Satellite A660 - format 500GB HDD to make bootable clone

I have a Toshiba Satellite A660 PSAW3C-047017 running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
I bought a 500 GB Momentus XT in December so that I can clone to it (bootable clone, not recoverable image). I just bought and installed Norton Ghost 15, but it can't see the drive, which is connected to the laptop via eSATA. Disk Management says I need to initialize the disk. I can't find an explanation of what exactly initialization means. What exactly does it do?
Various forum threads say conflicting things about the end effect of initialization (whether it destroys data):
http://superuser.com/questions/283930/will-initializing-disk-make-data-unrecoverable
http://www.sevenforums.com/hardware-devices/29199-hard-drive-initialization-question.html
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080214215647AAYFNGS
Since it's a new HDD, I guess I don't have to worry about that?
Should I choose MBR (Master Boot Record) or GPT (GUID Partition Table)?
Finally, this may be a bit Seagate-specific for a non-Seagate thread, but I'll put it out there in case anyone can chime in. I've read that the Momentus XT has some intelligence built in to prevent performance-degrading alignment problems with partition boundaries when Advanced Format is used. It also advertises built-in intelligence to keep most frequently accessed content in the SDD part of the HDD. Will any of these be "messed up" by initialization, or the wrong partition style? What about formatting, is there anything to be careful about?

> I just bought and installed Norton Ghost 15, but it can't see the drive, which is connected to the laptop via eSATA. Disk Management says I need to initialize the disk. I can't find an explanation of what exactly initialization means. What exactly does it do?
Possibly you have to add the SATA driver to see the HDD.
The notebook supports the SATA controller and the SATA driver files are part of the Intel Storage Manager.

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I need help transferring Bootcamp (Windows XP) from my old Macbook Pro to the new one. How do I make bootable clone of Bootcamp?

Hi I just got a new MacBook Pro I need help transferring Bootcamp (Windows XP) from my old Macbook Pro to my new Macbook Pro Mac OS X 10.7.4 2.6 Ghz Intel Core 17. How do I make bootable clone of Bootcamp?

you can't just move XP even if you took the hard drive and have Windows boot and function.
Apparently there are Windows tools to sanitize the OS and strip all the motherboard drivers and services.
Time to get a supported OS. Don't want to pay, then use 8 for the time until it goes on sale.
There are no drivers for even Vista on 2011 and later Macs.

Can I use a USB 2.0 external HDD as a bootable clone?

Hi all -
That's the question really, apologies if it's been asked numerous time before, I couldn't find a straight answer when I searched. I currently have 2 Firewire externals. One is for Time Machine, the other is a bootable clone. However the bootable clone is too small for my current iMac's internal HDD. Can I use a USB 2.0 instead or does it have to be Firewire? And would it need its own power supply, or could it be USB powered?
Thanks

No prob, Thanks for the star.
Your better off starting a new thread for a new question as it will have a different title and more people may be able to help.
A quick search in amazon brought up this:
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-500GB-Scorpio-Laptop/dp/B001JSSDGU/ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&qid=1232579874&sr=8-2
you will need to get an external case for it. It may need two usb ports or may not, I'm not to sure. It may work at a slower peed with one and max speed with two. A good google search is an excellent way of finding answers.
Regards

Skip Recovery HD; make bootable clone of 2011 Mac Mini with 10.7.1 ?

Can I just skip Recovery HD palaver and make a bootable clone of 2011 Mac Mini with 10.7.1 ?
I have a large FireWire800 drive, and can partition a few gigs off on it with a GUID map.
What should I use to clone my current OSX 10.7.1 onto the external drive, and will this work?
Thanks

I finished setting up my Mac Mini today (52 GB of sys, apps and stuff), and used Carbon Copy Cloner to make a clone onto my external disk.
Works Great!
Now I not only have an Emergency boot Lion disk, but I also have all those apps and prefs and things in case I need to: Work Now!

