Hard drive cloning with Drive-Image 7.0

[William B. Lurie]

I'm starting a new thread because this relates not
to XCOPY, but to PowerQuest Drive Image.

People who have been taking part in this cloning
discussion have been chiding me for not spending
the money for some of the 'third party' software tools.
Let me say that I have spent the money for most of
them already, and this thread applies to Drive Image.
Not to Boot Magic; not to BootitNG; not to Partition
Magic.
-----------------------------------------------------
Here's what I did:
Slave hard drive...created Active Primary partition, 10 GB, made
sure it was FIRST partition on the drive.
Used D-I 7.0, followed simplest instructions to make a DRIVE
IMAGE (not copy) of my C:\ Master Drive Partition. Used normal
compression. Took 20 minutes. I let it do its checking.

Left that drive in place, as Slave. Took a THIRD drive
(as someone else told me he did), put it in Master Position,
jumpered as Master; made sure it had an empty 10GB
Active Primary partition, FIRST on the drive.

Inserted PQRE / D-I 7 CD, rebooted computer. It found PQRE.
I told it to do the restore from the Drive-Image to the
drive in Master position. I selected these options:

Restore MBR??? YES
Something about restore original disk signature?? NO
Set drive active for booting?? YES
Reboot after finish?? YES

I let it fly. With no complaints it started right up and in about 20
minutes it was done, and rebooted itself. BUT ONLY PART WAY.

IT booted past BIOS, past OEM Logo screen, to BLACK Windows
Logo screen....and on to the pale blue Windows Logo screen.
There it HUNG. On that screen, when it's working, appear the words
"Loading personal settings"......It does NOT show those words,
and it is stuck, hung. No way out other than start again.
Something is missing, stopping it from booting all the way.

I think I did everything correctly. Did I? Was I supposed to do
something different, and if so, what? Two months ago I got
these same results, and I also tried the "Copy a Disk" route from the
Drive Image menu and that didn't work either. You who have said D-I
works fine, please tell me in detail a sequence to follow that works
for you, and I'll be happy to try it.

Bill Lurie

 

[Richard Urban]

OK. Lets go through this again!

1. Create a Drive Image using ver 7.03 (you are using that version -
right?).

BTW, PowerQuest, when they still had Drive Image, released a full download
of version 7.01 which included an updated version of the PQRE. I downloaded
the .iso image and burned it to a CD. Then when the update to ver 7.03 came
out, I updated what was on my hard drive.

2. Remove old master drive.

3. Install new master drive with no partitions

4. DON'T do anything with the drive.

4a. Don't touch it.

4b. Don't partition it.

4c. Don't format it.

Drive image will do this for you when you restore the image to the new
drive. DO NOT tell Drive Image to restore the MBR. An MBR will be created
automatically during the restore process.

If the image you created is competent, the drive will boot up.

I have done this literally hundreds of times on many different computers,
using a competent image file from an operating system that was functioning
without any problems when the image was created.

If you do it this way, and it doesn't work, your image is no good!



--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[William B. Lurie]

Okay, Richard, in your steps below, I will intersperse my
comments. Let's hope it doesn't get unwieldy long.

OK. Lets go through this again!

1. Create a Drive Image using ver 7.03 (you are using that version -
right?).

Yes and no. I have what loads from the latest download update,
and that shows under "About D-I 7" as: 2.0.3.402..It never says 7.03 to
me. To get it for sure, I had to uninstall, then install my 7.0 CD
again, and THEN the latest upgrade because it made me do it that way.

BTW, PowerQuest, when they still had Drive Image, released a full download
of version 7.01 which included an updated version of the PQRE. I downloaded
the .iso image and burned it to a CD. Then when the update to ver 7.03 came
out, I updated what was on my hard drive.

I see no alternative to using the original CD, which is the only way
to run a PQRE, and I doubt that I can get an updated version of PQRE.
Even if you burned one for me, I doubt that it would work.

2. Remove old master drive.

3. Install new master drive with no partitions

4. DON'T do anything with the drive.

4a. Don't touch it.

4b. Don't partition it.

It is already partitioned, but only the first partition
is an Active or Primary partition.

4c. Don't format it.

Drive image will do this for you when you restore the image to the new
drive. DO NOT tell Drive Image to restore the MBR.

(Aha, that's a difference. I told it to do so. I'll try again
with that block a 'NO').
An MBR will be created

automatically during the restore process.

If the image you created is competent, the drive will boot up.

I have done this literally hundreds of times on many different computers,
using a competent image file from an operating system that was functioning
without any problems when the image was created.

