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Cloning Different PC Operating Systems

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by jammer, 2012/01/20.

  1. 2012/01/20
    jammer

    jammer Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Not sure I'm in the right forum.... I have two Gateways... one running Win XP, & the other, Win VISTA. I also have a Toshiba Laptop running Win 7.Is there any way I can clone each PC on one external HDD... Toshiba Canvio 3.0? If it's possible, would appreciate details as I've never tried this before. Tx
     
    jammer,
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  2. 2012/01/20
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    rsinfo,
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  4. 2012/01/20
    jammer

    jammer Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Tx for the quick reply.... is there anything special I must do?... like set up partitions on the external HD? How would REFLECT know not to simply overwrite the 1st clone with the 2nd, or the 2nd with the 3rd? Tx
     
    jammer,
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  5. 2012/01/20
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Let's checkout the terminology here :) ....

    Cloning an OS drive from one drive to another creates a working drive

    Imaging a drive creates a mirror image of the drive which can be restored to the same drive or possibly another to create a working drive. The image itself is non-operational and can be stored on a drive / in a folder of your choice.

    From your first post I guess you want to image each of the 3 laptop drives to an external drive as a backup of the OS - not clone. Am I right ? :)
     
    PeteC,
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  6. 2012/01/20
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    jammer, as Petec has written above, you want to image the partitions & NOT clone them. Imaging creates a file which you can use to restore the complete partition.

    You can save all the partitions from different computers in different folder/files. You have to select where to save them. The images are just files & you should treat them as such. You can copy ,rename ,delete them or do whatever you like with them.
     
    rsinfo,
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  7. 2012/01/21
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    I think we need to understand why, or what is the purpose for you doing this? If it is to ensure you have a backup of all your data, then fine. But if you want to be able to boot to the different "clones" on different machines, then that is surely illegal and all sorts of red flags should be going up here.
     
    Bill,
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  8. 2012/01/21
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Bill

    My reading of this is that OP simply wants to make an image of each OS to protect against unforseen disasters, which is completely legal. His terminology is a little wide of the mark I think, hence my post above.
     
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  9. 2012/01/21
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    I agree, and as I noted, that is legal.

    Hence my expressing of concerns.

    FTR - I sense no malicious or criminal intent whatsoever. But negligence is no excuse in the eyes of the law. So I just want jammer to be aware of the law so he does not inadvertently step on the wrong side of the law.
     
    Bill,
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  10. 2012/01/21
    jammer

    jammer Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Pete C et al are correct.... I thought mirror image & clone were the same horse of a different color.... I now understand their different animals... can you provide steps to mirror three different PC/OS' (I will download Reflect free)? Tx
     
    jammer,
    #9
  11. 2012/01/21
    Bill

    Bill SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    According to this, your Toshiba external drive came with,
    Does that not work?
     
    Bill,
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  12. 2012/01/21
    jammer

    jammer Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Bill... tx for the response, but, I think Pete C & rsinfo have already answered my basic concerns... would appreciate expertise on any steps/pitfalls I must be aware of, using Reflect to mirror THREE PC/OS'.. as I said before, I've never done this before & would hate to blunder into an error I could have avoided... tx again to all...
     
    jammer,
    #11
  13. 2012/01/21
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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  14. 2012/01/21
    rsinfo

    rsinfo SuperGeek Alumni

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    Before imaging your drives perform the following :

    1. Delete all temp files [I suggest CCleaner]
    2. Run a thorough virus & malware scan. You don't want your backup to have a virus.
    3. Run chkdsk /f on all disks/partitions you want to image

    You must also create the Recovery Boot disk when the imaging program tells you to do so.

    Beyond that nothing else extra is required.
     
    rsinfo,
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  15. 2012/01/22
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    It's also a good idea to defrag XP operating systems prior to imaging.
     
    TonyT,
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  16. 2012/01/22
    jammer

    jammer Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Tx to all for your responses.... will try the suggestions...
     
    jammer,
    #15

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