Re: Satellite a660 - problem with HDD!

Hello!
When I turned on my computer this morning, first time I've heard that HDD was working very noisy. It was like buzzing and clicking, never was like that. Computer is 3 months old, bought in pc world.
Can somebody help what to do ?
thanks

Hello
Theoretically it could be a hardware malfunction of HDD. Everything is possible because HDD is mechanical part so you should always do a backup from time to time that you dont loose any important data.
In your case I would contact nearest authorized service provider. Explain the situation and the guys can repair your notebook under warranty, thats free for you. :)

Satellite A660 What partitions to copy in creating bootable clone?

I have a Toshiba Satellite A660 running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. From surfing forum threads, it seems that Toshiba has a unique way of partitioning up the HDD for a notebook. From Disk Management and PowerQuest Partition Table Editor, my 640GB HDD has 4 partitions:
Partition 1: Windows RE, 1.46 GB
* "Active", likely contains boot info
* Not large enough to contain Windows 7 image
* Actual Windows 7 image likely in partition 3 or 4
Partition 2: 559.5 GB NTFS C-drive
Partition 3: 22.37 GB Hidden Installed File Systems
Partition 4: 12.83 GB Hidden Installed File Systems
The closest that I could find to a description of partitions 1,3,4 is http://forums.techguy.org/windows-vista/619983-solved-mystery-partition-toshiba-notebook.html for a VISTA system in 2007. Partition 1 is likely for booting. Partitions 3 and 4 contain some sort of recovery files for alternate languages.
Though I will ask Tech Support about the partitions, I don't expect them to know. Even if they do, it is on the phone, which leaves me no documentation.
1) I was wondering if anyone can confirm (or point to online documentation that confirms) the above suspicions of the purposes and contents of the partitions?
2) Furthermore, how can I tell which of partition 3 and 4 contain the recovery files for the language of the installed Windows 7, which is English?
3) Finally, I intend to clone all partitions except the one containing the unused language recovery files. This will be my first crack at cloning or handling partitions in anyway (never done an image). Is this plan sane?
The intent is for the cloned HDD to be a complete bootable drop-in replacement for the source HDD in its entirety. I will be using Norton Ghost. At this point, I am not interested in creating recoverable images, though I might explore that down the road.

I'm glad you posted. The first thing I did in response was to figure out how to make recovery discs, then make them.
I was going to clone all partitions because I wasn't absolutely sure about the purposes of them all. The thread that I linked to in my original post was speculative, and also referred to a different machine & OS. However, if you're absolutely certain that partitions 3 & 4 are for recovery, then it does raise the question of why clone them.
I think there still are reasons, though not everyone would think them worthwhile. It's for redundancy and convenience. From surfing around, Toshiba designs laptops so that you can recover to a factory image by holding down 0 when booting up. Kind of handy if I'm not at home (or in my home city) or can't conveniently access my recovery discs -- maybe I lose them! I'm not about to test that disc-less recovery on my laptop, but even if that feature *wasn't* present, it's nice to know that I don't have to worry about losing my recovery discs. The partitions don't take up much of the HDD, and the HDD is way, way bigger than I will ever need.
However, in order to clone all partitions, I will have to shrink the C-drive partition, which means the locations of the recovery partitions will shift. I'm not sure if this will break the disc-less recovery function.
As well, I would like the cloning software to resize the C-drive partition in the cloning process so that the partition size doesn't have to be resized in the source drive. According to anecdotes, both Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image can do this, and create a bootable target HDD. I was wondering if anyone can suggest reasons to prefer one over the other.
Ghost's *trial* version is handicapped and cannot do what is required, though they have a refund period for a purchased, fully-functional version. I will be looking into Acronis True Image. As for ease of use, would anyone who has tried both be able to comment?
Message was edited by: Bookworm123