They ask one more question which you didn't cover: "Restore original
disk signature, yes or no".... Which do I want? (Up to now I said no).
If you do it this way, and it doesn't work, your image is no good!

Richard, how or why should or could my image be no good? I had

just created it using Drive Image itself.
William B. Lurie

 

[Richard Urban]

You don't want partitions. You need free space, at least equal to the size
of the original partition you imaged. Even a partition 1k less will cause
problems. The restore will create the partition for you, of the correct
size. Create other partitions after the fact.

Do NOT restore the original disk signature. Choose to have the restored
partition set as a primary partition. Also, set drive active for booting.

Don't know why your image is no good. Did you choose to verify the image
during the creation of same? When you do so, it compares what has been
written against what is being imaged. There are many reasons why it could
happen. Happenstance, defective original drive, defective new drive. The
original system you imaged was faulty. User error.

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[Richard Urban]

The Drive Image help is really quite good. Suggest you familiarize yourself
with it!


Restoring a Single Drive Using the PQRE
If you cannot restore a file or folder while the machine is online (because
you cannot boot into the operating system or because of a lack of free hard
drive space), you can use the System Restore wizard from the PowerQuest
Recovery Environment (PQRE) to return a drive on the machine to full
functionality.

You can also use the PQRE to perform a bare metal recovery of a machine if
you have suffered a catastrophic hard drive failure.

Under the PQRE, you can restore a single drive, multiple drives, or multiple
drives using a system index file (.sV2i).

IMPORTANT! The PQRE requires a minimum of 256 MB of RAM to run.

a.. Insert the PowerQuest CD into the media drive of the machine.
b.. Immediately reboot the machine.
You may need to modify your system to make it bootable from the CD. See I
can't boot from the CD..

c.. (Optional) If necessary, you can install special RAID or SCSI drivers
for the machine's hard disk subsystem by pressing <F6> when prompted during
the boot into PQRE.
See I can't access the local drive where my backups are saved.

d.. Watch the computer screen. When the prompt "Press any key to boot from
CD" appears, you have approximately five seconds to press a key to begin
booting into the PQRE from the CD.
e.. (Optional) From the Time Zone drop-down list of the PQRE main window,
select the time zone location you are in relative to the location of the
backup image store.
f.. (Optional) From the Languages drop-down list, select the language in
which you want the System Restore wizard and Backup Image Browser to
display.
g.. Click System Restore.
IMPORTANT! Drive letters under the PQRE may not match those in the Windows
environment.

h.. Click Restore drives, then click Next.
i.. Click Single drive, then click Next.
j.. Specify the location of the backup image file to restore, or click
Browse and navigate to the backup image file you want.
If you click Browse and cannot see or browse the network from the Open
dialog, type the name of the machine and share that holds your backup
images, in the File name text box (example: \\machine_name\share_name\),
then press <Enter>. Select a backup image file, then click Open to add it to
the text field.

If you are still unable to see your network after typing the machine name
and share name, you may need to map a drive to see and browse the network.
See Network Connectivity During a Restore from the PQRE for more
information.

k.. If the backup image was assigned a password, you must enter it now.
l.. Click Next.
m.. Select the drive where you want to restore the backup image file.
Note that some of the drives listed may be invalid selections because
there is not enough free space for the restored backup image file or because
you do not have rights to the drive.

n.. (Optional) To free disk space, select a drive, then click Delete
Drive. This will free space if a single drive space on the hard drive is not
adequate.
IMPORTANT! When you click Delete Drive, the drive is only virtually
deleted at that point; the actual deletion of the drive takes place after
you click Finish in the wizard. If you change your mind before clicking
Finish, go back to the Restore Destination dialog and click Undo Delete to
"restore" the drive.

o.. Click Next.
p.. Select or deselect the restore options you want.
The options available will depend on the restore location you selected in
the previous step.

Restore options
Description

Verify backup image before restore
This option is useful if you want to determine whether a backup image
file is valid or corrupt prior to the start of a restoration. The backup
image is checked to see that the internal data structures in the backup
image file match the data that is available, and the backup image file can
be uncompressed (if you selected a compression level at the time of
creation) and create the expected amount of data. If the backup image is
invalid, the restoration will not continue.

This option is selected by default.

Check for file system errors after restore
Enable error checking. The hard drive is checked for errors after the
backup image file has been restored.

Resize drive to fill unallocated space
Expand the drive that is being restored to occupy the destination
drive's remaining free space.


