What's new in this release (Click this line).
0. Installation
Starting with Ver.0.40.0, the XXCLONE download package
comes with an installation utility that place the
XXCLONE software in the right place in the user disk.
The uninstall options is not working yet.
The HTML-help file is not fully updated.
Unlike other Windows programs, XXCLONE does not create
an entry in the system registry. The installation program
put the executable (and the help file) in the \Windows\System32\
directory.
Following the convention, the following directories are created:
X:\Program Files\XXCLONE\
X:\Documents and Settings\(user)\Start Menu\Program\XXCLONE\
The heart of the XXCLONE operation is the transfer of the
system registry files which requires multiple reboots.
For auto-launching of XXCLONE at the reboots, XXCLONE
sets up a batch file to automate the process (and copies
itself into appropriate directory as needed
(C:\windows\system32\).
Since XXCLONE accesses system resources that are available
to only uses with administrator privilege, the XXCLONE
program must be invoked by a user who logs in with the
privilege. The current version does not test the
log-in status immediately after the program launch,
the error message will appear much later (will be corrected).
1. Step 1:
When you invoke XXCLONE for the first time (i.e., other
than the instance from an auto-launched reboot), it will
show the Setting Up window (see below) and wait for the user
to make the selection and to initiate the action.
If it is the first time you run XXCLONE, you should run
the MMC Disk Management Applet (supplied by Microsoft)
by clicking the DiskMgmt button inside the XXCLONE window.
This button is provided for your convenience (you may use
any other method to invoke the DiskMgmt.MSC utility).
The Disk Management Utility should look like this:
The top pane lists the disk partitions on your computer.
The bottom pane visualizes the disks and partitions.
We recommend that before and after an XXCLONE operation is
performed, you check the source and the target volume's
position on the respective hard disk in order to avoid
a catastrophic mistake. We also strongly recommend that
each volume be labeled with a unique volume name.
The destination partition must already be formatted and
its status either "Active" or "Healthy". You may perform
disk management operations at this time, including an
initialization of the intended target volume for XXCLONE.
Such activities can be initiated from the Action menu after
selecting the target disk/partition. If you need to
format a partition, we recommend the quick format to save
substantial time.
Since the current version of XXCLONE does *NOT*
refresh the disk partitions information it detected
at the beginning, if you alter any settings (e.g., the
drive letter assignment), or format the target disk,
you must exit XXCLONE once and restart XXCLONE so that
XXCLONE will recognize the latest partition settings.
In the Source Volume box, XXCLONE should correctly show
the volume which is the system disk of the current Windows
session.
You may select any volume for the Target Volume that is
different from the Source Volume.
Next, select one of the five operations in the window.
The first four selects which of the canned backup
operations to perform before the XXCLONE action.
The real action begins when the user click the start button.
The first thing XXCLONE does is to perform the volume
backup operation just like an ordinary XXCOPY according
to the user selection.
After you click the start button, if everything goes
as planned, you need not do any action on your part
but sit back and let XXCLONE play out its course until
it pronounces "DONE!".
Depending upon the system environment, XXCLONE may use
the preferred one-step cloning method (on XP and 2K).
But, with NT4, XXCLONE will use the double-reboot
scheme.
When XXCLONE succeeds in transferring the system registry
files in one step, In that case, the following two steps
will not apply to you --- just skip to Step 4.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This double-reboot scenario will take place when XXCLONE
cannot transfer all the files in one step. Under most
circumstances, this will not happen. But, when that
happens, XXCLONE will automatically perform the tree-step
method (double-reboot).
After the first click of the start button, XXCLONE will
perform the following operations:
. makes the destination volume bootable by itself.
. arranges for auto-launching of XXCLONE.EXE in the
next step (creating XXCLONE2.BAT in StartUp folder).
. modifies the BOOT.INI files.
. makes a temporary copy of registry files in the
destination.
. prepares for reboot and automatically reboots in
60 seconds.
(there is an option that XXCLONE will use the
floppy disk for controlling the reboot sequence.
for a few runs, I suggest that you use this option
--- just stick in any floppy disk in A: Naturally,
I expect that you set the BIOS setting so that
the floppy disk will be at a higher priority in the
boot sequence setting in the BIOS.)
2. Step 2:
the system will go though the first reboot and
the BOOT.INI (either on the floppy, or the main
disk) will select the right volume (the target volume)
for the temporary reboot.
If successful, you will see the temporary reboot into
an XP system with possibly the Vanilla WinXP green hill
and sky wall paper (could be something else, though).
