Trouble with WinClone leads to erase and install of Mac OS X

WARNING: The tutorial in this entry will not be covering the entire process. Apparently something distracted me from finishing it (the new machine got installed in the end, though). Sorry about any inconvenience this incompleteness might cause!

After posting on a Swedish Mac forum for a copy of Winclone, a nice moderator handed me a link along with an explanation of why I couldn't reach the Winclone site. It turns out that the Swedish telecom operator Telia (my ISP) is in a feud with Cogent (the ISP that hosts the Winclone site), which has caused Cogent to shut down Telia. Phew!

Ok, I started out with installing Winclone on the old machine, and asked it to make an image of my Windows XP Boot Camp partition. I ended up keeping all the default settings, which apparently should allow me to restore the image on an NTFS partition of any size (large enough to hold the amount of data that is in the image, that is).

Next, I transferred the image file to the new machine (by rebooting the old machine in FireWire mode (hold down "T" during boot) and dragging the file. I then started Winclone on the new machine.

According to the instructions in the "readme.rtf" on the Winclone dmg, I should be able to create a Windows NTFS partition using Winclone, that I then could point out as destination for restoring the Windows XP image to. I tried this on the new machine, choosing a partition size of 100 Gb. After some time, I got an error, that stated something in the lines of not being able to resize the partition to the correct size.

Using the command "diskutil list" in Terminal, I see that, sure enough, a partition has been created, but it is only a few hundred bytes large. *sigh*

I shut down Winclone, and start the Boot Camp assistant instead. The assistant asks me if I want to restore the disk to one partition, and I say "Yes please!" It then starts the restore sequence, but hangs, and after 10-15 minutes, I shut down the Boot Camp assistant.

After some random googling, I decide to restore the entire disk on the new machine, and start over, this time using Boot Camp to create the target partition for the Winclone image. I hope it will work better that way...

1. I take out the Mac OS X Install Disc 1, and reboots from it (press "C" during startup).
   
   
2. I open up the Disk Utility from the Tools menu (I think... "Verktygsprogram" is the menu name in Swedish)
   
   
3. I select the entire disk (not just the volume "Macintosh HD") in the left menu.
   
   
4. I choose "Mac OS Extended (journaled)" as format and "Macintosh HD" as name and press erase.
   
   
5. Before long, the disk is erased, and I go back to installing Leopard on it.
   
   
6. When asked if I want to move information from another computer, I choose this option, and connect the old machine in FireWire-mode.
   
   
7. I select to move all information except the information on the Windows XP volume, that I will move separately using Winclone at a later stage.
   
   
8. When installation is done, I have a Mac OS X user on the new machine that is identical to that on the old machine.
   
   
9. I log into Mac OS X and run the Boot Camp assistant, and create a Windows partition there. It will be in FAT32, but I need NTFS to be able to restore the Winclone image on the partition.
   
   
10. Since I need to convert the partition to NTFS, I continue in the Boot Camp Wizard, by inserting my Windows XP Pro CD and booting to the installation program. I (this time without trouble :-) ) click myself all the way to the step where I have the option to convert the partition to NTFS, which I do. Right after the conversion, when file copying starts, I shut down the machine, to interrupt the installation. I don't want to install XP now, since I will restore it from the Winclone image anyway.
    
    
11. Right after restart I hold down the "option"-key, and choose to boot in Mac OS X.
    
    
12. When logged in, I click on the (...and this is where I got distracted – see disclaimer at the top of this entry)
    

Moving to the new machine using Migration Assistant and Winclone

This has been a long weekend without even touching the computer(s). But now I'm back, ready for the next (and hopefully final) step on the way to be fully installed on the newest MacBook Pro. I have decided to attempt to move the Mac OS X stuff using the Migration Assistant (Flyttassistenten in Swedish) and, once all that has been moved, use WinClone to move the Windows XP partition that I use in Boot Camp and VMWare Fusion.

From a bit of Googling it seems that using WinClone is the preferred way to move the Windows stuff to the new machine. Unfortunately, twocanoes.com is down at the moment, so I just posted on a Swedish Mac forum for an alternative link, since it seems there is no alternative download site for WinClone out there.

