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Is there a way to save the complete windows partition before upgrading the hard disk?

Hello all,

I am planning on installing a new hard drive in my MacBookPro, 2.4 ghz, model 3,1, Intel c2d, but before I do, I am concerned about how to save the contents of my Windows partition as I can not afford to lose the data I have on that part of the computer. I regularily back up my Mac's contents to a Western Digital MyBook 2.0 500GB drive, but as far as I can tell, this only backs up the Mac content on my computer and doesn't touch the windows partition. I also do not have the discs that came with my MacBookPro any longer thanks to a storage unit thief, so I am unsure of how to restore my Mac data onto the new drive from time machine without the discs. Any help with either of these issues is greatly appreciated!


Thanks!

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), 15", 2.4 ghz, on 3rd logic board

Posted on Jan 18, 2013 12:09 AM

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3 replies

Jan 18, 2013 12:25 AM in response to Shootist007

Thanks, I looked into WinClone, but I was hoping there was a way to do this without having to pay for something I will only use once. I may purchase it if I can't find another way around it, and then purchase Parallels as well since having to restart the computer every time I need to get to my Windows files is getting really cumbersome! Thanks for the advice!

Jan 18, 2013 12:36 AM in response to randall j

Who says you'll only use it once? Hard drives do fail and they fail at any time. Even SSDs fail.


You can buy Parallels or VMware Fusion and make a Virtual Machine of your current boot camp Windows install then not worry about that Windows partition.


The reason I don't have a Windows partition is many years ago I dual booted Windows versions and Linux and hated it. Always needing to go back to one of the other OSs then back to the other. With VM software that is a thing of the past.


If you use Windows for 40-70% of your computing I suggest you invest in a Windows PC and Use the Mac for what it was made for, OS X programs.

If your Windows computing is limited to office and the like programs then a VM may work just fine for you. It doesn't for me as I run heavy CAD programs and Photoshop on my PCs. But the VM on my Mac works for what I may need Windows for on a Mac.

Is there a way to save the complete windows partition before upgrading the hard disk?

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