Seriously xcopy?The old Norton Ghost still works -- although only using it on an XP VM !!
Simple, fast for its day etc -- for a basic tool it did its job.
Still for those who have the WSL or Linux VM's -- simply run the DD command -- can't be easier, copies any sort of file type, copies files, disks, partitions etc.
In Windows - just boot a Winpe system and run the xcopy command e.g "xcopy c:\ f:\ /s /e /h /i /c /y" and press Enter to copy all the files and subdirectories (including any empty subdirectories, any system, or hidden files) from partition C to partition F for example.
For basic Disk copying , cloning etc there's plenty of ways to do it without needing 3rd party software especially if you have to pay for it.
You don't have to be a Windows guru but a basic knowlege of the command line never hurts. The advantage of the Linux DD over the xcopy method though is that you can re-direct the copy to a file and then you can compress it via tar, ark zip or whatever if you want to save disk space.
Of course paid software often has features like incremental / differential backups and makes it easier to keep track of backups etc. Depends on what you need of course -- but for basic cloning / copying xcopy works.
For nostalga : Norton Ghost
View attachment 64396
Cheers
jimbo
What about all the hidden partitions etc.
If you really want to be a masochist and use command line tools, use the proper one designed for the tool i.e. FFU command.
As for Ghost, we are seriously bored with a few people going on about it just to show how clever they are.
These boring f##rts should start their own thread rather than derailing a legitimate thread.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- ASUS Vivobook 14
- CPU
- I7
- Motherboard
- Yep, Laptop has one.
- Memory
- 16 GB
- Graphics Card(s)
- Integrated Intel Iris XE
- Sound Card
- Realtek built in
- Monitor(s) Displays
- N/A
- Screen Resolution
- 1920x1080
- Hard Drives
- 1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
- PSU
- Yep, got one
- Case
- Yep, got one
- Cooling
- Stella Artois
- Keyboard
- Built in
- Mouse
- Bluetooth , wired
- Internet Speed
- 72 Mb/s :-(
- Browser
- Edge mostly
- Antivirus
- Defender
- Other Info
- TPM 2.0