## System Migration and Virtualization Scenarios

### Migrating system to another hard disk (Clone HDD)

Let’s assume that you’ve bought a new hard disk. It’s faster and of much higher capacity than your current system disk, so it’s quite natural you start thinking about system migration. We can help you do that.

To migrate your system from one hard disk to another, please do the following:

1. Connect both source and destination disks to the computer.

2. Turn on the computer.

3. Click the Copy Disk item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).

4. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

5. On the Select Hard Disk to Copy page, select a source disk (a hard disk you want to copy).

6. On the Select Target Hard Disk page, select a destination disk (a hard disk to copy contents of the source disk).

| During the operation all contents of the destination disk will be deleted.

7. On the next page of the wizard, define the copy options. In our case we’d rather copy data with a proportional resize to occupy the entire disk. Besides we recommend you to enable the surface test to make sure your new hard disk is flawless.

8. On the Revise Copy Results page review all parameters of the operation.

9. Complete the wizard and then apply the pending changes.

10. When copying is completed, shut down the computer.

11. Disconnect (physically) the source hard disk.

12. Boot the computer from the destination hard disk.

| To make a Win2K+ operating system bootable on different hardware, please additionally complete the P2P Adjust OS Wizard.

### Virtualizing the current system (P2V Copy)

Let’s assume that you’re about to migrate to a brand-new hardware platform with the latest operating system available for it. Your current system is quite obsolete, but you still need access to some of its software. You don’t want to waste time re-installing the old software to the new system, and you do know for sure that the bulk of it won’t work anyway. The best way out is to virtualize your current system.

Before you start, please make sure the following conditions are met:

· You’ve got enough free space to store a virtual image of your system (depends on the system).

· You’ve got one of the supported virtualization software.

To migrate your current system to a virtual environment, please do the following:

1. Click the P2V Copy item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).

2. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

3. Select objects you need to virtualize. You’re allowed to select any combination of hard disks and partitions, but don’t forget to choose your system partition (Local Disk C: in our case) to use it as guest. Otherwise the resulted virtual machine won’t start up.

4. Specify the guest OS and a virtualization software vendor. If your system hosts several Windows OSes, our wizard will find them all and automatically patch to run in a virtual environment. However we cannot guarantee smooth startup of all found Windows systems for their configuration parameters may be incompatible with each other. This is why we additionally prompt you to specify what operating system you’d like to use as guest to configure the virtual machine for that particular system.

| Not all vendors may be available to choose. If capacity of one of the selected objects exceeds the maximum virtual disk capacity of any vendor, this vendor will be shadowed.

5. Set properties of the future virtual machine:

· Virtual machine version. Please make sure you choose a version which is supported by your virtualization software, otherwise you won’t be able to work with the newly created machine.

· Virtual machine name. By default the wizard picks the name of your guest OS, which can be modified however.

· CPU number. If your computer supports multiprocessing, select how many CPUs you’d like to allocate for the virtual machine.

· Memory amount. Depending on the guest OS the wizard calculates the recommended size of RAM, which can be modified however.

6. Set properties of the resulted virtual disk(s):

· Virtual disk interface. By default the wizard sets the most appropriate interface for each disk. Anyway you’ve got the option to change it to one of the supported by your guest OS. Just click on a disk, and then select the required interface from the pull-down list. But be ready to provide drivers for it on the next page.

| Our program supports injection of drivers delivered in .iso or .flp images, so you can for instance download and inject drivers for the BusLogic controller from the VMware website.

· Additional properties that depending on the selected virtualization vendor may include:

- Size of the virtual disk. By default the wizard offers to create a virtual disk exactly the size of the selected object(s), which you can resize however (available for all);

- Resize partitions proportionally. If you upsize the resulted virtual disk, you can make the wizard proportionally change the size of partitions keeping their relative order intact (available for all);

- Create a split disk. You can choose whether to automatically cut the resulted virtual image to files of 2 GBs or not (available for VMware only);

- Pre-allocate all disk space. You can choose whether to pre-allocate all space of the future virtual disk, or do it dynamically (not available for VMware ESX and Oracle VirtualBox).

| The maximum limit you can downsize the virtual disk is the capacity of its first partition.