Satellite A660 - Will not boot up and HDD boot fail

Hi,
firstly thanks for your time.
Model: Satellite A660 (PSAW3A-07U00R)
The problem started yesterday, the computer was going slow as an application closed, so I held the off button untill the pc turned off. When I restarded the laptop it went to a screen saying: Start windows normally or repair Windows (recomended)
When started normally it just hangs at a blank screen, the repair Windows recommends a system restore to earlier point which didnt work. As it just hangs again. I tried pressing F8 and starting in safe mode but again it just hangs. Then after a few times trying safe mode and another system restore the computer then hangs when I press F8. After this the computer goes past the Toshiba logo screen with F2 and F12 options (which both still work), and then it comes up boot failed then goes blank and comes with boot failed bootfailed with some numbers and letters, then it goes to a small box titled boot menu with 4 options.These are
HDD/SSD Toshiba MK6465GSX
CD/DVD MAT****ABD-CMB UJ141ES
FDD
LAN
If I press ESC it goes through the bootfailed loop and ends up at same screen, if I press enter on "HDD/SSD Toshiba MK6465GSX" then it quickly comes back to screen and at the bottom it says [HDD/SSD Toshiba MK6465GSX] is failed.
I dont understand why it got worse over time. Can anyone think of why this has happend and more importantly how can I get my pc working again? Note: holding 0 then starting does nothing for me atm
regards, Matthew

All you people looking here on this dead thread.....
Toshiba A660 laptops are renowned for having hard drive fails and boot up problems after grinding to a halt.
My solution (after losing 3 hard drives [and a terabyte of family treasured times]) is the following.
Use MALWAREBYTES (free download and use for 28 days)
Scan and fix. Mine found over 300 trojans that 2013 Norton 360 could not find.
Re-boot into safe mode.
SCAN again.
Re-boot and empty the malwarebytes repair files it retains...
Run Norton/McAfee (whichever you have) and you should still have no issues.
Make a back-up repair disc. Ooooops......no you cant...........at least my laptop can`t.
I don`t know why.....
Tell me tosh..... why does windows x64 refuse to allow me to make a system boot disc (even though the laptop is all driver updated and Windows updated)?
Uninstall MalwareBytes when Norton/McAfee tells you there will be a conflict between the two programs.
It tells you to re-boot after uninstalling it.
Then when it re-boots you get a black screen. You cannot even get to bios. You think ytour laptop is turned into a brick frisbee. You pull out the battery in frustration after five minutes.
You replace and re-boot....but again you get no bios or boot up.... you think its destroyed the Bios or graphics somehow....youo can hear the hard-drive but you have no clue whats going on..
Around this time you shake the laptop in frustration.....
Calm down.
Switch on and leave FIFTEEN MINUTES....Ten of which will be a Black nothing screen with maybe a single white underscore line in the top left corner.LEAVE IT ALONE.
Make a sunday dinner for ten people....When you go back to the computer it will be up and running.
When you re-boot again, it will be dead black for five minutes...then boots up... you still think it has a problem... LEAVE IT.
When you reboot again it should work perfect (assuming you have not been overheating it by using it on a cushion on your lap and overheating the insides [use a laptop fan tray]) if you have not shaken your hard drive or caused scrambled damage by pulling the power fifty times like some people do.
I have lost three hard drives and thousands of Gigabytes of treasured family memories discovering the secret the hard way.
Enjoy.
Buy a different brand next time.
ALL Windows system files should be on a SWITCHED (to update) version of Windows.
Spinning drives should be for Data only.

Which HDD can I use on my Satellite A660-13T?

