Partition size for cloned drive

[Videot]

I am trying to set up a partition on a second physical drive that will
be a clone of my 'C' drive. My 'C' drive is 120GB but only contains
about 8GB at the moment & is unlikely to get beyond 15GB. The second
drive is also 120GB & is currently empty.

Am I correct in assuming that the partition size for the clone of 'C'
drive must be equal to or greater than that of the original?

If this is the case should I first make a partition on my 'c' drive of
about 15GB, then do the same thing for the second drive, so as to not
waste too much space on both drives?

Thanks for any help

 

[Guest]

To clone or mirror a drive,size of partition(s) have no bearing on the matter,
the new drive must be formatted,and w/o any data on it.

 

[Brian K]

Am I correct in assuming that the partition size for the clone of 'C'
drive must be equal to or greater than that of the original?
Yes


If this is the case should I first make a partition on my 'c' drive of
about 15GB, then do the same thing for the second drive, so as to not
waste too much space on both drives?

Yes

 

[Brian K]

This is from the PM Help



"Use Copy to make an exact duplicate of a partition. The copy is the same
size (or slightly different if copied to another physical disk with a
different geometry) and file type and contains the same data as the
original. When you copy a partition, you specify the hard disk and the
unallocated space where you want to place the copy.
To copy a partition, you must have unallocated space that is equal to or
larger than the partition.
Some of the reasons you may want to copy a partition include the following:

· To duplicate your operating system before upgrading to a new version or a
different operating system (so that you can remember how the old operating
system's windows, program icons, and properties were set up) or so that you
can recover the original partition if the upgrade fails or is
unsatisfactory.
· To quickly move a smaller hard disk's contents to a larger, new hard disk.
· To make a primary partition a logical partition, or vice versa.

· To change the relative order of partitions.
· To back up a partition."

 

[Galen]

In Videot <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

I am trying to set up a partition on a second physical drive that will
be a clone of my 'C' drive. My 'C' drive is 120GB but only contains
about 8GB at the moment & is unlikely to get beyond 15GB. The second
drive is also 120GB & is currently empty.

Am I correct in assuming that the partition size for the clone of 'C'
drive must be equal to or greater than that of the original?

If this is the case should I first make a partition on my 'c' drive of
about 15GB, then do the same thing for the second drive, so as to not
waste too much space on both drives?

Thanks for any help

I can say that with Norton Ghost 2k3 (the only Norton product I use) that
the size of the partition that you'll be cloning to doesn't matter provided
that the content on the drive you're cloning from is smaller than the drive
you're cloning to. That being said it's a good idea (it's what I do at any
rate so if that makes it a good idea then...) to go ahead and set the second
partition's size up the same size as the C: drive. If for no other reason
than to insure that you needn't risk data loss from partitioning in the
future.

Galen

 

[Kerry Brown]

I am trying to set up a partition on a second physical drive that will
be a clone of my 'C' drive. My 'C' drive is 120GB but only contains
about 8GB at the moment & is unlikely to get beyond 15GB. The second
drive is also 120GB & is currently empty.

Am I correct in assuming that the partition size for the clone of 'C'
drive must be equal to or greater than that of the original?

If this is the case should I first make a partition on my 'c' drive of
about 15GB, then do the same thing for the second drive, so as to not
waste too much space on both drives?

Thanks for any help

It depends on what software you are using to clone the drive. The current
version of most cloning software should be up to the task. The free software
that comes with some drives probably isn't. 15 GB is probably too small for
the system partition with Windows XP. I would use at least half the drive.
Unless you have some special reason to make more than one partition there is
really no need. With older OS's and file systems there were some advantages,
With Windows XP and NTFS the only advantage is file organization and this
can easily be done with folders. This advice is sure to attract many replies
with conflicting advice. Many people are passionate on this subject. Read
all the replies and decide for yourself.

Kerry

 

[Star Fleet Admiral Q]

Not necessarily - the only Norton product I use is Ghost 2k4 and 2k5 - both
of these allow you to clone partition data/setup to what is actually
occupied (aka in use). On top of that, it gives you compression ability, to
make what you save smaller that what it actually occupies. The only caveat,
is you must restore the data to a like drive, formatted the same and using
the same cluster size, otherwise the restore fails. You can, go into the
ghost file itself, with the ghost browser, and restore specific files and/or
folders - all very similar to a backup. Lastly Ghost 2k5 added the hot
clone ability (in other words XP doesn't have to shutdown, do the clone, and
reboot where earlier versions did), where a virtual file system copy is
made, then this is what is cloned to the backup location. Unlike other
modern Norton products, I'm very satisfied with this software and its
abilities.

--

Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your Service!

http://www.google.com
Google is your "Friend"

 

[Brian K]

The word clone is ambiguous. What you are doing is imaging. The OP wants to
do Copy Drive, sometimes called cloning.

Brian