making an image of a hard drive

[bobbypotluck]

Ok so i got a lenovo s10 (windows xp) and i want to make an image of the hard drive using my mac. I have no idea if this is even possible. i vaguely recall someone once telling me that if you connect any computer via firewire to a mac that you could take an image of the hd on that computer. I realize that the s10 doesn't even have firewire, but i was wondering if this was true or not.

Basically what i'm asking is there any way to make an image of the hard drive without actually removing it from the s10?

what i'm trying to do is make an image of the hard drive, so when i do install osx on the s10, i'll be able to restore the image if anything goes wrong during installation of osx on it.

that was worded poorly i know, but i cant think of any other way of putting it.

 

[p.luik]

FireWire or USB will work.

 

[Tex-Twil]

Hi,
I can't really help you with this but if you are able to mount the disk to OSX, you can use WinClone to actually make a image of the disk.

what i'm trying to do is make an image of the hard drive, so when i do install osx on the s10, i'll be able to restore the image if anything goes wrong during installation of osx on it.

Btw I'm not really sure if this is legal

T.

 

[Angelo95210]

Plug 2 computers together works only if they are both macs... So not sure it will work with your Lenovo. I reckon you shoud use a windows software for this.
Maybe this will work then with OS X on it. And again not obvious because it's a Hackintosh...

 

[js81]

Didn't you get a restore CD with it? (I know its a netbook with no CD drive, but my HP Mini came with XP restore discs - just use an external CD drive.) If you did, then you don't need an image. If not, I recommend Norton Ghost (PC only, of course). There used to be a free/trial version...

 

[Tex-Twil]

Didn't you get a restore CD with it? (I know its a netbook with no CD drive, but my HP Mini came with XP restore discs - just use an external CD drive.)

Usually PC laptops have a hidden partition where is stored the restore DVD so don't forget to burn it if it's the case.

Tex

 

[js81]

Usually PC laptops have a hidden partition where is stored the restore DVD so don't forget to burn it if it's the case.

Tex

Very true, Tex. Its funny, actually - my last PC, also an HP laptop, did NOT have recovery CDs (had the partition on the HD), but my HP Mini netbook did. Only thing I can figure is that is because of the small 16GB SSD. They wanted $15 extra for CDs for my Vista laptop. Geez, am I glad to be rid of that beast...

 

[old-wiz]

I was wondering if the hidden partition would get wiped if you set up the hard disk for OSx? Doesn't OSx need The apple partition scheme to boot?

 

[bobbypotluck]

Usually PC laptops have a hidden partition where is stored the restore DVD so don't forget to burn it if it's the case.

Tex

Actually that's the whole point of doing this. the lenovo s10e has the instant on Linux OS along with XP, and i cant figure any way of preserving it for after my osx install than to take an image of the hard drive. No CD's come with it at all, and as far as i can tell there is no way to restore the instant on OS once you install OSX.

 

[illegallydead]

Plug 2 computers together works only if they are both macs... So not sure it will work with your Lenovo. I reckon you shoud use a windows software for this.
Maybe this will work then with OS X on it. And again not obvious because it's a Hackintosh...

No. They do not have to be. But a PC cannot go into target disk mode, so Firewire linking the computers is out of the question, I think.

I'm not 100% sure of the best way to connect the two computers (actually, consider pulling the hard drive from the Lenovo and connecting it via a IDE/SATA -> USB adapter, that might be quickest, ultimately)

To create the image, I would suggest Winclone. It works quite nicely.

 

[Tex-Twil]

the lenovo s10e has the instant on Linux OS along with XP,

What do you call the "instant" OS ??
If I was you, I would either use Norton Magic as suggested or a Linux Live CD to make a image of your partitions.

Norton Ghost is a kind of "Windows Live cd" which allows you to boot from it and make an image of your hard disk to an external media.

For the Linux possibility, you can either use some special distribution for making images such as System Rescue CD or use a Live CD and use part image. This require a bit more skills but I guess if you're trying to install OSX on a PC you will have no problem

Tex

 

[SHIFTLife]

Load DriveImageXML on the S10 and image it off to an external Hard Drive. You will have to load Windows manually on the laptop to install DriveImageXML and restore the image, so it's an extra step compared to Ghost, but on the bright side, it's a free solution.