603 replies to this topic

[erwan.l]

Version 1.9.9 out

 

Added :

• create/attach a vhd file as disk
• open/attach a vhd file as disk
• create a disk, a partition
• take a disk online, offline

 

all this being potentially handy a in a winpe where the disk management interface would be missing.

 

see attached screenshot.

 

Regards,

Erwan

Attached Thumbnails

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[erwan.l]

added exFAT and UDF format filesystems (usb medias included)

[erwan.l]

Latest version can also mount ISO files using open/attach VHD : tested in windows 8.0 and windows 8.1, thanks to MS virtual disk api's .

 

Will not work in windows 7 and lower versions.

[Zoso]

hi erwan.I,

I dont know how to use clonedisk, it seems to be very useful but really all I have been using it for is the file copy with copy ACL feature to move windows from images to partitions and visversa.

I just tried the latest version for that but I dont find the file copy function, is it still available in new version?

[erwan.l]

hi erwan.I,

I dont know how to use clonedisk, it seems to be very useful but really all I have been using it for is the file copy with copy ACL feature to move windows from images to partitions and visversa.

I just tried the latest version for that but I dont find the file copy function, is it still available in new version?

 

Hi Zoso,

 

I have removed the file copy feature so that CloneDisk focuses exclusively on byte to byte copy.

In your case, why not use the partitition to partition clone feature of CloneDisk (right click in main window, select 'display PART only') ?

 

The file copy level has some drawbacks : files can be hidden or system only, or in used, etc...

You then also need to handle the target MBR and BS.

And you can then end up with a semi or not working copy.

 

If you really want to stick to file to file, you can always try : xcopy /x /e /c /i /h /k /y /w c:\*.* d:\ .

 

Regards,

Erwan

[Zoso]

the main reason that I use file copy is because I dont know another way to move a windows installation from one place to another when the sizees are not the same. for instance, I have made images of different windows as small as possible for saving but I like to restore them on real partitions that are much larger when actually using that installation.

also, it appears that clonedisk has options that can prepare a windows installation for booting from USB while offline, is this correct?

thanks

[wimb]

@Zoso

 

FileCopy is used in Win_Restore.exe which can be used to Restore Windows XP/7/8 from Portable VHD file to HDD or USB partition.

 

http://reboot.pro/to...-on-hdd-or-usb/

 

[erwan.l]

also, it appears that clonedisk has options that can prepare a windows installation for booting from USB while offline, is this correct?

 

 

Correct : go to advanced , registry tools, enable usb.

I would also then tick "rediscover mounted devices at next reboot".

[erwan.l]

the main reason that I use file copy is because I dont know another way to move a windows installation from one place to another when the sizees are not the same. for instance, I have made images of different windows as small as possible for saving but I like to restore them on real partitions that are much larger when actually using that installation.
 

 

I could re enable that feature but only if I am convinced that there no other tools out there doing this better than I would do

[Wonko the Sane]

I thought that XXCOPY:

http://www.xxcopy.com/

was the usual "Xcopy replacement".

 

The original (just for the record) xcopy command line parameters are "SERVe Kentucky Fried Chicken Hot!":

http://www.duxcw.com...pyhd/cpyhd2.htm

 

Or Robocopy.

 

Since I managed - at leas once - to "convince" wimb that strarc is even a better choice, I may have success also this time :

http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/

http://www.ltr-data....iles/strarc.txt

 

A console backup/archive tool for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/7. It uses the same backup methods as the ntbackup or robocopy programs and thus backs up all information and meta data on an NTFS volume. The main difference is that strarc is free and open source and produces stream archives you can store on tapes, disks or anywhere else or it can create the archive stream to stdout so that it can be compressed easily using stream compression tools like gzip or bzip2. The command line switches and parameters are quite similar to the *nix tar utility and it can easily be used to clone an entire NTFS volume including everything, files, directories, their time stamps, attributes and security information, compression attribute, alternate data streams, junctions, hard links etc. With this new 0.1.3 release it is even possible to backup the registry database files of a running Windows system. An information file called strarc.txt describing usage and including how-to:s and other documentation is included in this zip file. The documentation is also available here.

