Clonezilla Open-Source Image Backup

[iseeuu]

I have been using Clonezilla regularly for a while now for my XP machines and its worked great. I have been working in the IT field for 5 years or so and over this time friends and family have found out that they can get cheap PC help/repair out of me. My question about Clonezilla is this, if I create an image of say an XP media center edition version of windows on a Gateway laptop. Is it possible to restore that image to a separate say Dell inspiron laptop. I'm just trying to find a more efficient way of reloading friends laptops rather than reformatting the HD and starting with a barebone installation, applying updates, install freeware application and so on.

Thanks,

Hello park220, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums!

The issue you are facing is placing an "Image" on computers of different make, model, and hardware. Any Operating System needs the hardware drivers specific for the hardware in use, so placing an "Image" made on one computer might just be a borked installation on another machine. A business with 100 identical computers, for example, can create one image and transfer that image to all 100.

You might be able to create a driverless, generic OS Image using "Sysprep -clean"? I haven't experimented with this much, but it is intended to prepare "an installation of Windows for duplication, auditing, and customer delivery."

Sysprep Technical Reference

This link applies to Windows 7, but you can find similar links for XP as well.

Other than storing "Images" of all your friend's and family's computers (perhaps on a 1 or 2 TB hard drive?), at times I have collected all the necessary files to restore a computer to a current condition on a CD so I don't have to go looking for them every time.

Like you (and many others here!) I have done a lot of work for apple pies and chocolate chip cookies. Maybe we need a better paying job?

Cheers!
Robert

 

[park220]

Robert,

Thanks for the quick reply. At this point I'm just trying to successfully copy an image from one PC to another. I'm sure I'll have a whole new batch of problems getting the image to boot and function properly after the re image. Right now I'm just playing around with my personal PC and my gf PC. I have made an backup image of both PCs so if anything goes haywire I have a restore point for both. Each PC is setup with a C and D partition. I'm trying to restore the C partition from one PC to the other but the re image fails when using Clonezilla. I get the error listed below.

"Target partition size(52428 MB) is smaller than source (62916 MB). Use option -C to disable size checking(Dangerous).

I understand the source partition is larger than the target partition but the source partition only contains about 7GB of data. I'm not sure how to use option -C within Clonezilla. I went through the advance setup and saw the option -c listed but i tried checking and unchecking it and the above error still occurred. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

L

 

[iseeuu]

Robert,

Thanks for the quick reply. At this point I'm just trying to successfully copy an image from one PC to another. I'm sure I'll have a whole new batch of problems getting the image to boot and function properly after the re image. Right now I'm just playing around with my personal PC and my gf PC. I have made an backup image of both PCs so if anything goes haywire I have a restore point for both. Each PC is setup with a C and D partition. I'm trying to restore the C partition from one PC to the other but the re image fails when using Clonezilla. I get the error listed below.

"Target partition size(52428 MB) is smaller than source (62916 MB). Use option -C to disable size checking(Dangerous).

I understand the source partition is larger than the target partition but the source partition only contains about 7GB of data. I'm not sure how to use option -C within Clonezilla. I went through the advance setup and saw the option -c listed but i tried checking and unchecking it and the above error still occurred. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

L

To make it easier for an "Image" to fit on 'unknown' computers, I would suggest you temporarily shrink the partition to a much smaller size before saving the "Image". The partition mentioned, 7 GB, could be shrunk to say 15 or 20 GB and then it would fit in more situations. You can return the original partition to its original size after creating the "Image". And you can extend the smaller "Image" into what ever size is available after it has been restored. Then you have less to worry about the "target partition size being smaller than source."

Cheers!
Robert

 

[soso]

I really need help.
I followed all the steps described in first post and when i restore my image after "starting windows" screen my computer reboot. I've tried several times to do the image file but i'm hitting this wall again and again

 

[iseeuu]

I really need help.
I followed all the steps described in first post and when i restore my image after "starting windows" screen my computer reboot. I've tried several times to do the image file but i'm hitting this wall again and again

Hello soso, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums!

So sorry you are having issues. Could you provide some more detail? What did you backup? How many partitions and what size? Where did you restore them to, and did you make the partitions before hand or allow Clonezilla to restore to an empty hard drive?

Any additional info and what you did would be of great help.

Cheers!
Robert

 

[soso]

I have 2 computers with the same hardware and i made my backup on first computer where i installed win 7 ultimate and several software on 30 GB partition and 100MB windows hidden partition, on the second computer i installed windows and formatted just the same (30GB and 100MB) and i want to put my backup from first one. i choose in clonezilla both partitions (30GB and 100 MB) on backup and restore. The second computer keep restarting at "starting windows" screen.

