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Old March 21st 06, 07:49 PM posted to comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage
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Default best cloning method?

Anna wrote
Timothy Daniels wrote
asled


Is there a nice simple DOS program that I can run that
will format the new drive, copy the old to the new, and
make the new drive bootable?


Yes! And it's free for 30 days. It's called Casper XP.
www.FSSdev.com/products/casperxp. I've used half
a dozen other cloning utilities, and for cloning (as opposed
to image files and incrmental backups) it's the best and
the easiest to use. It will copy the MBR to the new drive,
it will mark the new paritition "active" (if only one partition
is being cloned), and the new partition will be as bootable
as the one cloned. Casper can be made to clone in either
of 2 modes - the entirety of one HD can be cloned to the
entirety of another HD, or just one partition can be cloned
to another HD which may or may not already have other
partitions on it. (True Image cannot do the latter.)


As with all cloning, disconnect the old drive before
starting up the clone OS for the first time. The clone
may be *seen* by the old OS before the clone is
first started up, but the clone must not see the old OS
until after it has undergone its first startup. Thereafter,
at subsequent startups, the clone may see its "parent"
OS without problems.


Sorry, Casper XP does not run under DOS, but that
matters not a whit - it will copy everything while running
under WinXP, including the wretched Symantec anti-virus
software with all its settings and its subscription life span.
Just disconnect the PC from the internet and disable the
AV off before cloning to be sure.


wrote


Thanks for the reply. I'm trying True Image right now, but don't
know how to make a bootable CD with the utilites in linux. I saw a
part of the program for making bootable recovery cd/dvd's but I'm
sure that's different. Can you point me in the right direction?


Steve:
We're talking *direct* disk-to-disk cloning here, right?


In addition to Tim's recommendation re the Casper XP program, let me
offer the following...


If you're primarily interested in using a disk cloning program with
either a bootable floppy disk or bootable CD as the media to carry out
the cloning operation, you may be interested in Symantec's Norton Ghost
2003 program.


True Image makes a lot more sense.
Ghost 2003 is way past its useby date now.

Its simplicity of use in performing direct disk-to-disk cloning
operations,


True Image is much simpler.

together with its portability aspects


True Image is just as portable.

make it a very appealing program for many of us.


True Image leaves it for dead and has
lots of other extra capabilitys as well.

While that program has been presumably superseded by the Ghost 9 & 10
versions,


Not for cloning it hasnt, it cant clone when booted from the CD.

we find the 2003 version easier to use than those later programs


True Image is much easier to use for cloning.

and just as effective in an XP environment. The 2003 version is still
available from a number of online vendors for very reasonable cost
(either as a CD or download). If you're interested I'll provide you with
the URLs of a number of those vendors. Also, I recently prepared
step-by-step instructions for using the Ghost 2003 program (via the
bootable floppy disk/CD) so if you, or others are interested in this I'll
post them.


You dont need any with True Image, just use the clone
icon on the screen you see when you boot the CD.

As to the Acronis True Image program...
It's also a nice program for *direct* disk-to-disk cloning operations.
While you can't prepare a bootable floppy disk as you can with the Ghost
2003 program,


Yes you can. Tho a bootable CD
makes a lot more sense with both.

you can easily create a bootable CD to carry out the cloning operation.
You do this from within the program
itself; you don't need any third-party program to do so. You also have
the opportunity to create the bootable CD when you first install the
program on your PC.


I also prepared step-by-step instructions for using the ATI program
(version 8) (using the bootable CD) so if you're interested I'll post
them as well.