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pebe
Nobel Prize Winner
United Kingdom
1078 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 31 2011 : 02:35:08 AM
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My son has a laptop with the OS in a hidden partition on its 40G drive. That's pretty full so he has purchased a USB 160G portable drive.
If he clones all the contents of the original drive, will that include the OS so can he boot from the new drive? |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2011 : 06:24:30 AM
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It really depends on what this "clone" process actually copies over to the destination 160GB drive from the source 40GB drive and whether the laptop can even boot from a USB hard disk. These so called "hidden partitions" are never really hidden to me unless the hard drive firmware locks you out which I have never encountered. I have made compressed "bit for bit" copies of entire hard drives before (that includes these "hidden partitions") which is the perfect way to back up a hard disk.
Just try the "clone" process and see if it works, but only do that if you know that the process doesn't move files from the source medium.
I have used a program called WinHex. It is a multipurpose program that I have used to backup hard drives amoung other things. It's also very useful for computer forensics.
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When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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pebe
Nobel Prize Winner
United Kingdom
1078 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2011 : 07:04:38 AM
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I use 'Ghost' to back up my HD - which is partitioned. But I seem to remember Ghost can clone a drive or an entire disk.
I was thinking of using that, but I don't know how if the 'hidden' OS will be hidden from Ghost. |
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2011 : 07:32:52 AM
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Oh geez I haven't used Ghost in about 10 years. I think Norton bought it up years ago. Actually I don't even use backup programs. I have a scheme that suites me well and has never failed me but it certainly isn't the most paranoid scheme to keep data safe.
Sorry I don't know much about the modern Ghost. Like I said, just try it if you know that it won't screw up your data and/or prevent your laptop from booting. My experiences with Norton software in the past were pretty bad, but they might have changed since then.
"I was thinking of using that (Ghost), but I don't know how if the 'hidden' OS will be hidden from Ghost."
You don't know? Well why don't you go and check!
I just looked it up. Ghost came out in 1997 originally by Symantec. Holy crap I think that was the one I was using.
Aaron's a computer techie. Maybe he can recommend somethen. |
When one person suffers from a delusion it is called insanity.
When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. |
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pebe
Nobel Prize Winner
United Kingdom
1078 Posts |
Posted - Jan 31 2011 : 3:43:23 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by wasssup1990
Sorry I don't know much about the modern Ghost. Like I said, just try it if you know that it won't screw up your data and/or prevent your laptop from booting. My experiences with Norton software in the past were pretty bad, but they might have changed since then.
I use the 2003 version. It has never put a foot wrong.
quote:
"I was thinking of using that (Ghost), but I don't know how if the 'hidden' OS will be hidden from Ghost."
You don't know? Well why don't you go and check!
My son is visiting for a week in a month's time. That's when I intend to try it. But I was hoping for a definitive 'yes' or 'no' so I could tell him for sure whether or not to bring his computer with him.
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wasssup1990
Nobel Prize Winner
A Land Down Under
2261 Posts |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Feb 04 2011 : 09:56:48 AM
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Ghost 2003 won't recognize a USB drive.
But it will clone all the service and hidden partitions without an issue. It just treats any partition it doesn't recognize as a byte by byte copy. |
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pebe
Nobel Prize Winner
United Kingdom
1078 Posts |
Posted - Feb 04 2011 : 10:17:00 AM
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Thanks, Aaron.
Is there a cloning program that will recognise the USB drive? |
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Aaron Cake
Administrator
Canada
6718 Posts |
Posted - Feb 05 2011 : 10:36:20 AM
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Basically, anything newer will. Like Acronis True Image. There are some free disc cloning programs like DiskCopy but they all rely on having the machine on the IDE/SATA channel.
With laptops it is often far easier to put the old and new drive into a desktop. Especially with SATA since the connectors are the same. |
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Hidden OS
