Re: Cloning PCs -- how access Server 2003 from boot CD?

Ken Wallewein wrote:
"Pegasus \(MVP\)" <I.can@xxxxxxx> wrote:

...
I've yet to find a boot CD that will let me access a Server 2003
share. The issue is specific to 2003. 2000 is no problem.

/kenw

What do need a boot CD for? Presumably the laptop is functional
(even though you never made this clear), and presumably it can
reach the server via a network connection (which you did not make
clear either). If these assumptions are correct then you can boot
the laptop into Windows and store your image in the server straight
away!

If the above assumptions are incorrect then please provide
full details about your current configuration.

The source PC is running normal, fully functional Windows XP.

The objective to get an exact image of the source hard drive with the
installed OS in ready-to-boot condition (i.e., not the kind of thing
you'd get if you just turned off the power while it was running).
The state of a running OS in partly on disk and partly in RAM, and
you can't copy RAM contents except via Hibernate. So you need to
copy the hard drive with the OS shut down.

Which means booting from another device -- i.e., the boot CD.

The target PC may or may not have anything previously installed on
the hard drive. Restoring the previously created image to it, again,
means the hard drive you're overwriting -- particularly the partition
from which Windows is currently running -- can't be in use. Thus the
boot CD.

The kicker in all of this, of course, is that I want to store my
images on the server, which runs Server 2003. I can't connect to a
Server 2003 share when booting from a CD. So I either need to find a
boot CD that can connect to Server 2003 shares, or use some other
method to access the images on that server without booting from the
drive I'm overwriting.

I've looked at products that appear to make useable-but-not-exact
images of the running OS. They strike me as more for backup than
cloning.

/kenw

Look at the enterprise versions of disk imaging software. This is what they
were designed for. If you want free you could also look at the OPK for OEMs.
It is very complicated to setup the first time but once done it works great.

http://www.symantec.com/Products/enterprise?c=prodinfo&refId=865

http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/snapdeploy/

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/default.mspx

Kerry




.

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