topic Re: Screenshots from both computers ! in Other Norton Products

Help cloning hard disk to other computer with Ghost 15.

nikoscbr — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:36:34 GMT

Hi,i would like some help,i would like to clone my hard disk drive (2 wd velociraptors 600gb each,in raid 1 mode) to my second computer,with Norton Ghost 15.The 2 computers are almost identical,their only difference is that the main computer that i want to clone to the second system,has 2 wd velociraptors (600gb each) in RAID 1 mode and the second computer (the "target" that i want the "source" disk to be cloned) has again 2 velociraptors (but the previous ones,with the 300gb capacity each) again in RAID 1 mode.The motherboard in both systems is the same,the Asus Rampage 3 extreme.

The other computer is basically the same,same motherboard,same memory,same windows version (Windows7 ultimate 64 bit)The only differences are: the main system has 3 nvidia gtx480 graphics cards in sli mode and the 2 (600gbx2) velociraptors while the second computer has 3 nvidia gtx580 graphics cards in sli mode and the 2 (300gbx2) velociraptors.Both are running Windows7 Ultimate 64bit and both also have the same amount and type of ddr3 memory,12gb in each system.

The main problem is,that the main system (the "source" that i want to clone to the other computer) is running also Linux (OpenSuse 12.1) and so,it is a dual-boot system.That means,it has the Linux bootlaoder -GRUB2- installed and i am afraid that the cloning proceedure will fail if i clone my C: drive contents to the second computer,because it will also copy the Linux bootloader there and the second system has only Windows7 and not Linux installed,therefore it won't boot.

I know the proceedure to uninstall Linux and rewrite the windows bootloader before i do the cloning,but is there any way to clone the main disk without messing with the Linux entries and the GRUB2 bootloader?

Or will i have to fully remove Linux first,before cloning?

This is troubling me a lot,because i want to copy the main disk to the second system,without messing at all with Linux entries and without having boot issues later,when i will restart the cloned second system.

I am afraid that,if i clone the main disk,without first fully removing Linux and rewriting the windows bootloader,i will have serious problems with the cloned drive,it will not boot,because it will search for the entries of grub bootloader.

Is there any way to do the cloning without removing Linux from the main computer or is there any solution to this problem?

I don't have any problem to remove Linux,i know how to do it,i just want to know if i can accomplish the cloning without removing it and to make sure that the cloned disk (in the second computer) will boot normally into Windows7 without any issues.

Please advise me if this is possible and the proceedure how to do it,as i haven't done disk cloning before (usually just taking backups with Norton Ghost)

Both computers have Ghost 15 installed and DVD writers (of course).

Thank you very much for your time,

nikoscbr

Re: Help cloning hard disk to other computer with Ghost 15.

Brian_K — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:28:39 GMT

Nikos,

Easily done.

Can you post screenshots of Disk Management? From both computers.

http://community.norton.com/t5/Forum-Feedback/Forum-Tip-How-to-post-screenshots-in-the-forum/td-p/254415

Re: Help cloning hard disk to other computer with Ghost 15.

nikoscbr — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 14:52:54 GMT

First Brian,thank you very much for your precious help.It's funny,because although i have been using Symantec's products since 99 i don't have experience with disk cloning,i was using Ghost mostly for disk image and backup.

I am posting the screenshots of disk management in both computers,the "maindisk.jpg" image is from the main computer (the "source" that i want to clone) and the "second_disk.jpg" is from the second computer,the "target" that i want to be cloned.

Note that "Disk 1" in the maindisk screenshot,is the disk which has OpenSuse 12.1 installed,the 20,15 and 5 gb partitions are the linux "root","home" and "swap" partitions that were created when i installed OpenSuse 12.1

The "seconddisk" screensoft,as you see has only windows installed.

Thanks again,

nikoscbr

Screenshots from both computers !

nikoscbr — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:24:42 GMT

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

nikoscbr — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 15:43:47 GMT

The first image is from the second computer,the "target" and the second image is from the main computer,the "source".

If you look at the bottom image -which is the main system- you will see that Disk 1 has 3 small partitions,with 20,15 and 5 gb accordingly.These are the Linux partitions,the root, home and swap,that were created when i installed Linux.

Remember,the above screenshot is from the second system,the "target" which is to be cloned and the down screenshot is from the main computer the "source" that has Linux installed.

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

DaveH — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:04:18 GMT

We still can't see your images, only you can see them at this point.

Images need to be approved before we can see them and it seems to always take a long time on Sundays.

But I have a couple questions in the meantime.

What is the actual size of the operating system partition on the source. Not how space is used but the size of the actual partition. If it is larger than 300GB, chances are it needs to be shrunk before the transfer.

Do you ever plan on using bitlocker?

I ask that because bitlocker requires a system reserved partition for the boot files but if you never plan on using bitlocker than we have the option not having to use it and it might make it eaiser to leave grub behind.

Could you also please test the Ghost recovery disk on the destination system to make sure it has the correct RAID drivers?

Boot the system with the disk and then go to: Analyze > Explorer My Computer.

Verify that you can "see" the hard drive and partitions.

