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Microsoft Will Support Disk Cloning in Windows 98, NT 5.0
By Michael Moeller, PC Week
April 3, 1998 2:59 PM PST
Making multiple copies of hard drives will be easier now that Microsoft Corp. is officially blessing the use of disk cloning technologies with the release of Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0.
Included in the forthcoming operating systems is a technology called SysClone, a set of APIs that third-party disk cloning software makers can tap into to let IS managers or OEMs rapidly copy a single master-copy disk to multiple hard drives.
Disk cloning is designed to take a "snapshot" image of a configured master hard drive and load those settings and data into any number of subsequent systems. Several disk cloning products are currently on the market from vendors such as Quarterdeck Corp., PowerQuest Corp. and KeyLabs Inc.
Microsoft's move is a reversal of its position on disk cloning technologies concerning Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95--namely, that neither operating system could be copied using third-party tools. In addition, the Redmond, Wash., company had stipulated it would not support systems created using the tools.
With the addition of the new API, Microsoft has also worked out several sticking points that previously hampered disk cloning.
For example, in both Windows 95 and NT 4.0, it is difficult, if not impossible, to clone a drive while giving the clone user a unique log-in screen. Likewise, it is difficult for IS managers to tailor access controls when cloning a Windows 95 or NT 4.0 disk.
In the nick of time
One IS manager said Microsoft's blessing of the technology is long overdue, since users have seen the value in disk cloning for years.
"I have 200 people in one department that all need the same files and same applications," said an IS manager at a major Midwest manufacturing company. "If I have paid the per-seat license for those systems, then it is a lot easier to create a single setup and then copy it down to the other systems.
"That is much faster than having to reconfigure each system one at a time," said the manager, who requested anonymity. "I am glad Microsoft has finally agreed."
Microsoft has been working on the SysClone technology for Windows 98 for a number of months, said Shannon Perdue, a product manager at Microsoft. It will ship along with Windows 98 later this quarter; It will also ship with NT 5.0, which is due late this year or early next year.
Microsoft can be reached at (425) 882-8080 or www.microsoft.com
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