General :: Backing Up A Windows 7 Partition From Macbook With No OS X
Jun 5, 2010
I have a 3 year macbook with Windows 7 installed as 40gb and OS X as 40gb (80gb HD). I want to remove OS X as Im at the limit of 40gb on Windows and I have not logged on to Mac OS X since installed Win7 (dont flame me).
So I want to delete OS X partition and expand my win partition to 80gb BUT I still would like to be able to regularly (once a week/month) backup my Windows 7 partition - its took a while to setup everything up right - not just docs and programs - so when the hard drive dies I want to be able to restore the partition and boot away, (the daily volatile bits I can pull down from dropbox and project from soure control). With Mac OS X I could use Winclone - and this worked flawless last time the HD failed with XP but with the absence of OS X I will need something else.
Im thinking can I use a Linux Live boot CD along with an external USB hard drive. Boot from CD and then dd? the partition to the USB?
What linux distro live CD should I use? I say dd as if I know what am taking about (I dont) is this the best way to backup a partition (when it will be restored to same hardware as bootable) ? What command?
I want to do a clean re-install of Windows 7 but there are files and installed programs which need to be backed up and restored. I tried using the Windows 7 backup utility to do a full backup to an external usb drive. The problem is that whenever the backup gets close to finishing, it always crashes. The system I am backing up has been compromised by viruses, which might be causing this. I already used several utilities to get rid of the viruses but some of the damage they did can not be undone. I tried doing the backup in safe mode but Windows 7 does not allow this. What other methods can I use to backup and restore important programs and files on Windows 7? Perhaps there is a way to do it from outside Windows 7, like say, using a Linux live cd? One of the main problems I see is restoring installed programs since those make use of the registry so simply copying the files probably won't work.
I'm using an Intel-based macbook, I made a new partition with BootCamp, after that I inserted debian installation CD, deleted the FAT32 partition that was made by BootCamp, made 3 new partitions:
/ ex3 /home ex3 and a swap partition,
after installing debian, I restarted macbook, but it couldn't recognize linux partitions, in Mac OSx I can't find any of these partitions as startup disks, and I can't mount them in Disk Utility, How can I access these partitions? how can I boot to debian?
I'm starting to use a mac, and would like to install different operating systems on it, and, if possible, share some partitions. (like home)
I'm planning to install Debian along with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, and share it's home directory, of, if possible, at least, create a new partition only for my mp3 files.
I am currently running a dual boot machine with Ubuntu 11.04 and Windows Vista.Is there any way I can delete the Linux partition and Grub boot loader without affecting the Windows partition at all?I would also like to be able to repartition all of the space that was previously occupied by Linux.
They finally got the MCP89 kernel patch finalized and released as a Ubuntu DVD in the daily build of Lucid Lynx (good job!). I tried it, but even after following Ubuntu's Wiki-guide to fix various problems, a lot of my Mac's functionality broke and I don't want to take up that battle yet (of trying to get everything to work perfectly {I'm a perfectionist}).So I want to remove Ubuntu and GRUB2 from my system. But even with some experience with problems like these, I'm in the ultimate pickle. OS X uses the GUID Partition scheme and EFI, whilst bootcamp has a BIOS/MBR emulator to run Windows. I installed the GRUB bootloader to the MBR (I think {In "/dev/sda" during the install}). I use rEFIt to chainload into GRUB2 to boot Ubuntu, and I want to remove that icon, return to booting Windows 7 using it's own bootloader, and restore the GB's that Ubuntu took back to the Windows 7 partition.
I'm lost and (for the first time in a while) WAY over my head. I have no experience with EFI/GUID. (I just got my first Mac a month ago)
I backed up a windows xp folder which was My documents to an ext4 formated external hard drive from an ubuntu 10.04 live cd. After installing Ubuntu 10.04 on that same computer, I tried to open the my document folder then i was denied access to it because i was the wrong user. In windows xp, the My documents folder was not password protected. Is there any way to hack that folder, I have a bunch of pictures in there that I want to retrieve. On the folder icon, it shows and x and a lock. I think it means that is either encrypted or password protected.
I am backing up may data using Rsync via SSH. I am trying to find a solution that allows me to push my backups from windows and Ubuntu to a Ubuntu server. I don't like the solution that requires my windows machines to have shared drives. Not viable for laptop users that may piggyback on free wireless networks. I would also like a solution that has a GUI for the desktop user but not totally required. I will need a solution that allows me to restore files by date. I do a lot of changes to files on a daily basis and sometimes need an older copy of a file.
I love using Rsync as it is a very simple solution and extremely quick. The only thing I don't know how to do is recover different version of a file. It would be nice to see a visual representation of all the files and different dates of each file. I know I might be asking a little too much, but, it is after all, Linux.
