At work we use small self contained PC's which are used in vechicles, as such they use a basic Windows 7 install and contain only a few things for the job they are required to do. I'm looking for a piece of software that will allow me to ... after I've formatted one, installed Windows, installed updates, drivers and the basic software required, I would then like to be able to save that as a 'snapshot'. I can then use this 'snapshot' to simply re-image other units when they start acting up instead of playing around with themfor ages. In effect restoring it to the state of the image when I created it, this will create them all identical, which I will rectify after a re-image by changing a few details manually.
This will probably sound easy to some of you (and I'm sure it is), but searching the internet for such a program that will do this exact task just throws up a hundred programs claiming they can do all kinds of things image/cloning related, the snag is, they all use different wording and phrases that baffle me into wondering if what they are offering is actually what I need.
There are all manner of terms (cloning, backup, copying etc), I believe I'm after cloning, and I've seen something somewhere called a 'bit copy' which I think is basically a complete 100% copy of PC with no thrills or magic added. The last program I looked at seems to be able to make a image of the build, but to then put that image on another unit, I would need to installed the related program that created the image to the unit to do so, which is not what I'm after.
This is where I believe Clonezilla can help me, mainly because it's DOS based which means it should be fast and without hassle, it also gets rave reviews. We are currently using Norton Ghost, but it's a very old version and the image itself needs updating somewhat, hence I'm looking for something newer that can do what I need without a ton of hassle. I don't need a fancy Windows UI or anything like that, just shove a USB pen into the PC, boot from it, choose the image, come back in 5-10 minutes time, boot it up and change the small things that tells it apart from the rest, and job done, it's ready for use ...
So, basically, can Clonezilla do this for me? I've seen a few FAQ's and a few YT videos for Clonezilla but they didn't seem to cover what I need exactly, it's more about backing up home PC hard drives and copying them to another on the fly. I can create a bootable USB stick and boot into Clonezilla easily, but before I go off down that road, is Clonezilla what I need? If not, can anyone suggest the program I should be using?
Regards
Stef
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
" because it's DOS based" -> No, Clonezilla is GNU/Linux based.
"can Clonezilla do this for me? " -> Yes, this is what Clonezilla for.
For step-by-step doc, please check this: http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live-doc.php
Steven
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Thanks for the reply Steven, top man, I'll have a play with it, but if this is Linux based, this will be no use for WIndows and what I was hoping to achieve from it?
Oh hang on, you mean that CZ the application is GNU/Linux driven/based?
A tad confused ...
Regards
Stef
Last edit: Stefen Sumner 2018-03-25
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Clonezilla lis GNU/Linux based, but it can be used to deploy many OSes, like GNU/Linux, MacOS, MS Windows, FreeBSD.... Please refer to this: http://clonezilla.org/
Steven
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hi all,
I'm after some advice, here's my situation ...
At work we use small self contained PC's which are used in vechicles, as such they use a basic Windows 7 install and contain only a few things for the job they are required to do. I'm looking for a piece of software that will allow me to ... after I've formatted one, installed Windows, installed updates, drivers and the basic software required, I would then like to be able to save that as a 'snapshot'. I can then use this 'snapshot' to simply re-image other units when they start acting up instead of playing around with themfor ages. In effect restoring it to the state of the image when I created it, this will create them all identical, which I will rectify after a re-image by changing a few details manually.
This will probably sound easy to some of you (and I'm sure it is), but searching the internet for such a program that will do this exact task just throws up a hundred programs claiming they can do all kinds of things image/cloning related, the snag is, they all use different wording and phrases that baffle me into wondering if what they are offering is actually what I need.
There are all manner of terms (cloning, backup, copying etc), I believe I'm after cloning, and I've seen something somewhere called a 'bit copy' which I think is basically a complete 100% copy of PC with no thrills or magic added. The last program I looked at seems to be able to make a image of the build, but to then put that image on another unit, I would need to installed the related program that created the image to the unit to do so, which is not what I'm after.
This is where I believe Clonezilla can help me, mainly because it's DOS based which means it should be fast and without hassle, it also gets rave reviews. We are currently using Norton Ghost, but it's a very old version and the image itself needs updating somewhat, hence I'm looking for something newer that can do what I need without a ton of hassle. I don't need a fancy Windows UI or anything like that, just shove a USB pen into the PC, boot from it, choose the image, come back in 5-10 minutes time, boot it up and change the small things that tells it apart from the rest, and job done, it's ready for use ...
So, basically, can Clonezilla do this for me? I've seen a few FAQ's and a few YT videos for Clonezilla but they didn't seem to cover what I need exactly, it's more about backing up home PC hard drives and copying them to another on the fly. I can create a bootable USB stick and boot into Clonezilla easily, but before I go off down that road, is Clonezilla what I need? If not, can anyone suggest the program I should be using?
Regards
Stef
" because it's DOS based" -> No, Clonezilla is GNU/Linux based.
"can Clonezilla do this for me? " -> Yes, this is what Clonezilla for.
For step-by-step doc, please check this:
http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live-doc.php
Steven
Thanks for the reply Steven, top man, I'll have a play with it, but if this is Linux based, this will be no use for WIndows and what I was hoping to achieve from it?
Oh hang on, you mean that CZ the application is GNU/Linux driven/based?
A tad confused ...
Regards
Stef
Last edit: Stefen Sumner 2018-03-25
Clonezilla lis GNU/Linux based, but it can be used to deploy many OSes, like GNU/Linux, MacOS, MS Windows, FreeBSD.... Please refer to this:
http://clonezilla.org/
Steven