Cloning a Bootcamp drive to a new drive

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Cloning a Bootcamp drive to a new drive

I've got an issue that I've looked around the web to try and resolve, without any luck. I hope someone here has an idea.

I bought a larger drive, and I want to clone my Bootcamp drive (WinVista 64-bit), not partition, to the larger drive. I tried Winclone, which is EOL'd -- I only received errors and then tried chkdsk to repair errors; still received errors.

NetRestore is EOL'd and hasn't been updated since 2008. I bought Acronis TrueImage Home 2010 -- buried on their website, I found a technote that says that TI doesn't support the GUID disk format, though the new version does support the EFI bios. After a chat session with a tech, they told me that none of their products work on Macs with a Windows install (disk and bios issues) and that though they are developing a Mac product they have no timetable for release.

SOOOOOOO...

Where does that leaves us for cloning a Windows drive in the MacOS? Ghost doesn't work for the same issues that Acronis doesn't, as well as a slew of other copy and backup utilities -- I even read that Windows own backup scheme doesn't work well for Mac installs. It's apparently the combination of the GUID as well as the EFI bios that's doing.

So, as of the end of November 2009 and going forward, has anybody been able to make a clone of their Windows Bootcamp drive, with Vista64 installed? I'm looking for help with doing this recently, with all the current updates and service packs. It's just so frustrating to not be able to do this, when it's so easy to do on the Mac.

Of course, I guess that's why we use Macs in the first place... 😉

Thanks in advance, everyone. 🙂

MacPro (Early 2008) 3ghz (8-core), 16gb RAM, Mac OS X (10.6.2), iphone 3G 16GB

Posted on Nov 30, 2009 9:13 AM

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Answer 1

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The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Nov 30, 2009 11:49 AM in response to Matt Jones

I just read where some people thought WinClone was dead, it is not, there was an update for Snow Leopard, and a few people have had trouble with Windows 7.

http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/bootcamp/index.html#d30nov2009

Winclone still works. And it is right here even updated for SL now what's this discontinued stuff?

+[Winclone developers continue:]+

2. Winclone on Snow Leopard (10.6) has an issue cloning Windows 7 (NTFS) partitions. Disabling compression in Preferences may resolve this.
http://twocanoes.com/winclone/

Acronis won't work if you have Mac OS X present and GPT formated disks.
Paragon has a product but not sure how good their Boot Camp and backup imaging works on Mac.

I am running Windows 7 Pro on a Mac Pro and find Acronis TrueImage to work just fine.

Are you really sure Ghost 15 doesn't?

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Answer 2

Matt Jones Author

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153 points

Nov 30, 2009 12:50 PM in response to The hatter

weird. i wonder if i just had some issues with my install. i swear i ran the most recent version of winclone and it failed. i reckon i'll give it another shot; they must have just "un-killed" it.

that's a great link, hatter. i'll try both of those. i had heard in another forum that ghost didn't work, though i don't think it referred to that version -- i guess i didn't realize ghost was up to 15 now.

thanks!!! i'll report back if i have success.

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Answer 3

Nov 30, 2009 3:00 PM in response to Matt Jones

Just another vote for Winclone. I am using ver 2.2

In the last two weeks I have restored Vista 32 bit (twice) and Windows 7 (64 bit) once to different partitions, from images made in 10.6.2, without any problems at all. Twice on Mac Pro, once on MacBook Pro.

EDIT I used the compression on for all three operations.

Message was edited by: Mike Boreham

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Answer 4

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Dec 1, 2009 4:42 AM in response to Matt Jones

Here's another idea, HP NAS using Windows Home Server $199
http://www.amazon.com/HP-LX195-MediaSmart-Home-Server/dp/B0021L9HKK/

WHS would normally cost $99 or so, comes with just 1TB drive, and can be used by Mac OS Finder and TimeMachine as well. WHS Power Pack 3 added Windows 7 support, and seems to do better backup/restore than Acronis or Ghost (Ghost 15 just came out to support Windows 7, for me, it hung at 10% and 10GB out of 94GB backup and Symantec forum hasn't been much help). But there is Trialware before you plunk down $69.

If only WinClone didn't take so long, and lacks 'smart update.'

Weird how rumors can get out of hand over a products demise, though it can be a lot of work, and has been on the "donation-ware" life support.