 

[iseeuu]

I have 2 computers with the same hardware and i made my backup on first computer where i installed win 7 ultimate and several software on 30 GB partition and 100MB windows hidden partition, on the second computer i installed windows and formatted just the same (30GB and 100MB) and i want to put my backup from first one. i choose in clonezilla both partitions (30GB and 100 MB) on backup and restore. The second computer keep restarting at "starting windows" screen.

Thank you soso, this information is very helpful.

It does seem strange that Clonezilla would restore a hard drive image successfully and yet not be able to "start windows." Did you get any error messages during the Clonezilla restore?

If I understand you correctly, you installed Windows 7 Ultimate on computer #2, identical to computer #1, then tried to restore the image you made from computer #1 to #2?

I would suggest to you to eliminate some possibilities. Please verify that Ultimate installs an works OK on computer #2? Can you remove the hard drive from computer #1 and put it in computer #2 and start Windows successfully?

I would also suggest you could use the Windows 7 Image Utility to create an Image of computer #1 and restore it to computer #2 and see if Windows will start correctly?

Please let us know how it goes.

Cheers!
Robert

 

[Darryl Licht]

I have 2 computers with the same hardware and i made my backup on first computer where i installed win 7 ultimate and several software on 30 GB partition and 100MB windows hidden partition, on the second computer i installed windows and formatted just the same (30GB and 100MB) and i want to put my backup from first one. i choose in clonezilla both partitions (30GB and 100 MB) on backup and restore. The second computer keep restarting at "starting windows" screen.

I agree with iseeuu... it should have worked fine! I've used Clonezilla for several years now, its a great way to move all data and os over to a new larger hdd.

soso... are you positive the 2 PC's are identical? If you are sure then one way to determine if it was an image issue caused by Clonezilla would be to swap the hdds. If the good hdd works in the other PC then you had some error or issue during the hdd clone. If not...???

Please let us know...

 

[kajko]

I registered just to say thank you for this great, well written guide and supporting info. Although I've been researching how to use Clonezilla for a few days, I have not seen a Windows specific guide as comprehensible as this one, so thanks again. Now that I'm here....

I like the idea of temporarily resizing the Windows partition for a smaller image, however, I have not been able to figure out how to reverse this process and return the Windows partition (C: drive) to its original size. There is much Microsoft support documentation about shrinking the partition etc., but can you give tips/resources on reversing this operation? (I actually found a guide using third party freeware, GParted, but this failed and caused me other problems)
Thanks

 

[kajko]

I like the idea of temporarily resizing the Windows partition for a smaller image, however, I have not been able to figure out how to reverse this process and return the Windows partition (C: drive) to its original size. There is much Microsoft support documentation about shrinking the partition etc., but can you give tips/resources on reversing this operation? (I actually found a guide using third party freeware, GParted, but this failed and caused me other problems)
Thanks

Never mind, I was over thinking it didn't realize I can simply expand the Windows partition again using the Disk Management Utility... sometimes you can't see what's right in front of your face...

 

[kgrrtt2004]

I will be trying to image a group of computers soon and I am just nervous as to how smooth it will go. I am very comfortable using CloneZilla with Windows XP. My concern is that will using CloneZilla be the same for windows 7 Professional as it was with Windows XP? One of my other concern is the process of product keys?

 

[kgrrtt2004]

Is this forum closed?

 

[iseeuu]

I will be trying to image a group of computers soon and I am just nervous as to how smooth it will go. I am very comfortable using CloneZilla with Windows XP. My concern is that will using CloneZilla be the same for windows 7 Professional as it was with Windows XP? One of my other concern is the process of product keys?

Is this forum closed?

Hello kgrrtt2004, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

No this thread has not been closed, although it is quite old. Its original purpose was to show an alternative way to save a backup image of a single computer. Evidently what you have in mind is something totally different.

If you do not have a Volume License your "group of computers" will need individual Windows 7 Product Keys. Also, cloning computers to be part of a network requires each computer to have its own Windows identity. This thread does not address this situation at all, so you will need to research Clonezilla's tools for the correct way to do this.

Cheers!
Robert

 

[idrocas]

Question about an option

Hello

Well I just want to ask to you which is the difference between use 'SaveDisk' or 'SaveParts' at the clone process, which is the best option to use?.

I like to know what happen when you need to repleace the HD, just as a prevention in this specific case, which option should I use?.

So If I have a disaster with the HD and I use a bigger HD, what's going to happen with the difference of the HD capacity, can I assign this space later? I mean like a repartition of the HD? It that possible?

I really appreciate all your information and support.

Thank you very much!

Have a nice day!

ROC@S
MEXICO

 

[iseeuu]

Hello

Well I just want to ask to you which is the difference between use 'SaveDisk' or 'SaveParts' at the clone process, which is the best option to use?.

I like to know what happen when you need to repleace the HD, just as a prevention in this specific case, which option should I use?.

So If I have a disaster with the HD and I use a bigger HD, what's going to happen with the difference of the HD capacity, can I assign this space later? I mean like a repartition of the HD? It that possible?

I really appreciate all your information and support.

Thank you very much!

Have a nice day!

ROC@S
MEXICO

Hello idrocas, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

"SaveDisk" creates one image of the entire disk. "SaveParts" creates an image of an individual partition (sometimes called a volume also). So which should you use? That is up to you. You can choose to image the entire hard drive or just parts of it. Which is better for you?

Any leftover space after you have put an image on a larger hard drive can be used as you wish. You can create a new partition or you can "extend" the adjacent partition into the unused space even after you have successfully restored Windows and all is working again.

Cheers!
Robert

 

[l0vedim0]

I know this is an old thread, but I just want to say I love this forum! Okay with that out of the way I want to share my experience with Clonezilla and the recent problem I ran into which was a newbie mistake. Hopefully this will help out others who are new to Clonezilla.

I have recently started using Clonezilla on XP machines and this weekend was the first time I used it to clone a Win7 machine. I cloned the two partitions as an image and that went without a hitch. When I tried to restore it I ran into the error that others have in this thread with Clonezilla unable to locate the images. The problem was I was selecting the option "Restoredisk" when I should have selected the option "Restoreparts". Once I selected that option both images were found and I was able to restore them and the computer rebooted just fine.

 

[iseeuu]

I know this is an old thread, but I just want to say I love this forum! Okay with that out of the way I want to share my experience with Clonezilla and the recent problem I ran into which was a newbie mistake. Hopefully this will help out others who are new to Clonezilla.

I have recently started using Clonezilla on XP machines and this weekend was the first time I used it to clone a Win7 machine. I cloned the two partitions as an image and that went without a hitch. When I tried to restore it I ran into the error that others have in this thread with Clonezilla unable to locate the images. The problem was I was selecting the option "Restoredisk" when I should have selected the option "Restoreparts". Once I selected that option both images were found and I was able to restore them and the computer rebooted just fine.

Hello l0vedim0, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums!

Thank you for your post. It is nice to hear you have been helped by Seven Forums. Hopefully others will now be helped by your contribution!

Cheers!
Robert

 

[Ghost74]

Hi, I have just been reading this thread and there is some great information here, so thanks guys.

I just have a couple of questions and any help would be much appreciated.

Some of my family and friends are coming to me in ever increasing numbers to help them with their computer/laptop problems. Often these problems result in a re-install of windows

To make my life a little bit easier, I have bought a 500gb "FreeAgent Go" external usb Hdd. I was looking at CloneZilla live and hoping that I could clone their system drive after a fresh install and store all of their cloned images seperatly on my new usb Hdd. Would this work or would saving a new image on the usb Hdd corrupt the previous image saved there?

Also, can I use a newer version of Clonezilla live to restore an image that was created with an older version of Clonezilla live? Or does the image have to be restored with the exact version that it was created with?

Sorry if my questions are really newbie, but I am a total Clonezilla newbie
Though this program looks like it could make my life a whole lot easier so im eager to learn.

 

[iseeuu]

Hi, I have just been reading this thread and there is some great information here, so thanks guys.

I just have a couple of questions and any help would be much appreciated.

Some of my family and friends are coming to me in ever increasing numbers to help them with their computer/laptop problems. Often these problems result in a re-install of windows

To make my life a little bit easier, I have bought a 500gb "FreeAgent Go" external usb Hdd. I was looking at CloneZilla live and hoping that I could clone their system drive after a fresh install and store all of their cloned images seperatly on my new usb Hdd. Would this work or would saving a new image on the usb Hdd corrupt the previous image saved there?

Also, can I use a newer version of Clonezilla live to restore an image that was created with an older version of Clonezilla live? Or does the image have to be restored with the exact version that it was created with?

Sorry if my questions are really newbie, but I am a total Clonezilla newbie
Though this program looks like it could make my life a whole lot easier so im eager to learn.

Hello Ghost74, and welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

To both of your questions I have not done either, so I can not give you an answer from experience. Perhaps you would find the Clonezilla forum would offer more detailed and/or experienced help?

Clonezilla allows one to name the backup image file at creation, so it is possible to save a new image without over writing a previously saved image. The trick is knowing which image to restore. If I ever get to try an external hard drive as an image storage device, I believe I would save each image to the root of the drive (not in any file folder) and then create a file with adequate description and move the file there. Then when I needed to restore an image, I would select the image from the correct folder, move it (or just copy it) to the root of the drive which should make it easier to find and restore from within Clonezilla, especially if it were the only image file in the root.

I would recommend you practice creating and restoring images until you are comfortable with how the software works!

Cheers!
Robert

 

[Ghost74]

Hi Iseeuu

Thank you for your reply, I am going to play around with this software before I begin to use it to back up other peoples dirves.

Im hoping that it will be able to do tha tasks that I mentioned earlier and I cant really see why it wouldnt.

I have an old laptop available so there is nothing to lose by experimenting