I've been trying to install 11.04 on my MacBook Pro5,2, (already have Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7 installed) but every time I get to screen where it asks me to install, the installation GUI doesn't see my partitions. The strange thing is that if I run sudo fdisk -lu /dev/sda I get:
Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders, total 312581808 sectors Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size(logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytesI/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
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Seems like everything is fine, no sectors are overlapping, and fdisk definitely recognizes the partition.
I'm looking to setup a home server for the purpose of backing up and storing the files on our multiple (Windows) computers. What kind of server should I set up? Samba? Lamp?
I have installed grub.efi in the ESP partition which is able to load ubuntu 9.04.I think it works with fedora 11 x64 as well. And I tried to install fedora in the partition which was used to install ubuntu. But the installer keep telling me that ext4 partitions are not bootable. But I don't need to install a boot loader on that partition
Now however its not letting me resize the Windows partition, mounted or unmounted. It currently occupies the whole disk. I would rather not reinstall the whole thing over again, but I will if I have to. Isnt there an easy way to shrink a Windows partition? I swear Ive done this before and it wasnt this hard. Could it be a problem with the Mint installer that now asks me if I want to unmount my disks before it goes into install mode? On this PC I would like to have
Windows XP Mint Ubuntu-Studio Edubuntu One of the E17 OSs Puppy Linux (to create a remix)
I am probably going to put most of the linux partitions on the second laptop drive but I want to install files on a non WIndows NTFS partition.
I got tired of dual booting on my old computer so on the new computer I am planning to run XP on VMware Player. The problem is that on the new computer neither Ubuntu or XP can "see" the FAT32 partition. I intend to use the FAT32 partition for photo images and old Windows files and need access from both Ubintu and XP.
I am trying to install kubuntu on my macbook. I am able to boot from the CD and install fine, but when I try to boot from the linux partition the cursor blinks for a while, then the screen goes blank.I have used the rEFIt partition utility, but when I try to reinstall the grub bootloader as described here: it says "sudo: grub: command not found"When it try "grub", it says:"The program 'grub' is not currently installed. You can install it by typing:sudo apt-get install grub"
After several times install & reinstall,i got a stable dual boot vista / ubuntu 10.10.,but i can't access or even see my windows partition from ubuntu,i installed my dual boot with wubu this time,in previous installation when i didn't use wubi , i didn't have such a problem & windows partition with all my files in it (windows files,media ,etc,) was easily accessible from "places" on ubuntu . I already disabled windows firewall & other security options but nothing changed
I am having problems with triple booting my system. The original Linux OS I started out with was Ubuntu, which I was able to triple boot in the desired configuration (Mac OSX, Unbuntu, and Windows XP) after several tries (the instructions I got weren't quite right). I am now trying to install openSUSE instead of Ubuntu. However, if I install openSUSE before Windows XP, Windows XP erases my installation. If I install it afterwards, it seems to erase Windows XP, as it becomes unbootable thereafter. Perhaps this is because I am following the instructions for installing Ubuntu (format partition 3 as Ext3, mount it as /, and install the grub boot loader inside that partition), without modifying much else. I can't seem to find any good instructions online to tell me what else to do.
the instructions on installing Ubuntu screwed up because it said I had to install Windows XP first, before installing Ubuntu. I found out it was the other way around. Also, while Ubuntu was installed, all three partitions showed up on disk utility (although the Linux partition wasn't a recognized file system). However, every time I've installed openSUSE, where the partition should have been showed up as empty space on disk utility.
I am trying to triple boot osx, win7 and ubuntu 10.10 on my macbook pro. This is the way I did it:
-Installed osx and created 2 partitions in disk utility, one for osx and another formated as dos fat to manually hybritized my drive and allow for windows installation (the new bootcamp is currently messed up, so can't do it that way).
-Installed win7 by bio booting the cd, and deleting the formatted partition (dos fat) and creating a new one via win installation.
-Installed ubuntu by bios booting the cd and creating its own partition in setup.
Now, when I turn on my macbook and press alt, 2 icons come up, mac and windows (so good so far!). But when I go into the windows option, grub loads and I see 5 entries:
-Ubuntu -Ubuntu safe mode -Memtest -OSX 32 bit -OSX 64 bit
Obviously osx is not going to boot under bios boot. But where is win7 that should be in the list?
I just bought a new hard drive so that I could convert my XP-only machine into an XP-Ubuntu-Windows 7 triple boot machine.Since the drive is absurdly huge (1 TB) I wouldn't mind throwing ReactOS into the mixtoo.I just found out that master boot records are limited to 4 entries, meaning 4 primary partitions. I had Windows XP set up on my old drive as a boot partition, a program files partition and a media partition. Since I really didn't want to install XP from scratch, I cloned this setup on my new drive.
