Cloning Multiple Hard Drives

[jammyo2k]

I have a question regarding cloning multiple hard drives.

I need to extract an image from a desktop PC and load it onto 50+ other identical computers.

I've used programs such as Norton Ghost before but I would ideally like to create the image file without installing more software onto the drive (i.e. by putting the hard drive into another PC and creating the image like that).

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing?

 

[stduc]

There are several out there - they all have their fans. Personally I use Acronis trueimage. It builds its own bootable CD-ROM so no changes have to be made to the system you are cloning.

I like it because it easy quick & easy to use. You can clone disk to disk or make an image and clone that. It's up to you.

But it's not free.

[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[wahnula]

But it's not free.

Just about. Look on eBay, it's around $30. Same w/ Ghost2003 (my personal favorite).

Tony

 

[jammyo2k]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll have to look into it.

 

[kestrel1]

Trueimage is a better bet than Ghost. Ghost2003 is flacky at the best of times. Had problems with it myself, turned to Trueimage & had no problems.

 

[wahnula]

Ghost2003 is a better bet than Trueimage. Trueimage is flaky at the best of times. Had problems with it myself, turned back to Ghost2003 & had no problems.



Ford vs. Chevy.

Seriously, I have had a higher percentage of bad clones with Acronis. I still use them both, for different things. Owning both is not cost-prohibitive, everyone should try both and see which one you like better. In my case I have no choice for my network as Ghost 2003 ($30) works on my Win2003 server (even cloning RAID arrays), but Acronis' TrueImage for Win2003 servers is, oh, about $700.

Tony

 

[cdogg]

Another one to try out is DriveClone. You can find it on

http://www.download.com

as a free trial, but you'll need the full version ($40) to make a bootable image.

The advantage over both Ghost and TrueImage is that it runs in a "Pre-OS" environment eliminating the chance of running into locked resources. Most of the time, locked resources are not an issue for Ghost or TrueImage, but I have run into that problem using both. As you would expect, you can also backup to a USB drive, CD/DVD, clone to another hard drive, backup over the network, etc.

The only real downsides is that you have to install the program in Windows and reboot if you want to use your DVD burner. The network feature isn't as robust as I'd like it to be either. But it's well worth the $40...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[wahnula]

Great.

Ford vs. Chevy vs Dodge...

I also own Powerquest's (now Symantec) DriveImage which became Ghost 9, re-iterating my preference for Ghost 2003, before the merger and, to me, more powerful than any other version. (Ghost 2003 and TrueImage both feature boot-from-floppy-DOS or outside-the-OS operation, but maybe DriveClone is better. I will have to buy it and find out, only $20 on eBay. I doubt it will work w/ Win2K3).

And then, it goes into either my everyday CD wallet or the wish-I-hadn't wallet...there are many residents in there, including some expensive ones too like Symantec 10 server A/V (spontaneous reboots of a server...not a good thing. The error message points to a Symantec page "we are aware of the problem and working on a fix"...).

As long as it gets you from point A to point B the rest is gravy! Thanks cdogg!

Tony

 

[cdogg]

wahnula,
No problem! However, if Ghost 2003 is already doing what you need it to do, there's probably no reason to get DriveClone. The program is still in its early stages, and may not have anything more than Ghost to offer.

It does have a neat-looking interface though. DriveClone also shows you the transfer speed in real-time, and seems to do a good job of moving a lot of data in a short amount of time.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[wahnula]

Free!!!

http://www.miray.de/products/sat.hdclone.html

Give a go, ya never know!

if Ghost 2003 is already doing what you need it to do, there's probably no reason to get DriveClone

I just like buying stuff...

Tony

 

[cdogg]

wahnula,
I think you probably use the quote tag more than anyone I know. We're going to have to pin a medal on you or something to get you to retire!


~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[wahnula]

wahnula,
I think you probably use the quote tag more than anyone I know

cdogg,

This is OT but I use the quote tags for a reason...clarity. Granted in the above case it was in jest and superfluous but many time I read a post saying "Yes, you are right, thanks" without naming or quoting the correct information, which may be two or three posts up. Many times I have responded to posts only to see my response two or three posts down from the original question. I think it's worth the extra bits of storage to have a clear answer.

...unless you'd rather see me use the code tags [where [smile] doesn't work].  I would not mind seeing the blue stripe and the italics go away!

And no I will not retire...this is my "sane place" where I come to hide from my intensely demanding "real job".

Tony

 

[cdogg]

Quote trigger-happiness aside...

I just remembered to mention that cloning Windows from one PC to another will carry over the same SID. In fact, Microsoft officially doesn't support cloning if the copy is made after Windows is "fully" installed (the GUI is in place). Removing/readding the computer to the domain doesn't change the SID either.

Having the same SID isn't a big deal if the computers are part of a domain. That's because each user account will rely on a domain SID and not the local one setup during the install. But if they're part of a workgroup, then you can run into many issues, especially when shares are involved.

Luckily, Microsoft has a free utility called NewSid which can generate a new one. Just make sure you take that into consideration...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[cdogg]

Here's a link that talks more about it:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/NewSid.mspx