I just cloned two partitions from a resident HDD to an auxiliary Momentus XL HDD in an enclosure that is connected to the computer via eSATA. Is there a way to compare each cloned partition with its original for integrity? If this were just a file, I'd use a unix/cygwin utility like diff or cmp. However, it is a partition.
It's a clone, though, not an image. I can apparently boot off of it. However, I am currently researching measures to take against a hazard in booting when both the source & clone partitions are visible to the computer. Even when I'm done that, and I can boot off of the clone, that's still not as thorough a comparison as a diff-like comparison of all content.
I'm particularly wanting to confirm the clone because when I left during the cloning session and found the machine in hibernation. When I woke it up, there was an error message saying that the cloning app dashboard had ceased to function, and needed to be killed.
How do others verify clones, do they just boot off of the clone?
One thing you could try is a sync tool like Allway Sync. Just make an 'analyse' run to see whether there are any differences.
If you want to compare the files on two partitions, "Vice-versa" (tgrmn.com) has an excellent GUI that shows any diffs in an easy to read double-list. It can also backup all the files on a running system.
BTW, I don't suppose that it is a problem for most the the partitions that I'll be cloning to be not letter-drives?
Sorry, looks like the problem may be insurmountable. Most comparison apps deal with files and folders, which are constructs of file systems. Three of the four partitions I'll be cloning don't have NTFS (don't know what they have -- one is for booting among other things, two are "Hidden Installed File Systems") nor letter drives. I don't believe that I can even mount them or assign a drive letter to them. Surfing gives me the impression (only an impression) that you can't mount non-NTFS, and "you cannot assign a drive letter to an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partition or any GUID Partition Table (GPT) partition other than a basic MSDATA partition".
Sigh. Maybe it's time to give up on this.
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