Introduction to cloning a Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista computer

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Introduction to cloning a Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista computer

Question/Issue:
You are about to clone a computer that is using the Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system, and you want to know if there is anything you should do to prepare.

Solution:
There are a number of issues that must be considered when cloning Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista:

Ghost versions: Which Ghost version you use to create and restore the image file.
Windows versions and service packs: What Windows version is run on the source computer.
Cloning Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 Servers: Whether the source computer is a server.
Differences between the source and destination computers: How physical differences between the source computer and destination computers affect the operating system, drivers, and configuration settings, and how encryption on the source computer affects the destination computer.
Restoring the uniqueness of a Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista installation after cloning: Configuration settings that must be different on the destination computers than on the source computer.

Ghost versions

Ghost has improvements in its handling of NTFS partitions in each Ghost version. Update Ghost to the latest version. See the documents How to determine your version of Ghost and How to obtain current version of Symantec Ghost.

Norton Ghost 2002 and earlier, and Symantec Ghost 7.5 and earlier cannot save images to local NTFS partitions. However, some Ghost versions can save images to NTFS partitions that reside on a remote computer. Norton Ghost 2003 and Symantec Ghost 8.x can save image files to local NTFS partitions. See the documents Storing Ghost image files directly to NTFS partitions and Using Ghost to save or write an image to a different computer.

Windows versions and service packs

When working with Windows NT installations, versions of Ghost prior to 2003 require Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4, 5, or 6a, but do not support Service Pack 6. Norton Ghost 2003 requires Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6a.

When working with Windows 2000 installations, Ghost supports Windows 2000 Professional, Server, and Advanced Server with or without Service Pack 1 (also Service Pack 2, 3, or 4 with Symantec Ghost 8.x). See the document Ghost compatibility with Windows 2000.

When working with Windows XP installations: Norton Ghost 2002, Norton Ghost 2003, Symantec Ghost 7.5, Symantec Ghost 8.x and Symantec Ghost 11.x support Windows XP. See the document Ghost compatibility with Windows XP. Note that Windows XP includes a Product Activation feature that may affect cloning. Product Activation is a Windows XP licensing feature. For information on how Product Activation affects cloning, read the Microsoft article How to use Sysprep with Windows Product Activation or Volume License Media to Deploy Windows XP, article number 299840 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support.

Windows Vista is only supported with Symantec Ghost version 11.x.

Cloning Windows NT or Windows 2000/2003 Servers

Ghost can clone a Windows NT or Windows 2000/2003 Server for backup or migration purposes. However, in most cases, Ghost cannot clone a server for rolling out that server to many computers, and Symantec does not support Ghost when used for this purpose. See the document 'Does Symantec Ghost work with Server operating systems?'.

Backups

When cloning a Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/2003 computer for backup purposes only, most of the information in the remainder of this document does not affect the cloning process.

That is, when you intend to restore the image to the same computer that you created the image of, information in the sections "Differences between the source and destination computers" and "Restoring the uniqueness of a Windows NT/2000/2003 installation after cloning" is relevant in only the following situations:

You intend to change the computer name
You intend to change other identifying information on the computer
You might restore the image to a different hard disk or computer

Differences between the source and destination computers

Microsoft operating systems vary in their ability to deal with cloning to hardware environments that differ from the environment that they were initially installed on. The operating system affects how well a cloning operation will work when cloning between two computers that have different hardware. Windows NT is relatively inflexible when adapting itself to a hardware environment that differs from that which it was initially installed on; however, Windows 2000’s Plug-and-Play capabilities help alleviate this inflexibility. Subsequently, there are several restrictions to be considered when migrating a Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista (Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista) installation from one hardware environment to another:

Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) differences
Windows NT/2000 use a HAL to communicate with the drivers for various hardware devices on the computer. This saves the operating system from needing to "know" about differences between different models of the same type of hardware device.

