Is it possible to migrate a current Vista install straight to bootcamp?

spaceballl · Mar 4, 2008

Hi all,

Last I checked, it wasn't possible to do this, but I'd like to see if the tools out there have changed at all in recent times.

Parallels has Transporter and VMWare has converter, or something like that, for taking physical installations and migrating that installation to a new virtual machine. However, is it possible to take the physical installation and migrate it straight to bootcamp?

i.e. I have a PC for work. Can I just basically run some sort of clone to grab the hard drive and make it a boot camp partition? Thanks!

jbg232 · Mar 4, 2008

So you want to go from a parallels windows vista install and port that install into bootcamp?

I really don't think that is possible. The parallels/vmware installations are slightly proprietary and would not install properly if I had to venture a GUESS. The other problem is that you would have to create an MBR partition (using boot camp assistant) to allow the partition to be bootable. But I've been wrong before...

spaceballl · Mar 4, 2008

no, i want to go from a vista work laptop -> bootcamp. then i'll use vmware/parallels to run the bootcamp partition later.

jbg232 · Mar 4, 2008

Hmm.... I'm really not sure about that then but it sounds doable if you're willing to mess with the partition tables and format the ENTIRE hdd in the process. I'd have to think about it.

Neil321 · Mar 4, 2008

Not sure but see if this is what your after

http://www.twocanoes.com/winclone/

spaceballl · Mar 4, 2008

Thx for the link to winclone. That's actually not what i need, but it is a cool app. Winclone will take a bootcamp partition and create a backup image that you can restore from. Very cool.

What i'm talking about though is having a physical HP laptop in front of me that runs vista... And I want to take this laptop and basically just boot it up on my Macbook Pro.

Neil321 · Mar 4, 2008

Couldnt you take the HD out of the HP stick it in a enclosure,connect up to your MBP and clone across vista to you MBP using winclone or wouldnt that work?im not sure what you mean by booting up on my MBP apart from physically connecting it?

spaceballl · Mar 4, 2008

no - winclone is for taking a bootcamp partition and exporting it to an image, and then being able to restore from that. I want to take a working vista image and import it into bootcamp. Oh well I can just run it virtuatlized if I need to, but i'd rather go w/ bootcamp.

Neil321 · Mar 4, 2008

spaceballl said:
no - winclone is for taking a bootcamp partition and exporting it to an image, and then being able to restore from that. I want to take a working vista image and import it into bootcamp. Oh well I can just run it virtuatlized if I need to, but i'd rather go w/ bootcamp.

Are ok,but wouldnt that be illegal? ( if from a HP ) why not just get rid of your Vm and install Vista under bootcamp?

spaceballl · Mar 5, 2008

neil321 said:
Are ok,but wouldnt that be illegal? ( if from a HP ) why not just get rid of your Vm and install Vista under bootcamp?

Hmm licensing issues get tricky when you do this - I do agree. I THINK it's okay to do as long as I discontinue use of the HP computer - i.e. i bought one copy of vista and i'm only running one instance of vista. I don't think it's illegal considering that VMWare Converter and Parallels Transporter are designed for exactly that.

brand · Mar 7, 2008

If Vista is OEM then it stays with the HP laptop whether you discontinue use of it or not. Yes VMWare Converter and Parallels Transporter are designed to copy Windows. But their intended purpose is to copy Retail and Volume licensed copies of Windows not OEM.

The Flashing Fi · Mar 7, 2008

spaceballl said:
Hmm licensing issues get tricky when you do this - I do agree. I THINK it's okay to do as long as I discontinue use of the HP computer - i.e. i bought one copy of vista and i'm only running one instance of vista. I don't think it's illegal considering that VMWare Converter and Parallels Transporter are designed for exactly that.

You bought Vista, as in it's a retail license (IE, bought it at Best Buy or some place like that) or did it come with your laptop? If it came with your laptop, you can't transfer it. Also, transfering the partition from your laptop to boot camp is not as simple as it sounds, even if you find a utility to do it for you. You will run into a butt load of driver conflicts (chipset drivers, video card drivers, LAN drivers, Wireless drivers, ect).

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