*HP dv8 Owners Lounge*

My sig took up less space than most, and you bugged me about it twice within 18 hrs. You sir, are a killjoy. Kindly do your prison warden work with a light hand and stay away so the rest of us, who own this thread, can have the great times we have been having before "2.0" ever showed up here. Please do not respond. Mods should be neither seen nor heard from.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by lovelaptops
Phil, Phil, I was just joking about having some pages that didn't talk about SSDs! I mean, if you don't have one, nor are just about to get one, all the minutiae of installing, etc, are just "enrichment," but please don't think I am suggesting for a moment to suppress the content of discussions on this awesome thread.

Phil,

Sorry, I thought you knew me better by now. I am too sarcastic at times and will, as you suggest, at least stick a smiley or two in when I am largely being tongue in cheek. I don't think there was anything wrong with the SSD discussions, just that it seemed like you had to go multiple pages to find any other discussion, and I had for the time being, OD'd on SSD's until I can get over this sciatica and have the physical stamina to work on installations, swaps, etc.

Anyway, a favor: can you please take me at my word that I mean no disrespect or even argument unless my words clearly convey so? I'll meet you half way and make sure any t.i.c. remarks have something to brand them as such. No biggie, but I have this thing about "harmony" in one of the few places in my life that is a refuge of friends.

(It's part of why I was so annoyed when mr. mod 2.0 (hate to see what v 1.0 was like!) pelted my PM with multiple warnings about my sig line violating rules (though it took up less space than the rules allowed, though I'd had the same sig for, like, 4 months) and threatening to revoke my privileges if I didn't fix it IMMEDIATELY! Then tried to lecture me about the virtues of SSDs and how you can tell when your HDD is spinning when clearly I had been gained a near encylcopediac knowledge of them from my friends here, and never disputed their awesomeness. As it turned out, I was only providing an analogy to cars, which I then had to credit to Phil's prior art on the subject. It did not require a mod to jump in and parrot what all of my friends had said, as if I didn't understand after reading 15 pages of it!

I contribute to this thread; he doesn't. Any support is appreciated. I may not be the smartest tool in this shed by a long shot, but I try to help anyone I can, comment when I think I have something to add to the discussion, give praise and thanks (and reps!) when I think it is due, which is often and, finally, I do try to add some levity, because I think we can get a little too serious at times and humor is such a nice complement to any intense intellectualism.

 

Alan, I sure hope you're not watching it closely as it crawls along... You've got to have better things to do!

Having "indexing" enabled will not affect Chkdsk at all. Defragging affects alignment of files and once Chkdsk gets through all the occupied areas of the drive, it should skip through the rest very quickly.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Well, as Jeff said, you ran the check on every sector - whew! - That takes a long time! Glad it's done, finally.
Regards,
- - Phil

 

Peter, you are exactly correct! /F checks for misallocated or incomplete files - i.e., errors in the filesystem. /R includes /F and checks the functionality of the hard disk sectors and recovers data that is so weakly recorded that it would not be readable reliably normally.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

According to MS, Alan, /F doesn't check the media, only the filesystem integrity.
Regards,
- - Phil

 

i suspect that you are not actually installing the Chipset updates. The EXE doesn't install them but, instead, just extracts them. I had to go through the Device Mangler )) one-by-one to apply each one before they will take effect and show as a newer version. It took me nearly an hour to apply them all.
Regards,
- - Phil

 

Yes, I do. Jeff, I wasn't picking on you particularly. I was picking on the impression others (lurkers) might get from reading your complaint. It would look like you were trying to impose censorship. Appearances!! Perceptions can be more important than reality.

I got that and took no offense with it.

I didn't take it in any offensive way and was only concerned about the impression others might take from it.

I guess I figure that "2.0" has a 'thankless' job to do (fixing what poorly written software controls hadn't addressed) and so many forums and posters to get the attention and cooperation of. I have more important things to get upset about (and arguing it with him would not have changed the outcome) so I gave him a pass and the cooperation he deserves to encourage the type of 'harmony' that you like. In my exchanges with him, I can defend his level of knowledge and he seemed quite respectful when I responded to him in that way.

As you said, friendship and respect is important in any online environment and he deserves the same from us. I know you are very passionate and express yourself accordingly but that can lead to issues.

 

Now, now. We can't have that attitude here. It's unproductive.