If everything proceeds as with the ideal scenario,
your system will launch the XXCLONE program by itself
for step 2.
It will initiate the transfer of the system registry
files (from C:\windows\system32\config\ and also from
C:\Documents and Settings\...\). Since the destination
volume won't allow these files to be overwritten live,
the files have to be saved into a temporary directory.
It will be saved at X:\windows\XXCLONE\ as the
temporary destination (X: is the target volume
whose alphabet is sometimes unpredictable).
It should finish its job within a minute and proceed
to reboot by itself.
If your system go nowhere in the first reboot (for no
apparent action after the desktop will be painted
(with possibly many icons on the desktop), you must
manually run the following command from the console:
(Start > Run...)
With the floppy selection enabled:
\windows\system32\xxclone C: X: /step2 /floppy
without the floppy selection,
\windows\system32\xxclone.exe C: X: /step2
(here C: and X: are assumed to be the source and the
destination volumes, respectively in the original
volume configuration ---- although in the temporary
reboot environment, the drive letters are sometimes
unpredictable --- use the original drive letters.)
When Step 2 runs its course, it will proceed to a reboot.
3. Step 3:
The system will reboot back into the original system disk.
The two-step transfer of the system registry files
must be completed here. This time, the files will be
copied from the temporary location (X:\WINDOWS\XXCLONE\)
to the respective destinations. When it is done, the
BOOT.INI file (on the original source volume) will be
readjusted, and the re-launching mechanism is removed.
On the XXCLONE screen you will see the big letters "DONE!".
As far as the source volume is concerned, this is the end
of the story.
If you run XXCLONE operation repeatedly into a backup disk
which has gone the process before, you need not run any
more steps. The target volume should be ready to boot
on it own when its time has come.
So, in periodic XXCLONE operation, Step 1 through 3 are
all you need to do. Since the usual XXCOPY /CLONE
operation performs most of necessary volume synchronization,
XXCLONE's job can be limited to the fourth setup option
(Make the target volume bootable without backup).
4. Step 4:
But, you may want to independently verify what will happen
to the new cloned volume when it is given the seat of
C: all by itself without the original C:. Be my guest
and do the necessary swapping of the drives. However,
you may try an alternative method by simply adding an
appropriate entry for the target volume to be booted
using the same BOOT.INI file in the source disk.
(This is not as complete a test as the disk-swapping,
it still gives you most of the reboot testing exercise.)
If the new volume is rebooted for the first time, if
everything goes well, you will find the XXCLONE program
automatically launched once more at the new volume.
The only thing it needs to do then is to make sure that
all the volumes has the correct drive letter as intended.
We have found that in some cases, drive letter assignment
in the first invocation of the cloned volume different
from what they should be. So, XXCLONE will verify this.
If the drive letter assignment is not exactly as expected,
XXCLONE will try to make adjustments on this and make
one more reboot.
If the drive letters are all correct, you will see the
word "CLONED". This will be the last time that you find
XXCLONE launched automatically. Note that in the new
cloned environment, your original drive will be assigned
with the drive letter which was for the target drive.
That is, in the ultimate cloned environment, the original
source volume and the clone target volume swap their
respective drive letter. All other drives present will
retain their drive letter.
About the backup strategy.
The most valuable operation of XXCLONE is the first
launch to make the target volume bootable. In the past,
making the backup volume bootable required rather
complicated steps especially for Win XP users. This is
due to the fact that for the system disk to be bootable,
quite a few conditions must be met. XXCLONE is our
answer for this problem; it performs relatively complex
set of operations --- initializing the MBR, the
Boot sector, setting the partition active, modifying
the BOOT.INI file, adjusting the drive letter assignment,
to name a few.
Unlike other backup solutions which require an elaborate
system restore procedure, XXCLONE allows you to quickly
verify that the target volume is indeed bootable. This
should give a significant level of confidence on the
backup procedure.
After exhaustive testing, we came up with the current
scheme which (unfortunately) requires double-reboot in
order to cover the worst case scenario (in ideal cases,
just one-step file-transfer suffices it). Since rebooting
the system often require user-intervention, especially
at the login dialog (unless the system is a single-user
setting), the current version of XXCLONE may not be
run unattended.
------------------------------------------------------------
Or, you may continue to use XXCOPY for daily backup for
its versatile file-selection mechanism. As long as
the target volume is made bootable using XXCLONE once,
the destination volume will remain bootable. The only
thing that won't be updated in XXCOPY operation is the
system registry (in the Win NT/2K/XP environments,
the system registry files are normally not accessible
directly). You may run the three-step XXCLONE operation
just once a week or even less. Still, the most important
data (user files) can be more conveniently saved by
by daily backup routine using XXCOPY.
