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rozwado1 · Aug 14, 2008, 02:51 PM

I had to get a crap laptop for days where I'm stuck at school for 10hrs. It's running Vista Home Basic, which means that it doesn't have the imaging options in the built-in backup program. I'd like to image it once in awhile ala Winclone (what I use for bootcamp), but in order to do that I'd need to be able to boot the Vista laptop into Target Disk mode to see it from my Mac Pro Finder - which I'm pretty sure isn't an option in Vista.

So, any cheap/easy way to view the lappy's Vista disk in OS X?

or do I just get Norton Ghost and toss the images on my external via Firewire?
Mods, move if nece.

d4nth3m4n · Aug 14, 2008, 05:31 PM

i wish we had a subforum for things like this.

rozwado1 · Aug 14, 2008, 05:34 PM

yeah, like 'Multiple OS Mayhem'

Cold Warrior · Aug 14, 2008, 06:46 PM

Moved to Alt OS.

calverson · Aug 15, 2008, 04:39 PM

No. Vista sucks. Destroy it.

On a more helpful note: is there really any need to image it? I understand that you want to do it, but I would rather just save the files that you need on a flashdisk and just transfer that.

What you could do would be install Ubuntu on a separate partition (which you can do and still keep your Vista intact) and then network your two computers, and then, while booted up in Ubuntu, share your Vista partition over the network, and then grab it from OSX.

You should be able to do that. I would Google the different steps of doing this before hand to make sure.

rozwado1 · Aug 17, 2008, 06:45 PM

I prefer images so that I can keep milestones before I upgrade software. i feel safer knowing I can go back to a fully-functional system in 30mins if an update F's up my system.

I'll look into the Ubuntu route, though it sounds complex.

BreadRecipe · Aug 17, 2008, 07:00 PM

*Ubuntu OSes are pretty straightforward. Especially Kubuntu IMO. It's very simple. Burn an ISO of your favorite *Ubuntu flavor, install it on a partition of any size you want. And when you startx the GUI in the cmd prompt and it loads into desktop, just look into network places (it's next to the Kubuntu version of a "start" menu) and you'll see any machine in any workgroup under SAMBA shares. Then do what you have to do in OS X. Done and done. I do it all the time at work with a Kubuntu server I built so that I don't have to be bothered changing a Windows machine's workgroup. I can just just transfer files via Ubuntu. Very handy. I highly recommend the 5GB or so of HDD space you'll have to partition. Also, you mentioned you're in school. Whether high; or college, or grad, there's a million useful apps that you can get through Kubuntu's Synaptec Package Manager that are conducive to every academic field of study

ghporter · Aug 17, 2008, 09:02 PM

Look into Bart's PE Builder. With this you can build bootable utility CDs that will do all sorts of things. You can also find a DriveImage plugin for it (look at the very bottom of the page), which will allow you to image your heart out. DI will let you image to a networked location, a USB-connected drive (I think), and much more.

rozwado1 · May 3, 2009, 10:31 AM

Now if I rip the HD out of the vista laptop, can I image it with Disk Utility for backup and successfully get vista to boot again when I reapply said image to the drive?

I have Winclone too, but I'm guessing it would mess up the vista system on the laptop (since it's not a mac).

rozwado1 · May 7, 2009, 11:21 AM

bump

ghporter · May 7, 2009, 12:29 PM

You should be able to image the drive with Disk Utility, but I don't know if it can restore it; Vista is pretty stern about requiring you to format its drive for NTFS, and DU may balk at writing an NTFS partition. That's just a guess, and I'm sure someone will come in shortly and post from experience.

Winclone, however WILL both image and restore Windows partitions, so I'd go with that.

rozwado1 · May 7, 2009, 12:38 PM

My worry is that winclone was made for bootcamp installs originally, so I'm wondering if the imaging process writes in any windows-on-mac nonsense. I'll check with their devs.

seanc · 04:37 PM

My input - get an external HDD formatted as NTFS, use Runtime Software's Drive Image XML and store them on there.

I use it religiously before I start work on a sick machine so that I can always go back to how it came in and undo things I've changed - also I can recover the data as well if the HDD is failing.

ghporter · May 7, 2009, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by rozwado1

My worry is that winclone was made for bootcamp installs originally, so I'm wondering if the imaging process writes in any windows-on-mac nonsense. I'll check with their devs.

There is no such thing as "Windows on Mac" anything involving Boot Camp. With Boot Camp, all that happens is that you BOOT NATIVELY into Windows or OS X. Seriously. All BC is is a tool to quickly and easily, non-destructively repartition your drive, plus a collection of Windows drivers for your Mac hardware.

However, sean's suggestion is also good. DriveImage has always been my Windows image tool of choice - the technology is so good that Symantec bought PowerQuest to get their hands on it for Ghost.