LOL @ "who own this thread" & "Mods should be neither seen nor heard from."

Time for you to take a little time out to reflect, me thinks.

 

Well, PMorgan...

I'm downloading an EXE file that starts an Intel update wizard or something. When I run it, as far as I notice, it seems to extract and install them. A screen appears showing the progress. And I see it listing all the "old" drivers and updating with the "newer" version (9.1.1.1022).
It even shows "installing version 9.1.1...etc".

Thank you for responding my post, I thought it was going to get lost inside the sig discussion and all. ;D

And about the sound problem...any clues, anyone?

 

How about testing it? I suggest that you locate where the new drivers were extracted and just try selecting one inside Device Mangler and click on "update driver", pointing to that location when prompted. If it says "your driver has been updated to latest version," check the driver version and see if it changed. Seems like you have nothing to lose...

Regards,
- - Phil

 

You could try an updated driver. Though I haven't seen anyone post an issue quite like yours.

In any event, you can always find the latest drivers for your system in this thread which is maintained by the mods, specifically Justin:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...v6-gen-2-dv7-gen-3-dv8-hdx16-hdx18-intel.html

A note about uninstalling IDT drivers; Do it from control panel/device manager. In sound, video and game controllers, you will see the sound driver listed something to the effect of IDT High definition audio codec. Right click that and hit properties. In the driver tab, click uninstall but be certain to click "delete driver" check box. When it's done, reboot before installing a new driver.

 

don't know about what MS says... but when you run it, it gives you a readout of what it just did.. one of which is the sectors. "0 Kb in bad sectors" etc.

I've had it show bad sectors before on other computers... it marks them so you don't use them again.. usually a sign the hardrive is on the way out soon.

 

Regardless, Alan, if you 'don't know about what MS says", you might take a few minutes and check it out seriously. Chkdsk has been around for a long time and I'll rely on MS own descriptions:
"To repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors, at the command prompt, type chkdsk volume:/f, and then press ENTER."


P.S. How else would you account for the shorter (/F v. /R ) completion times as well?

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Maybe I ran chkdsk without any switches at all back when I saw errors.... been about 15 years or so.

Seriously though, I won't be running the /r switch without good reason or in total spare time.....
All I"ve ever needed for ghost to be happy was to be sure /F didn't find any issues.

 

15 years ago is too far back for me to remember such details, either.

No question that /R takes a much longer time to run! Alan, I doubt Ghost cares which you run unless you are doing a sector-by-sector clone including the boot sector/track. Might want to run chkdsk /R on the target disk to ensure Ghost doesn't choke when trying to write to a bad (unmarked) sector.


Regards,
- - Phil

 

About the sound problem, I would uninstall and reinstall the IDT audio driver in the manner 2.0 advised, and reinstall the latest version from the driver thread he referenced. The latest version just came out the other day and fixes an annoying pop issue I was getting when I did a hard power off or hard reboot.

I had the same problem with the Chipset driver installation. I'm going to try Phil's suggestion.

Edit: Nothing works for me for updating the Chipset drivers. Even if I point it through device mgr at the expanded Intel files that were installed, it says I already have the latest driver installed, but the driver is the same one that came with the machine.

 

As with governments.. only the worst ones have no rules at all and the other extreme is a dictator.
This is not a dictator, but sometimes the line has to be drawn and someone has to do it, hence the need for moderators.

Moderators are people too and sometimes have bad days.....
I have seen no pattern to any abuse of any kind... I too was politely asked to shorten the lines of my signature to meet the rules of the forum... I simply deleted and blank line and was a little more creative.

It is annoying to have a novel at the end of every post along with various pictures and antimated gifs.

If you want to come here to learn about your dv8t, its an awesome place and you will only be encouraged... we all have a sense of humor and tolerate each others differences, but there is a difference between that and "abuse" from other members.

Some feel "abused" when they are the target but its not abuse when they are dishing it out... thats why we really do need moderators.

Our moderator has done a good job IMO..... I don't know any details about other issues and don't even care to research.......

We are all adults hopefully, or at least know how to act like one.

 

I look forward to hearing how you make out with it, Peter. Hope it helps and you succeed! Mine are currently at "9.1.1.1022".

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Welcome and enjoy! Congrats on your new purchase! Your system sounds a lot like mine, in fact, except you have more RAM.