7. Specify a file name for the virtual machine and its location. By default the wizard scans all your local disks for available free space and picks the most appropriate location taking into account the total capacity of all virtual disks inside the virtual machine.

8. Complete the wizard and then apply the pending changes.

### Virtualizing system from its backup image (P2V Restore)

Let’s assume that your system has been corrupted as a result of a hardware failure. You realize it’s quite obsolete and it’s next to impossible to replace the damaged hardware devices. Migration to a new hardware platform seems the best way out, if not for one thing – you still need access to your software, but you do know for sure that the bulk of it won’t work on the new platform. Luckily you’ve got a backup image of your old system made with Paragon software – that’s just enough for its virtualization.

Before you start, please make sure the following conditions are met:

· You’ve got a backup image of your old system.

· You’ve got enough free space to store a virtual image of your old system (depends on the system).

· You’ve got one of the supported virtualization software.

To restore a Win2K+ system from a Paragon’s backup directly to a virtual environment, please do the following:

1. Click the P2V Restore item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).

2. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

3. Browse for the required backup image. The section below (i.e. Archive File Details) will also display a short description of the selected image.

4. Select objects you need to virtualize. You’re allowed to select any combination of hard disks and partitions, but don’t forget to choose your system partition (Local Disk C: in our case) to use it as guest. Otherwise the resulted virtual machine won’t start up.

5. Specify the guest OS and a virtualization software vendor. If the selected backup contains several Windows OSes, our wizard will find them all and automatically patch to run in a virtual environment. However we cannot guarantee smooth startup of all found Windows systems for their configuration parameters may be incompatible with each other. This is why we additionally prompt you to specify what operating system you’d like to use as guest to configure the virtual machine for that particular system.

| When using old Paragon’s backup images (prior to Drive Backup 10), please be ready to manually specify the guest OS. Not all vendors may be available to choose. If capacity of one of the selected objects exceeds the maximum virtual disk capacity of any vendor, this vendor will be shadowed.

6. Set properties of the future virtual machine:

· Virtual machine version. Please make sure you choose a version which is supported by your virtualization software, otherwise you won’t be able to work with the newly created machine.

· Virtual machine name. By default the wizard picks the name of your guest OS, which can be modified however.

· CPU number. If your computer supports multiprocessing, select how many CPUs you’d like to allocate for the virtual machine.

· Memory amount. Depending on the guest OS the wizard calculates the recommended size of RAM, which can be modified however.

| If the selected version does not officially support the guest OS, you will be notified and prompted to select another one.

7. Set properties of the resulted virtual disk(s):

· Virtual disk interface. By default the wizard sets the most appropriate interface for each disk. Anyway you’ve got the option to change it to one of the supported by your guest OS. Just click on a disk, and then select the required interface from the pull-down list. But be ready to provide drivers for it on the next page.

| Our program supports injection of drivers delivered in .iso or .flp images, so you can for instance download and inject drivers for the BusLogic controller from the VMware website.

· Additional properties that depending on the selected virtualization vendor may include:

- Size of the virtual disk. By default the wizard offers to create a virtual disk exactly the size of the selected object(s), which you can resize however (available for all);

- Resize partitions proportionally. If you upsize the resulted virtual disk, you can make the wizard proportionally change the size of partitions keeping their relative order intact (available for all);

- Create a split disk. You can choose whether to automatically cut the resulted virtual image to files of 2 GBs or not (available for VMware only);

- Pre-allocate all disk space. You can choose whether to pre-allocate all space of the future virtual disk, or do it dynamically (not available for VMware ESX and Oracle VirtualBox).

| The maximum limit you can downsize the virtual disk is the capacity of its first partition.

8. Specify a file name for the virtual machine and its location. By default the wizard scans all your local disks for available free space and picks the most appropriate location taking into account the total capacity of all virtual disks inside the virtual machine.

