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[TonNortNuby]

I've been asked to post additional questions in the same thread, but I believe that this thread constitutes a topic on it's own.

When I use Copy Drive, I am shown a list of source partitions to clone, but it doesn't say whether each partition is from Disk 1 (internal to the laptop) versus Disk 2 ("internal" HDD in an enclosure that is connected to the laptop via eSATA).  When I select the target for the clone, however, each partition *is* listed along with the disk that it resides in.  Is there a way to show the host disk in the source partition list?

[Brian_K]

TonNortNuby,

Before doing Copy Drive you need to delete the OS partition on the target HD so you will be copying into unallocated space. So when you use Ghost there will be no conflict as there will only be one OS partition.

On the other hand, if you did Copy Drive as instructed the partitions on the eSATA HD shouldn't have drive letters so they will be different from the internal partitions on the Source Drive screen.

[TonNortNuby]

Hi, Brian,

I successfully copied all 4 Toshiba partitions to the target HDD (connecting to the laptop via eSATA).  All the tested functionality worked, meaning that I can boot as normal, I can make recovery discs, and I can do disc-less recovery.  In order to test the disc-less recovery, I had to clobber the clone, of course.  I also tested a set of recovery discs made long ago.  Throughout the tests, I never had to remove the target HDD from the eSATA enclosure, though I did remove the source HDD from the laptop to prevent conflicting boot partitions.

Now I updated Windows, antimalware, apps, and cleared out unneeded apps in prepartion to re-make the clone.  Disk Management lets me remove all partitions (starting from the right-most) except the very final remaining partition (which was the left-most one).  That is the 1.46 GB partition, shown as a "Health (Active, Recovery Partition)", though it was explained to me that it is actually too small to contain a Win 7 image, and was likely a boot partition.

In all likelihood, that partition contains what it should, but I don't know how to verify that apart from cloning the remaining 3 partitions and attempting to boot.  So rather than doing that and then *assuming* that all is fine, I really wanted to clone all 4 partitions.  I was so flush with success from the cloning that I forgot that I can't simply clone the 1.46 GB partition from the source HDD into the corresponding partition in the target HDD.  I can only use Copy Drive to clone to unallocated space.  Thanks for the reminder.

I will try to find a way to remaining 1.46 GB partition in the target HDD.  If I can't, I'll assume that it is fine, clone the remaining 3, test by booting, and assume that the 1.46 GB partition is fine.

Thanks for the reminder about Copy Driving to unallocated space.

Oh, BTW, I can still imagine a situation in which I would like to know what HDD each partition belongs to in the source partition list, even if I am Copy Driving to unallocated space.  If 2 partitions are the same size, and I want to choose one of them to clone to unallocated space....how do you draw an association between the partitions in the source partition list and the partitions shown in Disk Management (or better yet, in PowerQuest Partition Table Editor, since the sizes in Disk Management are only approximate)?

[TonNortNuby]

I found the solution to removing the final partition at http://www.jdhodges.com/2011/09/delete-stubbornrecovery-partition.

Now copy-driving...

[DaveH]

You didn't need to copy all the partitions again, just the operating system partition.

When your doing this later as an ongoing process to keep the spare drive updated you only need to delete the operating system partition and then recopy the current one.  The other partitions don't change.

Also, when your looking at the copy drive screen it has a column that shows what drive the partitions are in, either drive 1 or drive 2.

Dave

[Brian_K]

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TonNortNuby wrote:

Oh, BTW, I can still imagine a situation in which I would like to know what HDD each partition belongs to in the source partition list, even if I am Copy Driving to unallocated space.  If 2 partitions are the same size, and I want to choose one of them to clone to unallocated space....how do you draw an association between the partitions in the source partition list and the partitions shown in Disk Management (or better yet, in PowerQuest Partition Table Editor, since the sizes in Disk Management are only approximate)?

---

Easy. Your partitions on HD0 should have different labels. The partitions on HD1 will not have drive letters.

I've almost forgotten how this thread started but you now seem to be using Copy Drive as a means of backup. I don't support that as I feel you should be using images for the reasons already outlined. The questions you are asking indicate that Ghost wasn't designed to use Copy Drive as a backup method.

[DaveH]

Yes, Tom wanted to try it this way against all the advice he got to the contrary.

I actually didn't give my opinion yet, I was waiting until he figured out what a pain it would be so I could say "they told you so".

I remember you saying sometimg Tom about "just starting the copy at night and letting it run like defrag"

I'm sure you found out by now it's nothing you can click and run.  You basically have to sit there and babysit the process.

Your other concern was that "hard drives might die without warning" and "I want to have a space drive that is all ready to go that I can just drop in the system".

Lets figure that your new hard drive is a lemon and only lasts 2.5 years instead of 5 years or so.  lets also say that you get a lot of practice with this and can update the spare drive in one hour from start to finish and you update the spare drive every 2 weeks.

