Hey guys hows it going and good to be on the forums. So i have been having some issues lately at work restoring images to laptops as of late using windows 7. The computers i have been given through work have been coming back lately with the operating systems wiped but normally still with partitions on them etc.. So i need some good pointers. Is my best bet when creating a new image to restore onto identical laptops to only have one main partition on the master computer and then make sure that the other laptops im using for restore also only have one blank partition? Is something screwing jup with the mbr or what am i missing upon restore? The reason i am asking is that lately when i create the image, it goes through with no problems and no visual errors and then when i restore using a partition to the other laptop everything goes by successfully as well but then when i reboot the cloned computer it just sits at a black screen with a cursor blinking in the top left hand corner. Had this happen a few times lately with different laptops. I am thinking maybe it has something to do with mbr then? I am just looking for some good tips and pointers to make my cloning experiences go a smooth as possible. Hoping for some general tips to avoid these situations in the future when cloning with windows OS's. I can also send some logs in the future as well. I dont currently have any logs to send but maybe i missed where clonezilla stores the log files upon completion of restores and image creations? If so please let me know where they are stored amd maybe i can get them as well. So ,my main question is does anyone have some important pointers or advice on what i should do before making my master image on the master computer, ie. one partition etc and one partition on cloned machines etc? Any help is greatly appreciated since i have spent a lot of time lately and had failure results. If more details are needed as well please let me know !!
P.S. i am currently creating the images and saving them on my work server and then restoring from the work server to the blank laptops via a clonezilla cd. Not sure which version i am using for the cd's but i can give more details if needed.
Last edit: MurryC 2014-08-31
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To cut a long story short, you would like to use an image with windows OS for more identical latops.
Before you taking an image:
Try to install "sysprep" from MS on the source machine.
Clonezilla 'savedisk' from the master computer
Clonezilla 'restoredisk' on the blank HDD of the identical laptops.
The log files are on /var/log/.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Thanks Fuchs. My main issue i was having is that our IT coordinator was insistent that the best way to go when creating images is to use save partition to local instead of save disk as image.... I am wondering why he was always so persistent about partition imaging rather than disk. Was it mainly because partition saving is a failsafe method in case you encounter an identical machine with a smaller partition? I am assuming yes because if you go save disk as image you are stuck with the full hd sized image instead of being able to shrink a partition down in the case you run into an identical machine with a smaller hd??? Just making sure im correct? In that case is it safer to create my master image on a small hard drive, say an 80gb for example? I am starting to think by taking my IT admins advice i have wasted countless hours with missing mbr's etc. using the partition method..... Let me know if i should just go the save disk way please and thanks.
Oh and also, if i go the local disk save route, lets say i shrink the partition before making my master image. When i restore on client machines, can i then extend back if additional space exists on the new machines or will it be done for me in the restore? Or is my best bet (if i am going to choose a small hd for my master going the image to disk route) just to simply leave the volume size alone??
I will give you a better idea of my scenario i encounter a lot: I am an IT tech for a school system and quite often we get large amounts of laptops donated to us through the government. Most times we get large lots of identical models of laptops however the hard drive sizes can vary(the lowest hd size i usually encounter is 80gb all the way up to 350gb on the same model). So i am starting to think i should go the local disk image route and just create my master images on the smallest HD's i can find??? And when im using the disk route, should i still let windows save the 100mb partition or create one single NTFS partition when installing? Not sure if this is important when creating a full disk image but when i was doing partition saving it was a nightmare for restoring lol. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated !!!
Last edit: MurryC 2014-09-07
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P.S. - do i need to install sysprep? I have imaged a lot and never used sysprep. Is it a normal method when working with clonezilla or just an added step for safety? just curious since no one has ever told me i would need sysprep. Main reason i am asking is because i have never had an issue creating the image or restoring an image, only boot issues due to mbr etc. I will use it if necessary but is it something thats going to take a lot of extra time before deploying images to new laptops? And if you do still suggest i use it, are there some good step by step instructions you may have for me to use with my situation?
Last edit: MurryC 2014-09-07
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
".. the local disk image route and just create my master images on the smallest HD's i can find?" >
Yes, that's right.
And with 'restoredisk' all will be done on the identical models of laptops
with different unused unformatted spaces (for a school system, for a general backup with the master pc)
Or
with 'gparted live' before with equal or greater than old partitions (!)
You can install 'sysprep' later if necessary.
