Cloning a Windows disk without using Macrium or any PAID software via a VM

Hi folks

Easily enough done --

In your VM add the target disk(s) as physical drive(s),

then in the Windows GUEST config set the config to boot from any sensible Linux live distro -- you don't need to change ANYTHING in the Windows GUEST virtual hardware

Then simply do this :

Input file is the disk you want to clone (if)
Output file is the target disk (of).

After you are done re-boot into windows and use whatever partition manager you like to re-size partition if you wish.

There's no way I'm paying 60 USD or so for Macrium subscription just on 1 computer -- especially if you only need to image a system or partition rarely.

Some of these companies however good they were in the past need to be aware that exploiting loyal customers is not the way they will grow their businesses. Car Insurance seems world wide to be a particularly bad example -- I've over 30 years no claims bonus and only drive around 15,000 KM a year - and got a renewal 45% increase on last year--shopped around and got one around 5% higher -- so much for "Loyal customers" -- but that I suspect is a totally different issue. !!!!

cheers
jimbo

Hi @jimbo45,

If I got this correctly this is a physical to virtual clone.

Input sda is the physical disk and output vda is your VM virtio disk.

Nice.
This works of course also the other way around if needed, virtual to physical.

Hopachi said:

Hi @jimbo45,

If I got this correctly this is a physical to virtual clone.

Input sda is the physical disk and output vda is your VM virtio disk.

Nice.
This works of course also the other way around if needed, virtual to physical.

Click to expand...

@Hopachi
Works all ways around --:

if cloning a VM to a physical drive then if is the input file of the virtual drive and of is the physical drive.

If cloning from physical drive 1 to physical drive 2 then if=phys.drive 1 and of=phys.drive 2

if cloning from physical drive to vm then if=phys.drive and of=vm drive.

If cloning to a physical drive from a virtual drive - simply after booting the cloned windows drive install any necessary windows drivers (you don't need to uninstall any vm drivers).

If you (rarely but can happen) get boot problems simply load a windows install iso into the VM config, boot from it and re-install boot manager via bcdboot.exe. (repair system -->command prompt).

cheers
jimbo

Not all backup solutions are paid. CloneZilla comes to mind, as I've used it extensively for a long time.

But this is a neat solution I am going to try to see if it works, using my Gen 2 VMs in Hyper-V.

I expect it could be done from within windows with winntsetup.

Click the little blue windows logo at top rt and select Local windows installations to get to the copy feature. It will use vss automatically if you select the currently running os to copy.

Partition the target disk/vhd first.

winntsetup








then on the next window, using the dropdown arrows select the target os partition (Target) and the target esp partition (Boot drive)



Then click "copy windows installation"

I have done it several times from one ssd to another. Works perfectly.

Would this work with VMs with UEFI + Secure Boot enabled too?

I expect so. JFX knows what he is doing. Try it and find out. Winntsetup is one of the most useful programs for enthusiasts.

He uses wimlib to do the copy. Very cleverly instead of copying into a wim file, it goes direct to the target. So if you want to exclude anything, put it in the wimscript.ini

Thanks, I'm definitely taking a look at this!

Oh, even nicer, has a legacy one that works all the way back to XP.

Thank you, @SIW2

has a legacy one that works all the way back to XP.

Click to expand...

Cant remember if wincopy is in the old versions.

via the diskcopy.dll? That is there in the download.

I'll have to fire up the VMs and install it to see, though.

There is a much easier way to clone a drive using native Windows command Dism-FFU (see tutorial by @Kari).


Ok, strictly more creating and image backup and restoring it to a new drive rather than a dricet clone, but it is quick and easy to do.

All you need to do is to boot into a command prompt (boot a windows installation drive and press shift+f10) and run a command like

dism /capture-ffu /imagefile=W:\MyDesktopDisk.ffu /capturedrive=\\.\PhysicalDrive0 /name:MyDesktopDisk

where W is drive (change as appropriate) where backup is stored. This can be an external drive.

Physical Drive 0 relates to Disk 0. Alter 0 for 1, 2 etc depending on how many drive you have.

Then to clone/restore image to new drive 0

dism /apply-ffu /ImageFile=W:\MyDesktopDisk.ffu /ApplyDrive:\\.\PhysicalDrive0

It is really fast too.

cereberus said:

There is a much easier way to clone a drive using native Windows command Dism-FFU (see tutorial by @Kari).

DISM - Clone and Deploy using FFU Image

How to use DISM to clone and deploy or restore a Full Flash Update image

www.tenforums.com

Ok, strictly more creating and image backup and restoring it to a new drive rather than a dricet clone, but it is quick and easy to do.

All you need to do is to boot into a command prompt (boot a windows installation drive and press shift+f10) and run a command like

dism /capture-ffu /imagefile=W:\MyDesktopDisk.ffu /capturedrive=\\.\PhysicalDrive0 /name:MyDesktopDisk

where W is drive (change as appropriate) where backup is stored. This can be an external drive.

Physical Drive 0 relates to Disk 0. Alter 0 for 1, 2 etc depending on how many drive you have.

Then to clone/restore image to new drive 0

dism /apply-ffu /ImageFile=W:\MyDesktopDisk.ffu /ApplyDrive:\\.\PhysicalDrive0

It is really fast too.

Click to expand...

