How to transfer image to a new drive

[Shane Devenshire]

Hi,

Using VISTA Ultimate on an IBM T60p laptop. I am going to upgrade the hard
drive from 100 to 320 GB. I have a 300GB SimpleTech external drive. I want
to copy (image) the current hard drive to the SimpleTech, replace the hard
drive and copy the image of from the SimpleTech back to the new drive.

1. Can this be done?
2. What software should one use?
3. Where would one find the steps necessary to do the imaging portion. (I
can handle the hardware.)


------
Unrelated - why can't I make a post on the Microsoft website to this
Newsgroup? Everytime I click New and choose Question I get a hand with a
explosion symbol and nothing else?

TIA.
Shane Devenshire

 

[housetrained]

Hi,

Using VISTA Ultimate on an IBM T60p laptop. I am going to upgrade the
hard drive from 100 to 320 GB. I have a 300GB SimpleTech external drive.
I want to copy (image) the current hard drive to the SimpleTech, replace
the hard drive and copy the image of from the SimpleTech back to the new
drive.

1. Can this be done?
2. What software should one use?
3. Where would one find the steps necessary to do the imaging portion.
(I can handle the hardware.)


------
Unrelated - why can't I make a post on the Microsoft website to this
Newsgroup? Everytime I click New and choose Question I get a hand with a
explosion symbol and nothing else?

TIA.
Shane Devenshire

Acronis true image (tools - clone)

 

[Richard Urban]

You are half right!

 

[Richard Urban]

Acronis TrueImage HOME is the program that I use.

Create an image file (not clone) on the external drive. Then when you
replace the main hard drive use TrueImage to recover that image to the new
hard drive.

To do this you need to create the bootable CD using TrueImage HOME from
within Windows.

To find out the precise steps and options- read the help manual as I did
many years ago.

 

[Anna]

Hi,

Using VISTA Ultimate on an IBM T60p laptop. I am going to upgrade the
hard drive from 100 to 320 GB. I have a 300GB SimpleTech external drive.
I want to copy (image) the current hard drive to the SimpleTech, replace
the hard drive and copy the image of from the SimpleTech back to the new
drive.

1. Can this be done?
2. What software should one use?
3. Where would one find the steps necessary to do the imaging portion.
(I can handle the hardware.)


------
Unrelated - why can't I make a post on the Microsoft website to this
Newsgroup? Everytime I click New and choose Question I get a hand with a
explosion symbol and nothing else?

TIA.
Shane Devenshire

Shane:
Yes, what you envision is relatively simple & straightforward. You might
want to consider the disk-cloning process as well as the disk-imaging
process to accomplish your objective. We're particularly fond of the former
type of program for many, if not most, PC users as I'll explain below.

Basically what you would be doing (using either type of process) is imaging
or cloning the contents of your present 100 GB HDD to your 300 GB USBEHD,
after which removing that 100 GB HDD from the laptop and installing your new
320 GB HDD in its place. Then simply reverse the disk-imaging or
disk-cloning process between the USBEHD & your new internal HDD. (Another
way of achieving this objective would be to install the 320 GB HDD in your
USB enclosure and image or clone the contents of your internal 100 GB HDD
directly to that device and then install the 320 GB HDD in the system to
replace the 100 GB drive. But your USB enclosure, since it may be a
"one-piece" commercial unit, may not lend itself to that process.)

One popular program to achieve this is the Acronis True Image program which
has both disk-imaging & disk-cloning capability. I assume you've heard of
this program. Acronis does have a trial version available so you might want
to try it out.

The program that we generally recommend for most PC users is the Casper 5
disk-cloning program. (It does not have disk-imaging capability). Before
going any further on why we strongly recommend this program let me say that
if your *sole* objective is undertaking a one-time disk-copying process only
for the purpose of copying the contents of your present HDD to a new larger
HDD, then it's really inconsequential which disk-cloning or disk-imaging
program you use.

But I would hope that you would consider using such a program as a *routine*
backup program that you would frequently use to establish & maintain a
comprehensive backup of your system that would be relatively up-to-date at
any given time. A backup program containing your OS, all programs &
applications, and of course your personal data. In short, *everything*
that's on your day-to-day working HDD. That, in my opinion, is the *real*
value of a disk-cloning or disk-imaging program. And since you already have
the hardware to achieve this capability you're more than halfway home.

We prefer the Casper 5 disk-cloning program for a variety of reasons. It's a
simple & straightforward program that virtually every PC user can "learn" in
a few minutes. It's quite effective in that it does the job it's supposed to
do, i.e., create a precise duplicate of the disk that it has cloned. But
most of all we prefer it because it has a unique (at least unique in our
experience) "incremental-clone" capability which significantly speeds up the
backup process when the program is used frequently (as it should be). I
cannot overemphasize this feature since it gives the average PC user a
strong incentive to back up his/her system at frequent intervals, a most
desirable objective.