I would use:
Clonezilla 'savedisk' from the master computer 80 GB with the complete system
Clonezilla 'restoredisk' on the blank HDD of the identical laptops.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Ok thanks for the great info. So in a nutshell, even if i create my master image on an 80gb hard drive with one partition and then restore it to a 160gb+ drive, i will then have a new image on the other drive with the unused space still available to use on the same partition? And just to clarify, when you said to install sysprep later, did you mean later as in once i create the master image or just at a later time in the future to experiment with it? Sorry just wanted clarification on that. Whats the main benefit of using sysprep if you dont mind me asking. Is it just more of a safety precaution? Again these are mainly disposable pc's as i have access to more if some crash etc. so just wondering if you could help me out with a quick explanation of the main benefits of sysprep and when you think its critical to use and when its also not necessary. Thanks a lot for your help so far !!!
Also whats your take on that annoying extra 100mb system partition that windows 7 install kinda forces on a person when doing a fresh install? I have tried a few things for fun like merging the 100mb partition into my main system partition at the initial stages before the install etc. I am not sure if its important or not, just wanted your take on it as well. I have deleted it in the past when doing my initial install and once the full install was complete i had no problems booting etc. so whats the main use of that 100mb partition, is it used for system recovery?
Also is there any worry when doing savedisk and restoredisk when dealing with identical models, however lets say they are different models of hard drives. Ever heard of any issues restoring to different harddrives on identical machines? I do encounter that quite often where the make and model are identical, identical mobos as well but some hard drives might be lets say hitachis and others are toshiba etc. Any issues that can arise in that situation?
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
"if i create my master image on an 80gb hard drive with one partition and then restore it to a 160gb+ drive, i will then have a new image on the other drive with the unused space still available to use on the same partition?" -> For the beginner mode, yes. However, if your disk uses MBR, not GPT, partition table, when restoring an image to a disk, you could enter expert mode, and choose "-k1" option: http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live/doc/02_Restore_disk_image/advanced/09-advanced-param.php
Of course, you can use GParted live (http://gparted.org) to resize the partition after restoring.
"but some hard drives might be lets say hitachis and others are toshiba etc. Any issues that can arise in that situation?" -> Normally it's OK for the same type, e.g. same SATA interface. However, if one is SATA, and another one is SAS, it might fail because your restored OS might lack the driver for that.
Steven.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
Hey guys hows it going and good to be on the forums. So i have been having some issues lately at work restoring images to laptops as of late using windows 7. The computers i have been given through work have been coming back lately with the operating systems wiped but normally still with partitions on them etc.. So i need some good pointers. Is my best bet when creating a new image to restore onto identical laptops to only have one main partition on the master computer and then make sure that the other laptops im using for restore also only have one blank partition? Is something screwing jup with the mbr or what am i missing upon restore? The reason i am asking is that lately when i create the image, it goes through with no problems and no visual errors and then when i restore using a partition to the other laptop everything goes by successfully as well but then when i reboot the cloned computer it just sits at a black screen with a cursor blinking in the top left hand corner. Had this happen a few times lately with different laptops. I am thinking maybe it has something to do with mbr then? I am just looking for some good tips and pointers to make my cloning experiences go a smooth as possible. Hoping for some general tips to avoid these situations in the future when cloning with windows OS's. I can also send some logs in the future as well. I dont currently have any logs to send but maybe i missed where clonezilla stores the log files upon completion of restores and image creations? If so please let me know where they are stored amd maybe i can get them as well. So ,my main question is does anyone have some important pointers or advice on what i should do before making my master image on the master computer, ie. one partition etc and one partition on cloned machines etc? Any help is greatly appreciated since i have spent a lot of time lately and had failure results. If more details are needed as well please let me know !!
P.S. i am currently creating the images and saving them on my work server and then restoring from the work server to the blank laptops via a clonezilla cd. Not sure which version i am using for the cd's but i can give more details if needed.
Last edit: MurryC 2014-08-31
To cut a long story short, you would like to use an image with windows OS for more identical latops.
Before you taking an image:
Try to install "sysprep" from MS on the source machine.
Clonezilla 'savedisk' from the master computer
Clonezilla 'restoredisk' on the blank HDD of the identical laptops.
The log files are on /var/log/.
Thanks Fuchs. My main issue i was having is that our IT coordinator was insistent that the best way to go when creating images is to use save partition to local instead of save disk as image.... I am wondering why he was always so persistent about partition imaging rather than disk. Was it mainly because partition saving is a failsafe method in case you encounter an identical machine with a smaller partition? I am assuming yes because if you go save disk as image you are stuck with the full hd sized image instead of being able to shrink a partition down in the case you run into an identical machine with a smaller hd??? Just making sure im correct? In that case is it safer to create my master image on a small hard drive, say an 80gb for example? I am starting to think by taking my IT admins advice i have wasted countless hours with missing mbr's etc. using the partition method..... Let me know if i should just go the save disk way please and thanks.