I started out by moving the Mac OS X user from the old machine to the new one without any problems whatsoever. Basically I did the following:

1. On the new machine, I created a new administrator account that I logged back in with.
2. When logged in as the temporary account, I removed the account that I already had created with the same login name as on the old machine. This is to make sure that there will be no conflicts that arise from already having an account with the login name that is being moved from the old machine.
3. I started up the Migration Assistant on the new machine.
4. When it asked me to connect the machine to move the user data from, I booted the old machine in "hard-disk mode" (by pressing "T" during startup), and connected it to the new machine using a FireWire cable.
5. In the Migration Wizard, I basically opted to move all information from the old machine to the new machine, and after about 10-15 minutes, everything was moved.
6. I logged out from the temporary account, and logged back in as the just-moved-user. Voilà, everything worked perfectly.

Ok, so now, next step is to move the Windows XP Boot Camp partition, but that I will have to get back to as soon as I have been able to download the WinClone application from somewhere.

The newest MacBook Pro arrived...

...at the office yesterday. I brought it home and took it for a test spin. It sure will be nice to get the 250 Gb disk instead of the 160 Gb one that is in the temporary machine I've been using up until now, especially since I will "lose" 100 Gb to the Windows partition.

I opened up the new machine and boosted the memory with the Kingston chips that were delivered with the temporary machine, so now it has 4 Gb, which should be more than enough for the dual boot.

My main problem (which, incidentally, is a premiere illustration of the Swedish phrase "typiskt i-landsproblem", that translates to approximately "typical industrialized country problem", meaning that it wouldn't qualify as a problem in any part of the world where there are real problems, such as war, poverty, etc. Rather - even calling it a problem is a symptom of the type of narrow-mindedness that comes from unchallenging life circumstances. Ok, let's not slip too far into politics and linguistics...) now, is to decide which way to go:

a) use the Migration Assistant to migrate the information from the temporary machine to the new one. Advantages to this include that it's faster (hopefully) and that I will get all settings migrated. Disadvantages is that I will not have full control of the process, but that's just typical control freak behaviour... Another big disadvantage is that I feel that there is a risk that Windows XP will not be as easy to migrate as the OS X stuff. On the other hand, it will be a great way to learn from experience. :-)

b) I use this blog to manually set up the new machine, step by step. The advantage of this is that it gives full control, but the main disadvantage is that it is boring to do it all over again.

From the bias I detect when reading what I wrote above, I conclude that I will probably go for a), unless my support guy Anders scares me away from it, by pointing out that it is risky. One option is to go for a) but have Anders do it, but that sort of feels like resigning from power of my own situation (like I said, I'm a control freak...)

VMWare and Spaces in Leopard

Today is my second day at the new job, and so far, very good. No Maclashes so far :-)

Got the office printer set up under Mac OS X in about 2 minutes, only by using the IP-number and looking at the printer, so that I could choose the correct driver. In Windows I'll probably opt to go for installing with the driver disc, so there I will get all the extras. I found a Macintosh-disc as well, so I might fix it there as well.

Yesterday I sought a little for the best way to do as much of my work from within Mac OS X, and before long found a way that I like a lot.

Ever since my days in university, when we used mostly Sun SparcStations under UNIX, I have been very fond of virtual desktops, to increase desktop space. Since the university days, I have not been able to find a virtual desktop setting that I actually ended up using - until now!

When I found that I could assign VMWare fusion to always run in Window 2 of Mac OS X Leopards virtual desktop implementation "Spaces", I at the same time found a very nice way to run Windows full screen. Now I only hit Ctrl + -> and I'm in Windowsland, and Ctrl + <- and I'm back home. This suits me very well, because it means a minimum of confusion, since I'm used to working in Windows and the layout with Start menu, task bar, etc. Actually I also made the Mighty Mouse show me all four spaces when I squeeze it, thus enabling me to context switch between Mac and Windows without touching the keyboard.

For those of you who have a boss that doesn't want you to do the Mac thing, this "Windows in space 2-setup with mouse squeeze access" might just be the perfect "Ooops, boss is coming"-button setup. ;-)

As far as choosing full screen mode over Unity, I like the Unity mode too, but it feels like it's there more for show-off than for being really, really useful. Maybe with the exception of drag-n-drop of files, that obviously gets very simple in Unity mode. And if you are an all-Mac person that suddenly has had to start running Windows as well, it might be nice to stay in the home environment.