Because different computer vendors can write their own HALs (to take advantage of specific hardware features or to install Windows to their computers), an image of a computer that uses a particular Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) HAL may not function on a computer that has different hardware.

To prevent such problems, ensure that you clone Windows NT/2000 computers that have a specific OEM HAL only to computers that the HAL was intended for. Check with your OEM vendor for information.

Driver specific issues
An installation of Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista that is configured for a specific set of hardware devices may not work correctly if the installation tries to run on a computer with a different set of hardware devices. For example, a Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista installation on a computer that uses an IDE hard disk will probably not work on a computer that uses a SCSI hard disk.

Other examples of problematic hardware device classes are network cards, video cards, sound cards, and so on. The effect of a nonfunctioning device varies. For example, Windows uses a generic VGA video driver if Windows cannot get the originally installed video driver to load correctly.

Windows 2000/XP/Vista is better than Windows NT at handling the differences in hardware between computers when you run Microsoft's System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) at the Windows 2000/XP/Vista computer before cloning that computer.

For Windows 2000 installations, use Microsoft's Sysprep tool on the source computer before cloning from that computer. This indicates to the booting clone that it must rebuild its Plug-and-Play driver database. If the driver installation files are also included in the image, then the operating system will configure itself automatically to the new hardware environment. This option is not available with Windows NT because Windows NT does not support Plug-and-Play.
For Windows XP/Vista installations, use Microsoft's Sysprep tool on the source computer before cloning from that computer.
Microsoft has an article discussing hardware differences between the source and destination computers when using Sysprep with Windows 2000. See the document Using the System Preparation Tool on Dissimilar Computers (Article number 216915), in the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

If you used Sysprep with a Windows 2000/XP/Vista installation and still encountered difficulties with hardware differences, or you want to clone a Windows NT installation, take the following points into consideration:

Do not clone a computer that uses an IDE hard disk to a computer that uses a SCSI hard disk.
Consider removing all nonessential hardware drivers from the source computer before cloning, and then, after cloning, reinstalling the correct drivers on the destination computers.
In the situation where a population of destination computers can be broken down into two or more distinct groups based on their hardware setup, create an image for each group. Alternatively, on the model (source) computer, create a separate hardware profile for each hardware environment. After you write the image to the destination computers, choose the correct hardware profile when you start each computer. This can be achieved by installing Windows on a particular hardware setup and creating a hardware profile for that setup, cloning that installation to another hardware setup, creating another hardware profile, and so on until all hardware setups are covered and then using the image taken from the last setup.
Some limited success has been reported for installing all possible drivers for all possible peripherals before cloning and relying on incorrect drivers to fail when the resultant clones boot. This will not work in all cases because some incorrect drivers may be sufficiently similar to the correct drivers to not fail. This would cause two or more drivers to attempt to perform the same function, causing problems accessing and using the device.

Encrypted files or folders on the source computer
Windows NT/2000 cannot read encrypted files and directories when the SID has changed (after a rollout, Sysprep or Ghost Walker provides a new unique SID for each client computer). This problem occurs only when the destination computers will have a different SID than the source computer and does not affect Ghost backups, because the SID of the computer does not change after a backup has been restored.

To prevent this problem, unencrypt all files and directories before cloning a Windows NT/2000 system, then re-encrypt the files and directories after using Sysprep or Ghost Walker on the client computers to provide new user names and SIDs.

Restoring the uniqueness of a Windows installation after cloning

A requirement of Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista is that each computer in a domain or workgroup be uniquely identified by the computer name, and, if in a domain, also by the user account's security identifier (SID) and the domain account. When you clone from one computer to another, both computers share the same name, SID, and domain account, and Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista allows only one of the computers to join the workgroup or domain at any one time. If you clone a computer for backup purposes, this is not a problem.

If, however, you want to use both computers on the same domain or workgroup, only one of the computers can be logged on at any one time unless you change the identification of one of the computers before attempting to log that computer on to the domain. The following sections discuss how to change the identification of the destination computer.

