How can I check that a specific Winclone Backup can be used to restore my BootCamp?
I understand that this has always been adifficult issue for Winclone to address: I’ve been using Winclone since Version 3, and to my knowledge the answer has always been … it’s not possible with any specific degree of certainty.
Is this still the case?
I have indeed had experiences where Winclone seemed to have done a backup, but it was either NOT a full backup, or else was corrupted in some way. I know that because when i tried to use the latest one, it did not work. And had to use the one before that. I’ve also seen that the SIZE of the backup is at times quite a bt different, although nothing much has changed on my Source partition.
If we assume that I have run the software properly, what can I do to ensure my Winclone Backup is a good copy of my Partition?
Assume that I have:
- Backed up to a partition of the correct format, with sufficient room, and it was formatted properly
- Checked my BootCamp partition before with chkdsk /b
- Ensured BootCamp Windows OS was up to date, and not stuck partway through an update
- And that I haven’t done something completely stupid like upgrading to a new version of Windows for the Source, and expecting the Target Winclone backup to work
So what can I do to check the integrity of my Winclone Backup, as well as its completeness?
In CarbonCopyCloner by Bombitch, you can select to run it to compare that all files on the Target are the same as the Source. It takes longer, but you CAN do that.
If you clone a folder exactly, you can run CheckSum to compare they are identical. However, the Winclone Backup is NOT a “clone”: it is compressed, so this will not work.
In the past, I was told that the only way was to check that your Winclone backup could indeed be restored. But this is not very satisfactory, because if you do that to the original partition (after deleting/erasing it), what happens if it is not?
And it takes a very long time, and needs a lot of space to do it with if you make a second, test partition.
What can I do?
I’m at Winclone 8, although I rn Winclone 7 due to still using HighSiera OSX. I’ve supported your development for at least a decade. I’m hoping that this has alrwady BEEN addressed, or can be shortly.
Thanks,
Alan