9. Complete the wizard and then apply the pending changes.

### Creating an empty virtual disk (Create VD)

To create an empty virtual disk, please do the following:

1. Click the Create Virtual Disk item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).

2. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

3. Select Create an empty virtual disk.

4. Specify a virtualization software vendor and a number of additional parameters, including:

· Type of the virtual disk. You can either create an IDE or a SCSI virtual disk (relevant for VMware only);

· Create a split disk. You can choose whether to automatically cut the resulted virtual image to files of 2 GBs or not (available for VMware only);

· Pre-allocate all disk space. You can choose whether to pre-allocate all space of the future virtual disk, or do it dynamically (not available for VMware ESX and Oracle VirtualBox);

5. Specify a file name for the resulted virtual disk and its location.

6. Complete the wizard and then apply the pending changes.

### Making Windows Vista/7 backup bootable on virtual hardware (P2V Adjust OS)

As you probably know, Windows Vista and later operating systems from Microsoft include a built-in disaster recovery tool, which enables to create backup images of Windows OS in a .vhd (Virtual Hard Disk) format, used now by Microsoft Virtual PC/Server/Hyper-V, and Oracle VirtualBox. Unfortunately you cannot just take this type of backup to run Windows OS in a virtual environment – it won’t start up. We can help you out with this naughty problem. Our P2V Adjust OS Wizard can patch Windows OS inside a .vhd backup image according to the specified virtualization vendor to let you start up and work with your Windows on virtual hardware.

To make a Windows .vhd backup image start up in a virtual environment, please do the following:

1. Click the P2V Adjust OS item of the Wizards menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).

2. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

3. Browse for the required .vhd backup image of your Windows.

4. Our wizard will detect a version of Windows OS inside the image and offer to specify a virtualization software vendor. At the present moment the .vhd format is supported by Microsoft Virtual PC/Server/Hyper-V, and Oracle VirtualBox. We choose the last one.

5. Set properties of the future virtual machine:

· Virtual machine version. Please make sure you choose a version which is supported by your virtualization software, otherwise you won’t be able to work with the newly created machine.

· Virtual machine name. By default the wizard picks the name of your guest OS, which can be modified however.

· CPU number. If your computer supports multiprocessing, select how many CPUs you’d like to allocate for the virtual machine.

· Memory amount. Depending on the guest OS the wizard calculates the recommended size of RAM, which can be modified however.

| If the selected version does not officially support the guest OS, you will be notified and prompted to select another one.

6. Complete the wizard and then apply the pending changes.

### Connecting a virtual disk (Connect VD)

You’ve got the option to connect a virtual disk of one of the supported types directly to our program as if it’s an ordinary physical disk, so opening up enormous possibilities:

· Exchange data between your physical environment and the virtual one through Volume Explorer (data import only) or File Transfer Wizard (data import and export). The way we offer is much easier and faster, as you don’t need a VM shared folder, the network, or the slow-goer drag-and-drop;

· Import data from a parent virtual disk to one of its snapshots;

· Accomplish drive partitioning (create, format, delete, move, resize, etc.);

· Modify partition attributes (Active flag, Hidden flag, Volume Label, etc.);

· Clone a partition or an entire hard disk;

· Edit/View sectors, and many more.

To connect a virtual disk (snapshot) to our program, please do the following:

1. Click the Connect a Virtual Disk item of the Hard Disk menu (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).

2. In the opened dialog browse for the required virtual disk, then click Connect to accomplish the operation. You’ve also got the option to connect this disk in the read-only mode or/and have it connected automatically at every program startup by marking appropriate checkboxes.

| Click the “Show recently used disks” link to select and connect one of the disks you’ve already worked with.

3. That’s all. The selected virtual disk will be available on the disk map, as if it’s an ordinary physical disk.

Limitations:

· A virtual disk opened for writing with a 3rd party tool (e.g. being used by a virtual machine) won’t be connected, as asynchronous parallel writing to the disk file will most likely result in data corruption;

· A virtual disk opened for reading with a 3rd party tool (e.g. it’s a parent VMware disk, which snapshot is being used by a virtual machine) will be opened for reading only with the corresponding notification;

· A double disk connection is prohibited.

### Repartitioning a virtual disk

Let’s assume you’ve got several partitions on a virtual disk. After installing a number of resource-consuming applications and system updates the system partition has started to suffer from the lack of free space. But an adjacent partition has a plenty of redundant space. That’s just enough to make the system partition suffer no more.

To increase size of a system partition by taking unused space from an adjacent partition, please do the following:

1. Connect the required virtual disk to our program.

2. Select it on the disk map.

3. Right click on the space donor partition, then select Move/Resize Partition…

| In case you’ve got more than two partitions on the disk, and the required space donor is not adjacent to the system partition, you can still use this scenario by consecutively redistributing free space between all partitions involved in the operation.