Last day at my old job (almost)

Tomorrow, Friday, is my last day at the old job. Since a lot of people are missing tomorrow, we gathered for goodbye cake today instead.


After eight years at the same company, this was quite a sentimental moment. But also a happy one: I got a GPS navigator, thank's a lot! And thank's to all my colleagues for a great time and a great job.

Finally, thanks to Biglakes and Loredemogänget.

Installing VMWare Fusion

Installing VMWare Fusion, I only ran into minor problems, see below:

1. First I installed VMWare Fusion 1.1 from disc I have without problems.
   
   
2. When I started it up, it prompted me to download an upgrade to 1.1.1, which I did and also installed without problem.
   
   
3. Fusion automatically detected my Boot Camp partition, which I double-clicked on and XP started.
   
   
4. I logged into XP and was immediately prompted for activation (within 3 days) of my Windows XP license, since the computer hardware had changed considerably. I had already been warned about that in the Fusion documentation, though.
   
   
5. In the end I was unable to reactivate, and ended up having to call Microsofts support number. The automated activation procedure failed, and I was redirected to manual support. After about 10 minutes of waiting, my call was answered, and I thoroughly described my situation and that I also probably would need to reactivate again, when my new machine is delivered in a couple of weeks. It didn't really seem like the guy cared, so he just set me up with a number that was read automatically as I wrote it in the reactivation dialog window. Phew, back on track.
   
   
6. According to the Boot Camp setup support document, I should already have been prompted for installing drivers by the "Add new hardware wizard" at an earlier stage, but that didn't happen until now (or actually, it might have happened again anyway, since some of the drivers were from the VMWare disc.
   
   
7. I installed the drivers. First time around I clicked on the wrong version of the VMWare SVGA II driver (I clicked the 64-bit version, since I have a 64-bit processor, but should have clicked the 32-bit version, since that's the version of XP I'm running), but that failed gracefully, and after a restart I was prompted again, then correcting my mistake.
   
   
8. After testing stuff a little bit, the fullscreen mode, etc, I installed VMWare Tools, to be able to run the super-cool Unity mode.

Installed VMWare tools, and voilà - dual boot setup completed.
So far, so good. Now I just need to find a smart way to use Outlook as seldom as possible (I think I will have too use it to accept meeting invitations, etc.) and Mac Mail as much as possible. One third alternative would be to setup Thunderbird, since it can be run on both platforms. Best would be to handle mail filtering on the server, if possible. Don't think .Mac can handle that, though.

Setting up Boot Camp (cont'd)

This HOWTO is continued from the previous blog entry. Therefore, the list below really should start with #6. :-)

1. With the machine booted in Windows, I inserted the OS X Leopard installation disc 1, and it automatically launched the driver installation wizard.
   
   
2. Click continue, accept the terms, and stand by, watching the fireworks as Windows flashes windows by, blip-blops a bit (this is where I'm starting to wonder if the nightmare that I described in a previous blog entry is about to come true...), and after a few minutes halts after all drivers have been installed. Success. Simple. Thanks!
   
   
3. Click yes to restart the computer.
   
   
4. When the computer is restarting, don't forget to hold down the options key, to manually make sure that you are booted back into Windows.
   
   
5. According to the Boot Camp setup guide, after the restart the Add Hardware Wizard should be run to have the drivers updated when installing XP. The wizard didn't appear for me, though, so I just figured that the drivers are already up-to-date. (I did check it manually with "Add hardware" in the control panel, but it didn't detect anything new either).
   
   
6. I guess that's it! I checked that the installation was successful by simulating a right-click by putting two fingers on the touch pad while clicking, and it worked just fine.
   
   
7. Since I will soon get a new machine anyway, I hesitated a little before deciding to activate Windows. It should be no problem though, since as far as I know, every license can be activated a few times without fuzz.
   
   
8. I then went ahead and installed not Windows Update, but Microsoft Update, a newer update agent that apparently will take care of updating not only Windows but also Office and other Microsoft apps as well.
   
   
9. First time around it hung while searching for new versions, but the second time around it seems to be working just fine.

End of round 2, time for bed, I got up 05.45 this morning...