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Answer 5

Matt Jones Author

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153 points

Dec 2, 2009 2:29 PM in response to The hatter

i've got a string of external drives, but that HP NAS looks pretty good. i'd love to hear if anybody has experience with it.

the issue is that my windows install is on a hitachi drive, and i had one of these very same ones fail miserably. but, i think for right now, i'll probably just leave it and try one of the options you guys gave me.

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Answer 6

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Dec 2, 2009 3:02 PM in response to Matt Jones

Hitachi has excellent drives, I use to buy theirs almost exclusively but they do cost if you go Enterprise. And its been nearly a decade since the 75GXP that was affected by a small DSP chip, and wasn't the normal Lucent variety normally used.

There is a $199 holiday special on single 640GB HP, smaller 1.6GHz Atom cpu.

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Answer 7

Matt Jones Author

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153 points

Dec 2, 2009 3:04 PM in response to The hatter

i agree. actually have two of them now, but i'm diversifying into other brands. i found the 750gb deskstars to be quite loud, in comparison to the WD caviar blacks that i've added.

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Answer 8

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Dec 2, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Matt Jones

Here is the HP $199 NAS
HP LX195 MediaSmart Home Server (ASIN B0021L9HKK)

WD gets my vote (and my VelociRaptor!) coldest drive ever (& quiet, too)

I want to try the Samsung F3 eventually, a brand I have never tried.

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Answer 9

Matt Jones Author

Level 1

153 points

Dec 2, 2009 3:20 PM in response to The hatter

i've heard good things about the samsung drives (quiet, fast) and some awful horror stories (unresponsive, almost non-existant tech support; laborious RMA process). it made me a little cautious, until i discovered that my lacie d2 500gb drive (1st generation) is in fact a samsung drive. it's a little noisy, but hooked up via eSATA is peppy; of course, i had it hooked up via FW800 and it was dang peppy then as well.

always wanted a velociraptor. maybe when the sizes get a little bigger.

i'll check that HP out. amazon had some good reading on it.

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Answer 10

Dec 2, 2009 10:32 PM in response to The hatter

Oh No! Seems Winclone is not being developed any more .

Here is Tim Perfitt's statement on the Winclone forum:

"Due to some personal time constraints and issues with Windows 7 compatibility, I have decided to halt development on Winclone. I appreciated all the feedback users have given me over the years and the generous donations that helped keep the website up and running."

I don't agree with his statements about usefulness and alternatives. This looks like a great commercial opportunity for a developer. It is is the kind of app I would be willing to pay up to $50 for.

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Answer 11

Matt Jones Author

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153 points

Dec 3, 2009 4:57 AM in response to Mike Boreham

scroll down a little further in the thread. he apparently un-discontinued it.

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Answer 12

Dec 3, 2009 6:32 AM in response to Matt Jones

Matt Jones wrote:
scroll down a little further in the thread. he apparently un-discontinued it.

My understanding of the thread is that he initially discontinued it and took down the website. Then he relented and put the website back up so that people could still download. But he is not going to develop it any more.

Be happy to be wrong.

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Answer 13

The hatter

Level 9

60,990 points

Dec 3, 2009 7:11 AM in response to Mike Boreham

Okay, looks like EOL'd then. Wasn't sure but I do know that every Windows program I use and looked at has had to be updated, and a lot of work, and most of them of course watched Windows 7 go from beta to RC to RTM.

Ghost 15, Acronis 2010, Paragon Partition Manager Pro and 2009, Diskeeper 2009, all have been updated. Acronis is $24.95 on Amazon and most have trialware.

Windows 7's built-in backup/restore just needs another drive and may suffice also. Windows Easy Transfer is a nice "Migration Assistant" and then there is folder synchronization with free MS SyncToy2.

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Answer 14

Dec 3, 2009 10:11 AM in response to The hatter

I have been trying quite hard with Acronis.

Until recently Acronis clearly stated that they did not support Bootcamp. Then they just released the "Plus Pack" for True Image 2010 which supports GPT (GUID Partition Tables). Doesn't actually say anywhere in the literature whether it now supports Bootcamp, or not. Nor can I find any clear statements anywhere about TI and Bootcamp.

The problem is what to boot from so that True Image can restore to the new partition. I have successfully created an Acronis bootable disk and the Mac Pro will boot from it, but True Image will not launch. Get error messages about missing files and devices etc.

I am not convinced that Acronis is an alternative to Winclone yet. I don't know about the others you mention, and would welcome more info.

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Answer 15

Dec 3, 2009 10:26 AM in response to Mike Boreham

Tim Perfitt has just posted in his forum that he is going to continue development after all.

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