I think you'll enjoy your experience here and learn a lot about your Dv8 and its components. We have a lot of fun here and poke a bit at each other sometimes but I have found no one is mean-spirited here and "newbies" are treated very gently here!

Feel free to ask lots of questions as you become acquainted with your Dv8 or if you find any problems. Almost everyone will pitch in to help.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Mine are all already at the same version so I guess the original install with the override flag did work after all. However, I thought the new driver package contained a later version number than that. Apparently those files are not applicable to our machines. Hence, I don't think any updating was actually done, since I think I have been at 9.1.1.1022 all along, iirc. But as the other person (sorry forget the name now) described, it looked like it was installing all individual updates. Now I see that all the .inf files were deleted from the installation directory (i.e., where the .inf files were unpacked to), apparently as part of the automated install process. I'm just going to leave it be since I am at the same version number as you, who did the process manually.

 

I don't know all the details either but it sure looks like an over reaction on the part of the moderator. Sure we need moderators and rules are rules and all that is fine with me.

But banning a long time poster who made valuable contributions to this thread over a long period of time, arbitrarily and on such a hair trigger, for what appears to have been, at most, a very minor infraction, seems a bit harsh, imo, based on what I observed of the discussion. Perhaps there was more to the story than was available on the public part of the forum. . . Perhaps some line was unintentionally crossed. Perhaps one or both parities were having a bad day. I can't say. But in any case, I do think a little more warning would have been appropriate (assuming none was given privately) before applying such harsh action.

I think the moral of the story is that it is not a good idea to challenge any persons in authority over petty matters. Not just here, but anywhere. Being confrontational is just usually not worth it and it rarely accomplishes anything positive.

I just hope I don't get banned for expressing my opinion. But if we can't express our opinions freely in a civil manner here, then what value is this forum?

But up until this incident, I don't think I have seen anyone get banned before in the entire thread, and there have certainly been a few posters here before who, imo, were actually deserving of it. But fortunately they have left us in peace on their own accord.

Anyway, to answer your question, I'm sure you will have nothing to worry about if you follow the rules and don't "engage" a moderator in a confrontational manner directly, especially in public. That seems to be easy enough to avoid.

 

I think that is right, Peter. Since I hadn't updated to any of the others, I was still running my original chipset drivers (9.1.1.1013, I believe) . When I applied the current set, the numbers changed but didn't go up to the latest numbers so I figured some of the updates may support a newer chipset than ours.

At least we both have the best of the best now, LOL!

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Windstrings summed it up perfectly.

Bans are very rare. The near daily bans we have to do are of those posters who spam advertisements in various sections. They are relentless. Usually involves a list of cell phones for sale.

Abusive folk who outright insult other posters and/or mods are tolerated for a post or two. No more before a temporary ban. Trolling is treated in the same manner. Serious gripes for which we have no clearly defined rules are given serious consideration before any action is taken. General rule violations are often met with a PM asking for compliance. Ignoring the PM usually precipitates receiving an additional PM with a time limit for compliance before receiving an infraction of a point or more. Takes an accumulation of 10 points to get a temp 2day ban. 20 points for a permanent ban. Certain points expire in a short time. Others take a little more time. Depends on the seriousness of the offense.

If someone commits an offense out of ignorance to the rules, often they are merely informed of the rules and given an opportunity to reconcile. If someone were having a bad day and committed an offense knowingly or otherwise, we usually let it slide. Especially if they were here a while and/or had a history of contributing in a positive manner. If someone has a history of "bad days" and takes it out on the forum, its members, and/or its moderators, we address it sooner rather than later because it never ends well if we don't.

If you're wondering what guidelines and rules exist for this forum, you can review them here: forum rules.

 

I really don't think it was an over-reaction by the Moderator. I think LoveLaptops (Jeff) initially refused (a key point, IMHO) to bring his signature into compliance with Posted Forum Rules. Failure to comply with forum rules is grounds for expulsion according to the same rules. I presume that pointing that out led to a heated exchange which has been over-dramatized by one party in his posts here.

In any case, refusal to comply with forum rules is not to be tolerated and I know of no one "being offered the door" unless they refused to comply with the rules they agreed to when they joined. That's how it should be.

Regards,
- - Phil

P.S. Overtaken by "2.0" post below, so now it's just my opinion...

 

Is there more to it? Yes. If you were allowed to review everything, you would likely come to a different opinion. Perhaps not. But do you honestly think the poster in question was simply expressing an opinion? In a civil manner no less?