Hi,
I am looking for any compatible Hard Disk Drive for a Toshiba SATELLITE A660-13T as the one inside is dead now.
Such model shipped with the laptop is a TOSHIBA MK6465GSX 640 GB, SATA 2.6 Revision 3Gb/seconds 5400 rpm
Offical Toshiba vendors quoted me 130 euros por the same model.
I cannot get such model through any other shop or internet.
There are lots of different new TOSHIBA HDD in the market with bigger capacity and much cheaper than the MK6465GSK.
Can I install any new toshiba HDD on my SATELLITE A660-13T ?
Is there any toshiba page where I can find out which toshiba HDD are compatible with my SATELLITE?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
Fernando

Fact is that notebook supports SATA controller.
This is the main and important information.
> newer drives have a higher comsumption of power....which could cause some problems
SATA controller is compatible with different kinds of SATA interfaces (SATA I, II or even SATA III).
This means that even if you would use an SATA II/III compliant HDD, the notebook should be able to handle such device.
Therefore you will not find any information about supported HDDs because most 2.5 SATA HDDs are supported and the list providing all compatible HDDs would be too long.

GUID format needed to make bootable HD for intel iMac?

I have one brand new 1TB hard drive, and an old 250GB. Both Lacies.
I have a newish intel iMac and an old G4 tower.
Am I right in thinking that, in order to make a bootable clone for the iMac, I need to format the 1TB as GUID? Will I then not be able to boot from it on the G4?
Confused, and want to get this right. THANKS!

If you want to install OS X freshly to the drive then you need it to be partitioned using GUID to boot an Intel Mac. However, if you clone an existing Intel system to the drive then the drive can be partitioned using APM. However, an Intel version of OS X cannot be used to boot a PPC Mac. To accomplish what you want you need to partition the drive into two volumes - one will hold the clone of your Intel Mac and one will hold the clone of your PPC Mac.
You may need to re-partition the drive as it is. It may already be partitioned GUID, so you will need to change that.
Do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to APM then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu to two (2) then use the sizing gadget to change the size of each volume to whatever you prefer. The default will be equal sized partitions. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volumes mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.
At this point you can now clone your existing computers to their respective volumes. The cloned Intel system should boot the Intel Mac and the cloned PPC system should boot the G4. After you clone the systems you should of course verify the clones are good by starting each computer from their respective cloned systems.
You can clone using Disk Utilities Restore option or any backup utility that can create bootable clones such as Carbon Copy Cloner - VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

Satellite A660 - Windows wont load - I cant recover

I have a Toshiba Satellite A660 7U.
Last night it failed to boot.
I ran the Norton ghost start up cd and backed up most of the stuff I needed.
I also noticed C drive has become just 1.5gig and there was a extra drive!!!
I tried to run system restore using Toshibas start up factory restore settings. first it says not enough space in C drive then when I changed the settings to delete all partitions it was preparing for a long time the copying also for a long (10min) time then switched itself off.
Now what shall I do? Is my HDD gone?
I can see all my stuff when I use Norton ghost though. I copied most of the stuff in D drive. Possibility of a virus?
william

Thanks guys. Yes i have made the DVDs.
Now what I did was format the whole drive 600gb using the 3rd party bootable drive. Then I started using recovery disks to restore. But almost every time the computer switches itself off for no reason while trying to copy the files. At times it switches off as soon as I push it on. Partition software was able to format the whole drive without any issue.
Could it be the partition tables that are messed up?- what i mainly dont understand is as to why the machines switches off abruptly. Could it be the MB or the RAM or failed HDD that switches off the computer.
Any ideas are more than welcome.
I was able to back most of the data to a external HDD. Does recovering to factory settings make HDDs go bad?
null
I just noticed, as I try to copy the recovery DVDs contents the machines switches off again in 20 sec o so it tried to starts itself, then again it switches off the again it starts by itself, this is weird this goes on happening...

Satellite A660-11M - Ventilation holes on body

Hello everyone!
Last week I've started to play in ARMA 2 on my SATELLITE A660-11M and after 20 minutes playing it gets hot and automaticaly shut down. I read a lot of topics in forum and decide to clean cooler with compressed air can. Suddenly ive noticed that laptop dont have under the body ventialtion holes, exactly in this place where is the cooler fan. To describe this more properly, I can say that on rear side of laptop body there is circle of ventilation grille but this grille is absolutely integrally molded.
J think this is defect of smelting.
Anyone has the same problem? How can I make a ventilation holes?