Casper also has a trial version available at http://www.fssdev.com. The
trial version is somewhat crippled in that the resultant clone will be only
as large as the disk-capacity of the "source" HDD, i.e., the disk being
cloned. So, for example, in your case if you cloned your present 100 GB HDD
to your 300 GB USBEHD, the resultant partition on the latter drive would be
100 GB. The remaining disk space would be "unallocated", naturally
disk-space that you could partition or later merge with the 100 GB
partition. This limitation, of course, is not present in the commercial
version of the program.

If you're interested I can provide further details about this program. But
it's a good idea for you (and others who might be interested in similar
types of these programs) to experiment with them, particularly since so many
of them have demo or trial versions available which can give you a good idea
as to their capabilities and whether they meet your particular needs.
Anna

 

[housetrained]

You are half right!

<snip>
of course - it works for me because all my HDD's are in the computer - silly
me!

 

[Mike Torello]

One popular program to achieve this is the Acronis True Image program which
has both disk-imaging & disk-cloning capability. I assume you've heard of
this program. Acronis does have a trial version available so you might want
to try it out.

The program that we generally recommend for most PC users is the Casper 5
disk-cloning program. (It does not have disk-imaging capability).

And because of that, for most users' needs, it's crippleware. Besides
being less capable and less flexible than Acronis True Image, it also
costs more to buy the main program PLUS one has to spend an extra $10
to get the bootable CD.

To the OP: Anna is the main promoter of Casper in these groups, and
there might be one or two more who have said they use it. I am one of
those. Easily 99% of recommendations here are for Acronis True Image,
which means one thing: most people have never even heard of Casper and
don't use it.

I use if to cover a very special need/want that is not typically one
that most users might want/need. I like it, but if I had only one
backup program to choose, it would be Acronis True Image.

It's the hands-down winner when you compare what it can do to what
Casper can do.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

To the OP: Anna is the main promoter of Casper in these groups, and
there might be one or two more who have said they use it. I am one of
those. Easily 99% of recommendations here are for Acronis True Image,
which means one thing: most people have never even heard of Casper and
don't use it.

I use if to cover a very special need/want that is not typically one
that most users might want/need. I like it, but if I had only one
backup program to choose, it would be Acronis True Image.

It's the hands-down winner when you compare what it can do to what
Casper can do.

There is something that Casper can do that True Image cannot do,
and that is the ability to clone a single partition among multiple partitions
and to place that partition on another HD among multiple partitions.
True Image can only clone the *entire* HD. (It can image single partitions,
but that is not cloning, as the product - an image *file* - is not bootable.)
This ability to clone a single partition is handy if you want to clone just
the partition containing the OS instead of the data partitions along with it.
I do this to back up my OS periodically to a 2nd internal HD so the clone
can be booted very quickly in case of a system file corruption or crash of
the primary HD without any need to "restore" the OS from its archived
format in the image file. Since my OS resides in a 40GB partition, and
my secondary HD has a 160GB capacity, I can archive 4 clones on the
secondary HD, and any one of them can be booted at the next startup.
Is the secondary HD safe from corruption while the primary HD is running
you ask? Yes it is because power is cut off to the secondary HD by a
miniature DPST toggle switch during normal operation, the switch being
reachable through the front air intake of the PC's case. But just for the
archiving of multiple clones that are available for booting by plugging in
the 2nd HD's cable, Casper fits my needs better than True Image can.

As for why True Image is more popular and better known, just take a
look at which company advertizes in the popular press. I don't think I've
ever seen an ad for Casper, whereas I *have* seen ads for True Image
(and for Ghost, etc.) And, of course, ads generate the interest by the
popular press to write reviews.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Mike Torello]

As for why True Image is more popular and better known, just take a
look at which company advertizes in the popular press. I don't think I've
ever seen an ad for Casper, whereas I *have* seen ads for True Image
(and for Ghost, etc.) And, of course, ads generate the interest by the
popular press to write reviews.

The company that sells the most has the most dollars to spend on
advertising.

True Image has only recently been advertising. I would bet that there
are more people using Version 9 (several generations old) of True
Image than are using any/all versions of Casper.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

The company that sells the most has the most dollars to spend on
advertising.

True Image has only recently been advertising. I would bet that there
are more people using Version 9 (several generations old) of True
Image than are using any/all versions of Casper.

Does the company that makes the best product always make the
most money?

Over a period of a year, I've found Casper's customer support
to have been superb. I don't know how it is with True Image, but
well informed and skilled technical support reps do cost money.

For my purposes - making clones of single partitions, not the
entire HD - Casper and Ghost can do it, and True Image cannot.
Other people might have other needs and priorities, perhaps
providing a reason for the product name "True Image" instead
of "True Clone".

*TimDaniels*