Computer question, copying a HDD - Clone a PC?

[markbognor]

Swmbo and I have the same flaptop from school. If I was to format my HDD externally (using her computer, the copy the entire contents of her HDD onto mine, would it then work in my laptop as a kind of clone of hers?

The reason for this is I picked up a virus a while ago. I deleted a load of recently edited files and I seem to have sorted it, but I must have deleted a file needed for Windows Application Launcher to work. I cant run any programs after windows has finished opening. (I'm accessing the interweb by opening My Documents then entering a web address in the address bar)

The above seems a bit heavy handed but might save me too much faffing about. What do you reckon?

Cheers Mark

[scaryoldcortina]

tbh, it will probably work. particularly if the hardware is identical, I did the same trick a few years back with XP and two thinkpads

I do have to say (as I've been windows free for five years now) junk it and get linux. AT LEAST download a liveCD of puppy linux and boot your crippled laptop off that for a while.

[markbognor]

Cheers Scary, I don't think I can face the idea of a new DOS at the moment but I'll have a go at copying Nics computer. It's quite important that I get this fixed for next week!

[useless inc]

You might have some problems as windows locks lots of things while it's running so you wouldn;t be able to copy all the windows bits from inside windows. You'd probably also run into some booting up issues.

You're better using something like Norton Ghost as it boots into it's own mini operating system and will do a perfect clone image of your good PC. You should then be able to re-load that image onto your not so good PC.

www.symantec.com/norton/ghost

Even using Ghost expect a lot of faffing around and re-booting.

[Nathan]

TBH you may still have a Virus after the clone has been put back on the system.

Do you know what Virus it was?

Reason is becuase quite alot of Viruses out there are memory residents. If the Virus you had does this then it will be there after the reimage of the system.

[claymore]

Aug 10, 2009 12:21:05 GMT Nathan said:

TBH you may still have a Virus after the clone has been put back on the system.

Do you know what Virus it was?

Reason is becuase quite alot of Viruses out there are memory residents. If the Virus you had does this then it will be there after the reimage of the system.

How?
I'v been repairing PCs for 15 years, and I'v never seen a virus come back after a re-format or clone

[Nathan]

Thats true if the virus is on the HDD mate and loaded when Windows/Linux etc boots (common virus).

Various memory type viruses can write to the EEPROM (Very hard to do) or the CMOS thus getting around the Format/Partition deletion/Re-image or what ever you do to the HDD.

OK the chances of getting one are smaller than your "normal" virus because they are harder to write, but the chances are there all the same. My level of expertise is in System and network security/black hole detection/Denial of service etc, so occationally I have to spread into de-compiling of viruses like I have stated.

Your right though but I tread with caution when an infected machine is found in my work enviroment.

P.S.

Can show you one if you like as I have a video of how they affect your machine and how to remove such items that I have to produce for the IT departments we are contracted to.

P.S.S

They are not strickly called Memory resident either.

[scaryoldcortina]

Just thought I'd mention too - when I did it I wasn't trying to copy the system drive onto another device from within windows, I can't see that working. What I did was copy the whole contents of one drive to another one using a DOS copy utility, which produced 2 seemingly identical drives. All I had to do then was set the flags to make the copy bootable and re install the drives in the laptops.

[markbognor]

Thanks for the help Guys. I was copying the contents of the drives from outside windows. It still didn't work. I was in work today and they palmed me off with a windows fix disk. Which hasn't fixed it. I still cant open any applications. But my lovely wife has lent me her flaptop. So the Sparkford Odeon is still GO!

[joem83]

I did this when I wanted to use a bigger h/d in my current pc. I managed to find a pc clone tool via google for free, worked a charm Best thing to do before this though is to do a full format of the infected disk

Think this is the one I used:
www.freedownloadscenter.com/Utilities/Backup_and_Copy_Utilities/EASEUS_Disk_Copy_Screenshot.html