Oh and also, if i go the local disk save route, lets say i shrink the partition before making my master image. When i restore on client machines, can i then extend back if additional space exists on the new machines or will it be done for me in the restore? Or is my best bet (if i am going to choose a small hd for my master going the image to disk route) just to simply leave the volume size alone??
I will give you a better idea of my scenario i encounter a lot: I am an IT tech for a school system and quite often we get large amounts of laptops donated to us through the government. Most times we get large lots of identical models of laptops however the hard drive sizes can vary(the lowest hd size i usually encounter is 80gb all the way up to 350gb on the same model). So i am starting to think i should go the local disk image route and just create my master images on the smallest HD's i can find??? And when im using the disk route, should i still let windows save the 100mb partition or create one single NTFS partition when installing? Not sure if this is important when creating a full disk image but when i was doing partition saving it was a nightmare for restoring lol. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated !!!
Last edit: MurryC 2014-09-07
P.S. - do i need to install sysprep? I have imaged a lot and never used sysprep. Is it a normal method when working with clonezilla or just an added step for safety? just curious since no one has ever told me i would need sysprep. Main reason i am asking is because i have never had an issue creating the image or restoring an image, only boot issues due to mbr etc. I will use it if necessary but is it something thats going to take a lot of extra time before deploying images to new laptops? And if you do still suggest i use it, are there some good step by step instructions you may have for me to use with my situation?
Last edit: MurryC 2014-09-07
".. the local disk image route and just create my master images on the smallest HD's i can find?" >
Yes, that's right.
And with 'restoredisk' all will be done on the identical models of laptops
with different unused unformatted spaces (for a school system, for a general backup with the master pc)
Or
with 'gparted live' before with equal or greater than old partitions (!)
You can install 'sysprep' later if necessary.
I would use:
Clonezilla 'savedisk' from the master computer 80 GB with the complete system
Clonezilla 'restoredisk' on the blank HDD of the identical laptops.
Ok thanks for the great info. So in a nutshell, even if i create my master image on an 80gb hard drive with one partition and then restore it to a 160gb+ drive, i will then have a new image on the other drive with the unused space still available to use on the same partition? And just to clarify, when you said to install sysprep later, did you mean later as in once i create the master image or just at a later time in the future to experiment with it? Sorry just wanted clarification on that. Whats the main benefit of using sysprep if you dont mind me asking. Is it just more of a safety precaution? Again these are mainly disposable pc's as i have access to more if some crash etc. so just wondering if you could help me out with a quick explanation of the main benefits of sysprep and when you think its critical to use and when its also not necessary. Thanks a lot for your help so far !!!
Also whats your take on that annoying extra 100mb system partition that windows 7 install kinda forces on a person when doing a fresh install? I have tried a few things for fun like merging the 100mb partition into my main system partition at the initial stages before the install etc. I am not sure if its important or not, just wanted your take on it as well. I have deleted it in the past when doing my initial install and once the full install was complete i had no problems booting etc. so whats the main use of that 100mb partition, is it used for system recovery?
Also is there any worry when doing savedisk and restoredisk when dealing with identical models, however lets say they are different models of hard drives. Ever heard of any issues restoring to different harddrives on identical machines? I do encounter that quite often where the make and model are identical, identical mobos as well but some hard drives might be lets say hitachis and others are toshiba etc. Any issues that can arise in that situation?
any additional help on my last post? That would be great and thanks!!
"if i create my master image on an 80gb hard drive with one partition and then restore it to a 160gb+ drive, i will then have a new image on the other drive with the unused space still available to use on the same partition?" -> For the beginner mode, yes. However, if your disk uses MBR, not GPT, partition table, when restoring an image to a disk, you could enter expert mode, and choose "-k1" option:
http://clonezilla.org/clonezilla-live/doc/02_Restore_disk_image/advanced/09-advanced-param.php
Of course, you can use GParted live (http://gparted.org) to resize the partition after restoring.
"but some hard drives might be lets say hitachis and others are toshiba etc. Any issues that can arise in that situation?" -> Normally it's OK for the same type, e.g. same SATA interface. However, if one is SATA, and another one is SAS, it might fail because your restored OS might lack the driver for that.
Steven.