Hi Folks!
Well...after much hassling around and getting help from a number of members, thought I'd prepare a brief guide on how I set up drives for benching.
The objectives of this exercise:
1) Create a stable, RE-USABLE, multiboot image for 'normal' hardrives as well as an ssd raid0 array. Not all operating systems are equal when it comes to benching so it's good to have a working version of each. For platforms that use bclk, ide will generally allow higher bclks. Also...some benchmarks provide much higher results (for example, a lot of the futuremark apps) with faster drive speeds hence the inclusion of an ssd array.
2) Provide the ability to recover from a corrupted operating system and/or drive failure in under 10 minutes.
Hardware used:
- 2x 250gig sata drives (you can use smaller drives, these are just the sizes I went with. i think a 120g would be a bit tight, though)
- 2x 120gig ssd's
- cd/dvd drive and/or usb drives
- mobo, ram, cpu, etc
Tools and other items used:
- Images (bin files) of Windows XP SP3, Vista x86, Windows 7 x86 and Windows 7 x64
- drivers, benching tools and apps
- EasyBCD (freeware) (thanks to QuickFast for pointing this tool out to me!)
- Microsoft .NET (needed for EasyBCD)
- Acronis True Image A freeware alternative to Acronis is Clonezilla (thanks to ATMINSIDE for the tip!)
Note: Although I was able to install Vista x86 and Win7x64 from usb drives, the only way I was able to get XP and Win7x86 installed was using physical cd's. Am sure this was probably my error but if you try this and can't get an os to install, try burning the image to disc and using that.
Process Steps:
1) Assemble system with a single (sata or ide) drive and (only if you need one) cd/dvd drive.
2) Boot up, enter bios, set the drive mode to ide and 1st boot device to where your XP source files are located.
3) Start the XP install process.
4) At the relevant screen, create a partition for each operating system you want to install. In my case, I created 4 partitions. For ease later in the process, I strongly suggest that you make each partition a different size. I created the largest partition for 7x64, 2nd largest for 7x86, third largest for vista x86 and smallest partition for XP. Format each partition.
5) Restart and install XP. Do not install any devices, drivers, etc! Simply get XP installed. You should see all partitions. Rename each partition/drive to align with the operating systems you want to install. In my case, I named the 4 partitions/drives XP, Vx86, 7x86 and 7x64.
6) Insert the drive or disc with the source files for your next operating system.
7) Reboot, change 1st boot device (as/if needed) to the one with your next os.
8) Install the next os on the relevant partition. Again...do not install drivers, etc.
9) Repeat for all remaining operating systems.
10) At some point, you'll start getting a boot menu...don't worry about that for now.
11) After you've installed your last operating system (again, with no drivers or anything), install EasyBCD. I used the win7x64 installation but you can use any of the operating systems EXCEPT for XP. You'll need to install .net to get EasyBCD to install.
12) When you start EasyBCD, it will generally show every operating system that you installed. If not, you can add a new entry for each installed system (be careful during this step!).
13) Once the boot menu in EasyBCD shows all the installed operating systems, rename each entry in "Edit Boot Menu" to something logical. Again, I went with XP, Vista x86, Win7x86 and Win7x64.
14) Set the default operating system to anything EXCEPT XP!! The process becomes a bit of a nightmare...best to avoid it, imho. I set my default to Win7x64.
15) Do not 'push' EasyBCD to install on any of the other operating systems!!!
16) Reboot and verify that you now get a boot menu that lists all your installed operating systems.
17) Boot into each operating system to verify that each os is installed and behaving properly.
18) Boot back into your default operating system. Again...in my case, win7x64.
19) Install Acronis True Image.
20) Create a backup image of the entire hardrive. Give it a name you'll understand in the future (for example, base_multi_ide). Make sure you select all partitions. Save the backup to disc or whatever you can. I saved mine to my server. No matter what you do, make sure to create a bootable version of Acronis. In my case, the backup file(s) are on the server so I created a bootable usb for Acronis.
21) Once the backup process completes, select 'Verify' to confirm the archive is valid and complete.
22) Shut down your system, remove the ide/sata drive and install your ssd(s).
23) Restart your pc and set the drive mode to ahci (if using 1 ssd) or raid (if using more than 1 ssd). Set the 1st boot device to wherever your XP source files are located.
24) If you're using more than one ssd, create your raid0 array otherwise skip this step.
25) Repeat steps 3-21 except in step 20 give the backup file a name like base_multi_ssd. I wasn't able to use my base ide image on the ssd array but if someone knows how to do that, please let me know and I'll update this thread accordingly.
You now have 2 re-usable images of your nice yet bare multiboot setup! As long as everything went well up to this point, you'll always be able to use your backup image to create an initial, working mutliboot drive/array regardless of platform.
Now...let's proceed!
