from what is on the factory CD functioning as a boot
disk, 2) if so, will I be able to put everything back from the image to
C: in a way that restores C: to the state it was in when I made the
image? The external drive is physically different from the laptop drive.

Bottom line: is there any point at all in making a drive image on an
external, firewire drive, rather than just backing up data files onto it?


Thanks.

Harry Binswanger
hb@xxxxxxxx