Freeware program to grab ISO image of disk drive

[IamJohn]

Alright, I got a new computer with vista (and actually happy with it surprisingly...) but I want to be able to use xp on the computer when I want to with out rebooting into another partition. Is there a way to grab an iso image of my old computer's hard drive so that I can run in a virtual computer? I remember I found a program that would do it for free, but I uninstalled the program awhile and I can't remember what it is...

 

[Grisu]

I don't know if this will work in your situation, but DriveSnapshot is a freeware disk imaging tool.

of course there are loads of pay tools that might offer a free trial period such as Norton Ghost, TrueImage, DriveImage, etc.

 

[Trajan12]

^I use PowerISO for that. It has a free trial, I think without limitations. But it's well worth the 30 bucks.

 

[damunzy]

Physical to Virtual is what you are looking for:
http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/

Convert Physical Machines to Virtual Machines – Free!

Use the intuitive wizard-driven interface of VMware Converter to convert your physical machines to virtual machines. VMware Converter quickly converts Microsoft Windows based physical machines and third party image formats to VMware virtual machines. It also converts virtual machines between VMware platforms. Automate and simplify physical to virtual machine conversions as well as conversions between virtual machine formats with VMware Converter.

* Convert Microsoft Windows based physical machines and third party image formats to VMware virtual machines
* Complete multiple conversions simultaneously with a centralized management console
* Easy to use wizards to minimize the number of steps to conversion

I personally like VirtualBox better:
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Migrate_Windows

How to migrate existing Windows installations to VirtualBox ¶

Windows installations, unlike Linux, cannot easily be moved from one hardware to another. This is not just due to Microsoft's activation mechanism but the fact that the installed kernel and drivers depend on the actual hardware.

This document explains the common pitfalls and how to workaround these. We assume that either a physical Windows installation or a VMware image is the source of migration. It is also assumed that a suitable virtual disk image (either VDI or VMDK for VirtualBox >= 1.4) is already present.

There are also ways to convert to VirtualBox from VMware if you choose to:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuMagaz...irtualBox:_.vmdk_To_.vdi_Using_Qemu_+_VdiTool

Or you can go the easy route and just open the VMware disk (.vmdk) in VirtualBox:
http://www.rasyid.net/2007/06/30/running-vmware-disk-in-virtualbox-140/

PS: There are also ways to go Virtual to Physical:
http://www.vmware.com/support/v2p/index.html

 

[Genocidicbunny]

^I use PowerISO for that. It has a free trial, I think without limitations. But it's well worth the 30 bucks.

Just to point out, the trial cannot save ISO's bigger than 300mb. But yes, its well worth the 30$.

 

[Ghost Ranger]

ISO Recorder, it was made by a Microsoft developer, so it integrates well into the OS.