Tech: Cloning Vista...

Subject: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: Bernard
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 05:13 PM

In case anyone has tried cloning a Vista partition, for example to upgrade to a larger hard drive, I thought I'd share this with you...

I've been using BartPE on a bootable CD with Norton Ghost v8 to close drives, and was perplexed when a Vista partion cloned successfully, but wouldn't boot.

So... it seems Vista uses a new system:

"Boot Configuration Data (BCD) files provide a store that is used to describe boot applications and boot application settings.
The objects and elements in the store effectively replace Boot.ini"

Anyway, if you can boot the machine to a command prompt with Administrator permissions, you need these three entries - exactly as listed:

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} device boot
bcdedit /set {default} device boot
bcdedit /set {default} osdevice boot

The offending partition will now boot normally!

This will also work if you're brave enough to do this to the partition to be cloned before you clone it... which makes me wonder why the BCD isn't already defaulted to these settings!

Hope this saves someone else a few hours of hair-tearing!!

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: Bernard
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 05:31 PM

Forgot to mention... BCDEDIT.EXE is in the C:\Windows\System32 folder (assuming C:\ is the partition), so you need to CD to that first!

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 03:33 PM

A note found while floundering randomly looking for help (mostly unsuccesfully) at Microsoft notes that if you want to multi-boot to Vista and to an older Windows version, the OLDEST version must be installed first, and successive versions added in order.

It appears that the older version can't be opened after the machine startup that happens before Windows is loaded if that "startup" comes from a Vista boot sector(?), but if the machine turns on with the older version, Vista can "update" the machine startup when Vista is selected as the one to open.

The article was "vague" and wasn't particularly relevant to what I was looking for, so if my comment doesn't make much sense just ignore.

There was no comment (that I noticed) on requirements to boot a non-Windows OS on a multi-boot machine with Vista on it.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: Bernard
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 06:05 PM

Micro$haft? Vague? Just what are you suggesting?!! ;o)

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 10:37 PM

I've checked most of my "saved info" and don't find that particular comment. The order of installation isn't mentioned in the up-front articles on dual boot, but they appear to ASSume that your older Windows will be installed and you're adding Vista.

Must have been a Tech Net of Dev Net article(?).

We probably have at least 30 or 40 "Microsoft Press" books from "professional contacts" where they sent us "courtesy copies." I've yet to see one worth buying, simply because the authors all assume that everybody has the same setup they have, and they NEVER define what machinery (and often not the programs) they're talking about. I makes it very difficult to make sense of what they say - - but techies don't generally make good authors to begin with, and when they make managers out of them the full lobotomy kicks in.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 04:32 PM

Why anyone in their right mind should want to use vista when XP is a perfectly good system defies logic.

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 07:56 PM

You almost have no choice if you need a new OS.

Retail sellers are prohibited by Microsoft from selling WinXP already, unless they have "existing stock." Most existing stocks are gone now.

Some OEM makers have existing stock (licenses for specific quantities) that they can continue to deliver, but for the most part they're only willing to deliver them to "business accounts" who buy machines in quantity (or sometimes to those who beg very convincingly).

Microsoft has made claims about "keeping XP available," but the only versions being kept available for new users are XP Home (which is completely gutless for my needs, and is available only to specific "kinds of users"), and the de-watted neutered version(s) for game toys.

Support for XP, except for critical security patches, has ENDED, so you're at the mercy of Microsoft if anything comes up that they don't consider "critical." The sleeper in the support situation is that they shouldn't be expected to check patches they do release for compatibility with older application programs, so those are likely to begin to deteriorate.

Critical patches to WinXP rendered my perfectly satisfactory Word 2002 unusable about a year ago, and the only thing available then was Office 2007.

They mucked up Office 2007 even worse than Vista, in my opinion. I was perfectly happy with FIVE choices on the top tool bar, and could get to a menu for any task with a maximum of about three clicks, if I forgot the shortcut keys. Now there are 53 unintelligible and unusable choices on the default top menu, including 7 other "main menues" each with about the same 50-odd unintelligible and unusable choices to do things I don't need or want to do. Seven clicks down, you can get to half of a useful menu, but the other tasks that used to be all together in one place are now splattered randomly among the 8 X 50 x 50 menus you have to click through to find where pieces of useful menus might be hidden.

Of course that's just the front page. If you want my real opinion it would take several posts.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 08:17 PM

"it would take several posts"

Sounds more like a whole bloody fence...

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: kendall
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 09:30 PM

VISTA SUCKS!!!

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 09:53 PM

"VISTA SUCKS!!!"

We may have found a use fo Vista Kendall...

I think we should all go help Bobert ...

Subject: RE: Tech: Cloning Vista...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 11:01 PM

An interesting note on Vista is the claim that every Vista product disk has all versions of Vista on it.

Microsoft has a program called "Instant Upgrade" and if you don't like the Vista version you've got you can call them up with your credit card number and they'll unlock another version for you to like even less, all from your own one original disk.

Maybe the intent is to keep everybody unhappy, in hopes people will do a lot of version swapping.

John