Dave

Edit- They must have just approved the images, we can see them now

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

Brian_K — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:48:09 GMT

I get confused with RAID. Your source Disk 0 is 1117.8 GB. Is that the two 600 GB HDs?

Your target Disk 0 is 500 GB. Is that the two 300 GB HDs?

It doesn't seem to add up.

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

DaveH — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:34:35 GMT

It has to be RAID 0 since they are "double" the size as each disk.

Raid 1 would have shown the original size of one drive since it's a mirror.

The desitnation is odd how it shows 500GB instead of ~586GB but an array has to be made with equal sized parttions, perhaps the first drive was not partitioned to the full size of the drive. I also believe it's normal that you can't see the unallocated space of the drive(s) leftover in disk management.

Dave

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

nikoscbr — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:06:46 GMT

I hope you can now see the screenshots.Yes,the source disk is 1117,82 gb. It is so,because we have 2 velociraptors (600+600gb) in RAID 1 (stripping).This is the source drive,the C: drive in the main system.The other drive,the 500gb in the first image is the target drive in the second system.Actually it's not 500, but 600 gb,you see the small 100gb partition at the left? This 100gb partition is the "System Reserved partition" it was created upon installation of Windows7.So,the totall capacity is 600gb,which is correct,because we have 2 velociraptors (300+300gb) in RAID 1.

This 100gb partition was created by the windows installation and it holds the Boot manager code and the Boot Configuration database.I don't use BitLocker and so,i don't want this 100gb partition to remain,when the (600gb) target C: drive will be overwritten with the contents of the source drive. ( the 1117,82gb )

What i want to do is make an image with Ghost (from the 1117,82gb source drive) at another drive,take the drive out,install it at the second system and restore the image to the target drive at the second system,the 600gb target drive.Of course i will format the 600gb drive before restoring the image,but i want to ensure two things.That it will not copy the linux bootloader entries (the grub bootloader) and that it will be restored again at the C: drive,because otherwise windows "think" that they are installed in multiple computers and show the "windows not genuine" blank screen.This is solved by restoring the image to an unallocated drive,so that windows will name the unallocated partition as C: What troubles me is that i don't want to mess with the linux bootloader and copy it into the target drive (the 600gb at the second system) because it will not boot,as it will try to find the Linux partitions,which of course won't exist in the target drive.That is my biggest concern,i want to copy the windows installation into the target drive and not mess with the linux bootloader entries.

Apart from that,i won't use Bit Locker,so i will delete the 500+100gb target partitions at the second system,create a total 600gb partition and leave it unallocated,so that when Ghost will restore the image,it will name the unallocated partition as C: so that windows will function normally afterwards.What troubles me is how to copy only the windows installation to the target drive,without also copying the linux bootloader entries of GRUB.Because in the target drive,there is no Linux installation so it won't boot,it will keep searching for the active Linux partitions and of course it will be stuck there.This is the problem.

If this can be solved,then i don't see any other problem,i do have 2 license numbers for windows7,so i will use them,the hardware remains the same,so they can be reactivated.

About the Ghost recovery cd's there is no problem,i use the genuine Ghost 15 disk and it works fine in both systems.So i will use the Ghost cd to boot and restore the image to the target drive.I have tried it many times and it works perfectly.

Thanks again for your time and patience,

Nikos Alexiou

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

Brian_K — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:22:13 GMT

Nikos,

I'd like to understand your system before offering advice. You said...

Actually it's not 500, but 600 gb,you see the small 100gb partition at the left?

But that isn't so as the partition is 100 MB, not 100 GB. Disk 0 is 500 GB.

RAID 1 (stripping).

RAID 0 is striping. RAID 1 is mirroring.

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

DaveH — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:22:08 GMT

You'll notice a similar shortage of size in the other system as well. Although not nearly as much.

Adding 2 600GB drives you would expect around 1171.88GB rather than 1117.82GB (54.06GB short).

Since the shortage of the larger array is not twice as much as the smaller array, I doubt it's necessary or intended by the RAID controller.

Thats going to bring up the question of if the image gets restored into the existing destination partition or not.

Dave

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

Brian_K — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:27:59 GMT

Nikos,

What is the size of the .v2i image of the C: drive for each computer?

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

nikoscbr — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:26:17 GMT

Yes,you're right,it's 100 mb,not gb.And also about RAID,yes both systems are on RAID 0 (stripping).My mistakes,sorry for that.About the 100 mb partition in the second system,It's the "system reserved" partition made by windows upon installation.

I don't need that and i would like to restore the image to the single (600 gb) partition that will be created when i will delete both partitions before formating. As for the v2i image files,they are 117 gb on the main system and 107 gb on the second system.

I don't think there will be a problem about restoring the image on the target drive.My question is,will i have to remove Linux completely from the main system,and rewrite the windows bootloader entries in the MBR and then take the image that i will restore to the second system,or it won't be needed and i can leave Linux as it is?

The hardware in both systems is similar.Both have the Asus Rampage 3 Extreme motherboard,12 gb corsair dominator 1866 ghz memory and also both are watercooled.Their only differences are: the main system has 2x600gb velociraptors in RAID 0,as the C: drive,3 more -single- 1TB caviar black hard disks,3 gtx480 graphics cards in sli and the DVD writer of course.

