Duplicating

giantman · 16 Dec 2010

I have windows and all programs set up just the way that I want it. It took all day to tweak everything, install everything, update everything, adjust program settings, ect.

It's on C:\.

Now I want to setup another windows on D:\ and do the exact same thing that I did on C:\. Same programs, same windows settings, same windows tweaks, same program settings, same everything.

Is there a way to create a replicate that is identical to my C:\ on my D:\ partition?

I can't restore a back up to a different location with the windows back up. I was thinking of a copy command in Linux but that's such a pain and there would be no actual file to duplicate from.

Anyone done this before or know of a good program that could accomplish this?

ignatzatsonic · 16 Dec 2010

You mean a second partition that will actually boot Windows, just like C does---not an image, but an actual working partition?

Not sure I have ever heard of that and I'd guess you might have licensing issues even if it happened.

mborner · 16 Dec 2010

Your best bet would be a mirror array (raid 1) but you'd need two physical drives and both would be on C:\. Not sure what your after.

giantman · 17 Dec 2010

So my only option is to install windows on D:\ and then spend 10 hours installing all programs and tweaking everything all over again in order to get a duel boot of identical systems...?

mborner · 17 Dec 2010

Giantman,

Ultimately, what are you trying to accomplish? You could probably get some excellent advice here with some more details.

Hopalong X · 17 Dec 2010

Use Windows to make System Image and Save/store it on the D:\ drive.
Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

Macrium Image maker will also make an image of C:\ that you can restore the C:\ drive from.
It takes a "picture" of everything as of that date and time and you can restore to that point if the C:\ becomes damaged.
Store/Save it to the D drive.
You can not boot D:\ from it as an image.
When it is placed back on C:\ it will act just as the original you have now.

Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

I use both of the above.
Mike

DeaconFrost · 17 Dec 2010

You don't want a dual boot of identical systems....there's absolutely no point in doing so. Apply a little common sense and think it through. The point would be to keep them identical as a failsafe, right? Not possible, because you'd have to constantly boot into the second OS and update, move documents, etc. it drives me up a wall to see people coming up with these wild situations to protect their data, rather than sticking to something tried and true.

What you want is to create a system image, and preferably store it off of the computer, on an external drive or a server. You can use the built-in software to do so, and even schedule it to run once a week, everyday, etc. In the event of a problem, you just restore the latest image.

SledgeDG · 17 Dec 2010

I agree with Deacon Frost.
My preferred method used to be imaging the system to a digital SCSI tape drive (as we did it at work with all our servers)

But for the price of the tape drive alone you nowadays probably get 2 good hard drives So with the right backup strategy it's now cheaper/easier to be on the safe site.
There is no 'one fits all" strategyso it's up to you to assess the situation, say to assume the worst case and figure out how many days of data can I afford to lose before it really starts to hurt me.(you have to find the best compromise for you between inconvenience, usability and data safety)
That means, a rig that's mainly used for gaming can be fine with a new backup after each installed game(or say every 2-8 weeks) while a small business computer should be backed up once, or even twice a day. imagine banking systems which hold all their data in RAM and are backed up constantly (twice!! so each piece of data/transaction exists at least 3 times at each point in time)...either via tape robots or high efficiency RAID systems.

Additionally to Hoppy's suggestion i would say, store every other backup to an external drive (If your main drive hardware fails, an image on a second partition of that drive wouldn't do you any good

-DG