My personal PC recently started showing signs of Hard Drive failure, so I started investigating tools that I could use to clone the drive to a new one. Clonezilla topped all the lists of tools to use if you have bad sectors that could potentially crash the process with other tools. I have spent the last week on the website learning how to use it, but I have no experience with Linux at all, and my efforts to create a USB boot disk have failed. When downloading the .zip files from the Clonezilla Live site to create the boot disks, there are several options:
Release Branch: Stable
CPU Architecture: i686-pae, amd64, or i486
Release Branch: Alternative
CPU Architecture: amd64 or i386
I have downloaded all of these .zip files and used them to create boot disks on 5 separate USB flash drives. When following the on-site instructions for how to create the disks, I noticed that within each .zip file there are both a win32 and win64 version of the makeboot.bat files. I know my PC has Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, but the instructions say to use the win32 version of the makeboot.bat file.
The real confusion comes into play because the USB boot disks I have created work perfectly fine on my work laptop, and on my wife's PC. However, on my PC that has the failing hard drive, and also on an old, junker PC that I have stashed at home, I cannot get any of them to boot. It just throws up a message at boot to:
"Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"
Can anyone offer me any clarity on how to select the proper version of Clonezilla Live to use to create a working Boot Disk for my PC? There are 2 sets of "Testing" releases available on the Clonezilla Live site that I have not yet tried, but I can't find any answers on the web about the CPU Architecture to know which one I should be trying to use.
If this issue indicates that there may be something ELSE wrong with my computer, any advice would be appreciated. I do know that the computer is capable of booting from a USB drive because I was able to boot using my Macrium Relfect Rescue drive, but the clone process failed when I used that tool. I do know that the computer is capable of booting from a CD, however I cannot create a Clonezilla Boot CD because my burner is on the PC having the issues.
I really appreciate any time or assistance anyone can offer. Thanks very much.
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Mostly there are any issues with the power supply of an old pc.
A check of the voltages won't be simple.
But you can try to unplug unnecessary devices in and out the pc to make an image. All CD/DVD devices, printers, modems ..
And try it with an other USB input connector too.
Thanks for the reply. Are you saying that the power supply being old could be the reason the Boot disk doesn't work on my machine?
I know that the computer is capable of booting from a USB, because I was able to do so with my Macrium Reflect boot drive.
I think what I will have to do is disconnect my wife's hard drive from her machine, and hook up my old and new drives in hers and boot from the USB disk. She's just going to hate it because it means her computer will be unavailable for a day or so.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hello,
My personal PC recently started showing signs of Hard Drive failure, so I started investigating tools that I could use to clone the drive to a new one. Clonezilla topped all the lists of tools to use if you have bad sectors that could potentially crash the process with other tools. I have spent the last week on the website learning how to use it, but I have no experience with Linux at all, and my efforts to create a USB boot disk have failed. When downloading the .zip files from the Clonezilla Live site to create the boot disks, there are several options:
Website: http://www.clonezilla.org/downloads.php
Release Branch: Stable
CPU Architecture: i686-pae, amd64, or i486
Release Branch: Alternative
CPU Architecture: amd64 or i386
I have downloaded all of these .zip files and used them to create boot disks on 5 separate USB flash drives. When following the on-site instructions for how to create the disks, I noticed that within each .zip file there are both a win32 and win64 version of the makeboot.bat files. I know my PC has Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, but the instructions say to use the win32 version of the makeboot.bat file.
The real confusion comes into play because the USB boot disks I have created work perfectly fine on my work laptop, and on my wife's PC. However, on my PC that has the failing hard drive, and also on an old, junker PC that I have stashed at home, I cannot get any of them to boot. It just throws up a message at boot to:
"Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"
Can anyone offer me any clarity on how to select the proper version of Clonezilla Live to use to create a working Boot Disk for my PC? There are 2 sets of "Testing" releases available on the Clonezilla Live site that I have not yet tried, but I can't find any answers on the web about the CPU Architecture to know which one I should be trying to use.
If this issue indicates that there may be something ELSE wrong with my computer, any advice would be appreciated. I do know that the computer is capable of booting from a USB drive because I was able to boot using my Macrium Relfect Rescue drive, but the clone process failed when I used that tool. I do know that the computer is capable of booting from a CD, however I cannot create a Clonezilla Boot CD because my burner is on the PC having the issues.
I really appreciate any time or assistance anyone can offer. Thanks very much.
Mostly there are any issues with the power supply of an old pc.
A check of the voltages won't be simple.
But you can try to unplug unnecessary devices in and out the pc to make an image. All CD/DVD devices, printers, modems ..
And try it with an other USB input connector too.
If it works use clonezilla:
local_disk_to_local_disk_clone
( http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live/doc/03_Disk_to_disk_clone/images/ocs-06-disk-to-local-disk-clone.png )
in Beginner mode
or
in Expert mode with parameter -rescue
Good luck!
Thanks for the reply. Are you saying that the power supply being old could be the reason the Boot disk doesn't work on my machine?
I know that the computer is capable of booting from a USB, because I was able to do so with my Macrium Reflect boot drive.
I think what I will have to do is disconnect my wife's hard drive from her machine, and hook up my old and new drives in hers and boot from the USB disk. She's just going to hate it because it means her computer will be unavailable for a day or so.