26) Using either your ide or ssd setup, restart the pc and boot into Windows XP.
27) Install all needed drivers.
28) Install all your benching tools (cpu-z, gpu-z, afterburner, etc, etc). Get each tool/app configured and working.
29) Install your benching apps. By the end of this step, everything you want for the os should be installed, configured, working, etc.
30) If you're conservative, reboot into your default os and use Acronis to create a new backup image. Give it a name like loaded_multi_ide (or ssd, as applicable). Otherwise skip to step 31.
31) Boot into your next operating system.
32) Repeat steps 27-31 until all 4 operating systems are fully loaded, configured, working, looking and set up exactly how you like them.
33) Boot to your default os, start Acronis and make a full backup again. If you've been skipping step 30, this will be a new archive and could take a while. If you've been backing things up along the way, it'll be an incremental backup and run much quicker.
34) Repeat steps 26-33 for your other drive setup.
OK...now (finally)...you've got 4 fully loaded, multiboot backups. Two for ide (bare and loaded) and two for your ssd(s) (also bare and loaded). Again, the bare images will give you a good starting point when you move to a different platform (also really handy if you mess something up during the loading/configuring process). If only 1 os gets thrashed, you only need to restore that partition (not the whole drive). The loaded images are platform-specific and will be more or less useless when you move to a new setup. Restoring a partition with a bare image takes about 1-2 minutes, for all partitions it takes about 6 minutes. Restoring a loaded partition takes under 5 minutes. Restoring all loaded partitions takes under 15 minutes.
To reduce/eliminate the 15 minutes from full wipeout to back to benching, I also did the following:
35) Shut down the system and connect the loaded, multiboot ide/sata drive (the master).
36) Connect an identical drive on a different port.
37) Insert the Acronis (usb) boot drive.
38) Boot to Acronis.
39) Select "Tools".
40) Clone the master to the slave drive.
41) Shut down and connect the loaded, multiboot ssd(s). I wasn't able to do this as my setup doesn't have enough ports to run 2 raid0 arrays at the same time.
42) Connect an identical ssd(s) to different port(s).
43) Repeat steps 37-40.
Now, if/when an operating system (partition) or drive/array fails you'll just shutdown and swap to the relevant 'slave' image. The only downtime is the time it takes to shutdown and swap the drive(s)! You can restore (or re-clone) the failed partition/drive later and/or on a completely different machine if you want.
As you can tell, this process takes quite a while to fully execute but saves significant time over the longer run.
Well...after much hassling around and getting help from a number of members, thought I'd prepare a brief guide on how I set up drives for benching.
The objectives of this exercise:
1) Create a stable, RE-USABLE, multiboot image for 'normal' hardrives as well as an ssd raid0 array. Not all operating systems are equal when it comes to benching so it's good to have a working version of each. For platforms that use bclk, ide will generally allow higher bclks. Also...some benchmarks provide much higher results (for example, a lot of the futuremark apps) with faster drive speeds hence the inclusion of an ssd array.
2) Provide the ability to recover from a corrupted operating system and/or drive failure in under 10 minutes.
Hardware used:
- 2x 250gig sata drives (you can use smaller drives, these are just the sizes I went with. i think a 120g would be a bit tight, though)
- 2x 120gig ssd's
- cd/dvd drive and/or usb drives
- mobo, ram, cpu, etc
Tools and other items used:
- Images (bin files) of Windows XP SP3, Vista x86, Windows 7 x86 and Windows 7 x64
- drivers, benching tools and apps
- EasyBCD (freeware) (thanks to QuickFast for pointing this tool out to me!)
- Microsoft .NET (needed for EasyBCD)
- Acronis True Image A freeware alternative to Acronis is Clonezilla (thanks to ATMINSIDE for the tip!)
Note: Although I was able to install Vista x86 and Win7x64 from usb drives, the only way I was able to get XP and Win7x86 installed was using physical cd's. Am sure this was probably my error but if you try this and can't get an os to install, try burning the image to disc and using that.
Process Steps:
1) Assemble system with a single (sata or ide) drive and (only if you need one) cd/dvd drive.
2) Boot up, enter bios, set the drive mode to ide and 1st boot device to where your XP source files are located.
3) Start the XP install process.
4) At the relevant screen, create a partition for each operating system you want to install. In my case, I created 4 partitions. For ease later in the process, I strongly suggest that you make each partition a different size. I created the largest partition for 7x64, 2nd largest for 7x86, third largest for vista x86 and smallest partition for XP. Format each partition.
5) Restart and install XP. Do not install any devices, drivers, etc! Simply get XP installed. You should see all partitions. Rename each partition/drive to align with the operating systems you want to install. In my case, I named the 4 partitions/drives XP, Vx86, 7x86 and 7x64.
6) Insert the drive or disc with the source files for your next operating system.
7) Reboot, change 1st boot device (as/if needed) to the one with your next os.