That means that you will spend 60 hours of you time in order to save one hour if you had to change the drive and restore the images.  If you get lucky and your drive lasts over 5 years you will have spent over a hundred and twenty hours to save one hour.  But even if your 99% perfect, your going to make a mistake somewhere in those hundred backups.

On the bright side, you will be a drive copy expert in no time.

Dave

[TonNortNuby]

---

DaveH wrote:

You didn't need to copy all the partitions again, just the operating system partition.

When your doing this later as an ongoing process to keep the spare drive updated you only need to delete the operating system partition and then recopy the current one.  The other partitions don't change.

Also, when your looking at the copy drive screen it has a column that shows what drive the partitions are in, either drive 1 or drive 2.

Dave

---

Thanks, Dave.  I understood what you said about copying only the OS partition in my other thread.  As I mention above, however, I clobbered the clone with two recovery tests.  The second one used the recovery discs, and it left only 3 partitions on the HDD.  I might have chosen an option that removed existing partitions.  So I am starting from scratch to clone all partitions before doing only the OS partition on a regular basis.

About drives being shown with partitions, this is only in the target listing -- not the source listing.  I'm not even sure why partitions are listed in the target list -- Copy Drive only copies to unallocated space, right?

[TonNortNuby]

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Brian_K wrote:

---

TonNortNuby wrote:

Oh, BTW, I can still imagine a situation in which I would like to know what HDD each partition belongs to in the source partition list, even if I am Copy Driving to unallocated space.  If 2 partitions are the same size, and I want to choose one of them to clone to unallocated space....how do you draw an association between the partitions in the source partition list and the partitions shown in Disk Management (or better yet, in PowerQuest Partition Table Editor, since the sizes in Disk Management are only approximate)?

---

Easy. Your partitions on HD0 should have different labels. The partitions on HD1 will not have drive letters.

I've almost forgotten how this thread started but you now seem to be using Copy Drive as a means of backup. I don't support that as I feel you should be using images for the reasons already outlined. The questions you are asking indicate that Ghost wasn't designed to use Copy Drive as a backup method.

---

In the source listing, all partitions of both drives show as "*:\" with the single exception of the c-drive partition of HDD#0.  Only the target listing shows the drive of each partition.  I'm not even sure why partitions are listed in the target list, since I am only suppose to Copy Drive to unallocated space.

As for why I'm cloning all partitions, it's because I need a drop-in replacement if the HDD ever suffers a HW failure.  Being without an apparatus with which to surf is a bad situation to be in when trying to bounce back from an HDD failure.  You described more advanced methods that use imaging rather than cloning, but it requires either another HDD or more partitions.  It was a good method to try in the future, but I wasn't prepared to get that advanced at present.  I would also need to test whether the functionality of the Toshiba recovery partitions are preserved when the extra partitions are added.

As for using Ghost to clone all these Toshiba partitions -- I'm not sure what to make of that comment.  When I did my surfing and posting to elicit opinions, Ghost and Acronis True Image were neck-at-neck (and really the only contenders).  If Ghost people don't advocate Ghost for cloning multiple partitons, it's a bit disconcerting because I already purchased what I consider to be the cadillac product based on the web searching I did.

[TonNortNuby]

DaveH wrote:

> Yes, Tom wanted to try it this way against all the advice he got to
> the contrary.

Dave, I'm not a fan of blindly following advice if it is contrary to one's individual objectives.  I am a true believer in *understanding* the advice and appreciating the time that people spend in offering it up, and reconsidering one's individual objectives in light of the information.

> I actually didn't give my opinion yet, I was waiting until he
> figured out what a pain it would be so I could say "they told you
> so".

I'm puzzled at your adversarial tone.  I believe that I recognized the merits of the advice, and said that it was a good option for afterward.

> I remember you saying sometimg Tom about "just starting the copy at
> night and letting it run like defrag"
>
> I'm sure you found out by now it's nothing you can click and run.
> You basically have to sit there and babysit the process.

OK, I'm missing something here.  I *did* launch the Copy Drive for a partition, and there was no babysitting involved.  In the morning, it was done.

> Your other concern was that "hard drives might die without warning"
> and "I want to have a space drive that is all ready to go that I can
> just drop in the system".
>
> Lets figure that your new hard drive is a lemon and only lasts 2.5
> years instead of 5 years or so.  lets also say that you get a lot of
> practice with this and can update the spare drive in one hour from
> start to finish and you update the spare drive every 2 weeks.
>
> That means that you will spend 60 hours of you time in order to save
> one hour if you had to change the drive and restore the images.  If
> you get lucky and your drive lasts over 5 years you will have spent
> over a hundred and twenty hours to save one hour.  But even if your
> 99% perfect, your going to make a mistake somewhere in those hundred
> backups.
>
> On the bright side, you will be a drive copy expert in no time.

I'm not sure what a space drive is, but from the context, I assume it is a drop-in drive.  Anyway, I hope I've adequately explained the *actual* reason for wanting a drop-in drive in my previous posts, which isn't reflected in the scenario you painted.