08-22-2011, 03:43 AM

There might be different ways. This two alternatives worked for me on a 2011 Intel-based Mac Pro (Quad Xeon). Its original 2 TB boot disk contained 4 partitions:

1. Mac OS 10.6.8 Snow Leopard (HFS+)
2. Mac Data Partition (HFS+)
3. Windows Data Partition (NTFS)
4. Bootcamp hosting Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (NTFS)

I cloned this configuration to another hard disk of the same size (2 TB). At some point I used the program "iPartition" which is about 45$. You don't need this if your hard disc contains only two partitions (Mac & Bootcamp). If you have multiple partitions and use "iPartition" it might be a smart idea to display, grab and print out the partition table for future reference prior to starting the procedure described below.

1. Back up the Mac portion via Time Machine to an another hard drive (e.g. external USB disk.)
2. For backing up the Windows partitions I used WinClone. (Yes, this is not supported or developed any more.) Used the settings proposed by user "Toocool4"
https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

"Open Winclone go into Preferences from top to bottom:
Uncheck Check for new version at startup
Check Remove pagefile.sys from source partition prior to imaging to save space
When cloning NTFS partitions:
Choose Use “special” compressed image format that is not mountable, but is smaller and restores faster.
Everything after this is unchecked as I do not use Vista, XP etc "

Probably other settings might work as well.

3. Put in the Mac Install DVD, shut down the computer.
4. Remove the original hard disk and put in the new one.
5. Boot from the Mac Install DVD (hold "C" during startup).
6. The new hard disk has to be formatted to a single HFS+ partition with disk utility. Don't use any other tool for this task. Take care to check "Using GUID Partition" under options button for an Intel-based Mac.
7. Install the Mac part from the external USB hard disk ("Restore from Time Machine").
8. Now reboot the computer from the hard disk. The Mac part should look identical to the installation you saved to Time Machine. Quite standard so far.
9. Run Boot Camp Assistant. I reserved a 100MB partition for Windows. (Probably Boot Camp writes the correct data for its boot options at this point).
10. When asked start the installation from the Windows 7 Install DVD. You get an error message because Boot Camp formatted the new partition to FAT32. The Windows Install DVD offers you to format the partition – which is fine since it will be reformatted to NTFS.
11. After that you can cancel the Windows installation in order to restore the Windows installation you have been saving with WinClone instead.
12. First re-boot with OS X. Then run WinClone and restore your old Windows installation.
13. Here comes a very tricky point (which cost me two days and nights to figure out):
Switch off the computer and disconnect the power cord for a minute or so. When I just restarted I ran into the "black screen, blinking cursor"-Problem. Couldn't boot into the restored Windows 7 installation on the hard disk, not even boot from the Windows Install DVD. Very weird, but finally found the power disconnect solution in this threads:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/messag...sageID=7188736
14. Now try to boot with holding down the options key ("Alt" on a PC keyboard). You should be able to boot either to OS X or Windows. At least that worked for me.

15. Optional: if you like some more partitions, "iPartition" can do so without deleting data. I partitioned it to exactly the same partition map I had on the legacy drive I wanted to clone. The order of partitions is reported to be critical. Bootcamp should be the 4th partition, the Mac Boot partition the first of course. I have to admit I restored the OS X and the bootcamp partitions a second time after adding 2 more partitions just out of unfounded fear … in order to hopefully put everything in the exact same place it used to be on the old drive. Probably not neccessary.


There is a more straight-forward alternative which is described in more detail here:

Clone a Hard Drive Using an Ubuntu Live CD - How-To Geek

1. Download an Ubuntu image, burn it to CD
2. Plug in your new (unformatted) drive into the computer (or connect it via an USB or Firewire adapter).
3. Boot from the Ubuntu CD
4. open up a terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and enter in the following command:

sudo fdisk –l

5. Get a clear idea, what is the name of your original HD (e.g. /dev/sda) and what is the name of your new (unformatted) HD (e.g. /dev/sdb). Don't carry on, if you are in doubt …
6. If /dev/sda is your original HD and /dev/sdb is the new one, use the command dd to copy the original HD to the new HD:

sudo dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdb

"sudo" means running as an administrator, "dd" is the low-level disk copy command, "if" stands for input file, "/dev/sda" is the hard disk to copy from, "of" is the output file, "/dev/sdb" is the name of the hard disc to copy to. (could be "/dev/sdc", "/dev/sdd" … also – has to be checked with "fdisk")
7. Be patient. Since this copies everything – even the parts containing no data, it takes pretty long. Cloning a 2TB Seagate Barracuda XT on a 2011 MacPro took me 29 hours. And it could be even longer with other setups …!
"dd" won't give you any response until it is finished – leave it alone...

Unless your original HD is almost full, and if everything works fine, the first alternative is faster, since it only processes existing data, whereas the second alternative copies the entire disk no matter if there is data or not. Therefore "dd" method also contains the risk of completely deleting your original disk in case you mix up "if" and "of" or the names of your hard disks.

On the other hand, if you take care and triple-check your command-line inputs, the "dd" method is quite effortless and straight-forward.

This are the ways which worked for me. However, I'm not a specialist and cannot guarantee that this will work for other setups, nor can I comment on other setups. There was some try and error going on... Just wanted to share my experience (pulling the power plug solved a problem …!).

Cloning your hard drive before it breaks might be a clever idea anyway. And sorry for my poor English – just a kraut

09-22-2011, 07:41 PM

And it has been updated to version 2.3.2 for Lion.

03-15-2012, 02:03 PM

Ok so I have used Winclone + Carbon Copy Cloner to create an image for iMacs in my lab just a few months ago. But for some reason when I try to use Winclone now, it errors every time when I try and create the bootcamp image. I tried removing and reinstalling Winclone and its add on install that it requires to run. But still no success. I also tried to run a Check Disk on the Windows side to see if that would fix the issue but still no success. I went to the developers site and found out that a newer v3 is out and they are now charging. I dont know if this newer version has anything to do with my current version giving me errors but I have run out of ideas of trying to get my previous version to work. Anyone know any other partition cloning programs that will work just like Winclone?

03-15-2012, 04:47 PM

Want a tip? Winclone does not work is easier to do a clean install of Windows.

Cloning in the Windows world is a different kettle of fish to using SuperDuper etc. You may like to have a look at Acronis True Image and Nortons Ghost. Both are commercial software.

03-15-2012, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by harryb2448

Want a tip? Winclone does not work is easier to do a clean install of Windows.

Cloning in the Windows world is a different kettle of fish to using SuperDuper etc. You may like to have a look at Acronis True Image and Nortons Ghost. Both are commercial software.

It's actually been updated and taken over by new developers. From all indications I've seen, it works brilliantly now that it's been updated.

Unfortunately, it's no longer free.

03-15-2012, 09:23 PM

And since it's only $19.99 for the new version, it's well worth the cost considering the amount of trouble one has to go through re-creating the BC partition and reinstalling Windows.

03-15-2012, 10:26 PM

Have wasted that much time with Winclone will wait and see before trying again.