Security identifier (SID) for workstations participating in a domain
The Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista networking and security subsystems rely on a unique token known as a Security Identifier (SID). This token is randomly generated at installation time. Each user account, security group, and computer has its own SID. When an installation is cloned, all the SIDs are also duplicated. This duplication results in a Windows installation that is no longer unique. For more information on the Security Identifier, refer to Microsoft's document Do Not Disk Duplicate Installed Versions of Windows (Article 162001).

Having a non-unique SID is a problem if the target workstation participates in a workgroup or domain:

In a workgroup, duplicate SIDs result in a loss of the ability to differentiate and control security access by users and groups.
In a domain, Windows does not allow two computers having the same SIDs to log on to the domain. In addition, Windows 2000 and newer domains rely more heavily on the SID as a unique token for administering and controlling security than Windows NT 4 domains, which base security access on domain user names and passwords.

To resolve the problem, use a SID changer on each target workstation to regenerate a unique SID:

If cloning a Windows 2000/XP/Vista installation, use Microsoft's System Preparation (Sysprep) tool.

Note: Although Ghost Walker successfully changes the SID on most Windows computers, Microsoft's System Preparation (Sysprep) tool changes the SID and prompts Windows 2000 to rebuild its Plug-and-Play driver database. To use Sysprep instead of Ghost Walker or the Ghost Console SID Change option, see the document How to use Sysprep with Ghost.
If you run a Task in Ghost Console to rollout an image, use the SID Change option in the Task. When cloning, use either Sysprep or the SID Change option, but not both options.
In other situations, run Ghost Walker at the target computer to change the SID and the computer name. Note that Ghost Walker is available only in the enterprise Ghost versions and Norton Ghost 2003.

If you use a SID changer other than Ghost Walker, the SID Change option, or Sysprep, make sure that the SID changer also changes all instances of the old SID where the SID is used to control access to files, registry settings, and so on. If the SID changer does not update old instances of the SID, some application programs may not work. In addition, Windows will no longer recognize the security settings, resulting in either no access to selected system resources, or global access to system resources, increasing security risks on the system.

For more information, see the document How to change the SID on a Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Windows NT computer.

Computer name for workstations participating in a domain
Windows NT/2000 requires that each computer on a domain have a unique computer name (NetBIOS name).

To change the computer name of the destination computer, use one of the following methods:

If cloning a Windows 2000 installation, run Microsoft's Sysprep tool at the source computer immediately prior to creating an image of that computer. See the document How to use Sysprep with Ghost. You can also use this method if you will be taking the original image with GhostCasting or boot disks.
If rolling out a Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista installation by running a Task in Ghost Console, mark the Apply Computer Name option in the Configuration used for the Task before executing the Task. For cloning Windows 2000, use either Sysprep or the Apply Computer Name option, but not both options.
Run Ghost Walker at the destination computer after cloning to it, and before restarting it. Note that Ghost Walker is available only in the enterprise Ghost versions and Norton Ghost 2003.
Start the destination computer after cloning to it, and do not log on to the domain. Change the computer name in the Network Control Panel applet, and then restart the computer and log on to the domain.

Domain account for workstations participating in a domain
A Window NT/2000/XP/Vista domain controller keeps track of all workstations in the domain by an entry for each workstation in the domain controller's user accounts database. This entry includes the workstation's computer name. When you change a workstation's computer name after cloning, the workstation no longer matches it's entry in the database, and the workstation cannot be authenticated on the domain. That is, the workstation cannot log on to the domain.

To prevent this problem, remove the source computer from the domain before creating an image of the source computer. After cloning to the destination computer, add the destination computer back to the domain. Note that if you use Ghost Console in Norton Ghost 6.04 Enterprise Edition, Symantec Ghost 6.5 Enterprise Edition, Symantec Ghost 7.0, Symantec Ghost 7.5, or Symantec Ghost 8.0 to clone to the destination computer, Ghost automatically adds the computer back to the domain for you.

