Need help cloning a hard disc

[Postmaster]

O.K. here´s the plan:

I build a new editing PC in the moment.
Having horror scenarios with shot harddrives in the past I want to be smarter this time.

I got 2 identical HDs in Backplane/Draver slots.
I want to install a brand new XP and all programms on on disk, so having a perfect running system.

Than I want to clone or mirror the whole shabang including bootsectors and what not (if possible while running XP and without any CDs or even floppys in comandline mode).

I should have a 1:1 copy of the first disk.

If that one fails or have any problems, I can pull it out and replace it by my clone - as next step I want to erase the faulty disc and clone the clone to have an other clean spare.

Need a software for that. (freeware would be great).
I allready have Partition Magick but I dont know if that can do the trick on a running system.

Thanks Frank

[ProfessorU]

Sounds like you actually want a RAID 1 array. It would handle all of this automatically. Today, most people only use software solutions for backups outside of the case. Which reminds me, if you only have two copies of your data, they shouldn't be in the same building. Annual house fire rate: 1 in 200. Add flooding, earthquake, tornado, whatever, and that "failure rate" could be higher than your HDD.

Grab a program like Norton Ghost if you want to do it with software. But my advice is to get an enclosure for that drive and keep it somewhere safe.

[HostV]

I would recommend you go through Adaptec site. there are several nice articles can be found about RAID etc

[Postmaster]

No, not a Raid.

First of all I don´t think a raid would work on a C/System Partition.
(You would have 2 identical operating systems running atb the same time - but who knows)

But if I mess up the first system the Raid would instantly mess up the second.

All I want is a clean system with all programms andwhatnot on one disk. And have the whole thing 1:1 copied to a second HD as spare system.

So if one system fails (software wise - and you know how a windows system can get crippled over time) I swap the dics.

Frank

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

I use Norton Ghost myself. Works perfect for what I do.

[ProfessorU]

No, not a Raid.

First of all I don´t think a raid would work on a C/System Partition.
(You would have 2 identical operating systems running atb the same time - but who knows)

But if I mess up the first system the Raid would instantly mess up the second.

All I want is a clean system with all programms andwhatnot on one disk. And have the whole thing 1:1 copied to a second HD as spare system.

So if one system fails (software wise - and you know how a windows system can get crippled over time) I swap the dics.

Frank

Hardware RAID 1 is very common as a boot partition. It works just fine. Yes, if you destroy your data, it's gone. That's another reason we keep backups. If you mess something up and then re-backup over your only copy, it's lost, too.

When Windows is "crippled over time" it's usually because of scumware and a bloated registry. Reverting to a backup you did a month ago probably won't solve that problem. A one-backup solution can really only be used for HARDWARE failure, not user error or performance. If you want better performance, consider an annual reinstall.

Ghost will work for what you want to do. I'm just suggesting that you're not as secure as you think you are if you consider your solution a "backup".

[kplo]

Norton Ghost never worked well for me.
True Image 10 is excellent, and an easy way to clone your hard drive to another.
I also l;ike their backup options, as you can choose to restore the whole drive or indivudual files. I make a clone and save that drive by itself; then make a backup to a drive other than my System disk for incremental restore points.
Saved me recently when my last Maxtor drive went down (I'm using WD and Samsungs now).
Inexpensive program that works well!
Hope this helps.
Ken
the Screen Skins guy