4. In the opened dialog drag-and-drop the left edge of the partition to the right to release the required amount of the free space (displayed in aqua-green). You can also do it manually by entering the exact size of free space.

5. Now you’ve got a block of free space to add to the system partition.

6. Right click on the system partition, then select Move/Resize Partition…

7. In the opened dialog shift the right edge of the partition to the right end, thus increasing its size.

8. Apply all introduced changes. By default, the program works in the virtual mode of execution, so you have to confirm all operations to let the program accomplish them. To do that, just click the Apply button on the Virtual Operations Bar.

9. When done, either disconnect the virtual disk or close our program.

### Exchanging data between physical and virtual environments

Let’s assume you need to import a lot of data from one of your virtual disks. The best way out is to use our program, as it can help you do that without starting up the virtual environment and the other actions typical for this task.

To import data from a virtual environment, please do the following:

1. Connect the required virtual disk to our program.

2. Select in the Main Menu: Tools > File Transfer Wizard (any of the ways described earlier can also be used here).

3. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

4. Select a disk where the required data is stored from the pull-down list in the right pane of the window. You can find it among physical partitions, as a connected virtual disk cannot have an assigned drive letter either.

| To easily find the required disk, please use its volume label or sequence number as a check point.

5. Select files you want to copy and place them to Clipboard by pressing the left arrow-button. Click Next to continue.

6. Select the Save data to local/network drives item. Click Next to continue.

7. Specify the exact place to copy the data to.

8. Finish the wizard to accomplish the operation.

### Copying data from a parent virtual disk to one of its snapshots

Let’s assume you’ve got a virtual machine with several snapshots. You need to copy some data from a parent image to one of its snapshots. You can’t just roll back to the parent image, as you don’t want to lose the latest data of the snapshot, so the best way out is to copy the required data from the parent image to the snapshot.

To copy data from a parent image to one of its snapshots, please do the following:

1. Connect the required snapshot disk to our program.

2. Connect its parent disk to our program. It’ll be connected for reading only.

3. Copy the required data from the parent disk to the snapshot.

4. Disconnect the virtual disks or close the program.

### Migrating from one virtual environment to another (V2V)

Let’s assume you’re willing to shift to another virtualization software vendor (e.g. from Microsoft Virtual PC to VMware Workstation). The only thing that holds you back from it is a lot of virtual machines of MS Virtual PC, which are not fully compatible with VMware Workstation. Don’t worry, we can help you out.

| Before you start, please make sure you’ve got enough free space to accomplish the operation.

To make a virtual machine of one vendor out of an existing virtual machine of another vendor, please do the following:

1. Connect all virtual disks of the required virtual machine to our program.

2. Complete the P2V Copy Wizard. Do not forget to select all virtual disks as objects of virtualization.

3. As a result you’ll get two virtual machines containing the same virtual environment, but of different vendors. You can now delete the original to release some free space.

### Making system bootable on different hardware (P2P Adjust OS)

Let’s assume you had to migrate to a new hardware platform. You connected your system hard disk to the brand new PC and tried to start up the operating system - you do know for sure now that this operation had been doomed to failure from the very beginning. With our program you can easily tackle this naughty problem.

Before you start, please make sure the following conditions are met:

· You’ve got drivers for the new hardware ready to use, not zipped or in .exe files.

· Your OS is unrolled on the new computer, not in a backup image.

To make a Win2K+ physical system bootable on different hardware, please do the following:

1. Start up the computer from our WinPE media.

2. Launch the P2P Adjust OS Wizard.

| Our WinPE 3.0 based environment offers excellent hardware support. However in case it doesn’t have a driver for your disk controller, your hard disks will be unavailable. Please consult the Adding specific drivers scenario to know how to tackle this issue.

3. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

4. From the list of all found Win2K+ systems (if several) select one you need to adjust to the new hardware. If you’re willing to adjust them all, just re-launch this wizard for each.

5. There are two execution modes to choose from: fully automatic and advance. Below we will go set-by-step through the automatic scenario to show the whole process, and then take a closer look at specifics of the advance scenario.

