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Have you tried Drive Copy? Have you tried a different hard drive cloning application? How to the two apps compare?
but as you say - dissimilar drive geometry can get in the way of most utilities like this. As soon as I'm able to I am going to copy the entire failing drive from an Acer laptop and "clone" it to a newer drive that is the same geometry. This won't be an acid test for Macrium, but many of these tools never worked for me in the past. Macrium has been a winner for me so far - I have always heard good things about Paragon, however. It might be worth it if I can do a 30 day trial.
We have over 3Tb of data images for laptops and we've used the free Clonezilla and never had an issue, very easy to use as long as you have a 32gb Thumb Drive. We use the 3.0 and it's fast and free and easy.
I need new backup software. My current SW is now no longer available..
How do the two compare ?
The price is certainly different, DC is cheaper.
How do the two compare ?
The price is certainly different, DC is cheaper.
I recently tried cloning a 320GB SATA drive to a 120GB SSD drive and found that Clonezilla will not clone from a larger drive to a smaller drive, even if the data size is smaller than the destination. If you are cloning equal size HD's or to a larger destination, you are okay with Clonezilla.
While competent, Clonezilla's interface is ugly and years out of date. Sure, you can create configuration files to shortcut operation, but that's a task only geeks love. More importantly, Clonezilla makes it very difficult to restore a partition to a location different from where it was created. For example, when you need Data moved from P3 to P4.
As a point of comparison, consider the DOS-based Norton Ghost 2003. It does more than Clonezilla does, and with an efficient, easy to use interface. The old Ghost's main limitation today is that it does not recognize GPT.
As a point of comparison, consider the DOS-based Norton Ghost 2003. It does more than Clonezilla does, and with an efficient, easy to use interface. The old Ghost's main limitation today is that it does not recognize GPT.
When I, for example, do an image backup of a 500Gb drive that is no where near full, I can get it all on a smaller external drive, because Macrium Reflect compresses all the free space and other redundancies. When you look at the spaced used for the image on the external drive, it barely puts a dent in it. I can't vouch for cloning to a different drive, as I haven't tried that yet.
I'd be curious to see how Drive Copy compares to Norton Ghost 15.
is that my version became obsolete very fast with the switch to NT5 and 6, and Symantec refused to update it. I'm not paying for something like that again. I still use it on old XP systems, but that's it. I might add that I've had trouble with it ruining drives and the geometry of that hardware, and I can I'll afford that either. Maybe the new version are better, but I got the yips on anything Ghost made by Symantec. Too bad Quest isn't still running the show.
Both times I tried Ghost I totally screwed up both drives and had to reformat both for them to be useful. I avoid anything by Norton like the plague, whereas I used to swear by it now I swear at it.
One of the typical problems tools like this fail to properly deal with is NOT changing the original environment. I have HARD requirements that prevent modifying the original environment... so a tool with all its bells like this that MUST be 'installed' is a non-starter. For all the good it does, it immediately becomes worthless.
One of the advantages of Norton Ghost 2003 and Clonezilla is that they can run independently of the disk being cloned. I use a USB that boots to DOS for Ghost and Linux for Clonezilla. If there are other good choices, perhaps readers will add a further reply.
As an aside, and a tip of the hat, the Parted Magic distribution is a wonderful toolbox that includes both GParted and Clonezilla. If you're not already using it for partitioning, check it out.
As an aside, and a tip of the hat, the Parted Magic distribution is a wonderful toolbox that includes both GParted and Clonezilla. If you're not already using it for partitioning, check it out.
It runs from WinPE or Linux DVD or USB stick. It also creates a consistent copy of running Windows. File or sector archives, incremental archives, any partition management - lots of functions packed in brain dead super simple interface.
GPT - yes, including conversion from MBR to GPT. UEFI - I cannot tell, I think UEFI is unrelated to partitions.
...as it relatively simple and boots into its own DOS-like environment. Subsequent versions got too complex and unreliable for my needs. Unfortunately, 2003 is not reliable on newer systems or discs larger than 1.5TB.
Every since Quest sold it to Symantec; I've not had any particular luck with it.
...when someone buys them up and then attempts to "improve" them.
If it could deal with the newer multi-terrabyte drives, 2003 would remain my primary tool for cloning.
If it could deal with the newer multi-terrabyte drives, 2003 would remain my primary tool for cloning.
Like I mentioned in the article, you have the option to create a bootable version of DriveCopy to a blank DVD-R.
Can you use this utility to clone Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 R2 drives ?
I have to agree with the reviewer on this software. We used Paragon at the Hospice I support and it worked well. Saved my bacon twice with Citrix servers that decided to go off line. I've been using it on my personal machine for a few years and it "just plain works".
My only criticism with the software is that the interface is a bit complex and might prevent the average user from efficiently using it. For "Techies" and Geeks" like us, it should definitely be on anyone's short list.
My only criticism with the software is that the interface is a bit complex and might prevent the average user from efficiently using it. For "Techies" and Geeks" like us, it should definitely be on anyone's short list.
I am certainly not a professional in this field nor am I a complete neophyte however, If I use this product... I install a new HDD as a slave to begin with, Use the software to clone my existing Drive (C:) including the OS, now I close the system down, swap out the HDDs making the new one C: with the OS, will it boot as normal and will the programs run as normal without having to re-install, especially the OS???
... it offers you a link that you use to download and install the ADK kit from Microsoft. Use default settings. Next you start the product and create a bootable DVD or Flash Drive. Next you test this media. This is a two step process thanks to the Microsoft licensing. No neophyte should ever think about skipping it.
Next you start the OS Migration Wizard and migrate your OS to another HDD. If that is done wrong, which is hard but possible for a true neophyte with bad luck to achieve, you boot your media and run the OS boot repair wizard.
The required level of expertise is low. If you are willing to read the help file, it is very low. This means that nearly everybody can help you if you are stuck, provided you did not run the data elimination wizard intended for those who donate used HDDs...
Next you start the OS Migration Wizard and migrate your OS to another HDD. If that is done wrong, which is hard but possible for a true neophyte with bad luck to achieve, you boot your media and run the OS boot repair wizard.
The required level of expertise is low. If you are willing to read the help file, it is very low. This means that nearly everybody can help you if you are stuck, provided you did not run the data elimination wizard intended for those who donate used HDDs...
I do all the above but install the HDD into a new system, it says "adjust the OS to make it bootable again" normally the OS is set to the serials on the motherboards etc, and in the past i have always had to completely re-install the OS to get it to work, how does one Adjust the OS??? especially when it wont completely boot??
The boot process looks for a partition with a flag indicating it is "active" or "bootable". A full disk copy should carry over this information, but maybe it got lost. While you still have a working Windows system, go to Disk Management, highlight the partition on the new drive with the OS, then mark the partition as Active.
Alternatively, from a USB stick, run a utility like Parted Magic, Partition Wizard, etc. to set the flag on the partition with the OS you want to boot.
Most modern motherboards have a bootmanager function available. Check the manual for the key to press early in the boot cycle. Usually F8, F12, or Esc. When the menu appears, highlight the device to boot. This overrides the boot device priority list set in the BIOS and will allow you to test booting from the copied drive before removing the original.
Alternatively, from a USB stick, run a utility like Parted Magic, Partition Wizard, etc. to set the flag on the partition with the OS you want to boot.
Most modern motherboards have a bootmanager function available. Check the manual for the key to press early in the boot cycle. Usually F8, F12, or Esc. When the menu appears, highlight the device to boot. This overrides the boot device priority list set in the BIOS and will allow you to test booting from the copied drive before removing the original.
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