 

 

Wonko

[wimb]

Since I managed - at leas once - to "convince" wimb that strarc is even a better choice, I may have success also this time :

http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/

http://www.ltr-data....iles/strarc.txt

 

 

You may have managed again to convince me

 

I see that strarc has option -j to copy junctions but not the files on the joined filesystem.

 

In Win_Restore.exe I make use of Robocopy (for Users and ProgramData dirs) and the rest is done with xcopy and  /e /c /i /h /r /k /o /x /y to copy also ACL info of NTFS.

In Robocopy I skip the junctions by using /XJ option, but I think now it might be interesting instead to use strarc and also copy the junctions.

Actually, is it really needed to copy junctions or don't you need them in general ?

 

[Wonko the Sane]

 

Actually, is it really needed to copy junctions or don't you need them in general ?

 

AFAIK up to Windows XP and 2003 they are not "integral" part of a "default" install.

Starting from Vista and later, they "are" (or at least "should" or "may", possibly depending on SP and what not ).

Or maybe only hard links ad not junctions?

No more details, I am afraid.

In any case, if the idea is to "copy", the "copy"should be "identical" to the "original", IMHO, though of course a "good enough" copy may do.

 

Wonko

[Zoso]

Hi Zoso,

I have removed the file copy feature so that CloneDisk focuses exclusively on byte to byte copy.
In your case, why not use the partitition to partition clone feature of CloneDisk (right click in main window, select 'display PART only') ?

The file copy level has some drawbacks : files can be hidden or system only, or in used, etc...
You then also need to handle the target MBR and BS.
And you can then end up with a semi or not working copy.

If you really want to stick to file to file, you can always try : xcopy /x /e /c /i /h /k /y /w c:\*.* d:\ .

Regards,
Erwan

OK thanks. I try to avoid command line only solutions when possible with these types of operations because of the risk of mistyping an entry can be a disaster sometimes.

Correct : go to advanced , registry tools, enable usb.
I would also then tick "rediscover mounted devices at next reboot".

thats great! I want to try this soon. I have been using WinNTSetup to prepare w7 and usboot for w2k & XP (and Sometimes Wimbs tools for experimenting)

@Zoso

FileCopy is used in Win_Restore.exe which can be used to Restore Windows XP/7/8 from Portable VHD file to HDD or USB partition.

http://reboot.pro/to...-on-hdd-or-usb/

hi Wimb, does Win_Restore.exe only work on .vhd? I copy to and from various media incluidng real partitions, .raw, & .img

I thought that XXCOPY:
http://www.xxcopy.com/
was the usual "Xcopy replacement".

The original (just for the record) xcopy command line parameters are "SERVe Kentucky Fried Chicken Hot!":
http://www.duxcw.com...pyhd/cpyhd2.htm

Or Robocopy.

Since I managed - at leas once - to "convince" wimb that strarc is even a better choice, I may have success also this time :
http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/
http://www.ltr-data....iles/strarc.txt



Wonko

hi Wonko, thanks for chiming in. very helpful info (as usual) reading now. I could really use a GUI copy or imaging tool for all types to and from that allows smaller images to be copied to larger ones while leaving the free space that is left usable. Im sure there is something that does this but I havnt found it or if I have I havnt found how to.

[Wonko the Sane]

OK thanks. I try to avoid command line only solutions when possible with these types of operations because of the risk of mistyping an entry can be a disaster sometimes.
 

Ever heard about batch files (or any other form of scripting)?

 

Even myself was able to put together a half-@§§ed pseudo GUI for VDK (not a "plug" , just a way to show how simple something can be) using the Wizard's Apprentice:

http://jaclaz.alterv...ts/VDM/vdm.html

 

Wonko

[erwan.l]

the main reason that I use file copy is because I dont know another way to move a windows installation from one place to another when the sizees are not the same. for instance, I have made images of different windows as small as possible for saving but I like to restore them on real partitions that are much larger when actually using that installation.

also, it appears that clonedisk has options that can prepare a windows installation for booting from USB while offline, is this correct?

thanks

 

Latest clonedisk version has the copy files feature back, just beneath the clone disk feature.

I use this command line xcopy /e /c /i /h /k /y /q /r /o.

The command will run under the system account to get a chance to grab more files.

