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reformatting laptop so everything is installed?

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  • 14-06-2010 2:43pm
    #1
    rafther
    Closed Accounts Posts: 53 ✭✭


    Hi all,

    (i have moved this here as i got no replies in other forum section, sorry mods if this is wrong)
    I have just reformatted my laptop and i now have everything installed and just the way i want it.
    Is there a way and how can i do it? to make a copy of this so the next time i want to reformat i can just put the disk in and boot from there and i will have everything installed the way i want it??

    thanks in advance


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    #2
    bonzodog2
    Registered Users Posts: 6,210 ✭✭✭bonzodog2


    You might investigate something like Norton Ghost. I think there is a free linux-based program to do something similar, but its name escapes me right now


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    #3
    Nichololas
    Registered Users Posts: 1,186 ✭✭✭Nichololas


    The linux equivalent is just called ghost, iirc


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    #4
    rafther
    Closed Accounts Posts: 53 ✭✭rafther


    thanks, norton ghost seams to be the name i keep reading about alright il give it a try


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    #5
    ricman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,559 ✭✭✭ricman


    see here http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm its free ,backup up to dvdr or usb drive.
    see here http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/ free, maybe slightly easier to uses, it makes a bootable cd,dvd or just copy the whole hardrive , or copy partition 1 on drive c.


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    #6
    ricman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,559 ✭✭✭ricman


    see here http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm its free ,backup up to dvdr or usb drive.or see here free.http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/
    copy the hard drive , or partition 1, or make a bootable cd/dvdr.
    Easeus seems easier to use than driveimage.


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    #7
    Overheal
    Registered Users Posts: 81,980 ✭✭✭✭Overheal


    Norton Ghost was definitely one of if not the pioneer of ghosting but yeah theres plenty of competition out there to choose from as well.

    I've never done it myself. I get a kick out of formatting the hard way every 6 months :P


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    #8
    rafther
    Closed Accounts Posts: 53 ✭✭rafther


    cheers thanks for the help


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    #9
    corkcomp
    Registered Users Posts: 5,114 ✭✭✭corkcomp


    macrium reflect would do that.. less cumbersome than ghost imo


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    #10
    ripeinmay
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭ripeinmay


    I'd just like to add Clonezilla to that list. It's a free, DOS based programme that makes a 1:1 - 0:0 copy of your drive.It's very simple to use, I had a cheap 80GB lying around, so when i got my pc the way i wanted it, i made a copy that i can then clone again when it all goes tit's up. It even works cloning onto an external USB.


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    #11
    Your Airbag
    Registered Users Posts: 8,491 ✭✭✭Your Airbag


    I use Clonezilla regularly in work for this exact purpose. Saves me reimaging constantly. Go to www.clonezilla.org and you can download the software from there.

    Basically it’s a live cd, on boot up you select boot from cd and will need and external HDD connected to the laptop to store the image, the instructions are straight forward.

    For a new OS it should take less than 30mins to copy to the ext HDD and less than 10mins to flash the image back to your laptop in case you need it again.

    It will leave about a 3-4gb file on you ext device but clonezilla works in blocks of images, so although you may have a 180gb HDD with only 4gbs used if you try to reimage to a 120g HDD it will due not work to the whole image block needing 180bgs and will only work on a 180gb hdd. Hope I explained that correctly but its a minor flaw and will not matter 99% of the time for home users as most people will not replace a HDD with a smaller one, but in my line of work it can happen regularly and if you really need to you can use Gparted to resize the partition to the desired size before cloning.

    None the less it’s easy to use, quick and a timesaver.


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