6. Select Adjust the OS to the new hardware automatically.

7. The wizard will automatically accomplish all the necessary actions.

8. The only action that might be required from your side is to set a path to an additional driver repository in case the wizard has failed to find drivers for some boot critical devices in the built-in Windows repository. Generally together with new hardware you get its drivers for different operating systems on removable media (mostly CD or DVD). By collecting all these drivers in one folder you can let the wizard automatically pick and install only those required for your OS. Select Search for drivers in a specific folder.

| Click on the link at the bottom of the page to see what boot critical devices have no drivers. The wizard names all devices according to their model description, not some alphanumeric code, which is very convenient.

9. Though you’ve got the option to continue without injecting missing drivers for boot critical devices (The Ignore all missing drivers option), we strongly recommend you not to do it. Otherwise we cannot guarantee your Windows will start up on the new hardware.

10. The wizard can search for drivers on a local disk or a mapped network share. In our case it’s on a network share, this is why we need to map it first.

11. When done, we can select it as target.

| The wizard enables to specify several driver repositories.

12. If the wizard has found all missing drivers, it will ask you to confirm the operation. Apply the changes to complete.

After the operation is completed the system will be bootable on the new hardware. After the startup, Windows will initiate reconfiguration of all Plug'n'Play devices. It’s a standard procedure, so please don’t worry and prepare the latest drivers at this step to get the most out of the system.

#### Advance scenario specifics

1. To launch the advance mode, select Set parameters for the OS adjustment.

2. When setting additional driver repositories, you can specify how to process drivers for found hardware.

· Inject all necessary drivers… Mark the checkbox to force injection of all drivers for your devices from the given driver repository(s), even if there are already installed drivers for some hardware. Please use this option if you suspect any of the installed drivers of not matching your hardware.

· Keep the latest driver version. Mark the checkbox to keep the latest version of drivers during the forced re-injection. You can use this option only when the above option is active.

3. Just before the OS adjustment, you can additionally:

· View all found hardware devices and their driver status by clicking . The wizard names all devices according to their model description, not some alphanumeric code, which is very convenient. So you can compare the listed devices with the given hardware to make sure the wizard has analyzed your system correctly.

· Filter devices without drivers by clicking . Unlike the automatic mode, where only boot critical devices (storage controllers) without drivers are being reported, here you can view and inject drivers for network cards as well.

· Add a driver for each device that lacks it by clicking on the device, then browsing for the required location. The wizard will then match the device with drivers inside the given location and pick the right one.

· Manually add a driver for a device that has not been found by our wizard by clicking , then specifying the required .INF file.

| When selecting an .INF file that contains several driver records for hardware you both, have in the system and don’t have, you can filter the list by marking the appropriate checkbox.

· Remove a driver for a device, which has not been found in the system.

### Migrating from a virtual environment to physical (V2P)

Let’s assume your desktop PC was damaged a couple of months ago. Luckily you had had its system virtualized just before the tragedy. Having a laptop at the disposal, you kept working with the desktop system in a virtual environment for a while, while scanning the market for a replace. To cut it short, you’ve got a brand-new desktop PC just delivered to your door – it’s time for a little V2P operation. Our program can help you do that.

Before you start, please make sure the following conditions are met:

· You’ve got drivers for the new hardware ready to use, not zipped or in .exe files.

· You’ve got access to the virtual disk from your desktop PC. You can have it locally, on external storage, or a network share.

To migrate from a virtual environment to physical, please do the following:

1. Start up the computer from our WinPE media.

2. Click Full Scale Launcher.

3. Connect the required virtual disk to our program.

4. Copy the connected virtual disk to your physical disk just the way it’s done with physical disks.

5. Right click on the virtual disk, then select Disconnect Virtual Disk.

6. Complete the P2P Adjust OS Wizard.

### Migrating a Windows 7 vhd

Let’s assume you need to make your Windows 7 contained in a .vhd file start up on another computer. You’ve copied the virtual disk, added info on it to the BCD boot menu, then tried to start up the OS, but to no avail - your Windows goes BSOD with the 0x000007B error code. We can help you out with this naughty problem.

To make a .vhd image of Windows 7 start up on different hardware, please do the following:

1. Start up the computer from our WinPE media.

2. Click Full Scale Launcher.

3. Connect the required virtual disk to our program.

4. Complete the P2P Adjust OS Wizard.