If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#31
|
|||
|
|||
Is there some software to save drivers to disk?
Bill in Co wrote:
Paul wrote: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: In message , Paul writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: [] Back to that ancient system: I now have it running rather smoothly! But the HD _is_ rather small. If I _did_ want to give it a bigger one: I quickly googled this afternoon, and everyone seemed to talk about "cloning". _Does_ "cloning" (e. g., EaseUS ToDo) do more than just copy all the files over? I do realise it's necessary if you start from the PC on which the source OS is _running_, but if done from a different PC, is there more than just a copy going on? With things like so-called "Smart Copy", only the sectors containing data the file system needs, would be copied. The copy operation would copy the MBR (Sector 0), it would analyse each partition and figure out what sectors need to be copied. This saves time, when the source disk is not full. Wouldn't just copying the files do that anyway? [rest of _very_ detailed reply snipped] What I'm asking is: does "cloning" do more than just copy files - or, rather, assuming a source and destination drive both formatted (let's say as a single NTFS partition), would just copying all the files/folders from one HD to another (using a separate computer) result in a bootable system, or are there arcane magics involving active sectors, MBRs, and so on involved? I refuse to be drawn into an attempt to define "copy" and "clone" :-) Clone, as implemented with the suggested tools, copies every sector which has anything to do with the partition. The file system header, the metadata files ($MFT etc), the actual files and directories, any sector which the file system knows has something to do with that file system, is copied. That's a lot more than just the files themselves (as you'd get with Robocopy). Now, whether that's important or not, is debatable. I can tell you, if I prepare a new partition, and intend to copy an OS over to it, I will need to do "fixboot" later. That loads some sectors in the file system header area. If I use cloning software, that stuff would be copied for free. If I Robocopy over a set of OS files, I will need to run "fixboot" separately. Cloning just takes care of a bunch of details like that for you. That's actually how I defragment my WinXP partition. Rather than wait more than eight hours for the defragmenter to do the job, I just copy all the files off with Robocopy, format the partition, copy the files back with Robocopy, boot the installer CD and do "fixboot" from there. Then, my nice clean OS is ready to be booted up. The reason I can do that, is the machine is dual boot, and I do the stated operations from a second Windows OS. (All except the "fixboot", which I do with the installer CD. I've never been able to find a version I could run from any running Windows. Just the recovery console.) Paul I think I have a simpler suggestion for you Paul, if you happen to have Acronis True Image or any partition copying program: Just make an image of C: and restore that. (I think that would be simpler and perhaps quicker, unless I've missed something, which is indeed possible). I do this C: system image/restore fair amount of time after testing out some new software, and want to restore my system to the exact pre-test condition. Many schemes do not "defrag" for you. Robocopying the files off, reformatting the partition, then copying the files back, achieved defragmentation. If you image with many of these tools, the fragmentation level is preserved. No "free filtering" results from a restoration. Paul |
Ads |
#32
|
|||
|
|||
Is there some software to save drivers to disk?
Paul wrote:
Bill in Co wrote: Paul wrote: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: In message , Paul writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: [] Back to that ancient system: I now have it running rather smoothly! But the HD _is_ rather small. If I _did_ want to give it a bigger one: I quickly googled this afternoon, and everyone seemed to talk about "cloning". _Does_ "cloning" (e. g., EaseUS ToDo) do more than just copy all the files over? I do realise it's necessary if you start from the PC on which the source OS is _running_, but if done from a different PC, is there more than just a copy going on? With things like so-called "Smart Copy", only the sectors containing data the file system needs, would be copied. The copy operation would copy the MBR (Sector 0), it would analyse each partition and figure out what sectors need to be copied. This saves time, when the source disk is not full. Wouldn't just copying the files do that anyway? [rest of _very_ detailed reply snipped] What I'm asking is: does "cloning" do more than just copy files - or, rather, assuming a source and destination drive both formatted (let's say as a single NTFS partition), would just copying all the files/folders from one HD to another (using a separate computer) result in a bootable system, or are there arcane magics involving active sectors, MBRs, and so on involved? I refuse to be drawn into an attempt to define "copy" and "clone" :-) Clone, as implemented with the suggested tools, copies every sector which has anything to do with the partition. The file system header, the metadata files ($MFT etc), the actual files and directories, any sector which the file system knows has something to do with that file system, is copied. That's a lot more than just the files themselves (as you'd get with Robocopy). Now, whether that's important or not, is debatable. I can tell you, if I prepare a new partition, and intend to copy an OS over to it, I will need to do "fixboot" later. That loads some sectors in the file system header area. If I use cloning software, that stuff would be copied for free. If I Robocopy over a set of OS files, I will need to run "fixboot" separately. Cloning just takes care of a bunch of details like that for you. That's actually how I defragment my WinXP partition. Rather than wait more than eight hours for the defragmenter to do the job, I just copy all the files off with Robocopy, format the partition, copy the files back with Robocopy, boot the installer CD and do "fixboot" from there. Then, my nice clean OS is ready to be booted up. The reason I can do that, is the machine is dual boot, and I do the stated operations from a second Windows OS. (All except the "fixboot", which I do with the installer CD. I've never been able to find a version I could run from any running Windows. Just the recovery console.) Paul I think I have a simpler suggestion for you Paul, if you happen to have Acronis True Image or any partition copying program: Just make an image of C: and restore that. (I think that would be simpler and perhaps quicker, unless I've missed something, which is indeed possible). I do this C: system image/restore fair amount of time after testing out some new software, and want to restore my system to the exact pre-test condition. Many schemes do not "defrag" for you. Robocopying the files off, reformatting the partition, then copying the files back, achieved defragmentation. If you image with many of these tools, the fragmentation level is preserved. No "free filtering" results from a restoration. Paul OK. It seems that with Acronis True Image Home, at least, the fragmentation is removed, since if I run Defrag just after restoring an image, it's perfectly clean (as shown on the display) and it quickly terminates. (And prior to that image restore operation you could really see the fragmentation). I'm not sure if you have ATI, but if you do, you might give it a shot, and be pleasantly surprised! |
#33
|
|||
|
|||
Is there some software to save drivers to disk?