------------------------------------------------------------
The Alternative Wallpaper feature
One of the ironies in running the XXCLONE program is that the
reproduction of the original volume is so nearly complete it is
difficult to tell whether the current Windows session is booted
from the original volume or from the newly duplicated target volume.
Here, this technique allows you to let the Windows that is booted
from the target volume show a distinct wallpaper on the Desktop.
From the Advanced Settings menu:
Check the line at the Alternative Wallpaper on Target Desktop.
Command line syntax:
XXCLONE <source> <target> /WP
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Prior to v.0.49.0, the wallpaper feature used an external bitmap
file and the user had to follow somewhat complicated procedure
to use the alternative wallpaper feature. Although the old scheme
had more flexibility in choosing the wallpaper, the method was
considered to complicated to many users who just don't have time
to learn the feature. At the end, we chose to simplify the
scheme with just a checkbox (basically an On/Off switch). You
no longer have choice in the color scheme or the image design
in the alternative wallpaper.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Automating the invocation and execution of XXCLONE.
Once you succeed in making a bootable clone with XXCLONE,
the thing you want is to run XXCLONE every once in a while.
For this, the incremental backup option is very convenient.
Then, it is quite natural for you to think of automating
the periodic execution of XXCLONE. It is an easy way
to backup your valuable data in your main disk.
XXCLONE-Pro now supports an unattended execution via
the command line switches.
Command line syntax:
XXCLONE <source> <target> [ switches...]
where <source> Source volume (e.g., C:)
<target> Target volume (e.g., D:)
You may add any of the following switches
/diag Creates diagnostic file (C:\XXCLONE.DAT)
/debug Creates a log file (C:\XXCLONE.LOG)
/start Starts automatically
(the following switches corresponds the Setup Menu)
/backup1 Backup Option #1 (Full Backup)
/backup2 Backup Option #2 (Incremental Backup)
/backup3 Backup Option #3 (Win Essential Files Only)
/backup0 Registry Transfer (Without Backup)
/repair Repair Bootability (No Clone Operations)
/floppy Creates the Quick Boot Diskette (QBD)
/walkout Shuts down the computer after completion.
Note: With /diag option, no volume clone operation will
take place.
Command line Example:
xxclone.exe c: d: /backup2 /start
Tip:
You may create a shortcut on your Desktop with a command
line similar to the example above. You may click the icon
which automatically starts the action without another click.
Moreover, you may drag-and-drop the icon into the StartUp
directory, or into the Scheduled-Tasks (inside Control Panel)
for further automation.
Making the XXCLONE job in the background "Nicer" to other tasks.
This is just a minor improvement when you run XXCLONE in the
background for an automated incremental backup (often invoked
as a batch file). The newly added /NI switch allows you to
reduce the processor usage in such a way that the background
XXCLONE job will not significantly slow down the computer
while the volume backup operation is in progress.
Command line syntax:
XXCLONE (other arguments ...) /NI<n>
where <n> Adds n milliseconds between file copies.
This feature has been widely used in its sister product,
XXCOPY. This feature was named after the similarly named
tool in Unix. It is implemented by inserting a millisecond
idle cycle between file transfers (plus much smaller idle
periods sprinkled over many internal program loops).
In essence, /NI will somewhat slow down the XXCLONE operation
in order to allow your foreground tasks to run more smoothly.
Command line Example:
xxclone.exe c: d: /backup2 /ni:10 /start
Tip:
The optimum value for /NI should be empirically arrived by
each user. We suggest that you start with /NI:10 and make
a few adjustments (viewing the Windows Task Manager CPU usage
will be helpful) to find the sweet spot for your computer.
= = = = New features in v.0.21.1 (2004-04-11) = = = =
In the past, XXCLONE supported only the Basic Disk type.
Now, XXCLONE supports the common variations in Dynamic Disk
in creating a self-bootable clone.
Basic Disk (not in extended partition)
Simple Dynamic Disk --- self-bootable
Spanned Dynamic Disk --- self-bootable
Striped Dynamic Disk --- (not fully tested)
RAID0-5 Dynamic Disk --- (not fully tested)
We believe the support of the Simple Dynamic Disk solves many
users problem ---- due to the way XP-Pro initializes hard disk,
many users were not even aware that the new disk was configured
as a Dynamic Disk. This enhancement is expected to cut down
the number of problem cases significantly.