This leaves me one MBR partition entry for installing Windows 7, Ubuntu and ReactOS. I'd like to avoid having to install XP from scratch like the plague, partly because it's supposed to be a safety net in case things go wrong with my other OS's and because I've invested a lot of time getting it set up exactly the way I like it.Here are the options I've considered and why I don't like them:Install Windows 7 on my media partition. This would work, but I prefer to keep my media partition completely separate from any OS, so that I can reformat an OS partition without affecting my media partition at all.
Use wubi or something to install Ubuntu in the same partition as something else. Again, this is brittle.Move all my media to a logical drive on an extended partition. Create another logical drive on this extended partition for Ubuntu. The problem here is that extended partitions are rather brittle--if you nuke one, it renders the rest useless.Just put the old drive back in my computer and run XP off it. Use the new one for the other OS's. The problem here is that the old drive is slower and uses extra power, generates extra heat, etc.
I like music A lot! every CD I buy, I like to rip to my HD as WAVs (i'd do flac but I have a windows system too, and can't for the life of me find a flac codec for Media Player); but I'd also like to create images in case i lose / scratch / otherwise damage my CDs. I usually use DD, but the system has to be unmounted. Problem is IDK where audio CDs are mounted so I can't unmount it.
I have a Seagate USB drive that I'd like to use as a backup drive for my home system with two drives. One drive contains /home and /root, the other contains /var. I've read about a lot of different software for backups but I'm not really sure which one would be the best for this. I want to be able to use this backup to restore the system just in case something happens. What would be the best software to use for this? I'd like something that will basically clone the system I assume since I'd like it to not only copy the system structure but also symlinks.
We are in the process of backing up our hard drives to Blu Rays. I am creating tar.gz files and burning them to Blu Ray.Is it possible to use a simple (preferably Python-based) solution for creating images of those tar.gz files, of a predetermined size (to fit in the Blu Ray), and simply burn this images to the disc?Do you have any other approach for creating physical back-up of your hard drives?
In a few hours I'll have a new 500GB Sony laptop, filled with the usual Sony rubbish which I'll promptly be replacing with Ubuntu or Crunchbang or something. However, first I want to make a full clone of the drive (including recovery partitions), should I wish to return it to Sony or sell it on in its factory state.
The problem is that the only backup drives I have are less than 500GB - the biggest I have is 250GB or so! So I need to backup and compress on-the-fly.
What's the best way to do this? Presumably dd piped into gzip would do the trick, or does anyone have any other suggestions to accomplish this?
I want to securely backup my 80G HD, but doing a complete backup takesforever and slows down my machine, so I want to backup just 1G per day. Details: % First hurdle: on the first day, I want to backup the "first" 1G of the hard drive. Of course, there really is no "first" 1G on a hard drive.% After 80 days, I'll have my whole HD backed up... assuming none of my files ever change, which of course they do. So the backup plan/program must also catch file creation/changes as they come along. % The backups must be consistent, in that I can restore my system restoring the backups sequentially. In other words, "dd if=/harddrive" probably won't work.
% The backups should encrypt file contents AND names, but I don't see this as a major hurdle. % Once the backup has backed up everything (even changed files), it can re-backup the first 1G on my hard drive. Even though this backup is redundant, that's OK, because I always want to be backing up something (eg, if I'm backing up to optical media, the older media might start going corrupt). Is there a magic backup plan/program that does thisIn reality, I want to do this for multiple machines drives each, but think that solving the above will solve the general
I've been thinking about it and I have a few ideas how I could do this...
I could always just image the drive...
Code: dd if=/dev/sda of=/media/EXHD/bakup_$(date +%F).iso Also; I could use rsync... Code: rsync -auv --delete / /media/EXHD/bakup_$(date +%F)/
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I've been doing mostly "dd" images...but was wondering if I'm just wasting time backing up a mostly empty HD (256GB and only 5% is used...so dd-ing seems like kinda of a waste).
How to back up my httpd.conf from my server to my computer and only found one solution via a google search
[url]
I typed in locate httpd.conf and see that it resides in /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf so I assume I would type $ cd /usr/local/apache/conf $ sudo cp -p httpd.conf httpd.conf.bak
I wanted to confirm this with an expert before I do damage that I cannot reverse.
I am using Ubuntu 10.04.1 LTS x64. I would like to backup my /var/lib/mysql directory as a non-root user.
I have been backing this up using cron as the root user, but another admin in my company insists that we create a separate user to perform this task for security reasons. I have created a user, created a group, added the user to the group, but still cannot access /var/lib/mysql/mysql directory as that user. I would like that user to have +rx access only.