 

Ideally, you should run this under winpe, not on a live system although I had some success in the past doing it live.

 

This method requires you to handle the partitition attributes like : MBR, BS, Active...

[erwan.l]

Ever heard about batch files (or any other form of scripting)?

 

Even myself was able to put together a half-@§§ed pseudo GUI for VDK (not a "plug" , just a way to show how simple something can be) using the Wizard's Apprentice:

http://jaclaz.alterv...ts/VDM/vdm.html

 

Wonko

 

Hi Jaklaz,

Link broken on your webpage : http://chitchat.at.i...vmware/vdk.html .

 

Cheers,

Erwan

[Wonko the Sane]

link broken on your webpage : http://chitchat.at.i...vmware/vdk.html .

Sure.
Read the dates.
Also here it is broken:
http://sanbarrow.com/vmdk-tools.html
 
Wayback Machine:
http://web.archive.o...vmware/vdk.html 
 
See here:
http://www.drivesnap.../en/virtual.htm
http://oss.netfarm.it/win32/
plus any number of winbuilder projects that include original or modified versions.
 

Wonko

[erwan.l]

and i have mirrored the 3.3 version here as well : http://erwan.labalec...onedisk/vdk.zip

[Zoso]

Ever heard about batch files (or any other form of scripting)?

I have, and I have also mistyped entries in them so Im not sure how why that helps but I only know the basics about batch files.

Latest clonedisk version has the copy files feature back, just beneath the clone disk feature.
I use this command line xcopy /e /c /i /h /k /y /q /r /o.
The command will run under the system account to get a chance to grab more files.

Ideally, you should run this under winpe, not on a live system although I had some success in the past doing it live.

This method requires you to handle the partitition attributes like : MBR, BS, Active...

cool.. thanks erwan.I!

[wimb]

hi Wimb, does Win_Restore.exe only work on .vhd? I copy to and from various media incluidng real partitions, .raw, & .img
 

 

Real partitions and other Image files can be used as Source, but you need to rename .raw as .img

 

After copy then Win_Restore.exe will fix Windows for booting from Target Drive (HDD or USB).

 

Discussion of Win_Restore.exe can be continued here http://reboot.pro/to...-on-hdd-or-usb/

[Vortex]

Hi erwan,

 

Thanks for the latest release of CloneDisk. I am testing the tool on a NativeEx based WinPE. After the command Display PART only, CloneDisk is freezing. I guess it tries to access the floppy drive. I have no floppy drive on my computer. The temporary solution is to disable the floppy controller with the devcon tool :

devcon disable * PNP0700

Could you force CloneDisk to by-pass the floppy drive controller on demand?

[erwan.l]

Hi erwan,

 

Thanks for the latest release of CloneDisk. I am testing the tool on a NativeEx based WinPE. After the command Display PART only, CloneDisk is freezing. I guess it tries to access the floppy drive. I have no floppy drive on my computer. The temporary solution is to disable the floppy controller with the devcon tool :

devcon disable * PNP0700

Could you force CloneDisk to by-pass the floppy drive controller on demand?

 

yep i could implement that (or rather exclude a: b: in my getlogicaldrives loop).

 

Can you try "display DISKS and PARTS" ?

There it should "only" display PARTS below existing physical DISKS.

[Vortex]

Hi erwan,

 

I tried your suggestion, thanks. Again, CloneDisk is freezing. The error message is :

 

The drive is not ready for use; its door may be open. Please check drive A: and make sure that a disk is inserted and the drive door is closed.

 

[erwan.l]

Hi erwan,

 

I tried your suggestion, thanks. Again, CloneDisk is freezing. The error message is :

 

Ok, I have uploaded a new version.

I will now look for the 'floppy' string in the dosdevice name and if found will discard the drive.

 

I used VFD to perform my tests.

 

Give it a try and hopefully you should not have this issue anymore.

[Vortex]

Hi erwan,

 

Thanks for the upload. The problem is solved.

 

If I hit Display Disks and Parts, CloneDisk will list only the first partition of the drives. Shouldn't the tool display all the partitions?

I tested this feature on two different computers. The result is the same. Only one partition is showed.

 

Display PART only works fine.