The way XXCLONE handles the BOOT.INI file, as well as the MBR and
the Boot Sector has been completely changed. In the new way,
these items will *NOT* be modified unless specifically specified
by a /BC<n> switch. The new default setting is /BC0.
The only exception to this rule is when the Taret volume does
not have the BOOT.INI file. In that case, it will be automatically
created.
The way XXCLONE handles the BOOT.INI file, as well as the MBR and
the Boot Sector has been completely changed. In the new way,
these items will *NOT* be modified unless specifically specified
by a /BC<n> switch. The new default setting is /BC0.
The only exception to this rule is when the Taret volume does
not have the BOOT.INI file. In that case, it will be automatically
created.
Now, XXCLONE will *NOT* alter anything in the Source Volume
without exceptions. This include the treatment of the BOOT.INI
file in the Source Volume. From now on, when we talk about
the BOOT.INI file, the file in the Target Volume is referred to.
This change makes it slightly harder for the user to boot into
the newly cloned volume for a quick boot-test for the first time.
But, you may either use the Floppy disk for boot-control, or
manually edit the BOOT.INI file. Since the file will not be
changed by XXCLONE by default any longer, most of the problems
with BOOT.INI that were reported should be a thing of the past.
##########################################################
Caution: The handling of the BOOT.INI file has been
changed starting with v.0.21.1 (2004-04-08).
Previously the default setting was /BC7 which is changed
to /BC0. In addition, The BOOT.INI file in the source
volume will no longer be changed. Instead, Now, the
BOOT.INI file that is being written is strictly on the
target volume. The only exception to this behavior is
when the target volume does not contain any BOOT.INI
file in the destination --- in such a case, a new
BOOT.INI file will be created automatically.
##########################################################
The XXCLONE default behavior is designed for the first time user
to duplicate the source volume to the destination volume and
make necessary adjustments in boot-related sectors and files.
While the default XXCOPY behavior may work for many users,
some users' system setup will be disturbed by the way XXCLONE
adjusts the contents of some key boot-related data on the
system disks. So, we added the new /BC (boot-control) switch
that will disable some of the boot control operations.
command Initializes Initializes Initializes
switch MBR BootSector BOOT.INI
--------------------------------------------------------
/BC0 (default) No No No
/BC1 No No Yes
/BC2 No Yes No
/BC3 No Yes Yes
/BC4 Yes No No
/BC5 Yes No Yes
/BC6 Yes Yes No
/BC7 Yes Yes Yes
--------------------------------------------------------
The /BC switch takes a single digit (0-7) parameter as
shown above. The three steps of the boot control procedure
can be selectively enabled/disabled using this switch.
That is, once you edit the BOOT.INI file of the source volume
or the target volume manually, you may tell XXCLONE not to
disturb the setting by adding the /BC0 switch in the command
line. This is particularly effective when you create a
customized batch file (possibly with the use of XXCOPY)
for a periodic backup.
= = = = New features in v.0.21.8 (2004-10-12) = = = =
In the past, some users had problems making the target volume
self-bootable. The initialization of the boot sector was
somehow interfered with Windows' sector cache scheme. We believe
the improved sector-writing technique should help make the
target volume self-bootable.
Starting with ver. 0.21.8 (2004-10-12), the Boot Control parameter
is shown in the main setup window with a combination of checkboxes.
You may still use the /BC switch at the command line.
Note: This is an advanced feature which is usually required
only with non-standard partition settings. If you use
a third-party boot control scheme (e.g., Boot Magic),
you may disable XXCLONE's re-initialization of the boot
control objects.
The new /HIDE switch Selects how the XXCLONE window is displayed.
/HIDE0 : XXCLONE normal (display) mode
/HIDE1 : XXCLONE's window appears Minimized mode.
Since the taskbar button that represents the
running XXCLONE task, you may restore the
XXCLONE window (to abort the job).
/HIDE2 : XXCLONE's window will be completely hidden.
With this setting, XXCLONE will *NOT* give you
any opportunity to interact with it once the
action starts. If it is combined with /START
which suppresses all forms of user prompts.
Note: /HIDE2 (or /HIDE1) allows you to create a batch file
that runs XXCLONE in the background without distracting
the user.
Here's a list of new features added to the new version (XXCLONE v.0.3x.x).
/LOG : Creates a log file (XXCLONE.LOG). The location of
the log file will be at the root directory of the
target volume. (In the future, we will probably allow
you to specify the complete path. We believe the
files should be somewhere in the target volume since
one may create multiple backup volumes of a source
(e.g, daily and weekly backups). Therefore, saving the
log file in the source volume makes little sense.