Hi deadpastor,
> i will try to find some information in web about manual moding of laptop bodies for best perfomance
Sorry but in my opinion thats funny
I have also Satellite A660. I have it with Intel Core i7 CPU, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD and GeForece GT330M graphic card and I guess your model has the same CPU and graphic card.
Well, I also dont have any holes in this place and everything runs fine, I dont have any problems with overheating or something else.
I have installed several games: Crysis, GTA IV, Far Cry2, Mass Effect and others. Every games runs properly for hours, performance is good and no overheating.
I use the preinstalled Winodws 7 64bit Home Premium version with newest display driver from Toshiba (260.51) and newest BIOS 1.80-WIN.
Everything runs like a charme :)
If you dont believe me I have taken a photo of the Satellite A660 body where you can also see the specs (720QM/4G/+2G/etc)
http://img641.imageshack.us/i/img5655j.jpg/
Where do you use your notebook? I use it on my clean desk. Dont use it on your bed or similar. Make also sure that there is enough free space around the notebook.
User manual can give you more detailed instructions where to use the computer.
Your problem would be solved if you didnt open it yourself because its out of warranty now.
Everything what you can do now is asking an ASP for repair cost or you modify the case but I dont think it will help if there is really a hardware issue

I want to upgrade the 500gb HDD to an SSD on an S230u with windows 8 but want clone the drive

I want to upgrade the 500gb HDD to an SSD on an Thinkpad Twist S230u with windows 8 but don't want to lose the data and programs installed on the drive and have to start over. I tried to clone it but no software could do it. I tried acronis and EasyToDo. I was able to clone it with a duplicator but it wasn't bootable. Am I to assume that what I need to do is the following - 1- Create the recovery media on a 32gb usb stick. 2- back up the drive using Acronis (or other) 3- Physically replace the drive 4- boot to the USB Recovery Media and bring the system back to it's original state out of the box but with the SSD Drive. 5- Use Acronis (or other) to restore back up made of the 500gb prior to removal. Thanks in advance! Scott Fischer

Before you start cloning your HDD with acronis, you have to prepare the SSD:
at first: connect your SSD with USB to your notebook and
1. Start CMD.EXE as Admin
2. type: "diskpart"
3. type: "select disk x " x = Letter of your SSD
4. type: "list partition" the drive should be unformatted
5. type: "create partition primary align=1024"
6. type: "active"
7. type: "format fs=ntfs" --> wait some minutes
8. type: "assign letter=x" --> For example "x"
9. type: "exit"
Start acronis true image 2013 (trial version)
select "Backup" without empty sectors
you can select any partitions, so also the the invisible lenovo backup paritions
The Backup can be "Restore"-d to the SSD, incl. GPT (MBR like in UEFI Systems)
After all, the SSD is ready to use. Booting on USB gives here a blue screen. I tought it was my fault. It isnt. You can build in the SSD into your SATA Port and Windows 8 will boot very well.
Sorry for my bad english

How do I make a bootable clone (with Lion already installed on my Mac)?

Hi all, I'm hoping someone can help clarify with a step-by-step on this. Here's the deal: I have a 2008 MacBook Pro, which I updated from Snow Leopard to Lion via the App Store. I have decided to upgrade my internal hard drive (which I've done before) from a 500GB to 750GB, but after doing a couple hours of research, the whole Lion element is making me nervous.
I've been reading about the whole Lion Recovery partition, which won't be brought over with a simple cloning process (via SuperDuper! or the like) and I'm now thoroughly confused with how to do this the proper way. I don't know if I need to use the Recovery Disk Assistant app on the new 750GB hard drive, or on a separate (third) drive, or to make a bootable Lion install disk on either, or even if I do do these things, how this meshes on the new drive, and do I need to format the new drive with two partitions for the Recovery partition to be a part of it?... Oy.
I'd really be appreciative if someone with the know-how of this process could help with the steps. It doesn't need to be crazy thorough--as I said, I've at least replaced my drive before--but I'm not an expert by any stretch (as a point of reference: bring up Terminal and my eyes will roll back in my head). I just need to know what to do in what order, with at least a little detail. And if it means anything to you, I'm the type of guy who likes to know WHY I'm doing something, if possible... Thanks in advance for your time and help.
(I've already got the new 750GB drive in hand, an external enclosure and a separate 8GB+ drive, too.)