Expressing opinions in a civil manner is perfectly acceptable. Belittling or insulting members and/or mods is not.

What's more, the way poster in question has often been posting has lead to other members having to address it with the poster having to apologize for it or defend it. In other words, the poster has been causing concern.

Here's the thing; we moderate collectively. So say we have a moderator doing things that are out of character with what a mod is supposed to do. Other mods would intervene. While mods tend to be friendly with each other, we put the needs of the community first. If someone gets an unwarranted infraction, it can and does get reversed. When a mod is in the wrong, we don't have a "blue wall of silence" in a manner that Police are said to have. The mod is reprimanded or encouraged to make good.

Hopefully all concerns have been fleshed out and addressed. I encourage everyone to return to the topic of this thread.

 

BTW, poster tbrilw2.0 shares the same IP addy as Lovelaptops. Quite obvious what is going on.

A clear violation of forum rules. Just letting posters know so it's not thought that there is any arbitrariness to why a seemingly new poster has been banned.

 

This is a cool thread with working on 4000 posts, if there are heated misunderstandings we certainly don't want to get this thread shut down because it should have been hashed elsewhere.

I do believe in redemption and second chances.

I have also found that when judgment is expected usually mercy is warranted... but likewise when mercy is expected, usually judgment is warranted.

Prob good we let this one drop and get on with the business at hand... our passion.

 

I thought we already had...

Regards,
- - Phil

 

"Good" to hear I'm not the only one having problems with this. I find this issue awkward because mine is 9.1.1.1022 too, but the latest driver is listed as 9.1.2.1007, if I'm not mistaken.
About the sound problem, I'm gonna try reinstalling the drivers.

And Peter (pae77), I found this video which is making me crazy: YouTube - GTA IV on the HP Dv6t Quad Edition Laptop

Remember my problem trying to play this game, when I thought it was something regarding my GPU or CPU? Well, after seeing this video, I'm pretty much assuming something is wrong with my computer. Remembering: this dude plays it all HIGH settings, I can't even play using LOW. ><

I'm gonna run some benchmarks and see if my results are equivalent to what is expected (just need to know where to compare). I don't know if there is another method of testing and assuring your GPU and CPU are "all perfect". Benchmarking is the one, right?

Man, I swear to God that this doubt/issue/impossibility is wearing me out.

Oh, and 2.0, thank you so much for your answer and attention. I appreciate it!

 

Actually, we're not thinking there's a problem there anymore. Probably, the package updates several newer Intel chipsets and it may have done the job with yours as 9.1.1.1022 may be the latest version for your particular Intel chipset.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Well like I recommended before, I would try the latest sound driver, which can be found on the NBR driver thread that applies to our machines. It is working well on my machine.

It may be that the latest chipset driver (the highest version number) is not appropriate for our particular machines. I don't know but I suspect that to be the case since all our machines are apparently "stuck" at 9.1.1.1022. If we were supposed to be running a higher version of the chipset driver, the Intel update program should have applied it to our machines. This is my current opinion on this but of course, I could well be wrong.

I'm not sure what benchmarks to recommend (there are so many) but I think benchmarking is a very good idea that may reveal whether your machine is operating properly or not. There are some that can be found in "Everest Ultimate." You can download a free time limited trial version of the program that will allow you to run its benchmarking utilities. Here's the results of the Cache/Memory benchmark I just ran using Everest on my system. Everest also contains a "system stability test" that will enable you to stress your machine.

 

Another troubleshooting tool is DPT latency checker. DPC Latency Checker

Run it before you uninstall your sound driver to get a baseline. Run it again once it is uninstalled, then run it again when you reinstall/upgrade the driver.

It will help narrow down the problem.

You're welcome.

 

Gday fellas,
Had the driver display issue and the tone control issue - really glad I trawled through this thread and got them squared away on day 1!

You've inspired me to go the SSD route...thinking of getting one of these: KINGSTON SNV425-S2/64GB
I can get it for AU$180 - 50 bucks cheaper than the nearest 64Gb unit.

Just wondered what people thought of this choice as a 'best bang for the buck' option?

On another note, when I added a 2nd HDD (caddy from Newmodeus), the only way I could route the cable was to kind of twist it round. Is there a better way?


Thanks all,
Nice.

