Solved Want to clone HDD for laptops

I don't know if this can be done, so I am bringing it to this forum. I recently purchased 3 identical Gateway laptop computers to set-up and ship to relatives overseas. All three are running Windows 8. I want each one of them to have the same programs and applications without spend hours or days setting this all up. Is it possible to burn an ISO image of one hard drive and use it to clone the other two identical laptops? I guess sort of like the old "ghost" process. If so, would I need to wipe the other drives first? What are the disadvantages or issues, if any?

That should work fine. I can't think of any disadvantages. Macrium Reflect FREE Edition has Clone capability or spend the $$$ and get Acronis True Image 2013.

Thanks!

So...how would I go about doing this? I have an older 120gb HDD that I removed from another laptop and placed in an external casing. This drive has been reformatted and is now blank. I have also made an ISO image of one of the three new laptops. Will I be able to copy this ISO image to the external HDD, then use the external HDD with the ISO image on it to clone the two other laptops? The HDD capacity on all three of the new laptops is 750GB. Would this be a problem? I know what I want to do, I just don't know what steps to take to do this. Any links or suggestions would be very helpful.

Don't understand what you mean when you say you made an ISO image of one of the three new laptops. Can you explain please.

The 120GB drive should be big enough to hold the image created by Macrium.

One caveat. If you have UEFI bios and GPT disks I don't know if this will work as I've never had the opportunity to try it. May want to wait a bit and see if any of the other folks here can comment on this.

These are the basic steps you need to do.

Install Macrium Reflect free.
Create the Macrium boot disc to use for restoring to the other laptops.
Connect the 120GB drive.
Start Macrium
Backup all partitions on the hard drive in a image on the 120GB external drive.

With the next laptop powered off, connect the external drive to it.
Insert the Macrium boot CD and boot it.
Select the 120GB external drive as the source and the laptop drive as the target.
Restore.

That should do it.

I was a bit confused myself. What I made was a disk partition image of the hard drive using Macrium Reflect, not an ISO image. I think I understand the difference. An ISO file is for optical drives, right? So, basically what I made was a complete backup file, minus the MBR, I believe.

I don't know about creating the Macrium boot disc, but I did create a bootable Rescue media disc. Is this the same thing? If so, then I can follow the rest of your instructions and it should work.

If it doesn't work, I can always revert it back to factory default with the repair disc I made a week ago. Hopefully this will work. Thanks again.

Yes, the Rescue disc is what I meant. You should be good to go.

Please let me know how it works out.

binfi said:

I don't know if this can be done, so I am bringing it to this forum. I recently purchased 3 identical Gateway laptop computers to set-up and ship to relatives overseas. All three are running Windows 8. I want each one of them to have the same programs and applications without spend hours or days setting this all up.

Click to expand...

All added software, would need to be UNACTIVED, than activted on each PC.

Ztruker said:

One caveat. If you have UEFI bios and GPT disks I don't know if this will work as I've never had the opportunity to try it. May want to wait a bit and see if any of the other folks here can comment on this.

Click to expand...

bimfi said:

I was a bit confused myself. What I made was a disk partition image of the hard drive using Macrium Reflect, not an ISO image. I think I understand the difference. An ISO file is for optical drives, right? So, basically what I made was a complete backup file, minus the MBR, I believe.

Click to expand...

The Gateway Notebook is UEFI & GPT.

theog said:

All added software, would need to be UNACTIVED, than activted on each PC....
The Gateway Notebook is UEFI & GPT.

Click to expand...

I just found that out when I entered BIOS. Does this mean that I cannot do what I set out to do, or is there something else that must be done instead?

bimfi said:

theog said:

All added software, would need to be UNACTIVED, than activted on each PC....
The Gateway Notebook is UEFI & GPT.

Click to expand...

I just found that out when I entered BIOS. Does this mean that I cannot do what I set out to do, or is there something else that must be done instead?

Click to expand...

You can clone, YES.
But with no ACTIVATED software, do remember that the Gateway Windows 8 will self-activate within 4 hours of being on internet.

theog said:

You can clone, YES.
But with no ACTIVATED software, do remember that the Gateway Windows 8 will self-activate within 4 hours of being on internet.

Click to expand...

Not quite sure what you mean by "Activated" software, unless you mean like Windows 8 OS. Do you mean software that is required to be activated to be used, or any software that requires an product key code?

