cloning Bootcamp HDD?

I have an external USB sata/ide and power supply unit that allows me to clone my HDD via USB port on my Windows computer.
1. Can I use this method and clone my windows 7/OSX Snow Leopard HDD?
2. I presume the backup software should be able to read both the OSX and NTSF partitions on the HDD, what software would I use?

Windows cloning software such as Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost does not work correctly in cloning a Boot Camp partition. It may actually make the clone but will be unable to restore it and it will be unable to see the OS X partition.

In order to clone your Mac hard drive (OS X partition and BC partition) each will have to be cloned separately. You can use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner to make the OS X clone and WinClone to do the Boot Camp partition.

WinCLone used to work very well but now it doesn't. It's horrible with false security for Windoze partitions.

Hopefully soon, Carbon Copy Clone, will be able to clone the Windoze partition also. A lot of people would pay good money for that update including me!

From the CCC website:
"Can CCC back up my BootCamp (Windows) partition?
Backing up non-HFS+-formatted volumes is not currently supported. I am investigating how to provide this support in a future release."

I had to do this myself today.

Here's the approach I took- it was quite painless.

1. From within windows, create a system image (I saved mine to a network drive)
2. Created a system repair disc from within windows
3. Installed new HDD, removed old one
4. Ran boot camp assistant and setup the disc (but did not install windows)
5. Reboot the machine, holding the alt key, and selected the windows repair boot CD
6. Restored from the system image on the network

I should also point out, this was done on my dev machine, running 10.7, so it should be fairly future-proof.

The method you suggested (making the system image from within Windows) will only work with Windows 7 and if you do not have a network drive, you need an external hard drive formatted to NTFS. Also, a repair - recovery disk is not needed provided you have your original Windows 7 install DVD to boot from.

I've read that folks are having issues with WinClone. Anyone here know what those are and what causes them? As I've done multiple backups and restores of Win 7 in the last 6 months without issue.

Most of the issues that I'm aware of with WinClone are with trying to save a Boot Camp partition that is formatted to FAT-32 by copying the image and then restoring it. WinClone has always had problems with FAT-32. The author (when he was supporting it) even stated that fact in his FAQs.

He later updated the program to better support FAT-32 but it still was a gamble when trying to restore the image. As far as I know, copying and restoring a NTFS partition works well. At least I haven't heard of anyone having a problem with a NTFS partition.

Having said all that, the best way to expand or contract a Boot Camp partition is to buy CampTune from Paragon. It works.