 

Smart move! Glad they helped you resolve those issues!

Welcome to the Dv8 forum!

I am not familiar with the hardware's performance or durability but Kingston is a well-regarded brandname for memory products.

It costs about $140 US or about $2.30 per gb of space. That's a bit higher than the $1.35 per gb for a 256gb Samsung PM800. Is 64gb large enough? I have about 75gb occupied on my 256gb SSD without installing any application programs (I install them to a secondary drive) and, obviously, 75gb won't fit onto the formatted space available of about 55gb of the KINGSTON SNV425-S2/64GB. All I have on my SSD is the OS, drivers, and security programs and security updates to the OS. Also, SSDs perform best when they have lots of free space to work with. I think 128gb is probably about the least I'd want to have. Just a thought.

Not familiar with that caddy but, if you didn't crush or cut any of the wires, it should be okay.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

bump
Any HP DV8 in Dallas?
lunch is on me...

please email me [email protected]

 

I'm eagerly waiting for my dv8t arrival. I have some questions though:

1. Getting dv8t is a big investment for me and I wanted to make sure that I'm getting the best built machine. Having said that, what should I look into - the build quality, look and feel, hardware and software to ensure it is not a lemon?

2. Is there a software that does complete hard drive backup of dv8t hard drive? I wanted to do a complete backup avoiding creating recovery discs. If I'm doing a fresh Windows 7 install, by doing a complete HDD backup, will I be able to do a selective install of the software that comes with dv8t including drivers found in the C:\swsetup folder?

3. I'll be getting a 80/128GB SSD drive and moving the 500GB hard disc to the second bay. Is it possible and is it going to be a easy move?

4. I also read people saying that the display looks dim on dv8t. Is it so and how is the display looking compared to dv7t (ready to ship version)?

Thanks.

 

ALSO, I am selling a Kingston ssdnow M 80gb SSD. If your intrested, PM me.

 

Yes, there are several ... The key issues are whether you want a free program and whether you want to use it only for creating a cloned drive or for a wider range of backup activities. If you get Hiren's BootCD, it's free and comes with Ghost 11 for creating sector-by-sector clones. Also, if your 500gb drive is Seagate, there's a full-range program offered by Seagate as DiscWizard for free that is written by Acronis which is very good (similar to Acronis True image Home).

It can be quite easy if you squeeze down the main partition (C: ) on the 500gb with a partition manager so the total space occupied on the 500gb is less than the space available on the SSD.
Caution: Don't shrink any other partitions!

I used Ghost and cloned all four partitions with the boot sector to my SSD in less than an half an hour and booted readily from the SSD.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

You get a 21 day period from when the machine is delivered in which you can return it to HP with free return shipping. So you can buy direct from HP with no risk.

Also you can get a 90 day period in which to return for any reason at all to any brick and mortar Costco if you buy one from Costco.com. But usually, HP Direct has the best prices, if you use a good coupon which usually come out every month and are available until they get "used up." (Usually they are restricted to ~1800 uses.)

Anyway, the point is, you can buy one without fear or risk because they are easy to return.

If I was in Dallas, I would show you mine but I'm not.

 

Btw, there is an excellent free partition manager called " Partition Wizard."

The Kingston SSD's (V+ series, latest versions) use Intel G2 technology, iirc, so they should be pretty good but I agree with Phil that the size you are contemplating is ridiculously small, but that's just imo. Everyone has different needs and priorities I guess. For example, I wouldn't get one that small but I don't want to shell out the dough for a bigger one, so I don't have one at all, at least for now.

 

i'm trying to do a system restore. when it asks me if i want to do this i click on yes then when i click nest to continue i get a box that pops up that says:

ReAgentc.exe-Bad Image

c:\Windows\system32\ReAgent.dll is either not designed to run on windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator of the software vendor for support


what's up with that?

 

Sounds like some corrupt system files and or bad restore files. You could try a different restore point. Also you could see if the system file checker might be able to detect and fix the corrupt files. To do this, in an elevated (i.e., administrator) command prompt, type "SFC /Scannow" without the quotes and hit enter. Then wait a few minutes for it to complete.

Btw, there must be a space between the C and /.

