Is it possible to clone my macbook HDD osx and Windows partitions?

[Nocturnal22]

If it is whats the best and "freeest" way to do it? I know how to do normal osx clones I use SuperDuper!. But now i have a vista partition. If i cant clone the complete drive is there any other way to do it? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thankyouz

 

[gr8tfly]

Use Disk Utility to clone OS-X using Restore ("erase destination"), and WinClone to clone/restore the BootCamp (Windows) partition.

WinClone will create an image file of your source BootCamp (Vista) partition. After you finish restoring the OS-X partition to your new drive (using a single Mac OS Extended (journaled) partition), use the BootCamp Assistant to create a new Windows partition. Then, use WinClone to restore from the image file you previously created. I've used it a few times over the last month or two with perfect (i.e. bootable) results. Well worth making a donation to the developer, IMO.

 

[Nocturnal22]

But how do i clone/restore them to one single external drive? and do i have to use disk utility? or can i use SuperDuper!

 

[MacDawg]

Yes, you can continue to use SuperDuper (or Carbon Copy Cloner) for your OSX partition. And WinClone works great for the Windows partition.

Yes, you can clone them to a single external drive. To restore, you will need to use separate OSX and Windows partitions again. (that is, if it is a new drive, you will need to use Boot Camp to partition the drive again to have a partition to restore the WinClone to).

Works like a charm.

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[Nocturnal22]

OK good to know thanx for the info

 

[gr8tfly]

I just use Disk Utility. I just don't see any advantage to SD or CCC.

Cloning the entire drive (both OS-X and BootCamp partitions) would be done using one of the above for the OS-X partition, and WinClone for the BootCamp partition.

Here are the steps I use to clone the old drive:

Boot from your install DVD (or the Mac's restore disk), run Disk Utility, and verify the source disk with First Aid.

If you hadn't done so already, format the new drive with a single partition using GUID map and format as Mac OS Extended (journaled).

Next, use Disk Utility Restore to clone the original to the new drive. Drag the old volume to the Source and the new to Destination. Check the "erase destination" to enable block copy. Double-check source & destination. Check it again. Disk Utility will ask if you are sure you want to erase the destination. Check your source & destination again.

Wait a while (it could easily take an hour or two, depending on how much data is being moved).

If you already have the new drive installed in the Mac, then just restart. The startup disk should remain set to the internal, but you can verify and restart from the Startup Disk app. Otherwise, now's the time to swap drives. Once that's done, you can restart per above. You should now be booted on your new drive.

If you have a Boot Camp Partition and Windows installed, it can be cloned to the new drive too. I've had great results using WinClone:

With the old drive mounted, use WinClone to create an image file of the old BC Partition.

Next, use the Apple Boot Camp Assistant to create a new BC partition on the new drive. It needs to be the same size or larger than the old, but larger only works if you had formatted the BC partition as NTFS. Actually, it will work with FAT32, but you won't have access to the additional space.

Finally, use WinClone to restore the image file to the new drive's new BC partition. Windows should boot right up. I've done this method several times over the last month and it's worked fine. Also, if you had created a new, larger partition AND it was NTFS format, WinClone will expand the old partition to the new BC partition size.

​

 

[leao]

Great Solution

This is a great solution, i just need to say that the disk utility can be found as well at the applications/utilities folder on the mac so you don't actually have to use the Install DVD to do this. Thanks for posting this solution.. you save me a lot of time!!

 

[relativist]

I agree, glad I found this thread. I'm in the middle of making a clone onto my new 500gb 7200 as I post this. Really glad I don't need a 3rd party program.