While the second system has 2x300 gb velociraptors in RAID 0, 2 more -single,again- caviar black disks,3 gtx580 graphics cards in sli and the DVD writer of course.So their differences are the capacity of the C: drive (2x600 at the main,2x300 at the second) the different graphics cards type (gtx480 at the main, gtx580 at the second) and that the second system has 2 single extra 1 tb hard disks,instead of 3 of the first.What i don't understand is,when i take an image of the C: drive at the first system with Ghost,the C: drive is the partition that has windows,if i restore that image to the second computer,the image will also include the Linux GRUB bootloader entries at the MBR and the mount points to the C: partition? Or not,it will be just the windows installation and settings? Because if it messes with GRUB bootloader entries it won't boot into windows upor restarting,when it will finish the image restore.I have done the proceedure about a year ago,and it worked,but when it booted into windows,the C: partition was renamed to F: and it showed me the known empty black screen,with the "windows not genuine" message.I had fixed it then,by renaming the partition to C: by following this advice i found here: http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-updates-activation/75746-copy-windows-not-genuine-after-cloning-drive-fix.html but of course,i don't want to do it again,it's a "last resort" solution.

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

Brian_K — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:07:01 GMT

nikoscbr wrote:,
if i restore that image to the second computer,the image will also include the Linux GRUB bootloader entries at the MBR and the mount points to the C: partition? Or not,it will be just the windows installation and settings?

OK. I still don't understand your RAID on the target HD not being 600 GB. But this is what I'd do.

Delete the SRP and Win7 partitions from the target HD.

Restore the Win7 image taken from the source computer to unallocated space on Disk 0 in the target computer.

DON'T SELECT "Copy MBR" during the restore process. This will prevent Grub from being transferred to Disk 0 in the target computer. Disk 0 in the target computer already has its own MBR which will suffice.

The OS partition on the source HD is double the size of the target partition and despite the small amount of data, the sectors in use within the source partition may extend past the 300 GB mark and result in a failed restore. Resizing the source partition smaller and creating another image would be necessary if Ghost fails.

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

Brian_K — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:57:12 GMT

Not that it makes any difference to my suggestions but I just noticed another strange feature of Disk 0 on the target computer. The 100 MB partition is not a System Reserved Partition. It is not System and it is not Active. It has a drive letter too. These changes are not created by a Win7 installation.

How did that happen?.

Re: Screenshots from both computers !

nikoscbr — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:14:55 GMT

I have no idea ! But i will try the proceedure now and i will let you know if everything went well.

Latest news from the "front"...

nikoscbr — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:36:06 GMT

Ok i tried the proceedure today,but it didn't work.I booted with ghost from the target computer and tried to restore an image i had taken from the source computer,but it failed.I mean the restore run fine,but on rebooting it pasted the initial bios screen and stopped there with a dash blinking at the bios screen.It just stopped at the bios screen with a dash blinking without booting into windows.So,tommorow i will try something else,i will remove the two 1TB hard disks that i have at the target computer,install them normally at the source computer and try copying the C: drive in the main system to the two disks that i will remove from the second system.I will just copy the C drive to the two 1TB disks (from the two 600gb velociraptors to the two 1TB caviar black disks).And then i will again remove the two caviars,put them in the second computer and try booting again,from the cloned disks.This has to work for two reasons,because i removed linux completely so there is no grub anymore and second,because i will copy the 1,2 tb main C: disk of the source system to the bigger 1,8 tb caviars (both in RAID 0) so it should work this way.Since i copy to a larger drive,it should work i think.I restored the windows bootloader so there won't be any grub entries to mess it up.

But it was a little frustrating today,because i though that the image restore would work but no,it failed.So i will have to try more drastic measures.I could of course do a clean install of windows in the second system,but it would take me several days to bring the system like the first one -and i am too tired to spend 2-3 days downloading and setting things up.So,i will try the cloning proceedure and i hope it will work.

Re: Latest news from the "front"...

Brian_K — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:31:47 GMT

nikoscbr wrote:
stopped there with a dash blinking at the bios screen.It just stopped at the bios screen with a dash blinking without booting into windows.

How did you prepare the target HD. Did you delete the two partitions or did you wipe the HD?

It's possible you don't have boot code (blinking cursor). Could you try writing a MBR to the target HD.

Re: Latest news from the "front"...

DaveH — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:44:53 GMT

Create a Windows 7 startup repair disk on your working system.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/5409/create-a-system-repair-disc-in-windows-7/

Boot the target system with it and follow the instructions on that page to get to the option to open a command prompt.

At the command prompt type:

bootrec /FixMbr

bootrec /FixBoot

exit

Remove the disc and try to boot windows.

Dave

Re: Latest news from the "front"...

Brian_K — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 20:50:38 GMT

Thanks Dave.

In one of my tests I got a blinking cursor. It happened when I restored an image to a wiped HD and deliberately didn't restore the MBR.

I just deleted the boot code from a Win7 HD. It causes a blinking cursor.

In both cases creating boot code enabled Win7 to boot.