If none of the above works, you probably will have to do a repair install of windows to correct the error. For more info about repair installs (which don't erase your programs, most settings, and files, (assuming all goes well)), see the following tutorial: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

 

Partition Wizard is the one I have and I couldn't think of its name at the moment when I was writing the post. FWIW, I have version 4.22 BE but the new version (#5) is out but lacks some of the features of v4.22 for some reason so I haven't upgraded (even though both were free). I can't imagine why its author, MT Solutions, brought out a newer version with fewer capabilities.

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Peter, Phil,
Thanks for your feedback - much appreciated. I guess I'd looked at my 'C' partition , which is about 40Gig with everything I need installed, and figured 64 was OK. But I guess I overlooked the size reduction by format etc and I s'pose that leaves 55 or so which is as you indicate too small. 128 it is then - 256 are ridiculously expensive here.

Thanks again,
Nice.

 

I think you will make out okay with 128 though you should be able to get Samsung 256 for about the same cost (that's why I showed you the cost per gb numbers). In any case, with the 128gb, you can limit the growing of stuff by judicious "pruning" as many messages here have described....

Good luck and come back after you get it done and tell us your "adventures."

Regards,
- - Phil

 

A few things just to illustrate how far down you can go as far as capacity.

On my TX2500 tablet, I'm using an OCZ Vertex 30GB drive.

What's installed?

Win7 x64 Pro.
Office 2007 (Word, Onenote, Excel, Publisher)
ArtRage & Artrage Studio
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Acronis
Perfect Disk
Firefox
Mathematical/Statistical suite (400MB)
Pictures (1GB)
Data
Documents/PDFs
Many utilities, codecs, winrar, MS security essentials, etc.
All drivers

Total consumed: 19GB. Total remaining 10.5GB

A big consumer of space is system restore and shadow storage but you can limit the amount it takes by doing the following:

Open command Prompt - run as administrator. Type:

vssadmin List ShadowStorage

(Shows how much space is being used.) Then Type:

vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage /On=C: /For=C: /MaxSize=2GB

2GB should be plenty if you are using a drive imaging program.

Also, if you use Firefox, you can turn off the Disk cache so t doesn't save webpages to disk as you visit them. You can turn it off by typing in the browser address bar about:config. Navigate down to Browser.Cache.Disk.Enable. Double click it to toggle it off. If you use IE8, just reduce the disk cache size to minimum of 8MB. (Tools/internet options/browsing history/ settings).

You can also fix the size of the system pagefile to the size of your RAM or smaller. navigate to control panel/system/ advanced system settings/advanced tab/ performance and click settings. Hit advanced tab. Virtual memory, then click change. Set min and max to the same. For if your RAM is 4GB, type in both boxes 4096.

So you can get away with a 60-64GB SSD. Key is to leave about 25% or more free space for optimal life and operation. You can go down to 10% but it's best not to as a matter of habit.

I have (2) 120GB SSDs of which are only using about 35-40GB. Also (1) 60GB SSDs that is about 50% full.

Also, another excellent free drive cloning/imaging/back program is Macrium Reflect: Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

 

I agreed with your helpful suggestions for how to cut back the way several programs use (waste?) disk space.

I am writing to inquire about Macrium Reflect Free Edition. You described it as a "cloning/imaging/back program" but when I tried to use it for cloning, I was unable to find a way to perform cloning disk-to-disk on a sector-by-sector basis with it. Can you provide guidance about how to do this with Macrium Reflect Free Edition?

Regards,
- - Phil

 

Sector-by-sector is done via Exact Copy in advanced options at the end of the backup wizard dialogue.





As for disk-to-disk, I don't believe it does it directly. It only makes an image file. You use the image file via the program or rescue CD/DVD to replicate a drive to another. So say you have the image file on a 2nd HDD or external drive and want to write that image (partition) to drive C. You run the rescue CD/DVD which has a tool that will write the image(partition) that is stored on your 2nd HDD or external HDD unto drive C. Same process to simply restore an image.

Acronis True Image works somewhat similarly.

 

Thanks for the reply and description. As I see it, this is either a very convoluted procedure for "cloning" or doesn't meet my understanding of "cloning". I consider cloning as a single step process of copying from one disk to make a duplicate on another disk. I'll look into it further and hope it is more suitable for my needs than it currently appears.

It can be used in a similar fashion as you described. However, FWIW, in addition, I was able to perform cloning (as I described it above) without difficulty with Acronis True Image and Seagate DiscWizard (written by Acronis and very similar to Acronis TIH).

Regards,
- - Phil