Bootable Backup Image on External Drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter dykesc
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dykesc

I am able to make a backup image of my internal C:\ drive onto an external
drive I just bought. My question is; how do I get my computer to boot and
load windows from the external drive if my C:\ drive fails? My external
drive is not selectable as a boot source in my bios setup. Thanks in advance
for any help on this.
 
Most external drives that i've seen (all that i've seen) actually contain a
normal ide drive in them, if that helps you any. you could switch them if
your main one fails.

do you have the external drive set up to boot (ie, an exact copy of the main
drive)? if you just have the files backed up using most backup programs or
some sort of archive format, I doubt it would boot. if you have or were
using a program like partition magic to copy the whole partition to the
external drive, it should work. (partition magic messed up MY external usb
hard drive, so I wouldn't recommend using it actually, other similar programs
worked though).
I could show you how to copy the whole disk to a file, mirror it to another
disk, restore it, etc, but using linux. if you want to do this using a
bootable cd like knoppix, ask me.
 
A 'backup' of your internal IDE drive, made with Ghost or Drive image will be
a single compressed file. It is impossible to use this as a bootable drive
for that very reason.

One uses Ghost or the like to create a backup from which the C Drive can be
recreated using a restore process.

Should you find that you have corrupted your internal drive, then you would
use the bootable floopy disk set made by Ghost in order to load up a DOS
environment and restore from the external drive.

Should you wish to clone your C Drive then you should carefully read the
instructions for this process. In order for you to be able to take a cloned
drive out of the USB enclosure and install it into the PC [replacing a failed
C Drive] you should also make sure that it is an identical unit to the C
drive [make, model, size]. If it isn't identical, Windows' anti piracy
features will prevent the system from booting and you will need to perform a
repair installation of XP before attempting to boot from that drive.

Similarly, if you use it for the purposes of backup, then when it restores
to a new Hard Drive, it must be to an identical unit to the C drive [make,
model, size], if the original C drive has failed.

Prior to using any new hard drive in the pC it must first be initialised and
then formatted: you'll need to perform this in a workling XP system or from
an XP installation CD or using a third party disk management utility. Such
utilities are supplied free with new Retail packaged disks from most
manufacturers including Maxtor and Seagate.
 
BAR said:
A 'backup' of your internal IDE drive, made with Ghost
or Drive image will be a single compressed file. It is
impossible to use this as a bootable drive for that very
reason.

One uses Ghost or the like to create a backup from
which the C Drive can be recreated using a restore
process.
Click to expand...


That is true for "Backups" to external media, but
Ghost's (or Drive Image's) "Copy hard drive to hard
drive" function can make a bootable image of one
internal hard drive (or partition) on another internal
hard drive. I have not heard, though, of an OS being
bootable from external media.

[.......] In order for you to be able to take a cloned
drive out of the USB enclosure and install it into the PC
[replacing a failed C Drive] you should also make sure
that it is an identical unit to the C drive [make, model,
size]. If it isn't identical, Windows' anti piracy features
will prevent the system from booting and you will need
to perform a repair installation of XP before attempting
to boot from that drive.

Similarly, if you use it for the purposes of backup, then
when it restores to a new Hard Drive, it must be to an
identical unit to the C drive [make, model, size], if the
original C drive has failed.
Click to expand...


Windows anti-piracy mechanism doesn't care about
the make, model, size of the hard drives. How would
anybody otherwise be able to move an OS to a large
hard drive or one of a different brand? The anti-piracy
feature looks at other installed devices and combinations
of them, particularly the motherboard, but not the make,
model, or size of the hard drives.

Prior to using any new hard drive in the pC it must first be
initialised and then formatted:
Click to expand...


This is only true if one is to make a "backup" copy
which will be stored as just another file in the file
system - as it would be in external media. If the task
is to clone the system (i.e. make a sector-for-sector
copy, called "copying a hard drive"), formatting is not
necessary as the formatting of the original system is
copied over along with the date that sits atop it.



The boot process depends on there being a Master
Boot Record. Whether an external hard drive has an
MBR may be a problem, and if it does, the BIOS
knowing how to pass control to it may be another
problem.

*TimDaniels*
 
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