Advanced Restore Options
Description

Set drive active (for booting OS)
Use Set drive active to make the restored drive the active partition
(the drive the machine boots from). Only one drive can be active at a time.
To boot the machine, it must be on the first drive, and it must contain an
operating system. When the machine boots, it reads the partition table of
the first drive to find out which drive is active and boots from that
location. If the drive is not bootable or you are not certain that it is,
have a boot disk ready.

Set drive active is valid for basic disks only (not dynamic disks).

Partition type
Click Primary partition to restore as a primary partition.

Click Logical partition to restore as a logical partition inside an
extended partition. (This option is not applicable for dynamic disks.)

Restore original disk signature
Restores the original physical disk signature of the hard drive.

Disk signatures are included in Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000
Advanced Server, and Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition (SP3 and
later) and are necessary before the hard drive can be used.

This option is recommended for advanced users.

Restore MBR
Restore the master boot record. The master boot record is contained
in the first sector of the first physical hard drive. The MBR consists of a
master boot program and a partition table that describes the disk
partitions. The master boot program looks at the partition table to see
which primary partition is active. It then starts the boot program from the
boot sector of the active partition.

This option is recommended for advanced users.



q.. Click Next.
r.. (Optional) Select Reboot after finish if you want the machine to
reboot automatically after the backup images are restored.
s.. Click Finish > Yes to restore the backup image.

 

[Richard Urban]

You noticed, of course, the RAM requirement!

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[William B. Lurie]

You noticed, of course, the RAM requirement!

Yes, thank you. I have 512Meg, really should be much more
than needed.

 

[William B. Lurie]

Okay, Richard. Please note me bried comments interspersed below.
I will repeat the whole process again, with all of your caveats.
And I will print out and try the "Help" procedures. I will try to get
an updated PQWRE from Symantec but finding teeth in a hen is more
likely to succeed.
WBL

 

[William B. Lurie]

You don't want partitions. You need free space, at least equal to the size
of the original partition you imaged. Even a partition 1k less will cause
problems. The restore will create the partition for you, of the correct
size. Create other partitions after the fact.

Partition is the first, primary, and big. I'll scrub the others since all
they are is other clone attempts.

Do NOT restore the original disk signature. Choose to have the restored
partition set as a primary partition. Also, set drive active for booting. Did all of those.

Don't know why your image is no good. Did you choose to verify the image
during the creation of same? When you do so, it compares what has been
written against what is being imaged.

Yes, I did.
There are many reasons why it could

happen. Happenstance,

Happens too many times not to be functional malfunction.
defective original drive,
Runs perfectly every time, in all ways.
defective new drive.
Correct that to three new drives? Not likely.
The

original system you imaged was faulty.

Not likely. Virus free. Defragged. Roomy as hell. Reliable.
User error.
Again, I've done it so many times, I hardly think so. I'm
using the most automatic or imaging software and modes.

However, I'm sure you heard about the carpenter who said,
"Damn! I cut the leg off that chair 3 times and it's still
too short".

 

[William B. Lurie]

Partition is the first, primary, and big. I'll scrub the others since all
they are is other clone attempts.


Did all of those.


Yes, I did.
There are many reasons why it could


Happens too many times not to be functional malfunction.
defective original drive,
Runs perfectly every time, in all ways.
defective new drive.
Correct that to three new drives? Not likely.
The


Not likely. Virus free. Defragged. Roomy as hell. Reliable.
User error.
Again, I've done it so many times, I hardly think so. I'm
using the most automatic or imaging software and modes.

However, I'm sure you heard about the carpenter who said,
"Damn! I cut the leg off that chair 3 times and it's still
too short".

Three hours later......and reporting *success*......
Richard, I believe I did only one thing different this
time, and I got a clone that booted right up, by itself,
after the PQRE Restore. That one thing was that I told
it *not* to Restore MBR. I want to thank you for your
good advice, based on your own experience with identical
software, for your clear procedure as outlined, and for
your patience. When the end of the month comes around,
and I do it again, let's hope I am able to. If not.....
I have the notes printed out, and in a folder, and
stored online.
Bill Lurie

 

[William B. Lurie]

Just one more note:
Richard's cloning procedure produced a clone which
booted up into XP, successfully. One application
program did not start up correctly, and that one
gives that same problem all the time. Norton
Anti-Virus has their Activation Protection setup,
which somehow knows that it is not run on the same
hard drive as it was an hour before. I know
from experience that "activating" it again is
feasible, and I will do so if, and, and when I
need to actually run the clone. It is a backup,
not intended as a way to circumvent or break
License Agreements.

 

[Richard Urban]

I'm glad you got it all sorted out Bill. Glad to help.

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard