Imaging with free Macrium

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  1. Posts : 21,004
    Desk1 7 Home Prem / Desk2 10 Pro / Main lap Asus ROG 10 Pro 2 laptop Toshiba 7 Pro Asus P2520 7 & 10
       #390

    mjf said:
    I think the term cloning is defined in different ways by some. I think most would agree that it is a bit by bit / sector by sector straight copy.
    It may be that cloning can be seen as a simpler way to make a duplicate HDD. For me, I see no purpose in it over imaging. Imaging is more flexible and efficient. Every system image you have can be transferred to an existing or new HDD.
    Yeah MJ I just clone so that should the internal (original drive) eat the biscuit I can just whip it out and flip in the cloned drive and apart from very recent updates and stuff you have a drive to boot from and just carry on here you left off - its purely a personal preference of mine to do that rather use imaging as my way I have an exact replica of the dead drive.

    Alternatively I sometimes have two drives in the machine - both the same size because I do like that EaseUS app - it's just too easy - and just do a regular clone from drive 1 to drive 2 and using drive 2 should drive 1 go belly up by unplugging D1 it goes straight to D2 for the boot and shows up as C:.

    In my simple mind it saves a fair bit of work having to use some imaging app to get back what is gone to another drive.

    The gadget I mentioned earlier is also useful when you have a drive that is UAC protected and hooking the drive up to the machine via the gadget - the machine "sees" the drive sitting outside as just another drive (like a huge stick for example) and you can access the data on that drive without any UAC login password. I have used this method for copying data for friends who cannot remember the password onto another drive or disk and then they can just carry on as before.
    Another alternative I have used is to boot Ubuntu and it can do exactly the same thing accessing the drive outside of the case via the gadget .
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  2. Posts : 514
    Windows 7 Ultimate
       #391

    Thanks for the informations
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  3. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #392

    This USB 2.0 to SATA IDE Adapter | StarTech.com is the "gadget" ICit2lol is referring to, or one similar.
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  4. Posts : 21,004
    Desk1 7 Home Prem / Desk2 10 Pro / Main lap Asus ROG 10 Pro 2 laptop Toshiba 7 Pro Asus P2520 7 & 10
       #393

    Britton30 said:
    This USB 2.0 to SATA IDE Adapter | StarTech.com is the "gadget" ICit2lol is referring to, or one similar.
    Yup the one and only - love it and there is another now that uses 3.0 USB

    https://www.pccasegear.com/index.php...ducts_id=16599

    & US site Vantec ? NexStar SuperSpeed SATA to USB 3.0 Adapter - CB-SATAU3

    Oh only the 3.0 only goes SATA - forgot that the other does IDE and SATA.
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  5. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #394

    ICit2lol said:
    mjf said:
    I think the term cloning is defined in different ways by some. I think most would agree that it is a bit by bit / sector by sector straight copy.
    It may be that cloning can be seen as a simpler way to make a duplicate HDD. For me, I see no purpose in it over imaging. Imaging is more flexible and efficient. Every system image you have can be transferred to an existing or new HDD.
    Yeah MJ I just clone so that should the internal (original drive) eat the biscuit I can just whip it out and flip in the cloned drive and apart from very recent updates and stuff you have a drive to boot from and just carry on here you left off - its purely a personal preference of mine to do that rather use imaging as my way I have an exact replica of the dead drive.
    I have 2 cold standby drives for 2 PCs. They were "made" very simply by imaging. I have never seen the point to clone a drive. Apart from forensic applications, I just can't see a point in cloning.
    But, whatever works for you has to be ok.
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  6. Posts : 21,004
    Desk1 7 Home Prem / Desk2 10 Pro / Main lap Asus ROG 10 Pro 2 laptop Toshiba 7 Pro Asus P2520 7 & 10
       #395

    mjf said:
    ICit2lol said:
    mjf said:
    I think the term cloning is defined in different ways by some. I think most would agree that it is a bit by bit / sector by sector straight copy.
    It may be that cloning can be seen as a simpler way to make a duplicate HDD. For me, I see no purpose in it over imaging. Imaging is more flexible and efficient. Every system image you have can be transferred to an existing or new HDD.
    Yeah MJ I just clone so that should the internal (original drive) eat the biscuit I can just whip it out and flip in the cloned drive and apart from very recent updates and stuff you have a drive to boot from and just carry on here you left off - its purely a personal preference of mine to do that rather use imaging as my way I have an exact replica of the dead drive.
    I have 2 cold standby drives for 2 PCs. They were "made" very simply by imaging. I have never seen the point to clone a drive. Apart from forensic applications, I just can't see a point in cloning.
    But, whatever works for you has to be ok.
    Hum MJF I am now a bit confused as to what is the difference in an image and a clone now, so in essence an image is the same as a clone?

    Option 1
    Say for example I have an image of the HDD in the machine and it (the current drive) suddenly lets go - do I just stick another drive into the machine and copy the image to the new drive and just carry on using the machine, use the image drive itself in the machine , or reinstall the OS and then get back the image from the saved one to the new drive for saved data purposes and then start using the machine?.

    Option 2
    I am terribly simple when it comes to this stuff and it would be like me having a favourite photo printed twice have one on the wall in a frame and one in a drawer. Now the photo on the wall for whatever reason gets damaged lost etc I would just take the damaged photo out of the frame get the duplicate photo from the drawer put it back in the frame and put the framed photo back on the wall where the original photo in the frame hung.

    Now Option 2 seems to me is far less complicated than Option 1.

    I have probably got something very wrong here or over simplified but I find doing an image or a clone takes about the same time and I have on quite few occasions used a clone from one machine in another machine just to test out if it works in another machine as per the machine I have just cloned the drive from.
    Plus when the original machine completely croaks on me I just clean up (literally) another machine (preferably similar to the croaked one) and install the cloned drive into it and carry on as if nothing had happened. Now of course there will not be the very latest updates or other data on that cloned drive but at least I don't have to start from scratch again.
    Does that make sense?
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  7. mjf
    Posts : 5,969
    Windows 7x64 Home Premium SP1
       #396

    John,
    I'm not the font of all knowledge unfortunately but I think I'm pretty right on this score. If cloning works for you then stick with.

    Early on I was quite confused about the utility of cloning versus imaging a new HDD. I've used Windows inbuilt and Macrium to reimaging to a new HDD. The first time I did it, it went like this:
    1) I wanted a backup 1TB for my old Acer in case the installed drive died and I wanted to be up an running very quickly.
    2) Made a system image to an external HDD.
    3) Took the installed HDD out.
    4) Took the new Seagate 1TB out of it's plastic bag and fitted it in place.
    5) Run the System Repair, restore an image to the new HDD.
    6) Windows formated the new HDD with the partition structure of the old. Booted up straight way.

    I could have carried that out with any system image I had stashed away. How easy is that.
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  8. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #397

    I think one advantage to imaging is one can store several on an external drive whereas a clone will occupy an entire drive. I think, think, Macrium will allow an incremental back up too. That is it will update an existing image with changes since it was first made. It may be possible to image a single partition as well, but I'm not full of knowledge on this either.

    Yeah, I'm full of something though.
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  9. Posts : 21,004
    Desk1 7 Home Prem / Desk2 10 Pro / Main lap Asus ROG 10 Pro 2 laptop Toshiba 7 Pro Asus P2520 7 & 10
       #398

    mjf said:
    John,
    I'm not the font of all knowledge unfortunately but I think I'm pretty right on this score. If cloning works for you then stick with.

    Early on I was quite confused about the utility of cloning versus imaging a new HDD. I've used Windows inbuilt and Macrium to reimaging to a new HDD. The first time I did it, it went like this:
    1) I wanted a backup 1TB for my old Acer in case the installed drive died and I wanted to be up an running very quickly.
    2) Made a system image to an external HDD.
    3) Took the installed HDD out.
    4) Took the new Seagate 1TB out of it's plastic bag and fitted it in place.
    5) Run the System Repair, restore an image to the new HDD.
    6) Windows formated the new HDD with the partition structure of the old. Booted up straight way.

    I could have carried that out with any system image I had stashed away. How easy is that.
    As you say MJF each to his own I suppose I just find my way does away with imaging and any imaging device having to be hooked up after a repair install.

    I just install the cloned drive no repair job to do but I have to concede that it is is not up to date with data as say your imaging would provide and I only do this as a hobby / getting ready for retirement interest really and have to admit that I am not very good at computing full stop / period.

    However I sincerely do appreciate your taking time to explain things to me to give me yet another perspective on how one works with our machines because it is obvious that you have been doing computing for some considerable time and I find your knowledge comes through in your posts and in a very nice way I might add.

    Because I have had some very unpleasant experiences on one of the local forums where I have been made to feel and look like a fool - which after 40+ years of being a Registered Nurse I don't consider myself to be. That is what is so nice about this forum I find, and where I have made some very good friends. It is that we can share different ideas and maybe improve on or even change the way we conceive or do things, that I come here so often.
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  10. Posts : 12,012
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
       #399

    ICit2lol said:

    Option 1

    Say for example I have an image of the HDD in the machine and it (the current drive) suddenly lets go - do I just stick another drive into the machine and copy the image to the new drive and just carry on using the machine, use the image drive itself in the machine , or reinstall the OS and then get back the image from the saved one to the new drive for saved data purposes and then start using the machine?.
    John:

    I am confused by your wording in option 1 and not sure what you mean by those choices.

    Can you rewrite it?

    Wouldn't either cloning or imaging work as follows:

    If you choose cloning: you make the clone in advance of a failure and put the cloned drive in the closet until the working drive fails--at which time you swap it in, boot up, and keep going. Ideally, you would test the clone before putting it in the closet.

    If you choose imaging: you make an image file of the working drive A and store it on drive B. When drive A fails, you replace it with Drive C and restore the image file from drive B to drive C, boot up, and keep going.

    Neither method would be up to date and both may fail to boot due to hardware changes or for unknown reasons.

    I've never done a clone, but that is how I would assume it works.

    I'm wondering about the failure rate of clones versus imaging---the chances of disappointment for whatever reason.
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