8) Install the next os on the relevant partition. Again...do not install drivers, etc.
9) Repeat for all remaining operating systems.
10) At some point, you'll start getting a boot menu...don't worry about that for now.
11) After you've installed your last operating system (again, with no drivers or anything), install EasyBCD. I used the win7x64 installation but you can use any of the operating systems EXCEPT for XP. You'll need to install .net to get EasyBCD to install.
12) When you start EasyBCD, it will generally show every operating system that you installed. If not, you can add a new entry for each installed system (be careful during this step!).
13) Once the boot menu in EasyBCD shows all the installed operating systems, rename each entry in "Edit Boot Menu" to something logical. Again, I went with XP, Vista x86, Win7x86 and Win7x64.
14) Set the default operating system to anything EXCEPT XP!! The process becomes a bit of a nightmare...best to avoid it, imho. I set my default to Win7x64.
15) Do not 'push' EasyBCD to install on any of the other operating systems!!!
16) Reboot and verify that you now get a boot menu that lists all your installed operating systems.
17) Boot into each operating system to verify that each os is installed and behaving properly.
18) Boot back into your default operating system. Again...in my case, win7x64.
19) Install Acronis True Image.
20) Create a backup image of the entire hardrive. Give it a name you'll understand in the future (for example, base_multi_ide). Make sure you select all partitions. Save the backup to disc or whatever you can. I saved mine to my server. No matter what you do, make sure to create a bootable version of Acronis. In my case, the backup file(s) are on the server so I created a bootable usb for Acronis.
21) Once the backup process completes, select 'Verify' to confirm the archive is valid and complete.
22) Shut down your system, remove the ide/sata drive and install your ssd(s).
23) Restart your pc and set the drive mode to ahci (if using 1 ssd) or raid (if using more than 1 ssd). Set the 1st boot device to wherever your XP source files are located.
24) If you're using more than one ssd, create your raid0 array otherwise skip this step.
25) Repeat steps 3-21 except in step 20 give the backup file a name like base_multi_ssd. I wasn't able to use my base ide image on the ssd array but if someone knows how to do that, please let me know and I'll update this thread accordingly.
You now have 2 re-usable images of your nice yet bare multiboot setup! As long as everything went well up to this point, you'll always be able to use your backup image to create an initial, working mutliboot drive/array regardless of platform.
Now...let's proceed!
26) Using either your ide or ssd setup, restart the pc and boot into Windows XP.
27) Install all needed drivers.
28) Install all your benching tools (cpu-z, gpu-z, afterburner, etc, etc). Get each tool/app configured and working.
29) Install your benching apps. By the end of this step, everything you want for the os should be installed, configured, working, etc.
30) If you're conservative, reboot into your default os and use Acronis to create a new backup image. Give it a name like loaded_multi_ide (or ssd, as applicable). Otherwise skip to step 31.
31) Boot into your next operating system.
32) Repeat steps 27-31 until all 4 operating systems are fully loaded, configured, working, looking and set up exactly how you like them.
33) Boot to your default os, start Acronis and make a full backup again. If you've been skipping step 30, this will be a new archive and could take a while. If you've been backing things up along the way, it'll be an incremental backup and run much quicker.
34) Repeat steps 26-33 for your other drive setup.
OK...now (finally)...you've got 4 fully loaded, multiboot backups. Two for ide (bare and loaded) and two for your ssd(s) (also bare and loaded). Again, the bare images will give you a good starting point when you move to a different platform (also really handy if you mess something up during the loading/configuring process). If only 1 os gets thrashed, you only need to restore that partition (not the whole drive). The loaded images are platform-specific and will be more or less useless when you move to a new setup. Restoring a partition with a bare image takes about 1-2 minutes, for all partitions it takes about 6 minutes. Restoring a loaded partition takes under 5 minutes. Restoring all loaded partitions takes under 15 minutes.
To reduce/eliminate the 15 minutes from full wipeout to back to benching, I also did the following:
35) Shut down the system and connect the loaded, multiboot ide/sata drive (the master).
36) Connect an identical drive on a different port.
37) Insert the Acronis (usb) boot drive.
38) Boot to Acronis.
39) Select "Tools".
40) Clone the master to the slave drive.
41) Shut down and connect the loaded, multiboot ssd(s). I wasn't able to do this as my setup doesn't have enough ports to run 2 raid0 arrays at the same time.
42) Connect an identical ssd(s) to different port(s).
43) Repeat steps 37-40.
Now, if/when an operating system (partition) or drive/array fails you'll just shutdown and swap to the relevant 'slave' image. The only downtime is the time it takes to shutdown and swap the drive(s)! You can restore (or re-clone) the failed partition/drive later and/or on a completely different machine if you want.
As you can tell, this process takes quite a while to fully execute but saves significant time over the longer run.
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