This works in some situations -- and it's a good idea but it doesn't work in others. There are limitations - --yes it's fast - but if you want to "reverse clone" or update a wintogo install -- then this doesn't work.

one limitation : you can't ffu a disk to MBR partitions -- so if your vhdx partitions are all mbr e.g on say disk C you have f1.vhdx, v2.vhdx, f3.vhdx and all the vhdx files are basic mbr files with just one efi partition on disk C so you can get the boot manager menu for all your OS'es -- otherwise if you create efi partitions on all the vhdx files you then get prompted twice at boot for which OS to load. It's not a hassle - but since I usually install test builds of windows via VM's first then cloning to a physical machine is OK in my book. I think (although I don't use them) ffu doesn't support encrypted disks either.

But it;s a good way for using all Windows stuff so thanks anyway.

BTW I'm on call at the moment -- I've a PPL (Private pilots license and am on the list to help out if required for the potential of a volcano eruption -- we're safe but with these things who knows !!!!




Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

This works in some situations -- and it's a good idea but it doesn't work in others. There are limitations - --yes it's fast - but if you want to "reverse clone" or update a wintogo install -- then this doesn't work.

one limitation : you can't ffu a disk to MBR partitions -- so if your vhdx partitions are all mbr e.g on say disk C you have f1.vhdx, v2.vhdx, f3.vhdx and all the vhdx files are basic mbr files with just one efi partition on disk C so you can get the boot manager menu for all your OS'es -- otherwise if you create efi partitions on all the vhdx files you then get prompted twice at boot for which OS to load. It's not a hassle - but since I usually install test builds of windows via VM's first then cloning to a physical machine is OK in my book. I think (although I don't use them) ffu doesn't support encrypted disks either.

But it;s a good way for using all Windows stuff so thanks anyway.

BTW I'm on call at the moment -- I've a PPL (Private pilots license and am on the list to help out if required for the potential of a volcano eruption -- we're safe but with these things who knows !!!!

„Þetta virðist vera frekar stór viðburður“

Stöðug jarðskjálftavirkni hefur mælst frá miðnætti að sögn Sigríðar Kristjánsdóttur, náttúruvársérfræðings hjá Veðurstofu Íslandss, en mælst hafa á milli 500-600 skjálftar. Segir hún virknina hafa verið mesta suðvestan við Grindavík.

www.mbl.is

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

I have efi partitions on my vhdx drives so they can boot in Hyper-V.

If I attach them as a native booted OS drive, I do not get prompted twice.

I just get standard boot menu, and select vhdx.

Re. mbr and ffu, well I ditched mbr many years ago.

Virtually all modern pcs can run uefi.

@johnlgalt

JFX:
WinCopy will create a copy of windows installation. For example, move the current installation into a VHD.

The first 6 modes are using wimlib (with optional WOF compression).
It's like capture and apply without actually creating a WIM file.
File exclusion using a WimScript.ini are possible as well using MinWin by clicking on the Mode label.

The VOLUME COPY option copies the entire NTFS File System (used clusters only).
It's much faster than the other modes, but does not offer any options.
Destination drive can be smaller as the source drive, but the last used cluster must fit in it.

Click to expand...

That's some slick stuff.

/me likey!

I'm very impressed with all you guy's VM savvy. Me...not so much. OK, I'll 'fess up...not at all. Most of the VM stuff y'all talk about is way over my head.

@jimbo45 Forgive me for hijacking your thread. I have what I know is a couple of dumb questions to ask.
In my Windows 10 machine I have 2 VMs, Windows 7 and Mint (VM files located on a secondary disk), running in an older version of VMWare Workstation Pro. I use the VMs so rarely I kind of have to relearn every time I do. About the only thing Windows 7 is used for is creating themes and sometimes out of nostalgia. Mint I use for file recovery from old or corrupted hard drives.

I'm considering retiring that host machine. If I do, I would like to move VMWare Workstation to this Windows 11 machine along with the VMs, but not the drive where the VMs reside.

Can I create a second partition on my Windows 11 drive, image the secondary drive where my VM files are located in Windows 10, and restore that image to the partition I created in Windows 11? OR could I can copy the VM files from 10 to 11 using remote desktop? Would the VMs work?

Like I said, pretty dumb questions to VM aficionados.

You can copy VMware VMs from one machine to another, or even make copies of them on the same machine if you want. Workstation will just ask you if you moved it or copied it. The difference is if you select "copied it," a new UUID and MAC address are generated for the copy, to avoid conflicts.

pseymour said:

You can copy VMware VMs from one machine to another, or even make copies of them on the same machine if you want. Workstation will just ask you if you moved it or copied it. The difference is if you select "copied it," a new UUID and MAC address are generated for the copy, to avoid conflicts.

Click to expand...

@glasskuter

If you say "I copied it" then the chances are Windows will ask for re-activation -- a Windows VM is just like a physical machine so needs a correct product id / digital license. It's always better in saying "I moved it" when booting a windows VM from VMWARE player / workstation.

Otherwise just copy the vm files to a new disk (plus the config file). I think with vmware these are vhd files. I think also if you get into trouble you can also clone the vm via the menu -- haven't used vmware for ages but I think there is an option at least in workstation pro.

Before doing any of this just image the whole machine so you can go back and re-do stuff again if it all goes wrong. Macrium or equivalent. Also create the stand alone restore. Or if using a live linux use dd to clone the disk.

cheers
jimbo