I don't believe I can "clone" the other laptops using the instructions given by Ztruker because the Bootable Rescue media disc failed at bootup. For what it's worth, the boot disc that I was using was made on the laptop that I made the image disk from. Do you think that I might need to make a boot disc from the laptop that I want to clone to? I don't think it should matter, should it? I think it has a lot to do with the UEFI. I went into BIOS (is it even called "bios" now if it is running uefi?) and moved the optical drive as the first boot sequence, but it still would not work. I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I will have to set-up each laptop separately.

bimfi said:

theog said:

You can clone, YES.
But with no ACTIVATED software, do remember that the Gateway Windows 8 will self-activate within 4 hours of being on internet.

Click to expand...

Not quite sure what you mean by "Activated" software, unless you mean like Windows 8 OS. Do you mean software that is required to be activated to be used, or any software that requires an product key code?

I don't believe I can "clone" the other laptops using the instructions given by Ztruker because the Bootable Rescue media disc failed at bootup. For what it's worth, the boot disc that I was using was made on the laptop that I made the image disk from. Do you think that I might need to make a boot disc from the laptop that I want to clone to? I don't think it should matter, should it? I think it has a lot to do with the UEFI. I went into BIOS (is it even called "bios" now if it is running uefi?) and moved the optical drive as the first boot sequence, but it still would not work. I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I will have to set-up each laptop separately.

Click to expand...

1) Your Gateway Windows 8 ACTIVATED licence is for one PC only.

2) Any other software that requires to be activated or software that requires a product key code is for one PC only.
(unless you have a three PC licence)

3) The Windows Boot Manager should always be set first boot in BIOS.

You got a little practical proble. Since those laptops came with a OEM license, you will have an activation problem if you transfer the license of one laptop to the next laptop.

whs said:

You got a little practical proble. Since those laptops came with a OEM license, you will have an activation problem if you transfer the license of one laptop to the next laptop.

Click to expand...

I believe that is the main reason that I should give up on this venture. As you said, the OS came pre-installed and I don't have an installation disc to reinstall windows. It was worth a try, in theory. At least I know what to do if I want to upgrade these laptops to SSD drives in the future. Thanks again to everyone for your help and suggestions. Really appreciated!

bimfi said:

whs said:

You got a little practical proble. Since those laptops came with a OEM license, you will have an activation problem if you transfer the license of one laptop to the next laptop.

Click to expand...

I believe that is the main reason that I should give up on this venture. As you said, the OS came pre-installed and I don't have an installation disc to reinstall windows. It was worth a try, in theory. At least I know what to do if I want to upgrade these laptops to SSD drives in the future. Thanks again to everyone for your help and suggestions. Really appreciated!

Click to expand...

You can use the ACER version of
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/5132-recovery-drive-create-usb-flash-drive-windows-8-a.html

Did you make the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

How to make Acer Recovery disks.

Using Acer Recovery Management to Restore Windows 8

Create a Packard Bell Factory Default Backup in Windows 8


Windows 8 - Create a Factory Default Backup - Acer Recovery Management - YouTube
Windows 8 - Create a Drivers and Applications Backup - Acer Recovery Management - YouTube
Windows 8 - Restore Windows With a USB Recovery Drive - YouTube

You can Order Acer recovery disks from here:

https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer
or
Acer | Recovery Media
Check in Accessories
or check the main web site.
Acer Worldwide - Select your local country or region

Now I'm confused (what's new). Isn't the key embedded in UEFI. Cloning the hard drive should not have any effect on that or is the key copied from UEFI to the hard drive during the manufacturers setup process before the computer is sold?

Yes, I did make a repair disc for each of the laptops. Don't feel alone Ztruker, I am confused also! Like you said, if the key is embedded in uefi, then it should be able to recognize that it is a genuine copy of windows 8. All said and done, I believe I will leave this potential can of worms alone. I already have most of the laptops configured the way I want them, plus I am on a tight schedule to have them ready to ship out. Once again, I do thank everyone who provided all this useful information. Maybe next time I will attempt to do this with my own PCs. Thanks!

"We always assume you have made your Recovery Disks using the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Media Creator app the first day you had your new PC.
& made the Startup Repair CD. "

I just wanted to have something clarified. When I first set up each laptop, I made sure to follow the instructions and went into the Gateway Recovery Management application and made repair discs. This, I assume, is the "OEM manufacturers Recovery Media" you spoke about. Then, when I read about also making a "Startup Repair CD", I was curious. So I searched and typed in recdisc which brought me to a different screen to make a "system recovery" disc. I made one of these, then realized that it was the exact same files as the repair disc. Am I correct, or are they different?