The Ghost enterprise versions do not require that you remove the source computer from the domain before cloning if Ghost originally added the computer to the domain. This is because Ghost uses the "Add Workstations to Domain" rights. See the Microsoft article number 139365, Capabilities of the "Add Workstations to Domain" Right.

Here is an example of when it is not necessary to remove the source computer from the domain before cloning:

You add the source computer, computer A, to the domain.
You remove computer A from the domain.
You use Ghost to create an image file of computer A.
You used a Ghost enterprise version to roll out that image file to the target computers. That is, you write the contents of the image file to one or more computers, writing over the previous contents of the disks or partitions. Ghost adds these computers to the domain.
You use Ghost to create an image file of one of the target computers from step 4. Because Ghost added the computer to the domain in step 4, you do not need to remove the computer from the domain before creating the image file.

Summary

Preparations to make before cloning

Update Ghost to the latest version.
Ensure that the source computer uses a version of Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista that Ghost supports.
If cloning a Windows NT/2000/2003 Server, ensure that the image will be used only as a backup, and not for migrating a server installation to other computers.
Determine whether the source computer uses an OEM HAL. If it does, clone an image of that computer only to computers that have the same hardware.
If the source and destination computers do not use identical hardware, evaluate the hardware differences with respect to the points listed in the previous section, "Driver specific issues."

Preparations at the source computer

If the image will be used to migrate a Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista installation to a different computer, that is, the image will be used for other than backup purposes, unencrypt all files and folders on the source computer before using Ghost to clone the computer.
If the source Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista computer is a member of a domain, remove the computer's account from the domain before using Ghost to clone the source computer. If the source computer is a member of a workgroup, no changes are needed.
If cloning a Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista computer, run Sysprep immediately prior to cloning.

Using Ghost to clone

Using Ghost to create an image file: If you have several types of destination computers, this may involve creating several image files. For instance, you might have one image file for a specific OEM HAL, another for a computer using IDE hard drives, and another for a different OEM HAL on a computer that uses SCSI hard disks.
Changing the configuration of the client computers:
- If you ran Sysprep on the source computer before cloning, Sysprep runs automatically on the destination computer after cloning. Use Sysprep to change the computer name and SID.
- If, prior to creating the image file, you did not use Sysprep and you did not mark the SID Change option and the Apply Computer Name option in a Task in Ghost Console, change these attributes after cloning. That is, after restoring the image, run Ghost Walker at each destination computer to change the SID or computer name or both.
Adding the client computer to the domain: After writing the image to the client computers, add each computer back into the domain if necessary.

Technical Information:
Ghost and RAID
Ghost is not compatible with computers that use RAID. That is, Symantec Ghost 8.x and earlier, and Norton Ghost 2003 and earlier, do not support RAID controllers on computers that are being imaged. Ghost version 11.x and newer can image RAID 0 and 5 only and only with a Windows PE disk.
Please see the document 'Can Symantec Ghost be used to image or restore data on a RAID array?' for further information.

References:
Related information
Does Microsoft provide support for cloned computers?
How to clone a Windows NT or Windows 2000 workstation
How to prepare a workstation for control by the Ghost Console

Available Translations:

Document ID: 1999070716282425
Last Modified: 04/09/2008
Date Created: 07/07/1999
Operating System(s): Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2003
Product(s): Symantec Ghost 7.0, Symantec Ghost 7.5, Symantec Ghost 8.0, Symantec Ghost 8.2, Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 1.0, Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 1.1, Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.0
Release(s): Ghost 7.0 [All Releases], Ghost 7.5 [All Releases], Ghost 8.0 [All Releases], Symantec Ghost 8.2 [All Releases], Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 1.0 [All Releases], Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 1.1 [All Releases], Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.0 [All Releases]