You can use 3rd party software such as Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! to create a bootable clone on an external drive.
I use SuperDuper to create a clone. Yes, it's true the Recovery HD will need to be recreated after restoring a clone because neither of these softwares nor Time Machine backup that partition. It's really no big deal. You just reinstall Lion on top of itself after the restore and reapply any Software Updates including the 10.7.1 update. I've done this a few times with no issues.
The Lion Recovery Assistant app creates an external Recovery HD on like a USB thumb drive, but it creates this using the Recovery HD from your Lion install. If the Recovery HD is missing, the app will not create one for you.
EDITED:
Create your bootable clone on an external drive.
Create an external USB thumb drive with the Recovery HD using the Lion Recovery Assistant.
Swap out hard drives.
Boot from the USB Recovery HD thumb drive.
Use Disk Utilities to create a new partition (Macintosh HD), format it with the GUID partition table and Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
While in Disk Utilities, click your hard drive (not the new partition); then click the Restore button.
The Source of your restore is the external clone you created. The Destination is the newly created Macintosh HD partition.
Click the Restore button. The restore will take awhile depending on the size of the clone.
After the restore, boot your system and it should boot into Lion.
Reinstall Lion on top of itself to recreate the Recovery HD at the end of your Lion partition.
Reapply Software Updates including the 10.7.1 update (if you want it).
Hope this helps!

Need Toshiba tools and utilities for my Satellite A660-149

Hi friends
I have formatted my Toshiba Satellite A660-149 and I didnt create recovery CD/DVD.
I have installed Windows 7 but now thing is that I dont have any of Toshiba features like eco utility, HDD protection, face recognition, NVIDIA graphic controller.
Please suggest me what should I do now....& where I can get this software.

Hi friend ;)
All necessary drivers and Toshiba specific tools and utilities you can find on Toshiba support page under http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.com > Support & Downloads Support homepage.
At the bottom of this page you will see option Driver download.
Go there, choose your notebook model and you will find all you need.
Of course, there you will find stuff for supported OS version only.
Good luck

USB External HDD Enclosure with a 500GB HDD!!

Hi All,
I was just wondering if anyone has come across using a 3rd party USB external HDD enclosure with a hard drive (mine is 500GB HDD). What I am trying to do is to format the HDD so both PC and MAC can use it but it will be mainly connected to my iMAC. I have tried by using PC to format the HDD to NTFS but MAC will not show the HDD on the desktop when I plug the USB to the back of the iMAC.
I have done some researches and it seems the only way to do make this possibe is to format it into FAT32. So I have tried to use FDisk to make the partition but it doesn't seems to support anything bigger than 120GB, now I am really stuck. If anyone knows any quick and painless solution, please spare me some advice.
Headache!!
Dave
iMAC 20" Core2 Duo 2.16 1GB Mac OS X (10.4.9) Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Windows can use, but not format, large FAT32 partitions. Microsoft wants to discourage using FAT32 for portable storage (for marketing reasons).
The solution is to use Mac's Disk Utility to format the disk as FAT32 (misnamed MS-DOS in Disk Utility). The disk will then be read/write by both Mac and PC.
Also, it's worth pointing out that you can read and write NTFS disks using MacFUSE with the NTFS-3G plugin. Albeit, this is very awkward to do unless you've got some UNIX shell experience.

Satellite A660 - format 500GB HDD to make bootable clone

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