At the end of the log file, XXCLONE's operation stats
are saved for your examination. It is nice to know
how many files and directories are present on your
system.
/DEBUG: Creates a debug file (XXCLONE.DBG). The location of
the debug file will be at the root directory of the
windows system volume (usually it's in C:\).
The contents of the debug file are overlaps with
the log file. We recommend the creation of this file
only when you have problems with XXCLONE operations.
Even though the contents are mostly self-explanatory,
we do not want to bother documenting each and every
line in it. It's for our use only. Since the
location of this file is at the same location all the
time, unless you manually rename or save it elsewhere,
only the last copy of the debug file will be kept.
/NI:n The "NICE" switch which inserts idle cycles during
XXCLONE execution, has been tweaked. The previous
versions added excessive delay, it was nearly useless.
This time, this function can be controlled at any
time during an XXCLONE operation via the Slide control.
You may slow down to a comfortable level so that
a lengthy XXCLONE operation in the background would
not interfere with your computer use in the foreground.
Volume verification by the volume label.
Both the source and the target volume identities
can be verified by the label name entered from the
command line for automated execution (with the /START
switch.
Volume specifier Syntax:
Drive_letter:[volume_label]
Examples: C:MY_DISK1
D:"Weekly Backup"
The optional label string must be appended immediately
after the driveletter-colon sequence. If the volume
label contains an embedded space, the string must be
surrounded by quotes. You may use quotes even if the
label has no embedded space.
The volume label that is specified in the command line
will be compared against the label of the volume and
if the string does not match (case-insensitive match),
the XXCLONE auto-execution (by /START switch) will be
terminated as an error.
Note: if the /START switch is not present in the command
line (i.e., the user will have chance to modify
the source and/or target volume before clicking
the Start button), the volume label in the command
line will be ignored even if it does not match the
actual label.
Tip: The volume-verification feature is especially useful
with a fully-automated volume backup. For example,
when the working volume is set up with a system cloning,
from the StartUp directory, the same mechanism will
be propagated to the cloned volume. Since the cloned
volume will faithfully duplicates the behavior of the
working volume, when you boot into the cloned volume
(for testing), the automated backup script will
automatically invoke the identical script at the
beginning of the Windows session before you have a
chance to manually disable it (it will possibly start
making a clone of the cloned volume from the backup
volume to the original volume). The volume-label
verification scheme will prevent such an undesirable
XXCLONE script. Having a unique label to each volume
is strongly recommended.
Make-Batch Button (in Advanced setup)
When the Make-Batch button is clicked, a one-line batch file
(C:\Windows\system32\Run_XXClone.BAT) will be created.
The contents reflects the current settings (with /START).
You may then, drag and drop the icon for the batch file
into various directories (e.g., StartUp, or Scheduled-Tasks)
for automation.
Frequently Asked Questions
1 Q: When I run XXCLONE, in the "Setting Up" page, I find
the Source Volume box empty (or, the Target Volume
box empty). I cannot select the volume I want for the
XXCLONE operation. What should I do?
A: If the disk is initialized as a "Dynamic Disk", the
current version of XXCLONE cannot support such a drive.
You should invoke the DiskMgmt (DISKMGMT.MSC) and
create a Basic volume.
1. Delete the "Dynamic" Volume on the drive.
2. Then, convert the disk type to "Basic" disk.
3. Create and format a primary partition (FAT32 or
NTFS). We suggest the Quick Format. Make sure
you give a good volume name.
4. Activate the partition.
Exit the XXCLONE program once, and invoke XXCLONE once
more, and you will find the volumes in the Basic disk
visible in the Target Volume.
------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft has the following recommendation (Q816307):
"If you do not require spanned volumes, striped
volumes, mirrored volumes, or RAID-5 sets,
it may be best to use basic disks."
------------------------------------------------------
XXCLONE supports only the most fundamental partition
configurations. If you use a third party tools such
as BootMagic from PowerQuest (now, part of Symantic),
don't expect XXCLONE to know what to do with such a
non-standard partition.
2 Q: After a successful XXCLONE operation, I rebooted the
system using the newly cloned disk. Then, I discovered
that my Office-XP says a new installation. What should
I do?
A: Apparently, Microsoft implemented an anti-piracy
mechanism with XP that checks the hard disk signature
on which it is installed. Some users reported that
Norton brand disk diagnostic/repair tool can fix the
problem by making patches to the system registry.
Some users reported that Norton AntiVirus stopped working
the the Target volume after a XXCLONE. Again, we suggest
that you either re-install such applications. Some
repair tool may reduce the necessary time.