Bill in Co wrote:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: In message , Paul writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: [] Back to that ancient system: I now have it running rather smoothly! But the HD _is_ rather small. If I _did_ want to give it a bigger one: I quickly googled this afternoon, and everyone seemed to talk about "cloning". _Does_ "cloning" (e. g., EaseUS ToDo) do more than just copy all the files over? I do realise it's necessary if you start from the PC on which the source OS is _running_, but if done from a different PC, is there more than just a copy going on? With things like so-called "Smart Copy", only the sectors containing data the file system needs, would be copied. The copy operation would copy the MBR (Sector 0), it would analyse each partition and figure out what sectors need to be copied. This saves time, when the source disk is not full. Wouldn't just copying the files do that anyway? [rest of _very_ detailed reply snipped] What I'm asking is: does "cloning" do more than just copy files - or, rather, assuming a source and destination drive both formatted (let's say as a single NTFS partition), would just copying all the files/folders from one HD to another (using a separate computer) result in a bootable system, or are there arcane magics involving active sectors, MBRs, and so on involved? And setting the partition flag to be Active, amongst maybe some other things. And maybe that's part (or all?) of what "fixboot" does (see Paul's response). If I reformat an active partition, the boot flag stays put. So I don't have to repair that as part of my "procedure". The handling of the boot flag is rather sloppy. Linux doesn't use the boot flag, and uses things like GUID for identifiers. In Windows land, I think you could set the boot flag on more than one primary partition. Although tools to do that are relatively scarce (PTEDIT32 could). It's a good thing, that not too many things fool around with that MBR boot flag. Or there'd be more trouble. Paul |
#34
|
|||
|
|||
Is there some software to save drivers to disk?
In message , Paul
writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: [] What I'm asking is: does "cloning" do more than just copy files - or, rather, assuming a source and destination drive both formatted (let's say as a single NTFS partition), would just copying all the files/folders from one HD to another (using a separate computer) result in a bootable system, or are there arcane magics involving active sectors, MBRs, and so on involved? I refuse to be drawn into an attempt to define "copy" and "clone" :-) I don't blame you (-:! Clone, as implemented with the suggested tools, copies every sector which has anything to do with the partition. The file system header, the metadata files ($MFT etc), the actual files and directories, any sector which the file system knows has something to do with that file system, is copied. That's a lot more than just the files themselves (as you'd get with Robocopy). Now, whether that's important or not, is debatable. I can tell you, if I prepare a new partition, and intend to copy an OS over to it, I will need to do "fixboot" later. That loads some sectors in the file system header area. If I use cloning software, that stuff would be copied for free. If I Robocopy over a set of OS files, I will need to run "fixboot" separately. Cloning just I think that just about answers my question - more than just all the files is needed to "move" an OS. takes care of a bunch of details like that for you. That's actually how I defragment my WinXP partition. Rather than wait more than eight hours for the defragmenter to do the job, I just copy all the files off with Robocopy, format the partition, copy the files back with Robocopy, boot the installer CD and do "fixboot" from there. Then, my nice clean OS is ready to be Sounds good. booted up. The reason I can do that, is the machine is dual boot, and I do the stated operations from a second Windows OS. (All except the "fixboot", which I do with the installer CD. I've never been able to find a version I could run from any running Windows. Just the recovery console.) Does it work regardless of what version (e. g. "SP0") the installation disc is? Paul -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf Can a blue man sing the whites? |
#35
|
|||
|
|||
Is there some software to save drivers to disk?
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Paul writes: snip booted up. The reason I can do that, is the machine is dual boot, and I do the stated operations from a second Windows OS. (All except the "fixboot", which I do with the installer CD. I've never been able to find a version I could run from any running Windows. Just the recovery console.) Does it work regardless of what version (e. g. "SP0") the installation disc is? As far as I know, "fixboot" is a built-in command of the recovery console. The feature set of the recovery console, should have been set in stone when SP0 was released. I don't have all the versions here, so it would be kinda hard to check. The only ISO I have, is of my SP3 disc. Paul |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|