Setting up Boot Camp

After going through the setup sequence on the new machine, it's now time to set up Boot Camp. Since I will be doing this again very soon (unless I manage to just clone the disk to the newer, 2.5 GHz, machine on order), I've decided to document all steps thoroughly. Probably no funny reading, but maybe useful to someone...

1. First, a 100 Gb partition for Windows XP is created. I'm hoping to be able to just copy it to the newer machine once it has been delivered, but resizing the Windows partition might be a little tricky, so therefore I set it to 100 Gb right away since I'm targeting a 250 Gb disk. 150 Gb left for OS X sounds like a good idea, since I'm planning on having all my media files on that partition. The iLife package contains some of my favorite apps for managing music and photos, etc., primarily for their ease-of-use and clean user interfaces. And, for me, soon also for their multi-touch support. :-)
   
   
   
   
2. I try to install Windows XP from an OEM disc. This is where I reach my first showstopper! Of course it is related to trying to customize things a bit. I got the tip to reformat the FAT32 partition that Boot Camp creates to NTFS, to avoid running into problems with files larger than 2 Gb, partition size larger than 32 Gb, etc. (Be aware, though, that with Windows on NTFS, you can only transfer files between OS X and XP when VMWare is running).
   
   This is where I went wrong: on the screen listing the available partitions, the partition named BOOTCAMP is listed as FAT32. This caused me to - instead of hitting Enter to continue - delete the partition and recreate it as NTFS. As a consequence, I found out the hard way that repartitioning outside Boot Camp is a no-no: the installation ended in a black screen telling me that Windows could not be started since the "hal.dll" file was missing or corrupted.
   
   So, after reading a bunch of forums, removing the partition using Boot Camp assistant, then recreating it again, I gathered some courage and just hit Enter on the screen listing the partitions.
   
   
   Yes, hit Enter to Install here! You will be given the option to
   reformat the partition in the next screen.
   
   
   And, thank you, there was the option I was looking for! The next screen gave the alternative to reformat the partition to NTFS. I used the quick format option, and it worked for me.
   
   Lesson learned: don't be a coward, always try Enter first :-)
   
   
3. After formatting, the installation continues with the XP files being copied... Done in 33 minutes... *yawn*
   
   
4. Make all the regional settings, enter name, domain, etc.
   
   
5. The machine reboots, and the Windows installation is finalized. For an old G4 guy like me, it feels quite strange to see the XP boot screen on a Mac. At the same time, quite satisfying. There is now a machine that can run any OS I need.

Time for some sleep now, before we move on to installing the drivers.

References:
Boot Camp Tutorial: Install Windows XP on Mac in 5 steps

Getting down to it

Ok, so last night I carefully opened the box (it must not be torn, since it will be returned to leasing as soon as I have had the updated machine delivered), and took out the new MacBook Pro, 2.4 GHz, 160 Gb, 2 Gb. Basically it is the prebuilt standard mid-range version of the MacBook Pro (that is, the better of the 15-inch models). I also have a couple of extra Kingston 2 Gb memory modules, so that I get 4 Gb of memory instead. I figured that will be needed for running OS X and XP side by side.

MacBook Pro (left) and PowerBook G4 (right).

At first view, I notice that on the surface, not too much has happened over the last four years, when I compare the new machine with my old 15-inch PowerBook G4, 1.5 GHz, 80 Gb, 1 Gb. I notice some minor changes, such as:

- better keyboard backlighting,
- the small webcam,
- a double hinge lid closing mechanism,
- a larger touchpad,
- the new display being somewhat wider and lower and a little sharper
- and finally that the new machine is about 4-5 mm thinner and a tiny bit lighter.

Another tiny evidence of continous improvement is the fact that the screws attaching the lid around the keyboard are moved away from the corner of the keyboard surface to the sides. I am sure this is for aesthetic reasons, just the kind of thing you need to be Apple to care about. And I love it! (Yes, I told you, I'm a geek...)

The screw that has been removed, and also the
new (left) and old (right) type of power plug.

A final small but classy improvement is that "MacBook Pro" is written in shiny silver letters instead of the grey letters used on the "PowerBook G4".

As you might know, beneath the almost identical surface, the changes on the inside are vast, at least as far as processor technology goes. Apple moving from Motorola to Intel processors might be one of the smartest moves since releasing the iPod. Without the ability to boot Windows, I'm pretty sure that I would never have managed to convince my employer to let me make the move to Mac.